www.selifestyle.com · NoVemBeR 2009 · soUTHeAsT Lifestyle 3 Market to Market to buy a.... Colors that were hot in the spring are still going strong such as red/green/ gold and also the brown/blue combinations. On the rise is orange/limey green and gray/fuchsia combinations. Black/white accents and the shells/ beach theme is a coordinated look that is everywhere. We went shopping for more color and it will be showing up in our showroom around the holidays. Be prepared for cleaner lines in furniture and don't forget the glitz, as metallics are showing up and putting on the ritz. We took a lot of photos and here are a few of them with our market notes, including Elsie's offspring. Wholly Cow! u Denise H. Osborne, AIDP, IDS is a Professional Member and serves on the National Board of Association of Interior Design Professionals. Call ahead for showroom hours. by Denise H. Osborne, AIDP, IDS You may laugh, but we certainly saw a lot of them market this year. Art with cows in them. I thought gee whiz, it's "Elsie," reincarnated. But it's a good thing that we saw other trends as well. Usually we attend seminars and listen to color gurus and fashion editors enlighten us on the next cycle in the market. This time we listened to the value of the social media of Facebook, Twitter, and Linked In. Then it was on to the Photography Seminar and how to deal with digital SLR cameras. We then listened to rug leaders Cow? Are you kidding me? such as Zaki on the value of fine rugs and how to tell the difference. Market is invaluable as it educates buyers and helps us stays on top of trends. The whole market is changing. How we do business today is even different than we did one to two years ago. Trends that used to stay around for 7-9 years are now coming in 2-4 year cycles. Some products are still made here, and there is a growing consciousness to buy products that are made in the USA. Imports are still a big portion of the furniture business today. While they are less expensive, they typically do not hold their value. Painted furniture with aged finishes are showing up in more showrooms.