'Vegetable Garden' de Provence

'Vegetable Garden' Inspiration - South of France Bistro

As stated in an earlier issue, Color Association of the United States is preparing to release their Interior and Environment forecast for 2009/20010. The Color Association is the oldest color forecasting service in the US. Since 1915, the Association has been issuing color reports in elegant, fabric-swatched booklet form. The Color Association is the only forecasting service that selects its colors through a committee panel of eight to twelve industry professionals. The two main color stories The Color Association is predicting are "Rock Crystal" and "Vegetable garden".

Aix, France

I recently returned from Europe, and found many examples of the "Vegetable Garden' color palette.I definitely saw a strong representation of the 'Vegetable Garden' palette in the South of France, especially Cannes, Nice and Aix. What was unique was the depth and clarity of color, as many colors are pigment based paints.

Nice, France

Knowledge of color and interior trends will support your goal of being a knowledgeable expert and resource to the new home consumer, and additionally ensure that your displays are current and forward in direction.

Cannes, France

According to The Color Association, "Vegetable Garden" is a delightful grouping of appetizing mid-tones like Heirloom Tomato, Butternut Squash, and a range of rich blues and leafy greens. The wholesome charm of this story is particularly suitable for the enhancing the comforts of the home."

Denyse Schmidt's Quilt Collection

This is a natural progression of the rich hues in Provence inspired decor. They point us to Denyse Schmidt's work that you may have seen in Dwell or Metropolitan Home. The Color Association Membership information and forecast purchase information are available at: http://www.colorassociation.com/site/corporatemembership.html

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The Design Minds at Hearth and Home Blog is geared to support design center staff and the new construction industry in selling options and upgrades to the new home consumer. Subscribe for updates. Contact Krisann Parker-Brown for merchandising or marketing support of your design center. She will be happy to work with you on your assortment and presentation to ensure you are on track for the upcoming decor trends.

Krisann Parker-Brown is the merchandising manager for Hearth and Home Technologies, the leading manufacturer and retailer of fireplaces and hearth systems. Krisann supports design centers and new construction builders in presenting Heat & Glo, Heatilator and Quadra-Fire hearth systems, and consulting on design center merchandising, point of sale and the consumer experience. Contact her at brownkr@hearthnhome.com or 952-985-6537

Mid-Century Modernism is Modern Again

Consumer demand for 'green' and organic design and construction, the marketplace focus on product design and the movement to simplify lifestyle and home, have all brought the mid century modernist style to the forefront of design focus as of late.

The aging of the baby boomer moves the design focus towards a sense of nostalgia, while modern lifestyle changes demand versatile, attractive and clutter free living spaces.

While not relevant for every home buyer, as a designer it is important to be familiar with components and roots of this design movement. It is especially important to reflect a bit of this decor in your design center or model homes if your target market includes active adult, urban, move up, & mixed use/live/work developments.

At market this year, we noticed a trend to incorporate one or two 'statement' pieces in an otherwise transitional decor setting. (Read: a Restoration Hardware or Pottery Barn room setting with one exciting mid-century statement piece.)

Mid-Century Modern
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mid-Century modern is an architectural, interior and product design form that generally describes post-war developments in modern design from roughly 1945 to 1965. Mid-century architecture was a further development of Frank Lloyd Wright's principles of organic architecture combined with many elements reflected in the International and Bauhaus movements. Mid-century modernism, however, was much organic in form and in-formal. Scandinavian designers and architects were very influential at this time, with a style characterized by simplicity, democratic design and natural shapes. Like many of Wright's designs, Mid-Century architecture was frequently employed in residential structures with the goal of bringing modernism into America's post-war suburbs. This style emphasized creating structures with ample windows and open floor-plans with the intention of opening up interior spaces and bringing the outdoors in. Many Mid-century homes utilized then groundbreaking post and beam architectural design that eliminated bulky support walls in favor of walls seemingly made of glass. Function was as important as form.

While in Europe this month, I was on the trail of new design trends we could apply in our Hearth and Home product lines as well as pass onto the design center manager audience. Consistently, in Amsterdam, Cologne, Paris and Nice, the buzz, shop windows and even the high end antique markets were showcasing pieces from this period. Sotheby's in London hosted a highly publicized auction of mid-century decorative arts pieces, including plexi side tables and original issue Eames chairs.

A New York Times article recently highlighted the visibility of the Eames aluminum group chair in everything from a Justin Timberlake video to furnishing the new IAC headquarters designed by Frank Gehry.

At the heart of this movement was the appreciation of design, and designer. Design Within Reach carries licensed originals of key pieces from Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, Eames and Breuer, as well as biographies and product showcases of the design world's 'heavy hitters'.

Hearth and Home offers a wide range of fireplaces and hearth systems that fit perfectly in the form and function focus of this movement. The clean lines of the Heat & Glo 'Modern Collection' fireplaces complement the home consumer's interior design, while satisfying the need for the highest indoor air quality with our direct vent fireplace systems.

Well-known designers of the mid-century modern era include: Alvar Aalto, Al Beadle, Harry Bertoia, Chris Choate, Thomas Scott Dean, Charles and Ray Eames, Craig Ellwood, Max Gottschalk, Ralph Haver, Edith Heath, Arne Jacobsen, A. Quincy Jones, Louis Kahn, Denys Lasdun, Cliff May, Paul McCobb, George Nelson, Richard Neutra, Isamu Noguchi, Harvey Probber, Jens Risom, Eero Saarinen, Rudolf Schindler, Avriel Shull, Alison and Peter Smithson, Raphael Soriano, Hans Wegner, Russel Wright, and Eva Zeisel
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The Design Minds at Hearth and Home Blog is geared to support design center staff and the new construction industry in selling options and upgrades to the new home consumer. Subscribe for updates. Contact Krisann Parker-Brown for merchandising or marketing support of your design center. She will be happy to work with you on your assortment and presentation to ensure you are on track for the upcoming decor trends.

Krisann Parker-Brown is the merchandising manager for Hearth and Home Technologies, the leading manufacturer and retailer of fireplaces and hearth systems. Krisann supports design centers and new construction builders in presenting Heatilator, Heat & Glo and Quadra-Fire Hearth Systems, and consulting on design center merchandising, point of sale and the consumer experience. Contact her at brownkr@hearthnhome.com or 952-985-6537

Web 2.0 and the Builder Design Center - What does your consumer expect?

By now you're probably heard the phrase "Web 2.0". What exactly is Web 2.0 and what does it mean for your design center web presence? (and more importantly, your new home sales).


Tim O'Reilly, a web use expert, coined the phrase 2.0 to describe the progression of the web experience toward an interactive, participatory and user generated content experience.

From Wikipedia:
Web 2.0 refers to a perceived second generation of web-based communities and hosted services — such as social-networking sites, wikis, and folksonomies — which aim to facilitate creativity collaboration, and sharing between users.


The following contains some excerpts from the BHI Insight Blog for the New Home Construction Industry.
BHI offers interactive solutions for the New Home / Builder community. I work with BHI on the Envision electronic options management tool. I have found it to be a great fit with the new home consumer's desire for personalizing their new home and getting the information they demand.

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Components of Web 2.0 your new home consumer will seek in their electronic interactions with your design center:

Participatory Web and User Contributions Applications
These are centered around user interactions and get better the more they are used:

Some Examples:
Wikipedia
Ratings and Reviews (Amazon.com, EBAY buyer and seller star ratings)
YouTube
eBay Marketplace
Flickr Photo Sharing


Users defining how data is categorized:

Some Examples:
"Tagging" of blogs
"Flagging" content


Social Objects
The ability for users to share something about themselves with other users.

Some Examples:
My Space
Facebook
Linked In
Flickr
"My Favorites "
"Here’s what I’m doing right now"

Blogging and RSS/Feeding Tools

Blogs:
Blogs are a fast and easy way to publish highly specific and targeted content that is shared and referenced by other bloggers via links.
The high rate of publishing and linking from blogs gives them a disproportionate influence in shaping search results.
Blogging creates chatter and communities.

RSS/Feeders:
The Live Web with RSS: Users are notified in real time, via a push, that information they’re interested in has been updated. It is no longer necessary to surf websites for content.



Rich User Experiences:
Rich User Experiences Techniques enable highly interactive experiences that allow the user to control and “play” with the website.



Hearth and Home has created "Hearth by Design", which allows consumers to configure and create their own dream fireplaces, including personalizing their decor styles, creating their personal stone and mantel combination, or customizing based on fuel type or other need. Thus far, consumers, hearth dealers, and builders (especially those with a semi-custom and custom consumer) are giving this rave reviews. Try it out here: Hearth by Design

Other examples:
Maps
Google Earth
Drag and Drop in web mail
Photo manipulation in Flickr

Krisann ala "Simpsons"

(Oh yes, and for the ultimate in personalization and Springfield interactive fun, and you may want to create yourself as a Simpson's avatar, as I did, left)


All of the above is food for thought... What is the consumer expecting in their web interactions with you as a builder, and as a design center? Exceeding the interactive, participatory and personalization expectations of your consumer through Web 2.0 will increase consumer satisfaction in their home and the purchase process, guarantee consumer loyalty (and drive referral sales). Contact me for support and suggestions in exceeding your consumer's expectations.

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The Design Minds at Hearth and Home Blog is geared to support design center staff and the new construction industry in selling options and upgrades to the new home consumer. Subscribe for updates. Contact Krisann Parker-Brown for merchandising or marketing support of your design center. She will be happy to work with you on your assortment and presentation to ensure you are on track for the upcoming decor trends.


Krisann Parker-Brown is the merchandising manager for Hearth and Home Technologies, the leading manufacturer and retailer of fireplaces and hearth systems. Krisann supports design centers and new construction builders in presenting Heatilator, Heat & Glo and Quadra-Fire Hearth Systems, and consulting on design center merchandising, point of sale and the consumer experience. Contact her at brownkr@hearthnhome.com or 952-985-6537