Joining Forces
Monday, June 27th, 2011By Annette M. Callari, ASID; CMG
Sometimes combining two classics brings to life an amazing new entity. Chocolate and peanut butter certainly hit the jackpot as a combo in the candy world. Wine and cheese seemed to produce a great marriage of tastes as well. And now I’m seeing home goods manufacturers pairing up to help you with your interior decorating. It was inevitable that creative forces would merge their talents and products to give consumers a fresh new take on design.
That’s exactly why Robert Allen fabrics and Sherwin-Williams Paints teamed up. The Robert Allen group is a leading designer and marketer of decorative fabrics to the design trade. As of May of this year, they are featuring a suggested palette of wall colors (from Sherwin-Williams) to be included in their fabric collection sample books. What a brilliant, useful combination of products! Individually, these companies are leaders in color trends. Together, their collaboration on trends and colors is going to be a great asset for designers as well as consumers. For professional designers, it’s a time saver to have two key elements of a potential design specified together. For consumers, it takes some of the guesswork out of matching and coordinating color. Designers make color coordination look like an easy task, but it takes a well-trained professional to put colors and patterns together successfully. Having some of the color coordination already done is a great benefit. You can have a sneak peek at these beautiful color and fabric combo cards at sherwin-williams.com/robertallen.
Wouldn’t it be nice if floor covering manufacturers would offer a similar collaboration on interior products? Well they have. Shaw/Tuftex and Anderson Hardwood have announced the launch of a novel dual-display system—the Color Coordinates display. The concept is brilliant as consumers are able to visualize carpet and hardwood floor coordinates side-by-side, all put together by professional designers. Choosing floor coverings is important. It’s the foundation for your whole design and a big investment as well. So many consumers put off new floor covering choices because they don’t want to make a mistake. They can’t afford to make a mistake in this area, so sometimes years go by and they still haven’t gotten the new floor coverings they really want. Well now some of the guesswork is taken out of the equation for you. Remember, these carpet and hardwood combinations were put together by designers, so you know they work–not only in the showroom–but in your home! Look for a Shaw Design Center Retailer in your area to see this very helpful selection system.
Well that’s the scoop on some pretty interesting new “marriages”. These intriguing collaborations are just the start of more to come. Manufacturers want to showcase their products in the best way possible, and make coordination and selection easier for the consumer. I believe we will see a multitude of product manufacturers merging their creative talents to bring the best of product and color harmonies directly to you in the future.
For more information on flooring visit the World Floor Covering Association’s Consumer Carpet & Flooring Guide.
If you are old enough to remember the ‘70’s then I know you are familiar with shag carpet. Ugh! But wait a minute—maybe not “ugh”. History always has lessons for us to learn, and carpet history is no exception. It has taught us to refashion worthy design elements from the past into contemporary winners.