Our showroom buyer and store manager, Diane Curtindale just returned from the High Point Furniture Market in North Carolina last week. She brought back one of their trade magazines: Home Fashion Forecast. There’s a section in there called “Style Points” and is something we’d like to share with you here.

The full article is focused on the 3 most important spaces that mean the most to homeowners…and their headline reads:

“Stylish and innovative new products continue to functionally and visually enhance the spaces that mean the most to homeowners—the kitchen, the bath and the outdoor room.”

stand & deliver

Just as designer accessories can take an ensemble from so-so to striking, innovative faucets can turn an ordinary bathroom into a sophistictaes retreat. Take Gaff’s floor-mounted tub fillers (above) for instance. Recent additions to the company’s most popular bath collections, the exposed units stand next to the bath tub, gently delivering water over its sides. A hand-held shower adds functionality and luxury, as do coordinating accessories. Styles range from traditional to contemporary. Click here for Graff’s website and collection of stylish fixtures for the bathroom and kitchen.

Cathers Home, Interior Design Aspen is Aspen and the Roaring Fork Valley’s premier Interior Design Firm. Our professional and highly experienced interior designers provide exceptional interior decorating and home interior design services to our discerning clientele in Aspen’s Roaring Fork Valley.

If you are in need of residential interior design or commercial interior design, our interior design and decorator services are available to residents of Glenwood Springs, Carbondale, Basalt, Snowmass and Aspen, Colorado and beyond. Click here to see a list of some of our Interior Design projects and links to our interior design portfolio.

Call Us Today! 970.927.6556

The full article is focused on the 3 most important spaces that mean the most to homeowners…and their headline reads:

“Stylish and innovative new products continue to functionally and visually enhance the spaces that mean the most to homeowners—the kitchen, the bath and the outdoor room.”

Today we are going to share with you some style points for the bath…and if you did not know this, Cathers Home offers full service interior designs with a staff of professional and accredited interior designers that can remodel or plan for a new bathroom from head to toe. And if you hire us for your bathroom remodel or new design, we have access to all the manufacturers and suppliers that you may be interested in incorporating into your new bathroom design.

as you like it

Anyone’s who’s ever remodeled a bathroom knows the process can be a lengthy and expensive, especially when custom cabinetry comes into play. The Porcher Solutions Collection from Porcher offers a group of coordinating, modular fixtures and furnishings that can be mixed and matched in an endless array of configurations. The collection features pedestal, wall mounted and counter-top lavatories; floor standing and wall-mounted vanities and cabinets; and a mirror-all in a variety of sizes and finishes.

Cathers Home, Interior Design Aspen is Aspen and the Roaring Fork Valley’s premier Interior Design Firm. Our professional and highly experienced interior designers provide exceptional interior decorating and home interior design services to our discerning clientele in  Aspen’s Roaring Fork Valley.

If you are in need of residential interior design or commercial interior design, our interior design and decorator services are available to residents of Glenwood Springs, Carbondale, Basalt, Snowmass and Aspen, Colorado and beyond. Click here to see a list of some of our Interior Design projects and links to our interior design portfolio.

Call Us Today! 970.927.6556

The reason we bring this up to you now is because they are offering a new “shelter” magazine specifically for the individual consumer. We love our trade magazine so much we thought we’d like to recommend this one to you!

Here’s the scoop:
Furnish consumer magazine coming in May
New product will debut on newstands this spring
Home Accents Today Staff — Home Accents Today, 3/10/2011 11:10:29 AM

Furnish, the Ultimate Home Furnishings Buyer’s Guide, a newsstand magazine for consumers, will be launched this May by Sandow Media, parent company to Home Accents Today.

The emphasis in the new publication will be all about products, differentiating it from other consumer shelter magazines that focus more on decorating and interior design. It will be produced by the staffs of the Sandow Furniture Today Group, including Furniture/Today, Home Accents Today, Home Textiles Today and Casual Living, editorial specialists in home furnishings products.

“Furnish is an unprecedented way for home furnishings companies to cost-effectively connect with consumers,” said Kevin Castellani, vice president and publishing director for the group. “Furnish will have a circulation of 160,000, distributed at newsstands and book stores across the country.”

Sections in the magazine will be devoted to individual product classifications, taking a lifestyle approach to the categories, and include: Sit, Sleep, Lounge, Eat & Drink, Work, Entertain, Grow & Play, See, Feel, Relax and Embellish.

The magazine will also feature a section on home product trends for summer and fall, as well as consumer buying tips to help shoppers make informed purchasing decisions.

More information on Furnish is available by contacting Janice Lassiter, associate publisher, at jlassiter@homeaccentstoday.com

Cathers Home is one of the Aspen area’s  premier furniture stores. Cathers  Home  provides superior quality home interiors and serves discerning homeowners in this magnificent resort mountain community in the Roaring Fork Valley of Colorado.

Stop by today to see our beautiful selection of home accents that truly make a house a home.

If you’ve never been to a design related trade show…check out the excitement on the show floor by viewing their onsite video:

So the Coverings Tradeshow in Las Vegas is billed as the ultimate stone and tile experience—1000+ exhibitors from 50+ countries—according to our designers, Amanda Kurz and Monioque Vidal, the show delivered. It’s no wonder people and interior designers in particular go goofy over this stuff!

According to the writer at Fresh Home , there are five trends or innovations that she found fascinating:

High Resolution Ceramic Tile

1. Amazing ink jet technology that produces high-definition porcelain and ceramic tile meant to mimic the look of natural stone or well-worn wood. Companies like Florida Tile have elevated this to an art form. And the glazing technology is amazing, too! With it, they can, quite convincingly, achieve the sophisticated look of polished marble.

 

2. The resurgence of glass. Now made in almost any thickness, hue, size or shape imaginable, there’s a new standard in glass. It’s stronger and can be used for countertops, partition panels and even benches, much like the one I snapped at the Interstyle Ceramic and Glass booth. And don’t you just love their ripple glass? It’s available in 40+ colors, and you’d swear water flows over its surface. Stunning.

 

3. Twisted tile. And bent…and stretched…and weaved together. Tile is being manipulated any which way, and the results are drool worthy. Cover an entire wall or add a simple strip to up the visual ante. Love the Evolution collection from Apavisa with all its texture and dark, sexy color.

 

4. Media mash-ups are hot. Glass + metal + mirror + ceramic = hello, gorgeous. And, believe it or not, so is graffiti! Artfully done via ink jet technology, it’s the epitome of urban chic.

 

5. Thin is in. We saw it everywhere! 3.5mm-thick porcelain tiles in large, impressive formats. Use them on walls, on floors, on counters. Easy to handle and cut (so perfect for curvy areas), installation is a breeze. And because it’s low profile, it can go right over an existing floor. Plus, it’s considered eco-friendly because thin tiles are made with less material than traditional tiles and are lighter to transport.

View a selection of new tiles debuting at the Coverings Show:



Click on “Play” button to start the slide show.

Textured Fabrics by Pindler & Pindler

Cathers Home interior design firm and upscale furniture store just outside of Aspen, CO is on top of many of the interior design, color, and furniture trends in the industry. Much of this information is provided to us by the producers of the High Point Furniture Market. This week’s blog is focused on trends in fabrics used for furniture manufacturing. So, manufacturers of sofas, love-seats, occasional chairs, upholstered dining chairs, ottomans, etc would be interested in the designer fabric trends, trends that presumably would filter down to the individual home owner and interior designer.

The following information was provided by the High Point Furniture Market website, click here.

Here’s the scoop:

Texture is Key at Showtime

It was all about texture, pattern, and color at this week’s Showtime trade show in High Point. The largest textile trade show gives us a sneak peek of key looks we’ll see at the April High Point Market, with upholstery manufacturers shopping Showtime for fabrics to use on future introductions.

Key trends at Showtime:

Feather-Embellished Embossed Leather

Amazing textures from crewel to burnout velvets, embossed leathers to embellished linens. Standouts include heavy crewel patterns from MDS; feather-embellished leather from Conceria Kara SRL; laser-cut leather over suede, crewel on leather, and lace-embossed leather at S&D Fine Upholstery Leather; burnout velvets from Nipkow & Kobalt and Home Secrets; and gingko leaf embellishments at Ava Textiles.

Color was key, but only a few had eye-popping brights. Most colors were greyed or muted tones, like the lilacs and lovely greens at Claridge Textiles*. Pale corals and melons were also key, seen at Atretis and Home Accents Fabrics. And blues ran the spectrum from cerulean to robin’s egg, as on fabrics from Michael Jon Designs and Eroica.

Pattern play was in the spotlight, including whimsical takes like the fun roosters and lock-and-key designs at Premier Prints. There was also a return to classics, such as Greek keys, wrought iron-looks, and a honeycomb pattern at Atretis. In animal prints, leopard and giraffe seem to be the next pattern of choice, seen in several colors at Wipelli.

Fabrics with a Sheen by Pindler & Pindler

Sheen ran the gamut from straight-up shiny like the lamé-look leather at Conceria Kara SRL to the subtle shine on fabrics at LTM Textile Resources.

Finally, the eco story continues to be told in more showrooms. Lovely eco-linens were seen at Libeco and the sustainable eHome fabrics made an impression at Victor Group. And vintage maps and theater posters printed on fabric were fun departures from the norm, at Blue Moon Printworks.

For more information on Showtime and the next edition in June 2011, go to

itma-showtime.com.

Stop by Cathers Home Interior Design Firm or Upscale Home Furniture Store today. Tell us about the color trends or color moods that suit you. We can show you examples of some of the color trends in our extensive library of designer fabrics or in our extensive library of catalogs for furniture, upholstery, home accessories, lighting, lamps, rugs, you name it…we have it!

Call us today at 970.927.6556!

High Point Color Trends

Cathers Home Interior Design Firm and upscale furniture store in Basalt, CO (just outside of Aspen) keeps abreast of color trends for interior design and furniture while visiting the twice yearly High Point Furniture Market. Though the following video was for the Fall 2010 furniture market, the information is still fresh and relevant as the furniture industry is not as agile as the fashion clothing industry. Color trends tend to last longer and hold stronger for home fashions and interiors than they do for clothing.

The High Point Market is the home furnishings industry’s Fashion Week, offering the latest looks and newest trends for home fashions. At the October Market, exhibitors showed themselves to be in a Comfort Mood, with styles making a nostalgic statement and ranging from Heritage Americana to Preppy to Vintage.

Color also made a strong showing, with bright pops mixing into neutrals and grays. Top color choices included turquoise, lime green, chartreuse, and mid-range pinks. Following is a video representing the color trends and mood in the furniture manufacturing and design industry.

Stop by Cathers Home Interior Design Firm or Upscale Home Furniture Store today. Tell us about the color trends or color moods that suit you. We can show you examples of some of the color trends in our extensive library of designer fabrics or in our extensive library of catalogs for furniture, upholstery, home accessories, lighting, lamps, rugs, you name it…we have it!

Call us today at 970.927.6556!

The High Point Market is the world’s runway for home fashions, interior design and furniture trends. With only one month to New York’s Fashion Week, the Market’s Trend Snapshot showcases how the hottest styles from the catwalk translate into home furnishings.

First up are three retro looks that have been all the rage on the runways and are now providing inspiration for interior design trends, haute couture home and designer furniture trends.

Come visit Cathers Home on your next trip to the area. Our furniture store buyers and interior designers are up to date on the most recent interior design trends and furniture trends for the upscale homes and clients we serve here. We’re happy to show you around and welcome you to Aspen and the Roaring Fork Valley.

Cathers Home furniture stores and rug galleries have been serving Aspen, Snowmass, Basalt, Carbondale, Glenwood Springs and all of the Roaring Fork Valley in Colorado for more than 10 years. Come see why or call us today at 970.927.9393!

Defying the national housing slump, Aspen’s prices are rising. Why the glitzy ski enclave is outpacing the Hamptons, Beverly Hills and Palm Beach.

By NANCY KEATES

Aspen, Colo.

The lowest-priced single-family home on the market in Aspen is listed for $559,000. It’s located in a trailer park.

Click here to view the Wall Street Journal Aspen real estate sideshow

Love to ski and have $48.5 million burning a hole in your pocket? Then a fabulous mansion in Aspen adjacent to the ski slopes that just hit the market might be perfect for you. Candace Jackson has details.

While most housing markets in the rest of the country continue to struggle with anemic demand and foreclosures—and sales at many other luxury ski resorts are still sluggish—Aspen has forged its own orbit. The average home price in this mountain town has increased over the past four years, to $6 million in 2010 from $5.4 million in 2006, according to multiple-listings data. The median price for single-family homes is now the highest in the country at $4.6 million, says San Francisco-based Altos Research, surpassing the Hamptons, Beverly Hills and Palm Beach.

Sales of luxury Aspen estates—the sorts of over-the-top places with leather walls and outdoor heated infinity pools—have remained remarkably healthy, thanks in part to foreign buyers. Of the 25 real-estate transactions recorded by Pitkin County for the week of Jan. 19 to 25, five were buyers from abroad, including three Australians and people from Turkey and Hong Kong.

Photos: In Aspen, the Sky’s the Limit

View Slideshow

Last month, a home in the Maroon Creek neighborhood with an indoor heated swimming pool, basketball court and outdoor hot tub overlooking a waterfall sold for $13 million. The buyer was Russian Alexander Zanadvorov, the 40-year-old owner of Sedmoi Kontinent, a chain of supermarkets.

With celebrity regulars like Lance Armstrong and Goldie Hawn, Aspen is an anointed stop on the international jet-set circuit, a place where the wealthy come to play and spend. Increasingly, they’re putting down roots there.

“Aspen is like a small Manhattan,” says Altunc Kumova, a financial services executive from Istanbul, Turkey, who bought a fractional condo at The Little Nell in January. “You can find almost all upscale brands for shopping and restaurants are excellent. Après-ski in Aspen is very glamorous.”

Shawn O’Connor for the Wall Street Journal

Downtown Aspen, Co

Last year, hedge-fund titan John Paulson paid $24.5 million for a 13,000-square-foot estate with a sandy beach, surrounding ponds, a 35-foot-wall of disappearing glass, views of the four ski mountains and a media room with leather seats. Chris Reyes of Chicago-based food and beer distributor Reyes Holdings paid $31.5 million for a 15,000-square-foot stone mansion with a gym, panoramic views, a caretaker’s apartment and an eight-stall horse stable. According to public records, Paul Edgerley, a managing director of Bain Capital, bought an estate in the exclusive community of Starwood a couple of weeks ago. The estate sold for $19.8 million after less than three months on the market, says listing agent Brian Hazen.

A 90-acre Aspen estate just went on the market for $48.5 million, listed by Joshua Saslove of Joshua & Co. Known as Jigsaw Ranch, it includes two main houses, a guest house and a log cabin gatehouse. The 21,000-square-foot main house took nearly 15 years to complete and was designed to look like a perched village. The second main house is 11,000 square feet and has an entrance reached from a walking bridge across a creek.

Aspen hasn’t missed the housing bust altogether: The number of homes sold last year was about half the level of 2006, and there have been foreclosures and notable fire sales, according to Mason Morse broker Tim Estin, who writes a regular economic analysis called the Estin Report. One house that sold for $16 million on Feb. 15, for example, was originally listed for $32 million.

Overall, though, recent signs have been promising. After a few rough years of declines, residential sales in Aspen grew 17% in gross dollar volume last year from 2009 and 23% in sales; there have been seven sales over $10 million in the past two months alone, says Andrew Ernemann of real-estate agency BJ Adams & Co. Last March, a 1,122-square-foot “quaint Victorian” two-bedroom shack on Main Street sold for $1 million.

Nationally, home prices in December were down more than 31% from their 2006 peak, according to the latest Standard & Poor’s / Case-Shiller index, including a 4.1% fall in 2010.

Analysts point to numerous reasons why Aspen has held up so well. A small market where only 13% of land is able to be developed because of zoning laws and the mountainous landscape, it never suffered the overdevelopment now plaguing other areas. Aspen’s distance from a major city and spotty air service help to keep away day tourists.

It’s also emerged as a place where young professionals can find jobs, particularly at small private finance firms and at nonprofit organizations. The Aspen Young Professionals Association, started in 2003 with nine members, now has 257 active members on its event email list. Obermeyer Asset Management, an independent investment advisory started by the son of sporting-goods magnate Klaus Obermeyer, is one of the older local firms; since its start in 1998 it has gone from managing $50 million to $775 million in investments and from two staffers to nine staff members in two offices.

Burberry and Gucci are here, as are eateries like Rustique, with its locally sourced bistro food, and Montagna with its extensive wine selection. There are also music, film and food festivals, and the Aspen Art Museum is planning a new, 30,000-square-foot building designed by architect Shigeru Ban. The Aspen Institute, which brings in world leaders as speakers for its annual Ideas Festival, has also helped put the town on the international map.

In 2008 Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich paid $36 million for a 14,300-square-foot house on 200 acres. A couple living in London snapped up a $10.5 million ranch in July; a $16 million home with 40 acres and a theater, gym with sauna and steam, private guest apartment, elevator and six-car garage, was purchased by a family from New Zealand.

Chuck Frias, an Aspen developer and broker who has a newly built $24 million home on the market, says the weak dollar has drawn interest in the home from house-hunters in Canada, Australia and Italy; he sold a $7 million house to a Chilean family in December.

In the past few days Aspen agents have reported showing homes to potential buyers from as wide a range as Russia, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Italy and Australia.

Ski Brasil, a Brazilian ski-tour operator with a winter presence in Aspen, runs three ads a week for 16 weeks in Portuguese in the local Aspen paper now. Eduardo Gaz, the company’s director of operations, estimates some 20,000 Brazilians ski in Aspen every season, some of whom own homes (many of whom won’t talk for tax reasons). Joshua & Co. real estate has taken out ads in Russian offering to show visitors around.

“I have a long list of Australian friends who are coming to visit,” says Anna-Lisa Klettenberg, an artist and investor from Sydney who bought a condo at the luxury Gant Hotel. Ms. Klettenberg had been skiing in Aspen for over a decade; she decided in March to look to buy, put an offer on the condo that day, closed in May and was there for the month of July. She still owns her home in Sydney and has a summer place on Australia’s Gold Coast in Queensland, but she plans to spend four months a year in Aspen now. She’s on the national council of the Aspen Music Festival, a role that gets her invited to lots of parties and events.

Francesca and Sal Amery, a British international banker, have lived for the past 20 years in the Middle East, New Zealand, England, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore and have owned homes in Malaysia, Singapore and England. They considered buying a home at a ski resort in Europe or New Zealand, but nothing measured up to Aspen when it came to meeting their checklist of wants: comfortable year-round living, a good education system, an airport, access to great medical facilities and an educated and diverse population.

“It is Adult Disney,” says Ms. Amery.

—Olga Padorina and Candace Jackson contributed to this article.

For the complete Wall Street Journal article with slideshows and other Mountain Resort comparisons click here.

Write to Nancy Keates at nancy.keates@wsj.com

Stop by Cathers Home when you are in the area, we’re happy to show you around and welcome you to Aspen and the Roaring Fork Valley. If you need assistance with the Aspen real estate market we have many friends and associates in the business we can refer you to. And when you’ve made that investment in the Aspen Real Estate market please remember us for all of your interior design and home furnishing needs.

Cathers Home interior design firm,  furniture stores and rug galleries have been serving Aspen, Snowmass, Basalt, Carbondale, Glenwood Springs and all of the Roaring Fork Valley in Colorado for more than 10 years. Come see why!

Cathers' Family

Paul Cathers, CEO of Cathers Home was recently inspired to write down his current philosophy on life. And while he was at it, wanted to share his family with you and thank you for supporting his business, his immediate family as well as his extended family… also known as his dedicated, experienced and very helpful staff, without which Cathers Home would not be.

My Philosophy—-Creativity is maximized when you’re living in the moment

To Aspire:

give back, grow, inspire, heal, learn, honor, love, share, listen, nurture;

To Be:

Accessible, funny, confident, lovable, tasteful, genuine, amiable, good natured, authentic, compassionate

To let go:

Fear, old ways, contentment, unhappiness, status-quos

Paul Cathers
CEO, Cathers Home

Come visit Cathers Home on your next trip to the area. Meet Paul in person if you like.  He’s happy to show you around and welcome you to Aspen and the Roaring Fork Valley.

Cathers Home furniture stores and rug galleries have been serving Aspen, Snowmass, Basalt, Carbondale, Glenwood Springs and all of the Roaring Fork Valley in Colorado for more than 10 years. Come see why!