Atlanta Home Design Shines at High Point
Writer Allison Weiss Brady weaved her way through the country’s most prestigious interior design and home décor showcases and discovered a strong Atlanta-connection.
At High Point, the premier interior design showcase, Atlanta made a strong showing. It started with the Shoppe Object section of Market Square, which is a floor dedicated to smaller, emerging artists and brands. Inside there was some of the most exciting pieces including textured, artisan pendulums of ceramic and cotton cording from Duo Luto, which is sold at Bella Cucina on Buckhead Avenue. This husband-and-wife team of Nicholas Ali and Fanny Penny craft objects inspired by fantasy, sci-fi, and mysticism. Ali was quick to point out that no synthetic materials are used, and that the brand incorporates reclaimed items including cords into their work.
“We love that our work would work well with at a boutique hotel in Mexico City,” said Ali. “You could see it in Egypt, in Japan…There is an industrial element to the straight lines in this ceramic wall hanging, that is juxtaposed with a very organic texture that makes it both desert-like and industrial at the same time.”
Nearby was Fells Andres, a brand featuring rugs, scenic tapestries, and soft alpaca throws (named Taki and Strand), many of which are sold at Design Within Reach in the Westside Provisions District in Atlanta. Designer and owner Courtney Trump showcased one of the newest products from her line: incredible square brass accent sconces with candles, which were rich in tone and color, and by vintage Danish pieces.
Nearby was the showroom of Robert Abbey Fine Lighting, an company known for its range of styles, color options, and designer collaborations, which are available at Progressive Lighting in Atlanta. At High Point, the brand hosted a Brunch Bar and Bites party for the release of its Carbonia Collection, a modern take on candlestick lighting, available in Mavisten Brass and Black Chrome, and showed off its Copernica collection in new colors including Oxblood. Robert Abbey had a range of other new launches at this High Point Market- including the Kane, Elliott, and the rope cladded Hatteras Collections, all hosted by Robert Abbey leadership John Kay, Nathan Hedrick, Mary Vincent Hager, and Michele Iapicco of Simplified Media Agency.
“I think the new Hatteras Collection from Robert Abbey will fit nicely with current aesthetic trends in the Atlanta area,” says Atlanta-based interior designer Jessica Bradley of Jessica Bradley Interiors. “It provides a natural yet polished look for spaces that evoke serene and livable design and a hint of modern.”
Atlanta-area based interior designers spotted at Robert Abbey Fine Lighting at High Point include Kerrie Bauer of kbauer designs LLC, Caroline Howell of Holt Interiors, Keith Hendrickson of K Lindsay Interiors, Chloe Christ of Third and Evergreen, Michael Berzsenyi of Josephine Design House, and Erin Hughes of McAnally Interiors.
High Point has many exclusive giveaways and chances to win prizes. At Robert Abbey Fine Lighting, guests entered a free raffle to win one of one the Pike lamps paired with an original painting by contemporary artist Jessie Tristan Read, who has art collector clients in the Atlanta-suburb of Buckhead.
Over at the International Home Furnishing Center (IHFC) building, another favorite contest was the spin-to-win a handblown, glass bowl from Embark by Barclay Butera Couture lighting collection – a new collaboration of marine and amber colored glass light fixtures with Fine Art Handcrafted Lighting, which has a range of its products available at Georgia Lighting in Sugar Hill. And a brunch by Brown Jordan – which has a showroom on Peachtree Street NW – was hosted by Business of Home editor-in-chief Kaitlin Petersen. There were take-away gifts including tins full of mints and a super handy banana-colored tape measure.
Meanwhile, the candle brand Cereria Molla, founded in 1899 in Spain. It’s a clean brand (no sulfates), with candles crafted with vegetable-based candle wax with seventeen scents, and room and body sprays with delightful scents including Tuberose & Jasmine, Amber & Sandalwood, and Black Orchid & Lilly. The seven wick, fifteen-pound large format candle has up to 400 hours of burn time in which the stunning hand-painted glass containers that can then be repurposed as a planter or champagne bucket. Cereria Molla is available at BD Jeffries, Natural Body Spa Buckhead, and Souk Bohemian on Ponce De Leon Avenue in Atlanta.
Allison Weiss Brady handles marketing for celebrities and non-profits. She is active in many organizations in South Florida, New York, and Pennsylvania including Big Brothers Big Sister, The Community Coalition, Voices Against Brain Cancer, Gene Spotlight, The Barton G. Kids Hear Now Foundation, and one of her family’s foundations Say Yes to Education, which recently partnered with Quincy Jones. Weiss Brady and her husband Chip Brady are members of Art Basel’s Junior Host Committee and Weiss Brady is a member of the Vizcaya Preservation Luncheon Founding Committee. She on the Board of Advisors at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Policy and Practice and she’s the only female on the university’s Football Board. Weiss Brady was also the sole recipient of the University of Pennsylvania’s 2008 Young Alumni of the Year Award, and serves on the Overseers board for the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania.
