Candice Olson Draws Record Crowd to World Market Center Seminar

Furniture World Magazine

One of North America’s leading professional interior designers, Candice Olson, treated Las Vegas Market attendees to a seminar on January 30, 2007 to kick off the Market’s temporary exhibits at Cashman Center. The seminar, “Candice Olson on Design,” drew a record crowd and Olson received a standing ovation. Olson hosts Divine Design with Candice Olson on HGTV and is one of North America’s most trusted and gifted professionals in the interior design and media fields. She also writes a weekly newspaper column that is published in more than 400 newspapers through United Feature Syndicate. Among the highlights of the colorful talk, Olson spoke about focal points, contrast, dealing with clutter and other decorating dilemmas. She also showed dramatic before-and-after room makeovers and participated in a post-presentation book signing. Kitchens are the epicenter of many homes, and top on many wish lists is to open the kitchen up to the rest of the home. Olson showed examples of knocking down walls and adding storage spaces, matching finishes between a kitchen and a family room. Reclaiming previously unused space is another desire mentioned by many a client. One client wanted to set up a family room on the top floor of their home that also functions as a media center, kids’ storage, home office and guest bedroom. Olson designed two twin beds made up as sofas. She transformed a garden shed into an all season guest house, complete with a platform deck. And a garage now serves as a private bedroom for a client’s adult daughter. Focal Point The focal point is the area of the room that grabs attention. The entire planning and design may center around the focal point, such as a piece of furniture, an architectural element or even a view. Olson said a challenge for designers is working a functional focal point, such as a television, into a room design so that it looks beautiful and is also functional. She added that modern technology makes it easier for designers to work with focal points and showed an example of a television she incorporated into a footboard on a bed, complete with a hydraulic lift. Olson also showed examples of turning eyesore focal points into showpieces, which she did in a 1960s rec room. Contrast With A Kick Contrast, be it an accent color or texture, brings a room to life and adds soul. Olson’s work includes pairing the rough texture of a wall with sleek cabinetry. She said enjoys combining natural materials and man-made materials and blending patterns with solids. She once paired an antique floor mirror and traditional furniture with rustic barstools. Another client wanted an Asian influenced look that was not cold and sterile. Bathrooms are a great example of contrasts at work, Olson said. Natural woods contrasted with mosaic tiles provided a nice contrast to chrome and porcelain in one of her recent projects. A highlight of Olson’s designs includes incorporating an unexpected touch, like she did by adding a modern chandelier in a French Country dining room. Conquering Clutter Cluttered rooms present a decorating challenge. Cluttered rooms look chaotic, so the decorator needs to organize containing and holding items in architectural storage components that blend well with the design. Olson showed examples of bedrooms, playrooms, multi-purpose basements and even a room that she designed as a home office, media room, playroom and wood shop. Olson’s secrets include dividing areas into zones. To hide the workshop from the living area, she used a series of vertical blinds and featured art work on sliding steel cables. There is also visual clutter, including an eye-catching example of a kitchen with dated wallpaper and stripes in an attic bedroom. In both cases, a little paint eliminated chaos, made a big difference and gave the rooms what Olson called “a new lease on life.” Illuminating the Details With Color & Light Olson spoke of a kitchen she helped transport with paint, a stainless steel countertop and trim that lent the illusion of custom cabinetry. One of her clients with a small budget wanted a bright, sun-filled basement in a room that had no windows. The solution? Paint. Lighting is another trick that helps showcase decorating successes. Positioning is key in the overall lighting plan, whether it involves lamps, overhead lights or recessed lighting. “Without a good lighting plan, money is wasted.” For bathrooms, Olson favors soft, diffused lighting at eye level while in a media room the goal is to avoid the glare off of a big screen television. For a counter, tasks lights are key. Olson answered audience questions about her own home and her use of renderings for projects. At the Las Vegas Market, Candice Olson product can be found at AF Lighting, showroom A406; Norwalk Furniture, showroom A-225; and Hellenic Rug Imports, Pavilion One, space 1400. Other licensing agreements include: Fabrics, Kravet Portfolio Collection; and home textiles, JLA Home. Dana Pretner Andrew, Director of Marketing and Public Relations for World Market Center, praised Olson after the seminar for donating her $7,500 speaker’s fee to the Withit Scholarship Foundation, which is dedicated to the support and development of female professionals in the home industries. Olsen said, “As a graduate of the School of Interior Design at Ryerson University and now a product designer, I greatly value education and professional training in our field. I am supporting WithIt’s Scholarship Fund because I believe in encouraging and developing the future leaders of our industry.” WithIt scholarships recognize the academic endeavors of college students enrolled full-time in fields of study that would logically lead to careers in the home furnishings industry. Selection is based on grade point average, SAT/ACT scores and curriculum as well as an essay, references and a statement of personal goals. Special emphasis is placed on involvement in extracurricular activities and the community. Financial need may be considered. The Winter 2007 Market runs through Februray 2, 2007. The Summer 2007 Market is scheduled for July 30-August 3, 2007 at World Market Center Buildings A and B and Pavilions and July 31-August 2 at Sands Expo Center. World Market Center is an integrated home and hospitality contract furnishings showroom and convention complex in Las Vegas . When fully built, at 12 million square feet in 8 buildings, World Market Center will be the largest trade show complex in the world. The 12 million-square-foot campus will be completed by 2013 and will showcase furniture, decorative accessories, lighting, area rugs, home textile and related segments, as well as the Las Vegas Design Center (LVDC) open year-round to the trade. The second building opened January 29 and officials are now leasing the third building to a broad cross-section of the home furnishings industry. For more information on Las Vegas Market, and to find out about leasing or exhibiting opportunities, visit the website or call 888-WMC-SHOW (962-7469).