Sharon Lord - Argent Decor - AZ Vacation Home Furnishing Service

While most of the US is still under the icy grips of winter, we here in Phoenix are delightfully basking in the best time of the year here!

This is a photo from our trip yesterday to Lowe's in Scottsdale - even though we don't NEED any more plants, I couldn't resist and picked up a few more flowering annuals.

I'm guessing not many other locales have this much color in their garden section yet...! One more reason why living in the Valley of the Sun ROCKS!

SRP (Salt River Project - a local electric company) pledged to plant 1,000 ponderosa pine seedlings for every AZ Cardinals touchdown scored Nov 20 - Jan 1.

As a result, SRP will fund the planting of 14,000 trees in the Apache-Sitgreaves and Coconino National Forests burned by wildfires!

You can help revitalize Arizona forests by signing up for SRP's "Trees for Change" program - if you contribute an additional $3 or more on your monthly bill, SRP will match each dollar up to $16,000 annually, with 100% of the funds used to plant trees.

PRETTY COOL!

Sign up or learn more at http://www.srpnet.com/trees or call 602-236-4425.

As promised a few days ago in my Furniture Market Trends 2012 blog, here are a few of my favorite new items that were showcased!

Last Market, we saw an occasional table set from Homelegance with THIS top to the tables! (The coffee table is shown). It's a dark wood frame with inset, staggered acacia wood blocks, and a center contrasting block, all under glass.

It's been a VERY popular collection, so they have now put a dining table that matches into production!

I love this top, as it is so unique yet can work in many different applications.

This new bedroom set from Artisan Furniture proves that you can be "Rustic" or "Southwest" style furniture without being the expected natural pine finish!

Made of mangowood solids and birch veneers, the set boasts underbed storage (who DOESN'T want more storage...?!?!) and custom forged iron pulls.

Made of solid pine and birch veneers, this console table is FULL of character! It's a knockoff of a much, MUCH more expensive furniture line's piece. Note that the "X" detail carries over to the sides of the piece, as well!

It's something different than what you would normally see in a console table, yet still timeless and classic in design.

Klaussner Furniture showed this sofa in a light tan fabric at Market, and it was AMAZING! Not as much my flavor in the gray fabric. Button-tufted, classic shape and sooooo comfortable!

Klaussner allows you to pick from 400+ swatches and custom-build your sofa - it takes about 6-8 weeks to produce. This one runs from $730+ depending on fabric selected.

In response to Serta's best-selling iComfort mattress, which combines the comfort of Memory Foam with a layer of cooling gel, nearly all mattress lines released a knockoff. We checked at least half a dozen, and our favorite for specs AND cost is from Ashley Furniture!

The iAshley mattress comes in 8", 10", 12" and 14" heights.

An 8" iAshley Queen Mattress runs about $1200, and should be available in a few weeks!

One of the only complaints with Memory Foam mattresses is that they tend to retain heat for "hot" sleepers. Problem...? SOLVED!

That's just a small sample of what we viewed at Market - all items are available for us to order, so if something caught your eye, please let me know!

We survived another Furniture Market in Las Vegas this week - just barely! 5.2 MILLION square feet of new releases!

As promised, here is my report on Furniture and Home Decor trends we saw at the Market - if you haven't seen these yet, you will!

TREND #1: Reclaimed Wood Furniture

We have seen reclaimed wood furniture for a few Markets now - only it's being mainstreamed and cleaned up!

Common lines such as Coaster Furniture and Ashley Furniture have now released their versions - the wood is not reclaimed - or solid wood - but they are replicating the grains, wear, and hardwear - casters on legs, lots of metal work, etc. This makes it more accessible for the masses, both in price, and in look - some buyers wanted the pieces to be not quite so rustic!

TREND #2: Industrial-feel Furniture

This was REALLY popular! Almost every line was showing pieces with metal detailings, rivets, and casters!

TREND 3: Printed Scripts

We have been seeing printed scripts on accent pillows and other small pieces, but this Market, we saw it on FULL pieces! Sofas, chairs, buffets, you name it!

The same can be said for numbering - we viewed a lot of chests and other case goods with numbered drawers, kind of tying in the printed scripts with the Industrial trend.

TREND 4: The Popular Colors This Season Are....

Peacock and Purple.

Not very manly, I know, but we saw it EVERYWHERE - bolder tones of lilac and peacock blue, which I've already seen in stores here.

This photo also shows some of the Script Print mentioned above!

Furniture Market is always an adventure for us - we get to see the more, uh, "flamboyant" pieces than we normally use in our installs. For our Vacation Home Furnishing Packages, we focus on timeless, classic pieces in 5 different styles. Of course, we can always customize, but the majority of our clients aren't interested in the trends, they want something that will stand the test of time!

Stay tuned for a blog on my PERSONAL favorite new releases, coming soon...!

We just keep on getting contracts on the vacant homes we stage!

A home we staged "decor only" on Wednesday sold in 1 Day on the Market!!!

Buyers have a hard time visualizing space without depth; adding color and some decor has a HUGE impact on their perception of a home! Warm colors are welcoming, too - resulting in a much better feel to a home, versus sterile, blank walls.

Having a fantastic photographer shoot the home helps a ton, too! (Unless you have an awesome camera and know how to use it!)