'Is It Home Yet?' First-Ever National Home Furnishings Month Encourages Families to Reconnect With Home

Furniture World Magazine

There's no better time to bring joy and comfort home, as September marks the first "National Home Furnishings Month" and launch of www.homeyet.com, World Market Center Las Vegas, the home furnishings industry's leading marketplace, is bringing together designers, retailers and industry leaders to show consumers how they can make a few minor changes and fall in love with their homes all over again. To kick off National Home Furnishings Month, interior designer and lifestyle expert Monica Pedersen, most notable as a designer on HGTV's "Designed to Sell" and featured in many national magazines, newspapers and TV segments, will be offering her personal design tips to help consumers recreate and redecorate their homes in a whole new way. Whether big or small improvements, Pedersen will share her ideas on how to update your home furnishings and make it a bigger part of your everyday lifestyle. "National Home Furnishings Month is such a huge and wonderful initiative and I am thrilled to be involved with it. This is especially close to my heart because it celebrates what I love most - home furnishings!" said Pedersen. "My home is a very special place to me and I want to help others make their homes a unique and warm place for them and their families to spend time together in." The nation-wide event offers a chance to win a room makeover and receive home makeover tips and trend information from top designers in the industry, plus take advantage of sales and promotions at retailers across the country. National Home Furnishings Month is the first event that's part of the new, industry-wide campaign, "Is It Home Yet?" designed to illustrate the special connections people have with their homes and demonstrate the way those connections can be further enhanced by home decor and furnishings. "National Home Furnishings Month is dedicated to celebrating the very ideal of 'home' and showing people that you can reinvent where you live by adding new home furnishings," said Bob Maricich, president and CEO of World Market Center Las Vegas. "The idea of refreshing one's environment, even in the smallest ways, can have a restorative power and transform a house to a home. And, since the home is a place for family to celebrate life events, there is also a very powerful emotional return on this kind of investment." Now, consumers have the tools they need to get energized and inspired about their new visions for making their house a home again. Launching today to support this new campaign and celebrate National Home Furnishings Month is homeyet.com, which features new ideas for home trends and a chance to win a room makeover. Throughout the month of September, five lucky winners will be awarded weekly with a $5,000 cash prize. There will also be a 10-day industry-wide event, September 19 through 27, with in-store promotions and sales events offered at retailers throughout the country. Consumers can also quickly locate stores near them with the on-line Store Locator tool. There's No Place Like Home In today's unpredictable economy, experts say there has been a recent cultural shift from house "flipping" to "nesting," and "staycations" are more prevalent now than ever before. Because families are spending more time at home, they want to enjoy the time they spend there, so they are refocusing their attention to how they can refresh their home environment - even in the smallest ways. It is important to recognize that it's the littlest things that matter when you're making enhancements to your home. Simple touches of a new sofa or end table, rug or even a decorative lamp shade will create a different look and feel to a room or space. This is a small lifestyle change, and not an unobtainable luxury. With sales events that are part of National Home Furnishings Month, consumers have even more of a reason to recreate and refresh their homes. Here are some quick, yet stylish suggestions home furnishings industry experts* have put together on how to rejuvenate your home: Calm Yourself Living with a neutral interior palette is like being enveloped by a cloud. Get the look by blanketing rooms in the softest neutral shades: cream, mocha and, most especially (and perhaps surprisingly), gray. A dash of a neutral metallic accent, such as silver, adds a welcome sparkle and resembles sunlight peeking through the clouds. Distressed to Impress Modern Country is ageless and exudes a comforting charm that takes imperfection to new heights. Natural finishes, heavily distressed surfaces, reclaimed woods, rattan, wicker and other natural textures are livable finishes for busy families. And the look fits farmhouse style or urban loft with equal ease. Ethnic Inspiration Far-reaching global influences are no longer far flung. Ethnic-inspired fabrics are turning up all over in American homes. The organic patterns, vibrant color palettes and handcrafted looks create an aura of sophisticated warmth. What to look for: motifs inspired by traditional African design; susani patterns from Central Asia; ikats and batiks from Indonesia; and handblocked woodprints from India. Power Play Smaller footprint, lighter weight and better performance are important purchase considerations when buying a new laptop. The same things matter when buying home office furniture. As laptops have become the most popular home computing choice among consumers, so, too, have writing tables and petite desks moved to the fore. Unlike their executive suite predecessors, these modestly scaled workstations don't take up an entire room. Instead, they slip easily into most interiors, providing needed workspace without taking up too much space - or too much money. Seeing Black and White The go-to item in your closet may be the little black (or white, depending on season) dress. In home furnishings, it's the combination of the two that offers the most impact. It's twice the look in one great product, and it never goes out of style. Consider making a statement with a black and white combo in bedding ensembles, window treatments, wallpaper or upholstery fabric. About World Market Center Las Vegas World Market Center Las Vegas is an integrated home and hospitality contract furnishings showroom and trade complex. The state-of-the-art campus showcases furniture, decorative accessories, gift, lighting, area rugs, home textiles and related segments, as well as the Las Vegas Design Center (LVDC), now open daily to consumers along with their designers. World Market Center currently hosts the preeminent Las Vegas Market(SM) biannually in February and September. And in February 2010 World Market Center will debut InspireDesign(TM) for manufacturers and companies serving the hospitality design marketplace. The Gift + Home(TM) show launches in June 2010, catering to the gift, decorative accessory and seasonal industries. For more information on World Market Center Las Vegas, visit www.LasVegasMarket.com. Find us on Facebook and Twitter.