Showcase House a hit for Ohio Hardwood Furniture Market
The kitchen of the Showcase House at this year’s Ohio Hardwood Show was a big hit, as were the many other rooms that drew many visitors into the home to see what this year’s new furniture, stains and colors look like.
The last time most people checked, there was no house in the middle of the Mt. Hope Event Center.
Yet for visitors to the Ohio Hardwood Furniture Market, which took place at the end of March, there it was, a house, smack dab in in the center of the expo center.
It was no mirage; it was instead a home filled with hand-picked, award-winning furniture in every room including a den, kitchen, bedroom, study, kids room and more.
Holmes County is known for its home builders. However, the house built in Mt. Hope featured the best of the best, with every item in the house crafted by local builders, each piece of furniture voted on by a panel of jurors.
That house was the Ohio Hardwood Furniture Guild Showcase House, a new addition to this year’s Ohio Hardwood Furniture Market show, which took place at the Mt. Hope Event Center and the Expo Center at Harvest Ridge March 28-30.
This Showcase House was something new, and it quickly became a must-visit destination for wholesalers, who got a glance at what 2023 has to offer in home décor.
Featuring award-winning designs from local builders, a local design firm oversaw the construction, decoration and setup of the house, creating a cornucopia of paints, flooring, furniture and fixtures.
Any builder who is a member of the Hardwood Furniture Guild could enter their best piece into the contest, and according to Kendrick Mullet, executive director of OHFG, the house was a huge success.
The 200-plus members of the Ohio Hardwood Furniture Guild could submit furniture in one or more of 23 different furniture categories, choosing their best pieces in hopes their product would be selected by a committee.
“We received an overwhelming response with 323 entries across 25 different categories of furniture,” Mullet said. “A panel of nine judges then had the tough task of selecting the winning piece in each category, and it took them all day to sift through and choose the winning pieces that went into designing the home.”
Mullet said the Showcase House featured the best of the best in furniture design and trends, highlighting the latest woods and colors. Besides experiencing the craftsmanship of its builders, the Showcase House also served as an inspiration.
Additionally, there was a screen inside the home, scrolling through each of the submitted pieces.
The idea of the home was to create a presence that would allow wholesalers to take home ideas from the latest furniture designs and trends. The Showcase House is presented by AcromaPro, Autumn Mills and M.L. Campbell, all registered trademarks of the Sherwin-Williams Company, which sponsored the house.
Sadie Beachy from S. Flynn Design teamed up with Laura West of Sherwin-Williams, and the two collaborated on colors forecasted to be the hot new colors for 2023-24.
The home itself was built by JDM Structures, and while there was no roof on the house, the walls inside looked the part of a new home, right down to the front door and yard at the entry. Hardwood floors were installed throughout the home in one day, and for three days the home was a highlight during the show.
The three-day show was designed to connect wholesalers with retailers, and the wholesalers who set up displays were grateful to put names with faces and specially to build relationships.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for us as a company to connect with our buyers and put faces to names,” Emanuel Nisley of Nisley Cabinets said. “We deal with these people a lot, but it makes it more enjoyable to be able to connect in person.”
Nisley had a piece featured in the home and said he was humbled and honored to be part of the inaugural effort.
Gabriel Yoder of L&J Companies was instrumental in the creation of the Showcase House, along with many others who invested a lot of time and effort. He said giving retailers a chance to capture a new vision was good for the industry.
“The goal was to help builders become more innovative with their designs and to push themselves to really be creative with their furniture,” Yoder said. “It was a real team effort to put it together. I think the success of the house this year will only challenge us to make it even more impressive next year because this show is very important to our industry in both networking and helping builders get inspired. We want to grow together.”
The Showcase House proved to be a major draw, with people touring throughout the three days. The core group putting it together hoped to inspire, and the house did exactly that.
“It’s not only inspiring for the businesses entering the contest to get them to think outside the box, but it also inspires customers with a new vision for their space,” Mullet said. “It really showcases what Amish furniture can look like and proves the innovation and creativity that comes from our guild’s builders.”
The Hardwood Furniture Guild represents the nation’s largest concentration of hardwood furniture manufacturers. The guild was founded in 2008 with the mission to promote and market the local hardwood industry.