Recession-proofing the home furnishings market

You’d have to be a fool to assume that the recent recession hasn’t had a major impact on the home furnishings and furniture markets, and for retailers to make a come back successfully after the drain on our finances it’s apparent that a “business as usual” attitude will find them quickly sinking instead of swimming afloat.

Looking at the US Department of Commerce’s stats it’s easy to see that recession-scarred customers are withholding approximately 13% of previous years’ home furnishings and furniture retail sales from businesses and keeping the pennies where they’re needed most – in their wallet.

Clearly consumers have altered their financial priorities, a downturn anticipated as far back as the middle of 2007. Strong businesses have stayed the course but it won’t be long before their luck runs out, or rather their financial reserves.

The stats are echoed by revelations that the average amount spent by affluent households on luxury furniture, rugs and other furnishings is down 7.3% from the previous year.

Savvy retailers will recognise that the way to stay afloat in the coming months will be by focusing on the motivating factors for consumers and intelligently strategising their business rather than banking on a new product line to secure their imminent future.

It won’t hurt that Christmas is around the corner, but a key trend will inevitably emerge of “better to do one thing very well than many things badly”, and retailers concentrating on and reinforcing their existing assets should prosper in the face of this economic downturn.

Source

Tit for tat(too) over a table…

This picture perfect wooden table has been digitally printed to resemble the traditional style of Japanese tattoo artists.
Created from natural grain wood, the unique tattoo surface print manipulates the wooden texture as a natural skin form and catapults this home furnishing into a real statement piece.

Due to the digital nature of the printing technique, each print can be individualised, becoming a unique expression of the owner as an ordinary tattoo would.

The Yakuza coffee table begs to live in your lounge bringing the character and gravitas you might imagine a conceptual item referential to Japanese culture might command.

Prices for the pieces are available on request from Generate Design, who will happily ship this rock steady objet d’art for free in the US, Europe and Canada. Nice.

In its design, the table is treated as a living body and receives its character from a unique tattoo printed on its surface.

The wood texture acts as skin, becoming a platform for expressing a strong cultural and personal identity.

Best for unique home furnishings online: etsy.com

We reckon we’ve found the ultimate in stylish home furnishings. Ladies and gentlemen, may we present Etsy.

A site dedicated to selling bespoke artisan pieces from across the globe, this site is the Amazon equivalent for the artsy among us. They list a million new products each month!

Pick uniquely designed pieces from your local area, or choose something from another continent with the location finder; alternatively, and this is our favourite find, use the colour picker to select items to fill your home with according to specific colour themes.


Just drag your mouse around the screen until you find the exact shade you’re looking for, and click!

Magically it matches the shade to images of products within the site and does the hard work for you.

We like. A lot.