Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

At this time of year furniture shows come around very quickly and it's always interesting to see what the designers at manufacturers feel is going to be the next big trend.  Designers seem to be moving away from smooth fabric coverings on upholstery and woven covers with velvet like surfaces and cut outs seem to be becoming popular.

There doesn't seem to be a day without the visit of a show van at the moment as well as the shows we have to go and visit.  The Long Point show gave some interesting looks, although come July whether anybody will still be wanting furniture with Union Jack prints is another matter.  It's also good to see manufacturers finally moving away from the creams and browns we have been inundated with over the last couple of years.  Even if the items are available in these colours it makes the store display brighter if they are shown in vibrant colours and thankfully we are starting to see more of these.  A predominant colour for the upcoming season seems to be blue.  If this takes off in Blackpool it will be a first.  We have seen and had on display furniture in different shades of blue over the years but although people appear to like the look of it, not many people order the furniture in blue.  I wonder if there will be demand for Tangerine furniture this summer!

Our first stop in Long Eaton was Duresta http://www.duresta.com/ to place our first order.  We were very pleased with the selection on offer and for those of you who don't know Duresta, they have been making high quality furniture for 70 years.  The models ordered should be in store in the next couple of months.  Then it was off to AMX Design and Ashley Manor Upholstery www.ashleymanor.co.uk.  Taking a break from upholstery we visited Carlton Furniture to look at their range of oak dining sets, cabinet and bedroom furniture.  Look out for these in store over the coming months http://www.carltonfurniture.co.uk/.  Siren Furniture was our next call and they had colourful and comfortable furniture on offer http://www.sirenfurniture.com/ which we hope to see on our floor in the near future.

Then it was the Salterforth bed show where we saw Rest Assured http://www.rest-assured.co.uk/, Pocket Spring Bed Company www.pocketspringbed.co.uk (you can read their blog at http://www.pocketspringbed.co.uk/blog/), Sealy http://www.sealy.co.uk/ and  Silentnight
http://www.silentnight.co.uk/

In a couple of weeks it's a visit to Gola in Ireland to see their new ranges of dining and bedroom furniture. We've stocked Gola furniture for many years and it's always a pleasure to go and see their factory and the new ranges they are producing. http://www.golafurniture.com/

There's also the Midpoint show and the Manchester Furniture show so by the end of August the stores could have a totally different look but don't worry we always consider our customer when making purchasing decisions so there is always a choice between the more traditional and the contemporary.

Watch this space for updates on all the new trends we come across and don't forget we need to make space to accommodate the new products so keep visiting the website http://www.leftonsgroup.com/  not only to see what's new but to find out what's on special offer.  Of course, there's nothing better than actually seeing the funriture so feel free to call in and have a wander around.  You never know what might catch your eye.