Posted by Caren – October 10, 2007 5:10 PM
Tags: british, furniture, high point furniture, infm

Guest Blogger: Jennifer Sergent, editor-in-chief, HGTV Ideas magazine

There's something comforting about returning to one's roots. It grounds us, makes us feel safe. Perhaps these days, with war and chaos all around, we need to remember better times. This sentiment must have been on the minds of furniture designers over the past year, because several of them introduced collections at the International Home Furnishings Market in High Point, N.C., last week that hearken back to old England.

Laneventure president Arthur Thompson literally returned to his roots with the Leeds Castle collection. He has relatives in England, and when he took his family there last year, they visited Leeds Castle during their trip. He was taken with all the shapes and patterns to be found on the castle grounds and in its furniture. He sent his design team back there, and the Leeds Castle collection, which will hit stores next spring, is the result.

The Eleanor End Table (top) was inspired from an antique English tea table at the castle. You can send in your own tapestry to be displayed under the glass top. Suggested retail: $1,089. The Fairfax Game Table (bottom) was inspired by a cocktail table found at the castle. The hand painted design makes reference to the castle's aviary, which houses many endangered species of birds. Suggested retail: $1,529.

The Manor Bookcase is the progeny of one found in the castle's Yellow Drawing room, but updated for today's use: It has a lift inside for the flat screen TV. Suggested retail: $5,489.

The Leeds Collection also has outdoor offerings. The round teak dining table has scrolled legs inspired by furniture inside the castle, and the curved benches, with clover-shaped detail in the back, also came from shapes found at the castle. Suggested retail: $2,849-$5,049 for the table, depending on size, and $4,389 for one bench.

The metalwork on the Conversation Cocktail table and Rocker Lounge chairs is a reference to an ornate heat register at Leeds. Suggested retail: $1,089 for the table and $1,749 for each chair.

Mariette Hines Gomez, a noted designer for Hickory Chair (left), had a similarly personal experience in the U.K. While shopping in London, she came across a sofa she liked so much that it became her muse for the Elinor Sofa. And under a new Made to Measure program at Hickory Chair, the Elinor can be expanded or shortened to your desire. Retail price was not available.

C.R. Laine (right), meanwhile, makes reference to the flower gardens of Staffordshire, England with its Charm Chair, upholstered with its "Garden Party" fabric that is hand-stitched crewel. Suggested Retail: $1,566.

Designer Lillian August called this year's collection for Drexel Heritage "The Spirit of English Fashion." While she designed her upholstered pieces, she said, "I felt the spirit of classic English tailoring, and I love where it took me... down a lovely road of tweeds and herringbone, soft velvets and creamy silks." Photography for those sofas and chairs is not yet available, but her Dynasty Console — sporting a Chinoiserie style similar to pieces in Laneventure's Leeds Castle collection, is shown here. Retail price was not yet available.

Stanley Furniture was inspired by English-influenced colonial designs with its American Perspective collection. It "will appeal both to those who are looking for honest furniture with a reference to the past and those who have an appreciation for antiques," the press release said.

Prices for furniture shown above:
Apothecary Hall Chest: $1,099
Emerson Roll Top Desk: $999
Canopy Poster Bed (Queen size): $1,999
Simplicity Leg Table: $1,599
Ladder back side chair: $349
Ladder back arm chair: $499
Windsor bench: $899