Dealer response has been strong to the durable and architectural “inside-out” solid white oak framework of this collection from A.R.T. Home Furnishings. Upholstery, stocked in Vietnam, can ship in combination with other stocked items.
HIGH POINT — Exposed wood treatments on upholstered seating can add extra dimension to the category through enhancements such as architectural elements, attractive complements to fabrics and leathers, or creating a seamless environment with associated case goods and occasional.
Exposed wood on sofas also is a natural progression for whole home vendors offering case goods that takes advantage of their finishing skills in bedroom, dining and occasional. See related slideshow: Upholstery gets wood treatment
Take AICO, where 65% of the company’s upholstery features exposed wood to varying degrees depending on collections.
“Traditional collections tend to have detailed wood carvings but as styles have moved toward a more contemporary look, less exposed wood is shown,” said Peggie Galvin, director of upholstery. “However, exposed wood does add another texture and dimension to any upholstery piece and is incorporated in many of AICO’s contemporary styles in a more sleek, stylish fashion.”
Most upholstery frames in A.R.T. Home Furnishings’ line feature exposed wood, and President Doug Rozenboom views that as a competitive advantage.
“I would say exposed wood upholstery provides an additional architectural element to a sofa frame, and when aligned with personal style, it adds a level of detail that a lot of designers and consumers are attracted to,” he said.
Roughly 30% of Stickley Furniture’s upholstery frames incorporate exposed wood components beyond feet alone, according to Vice President of Product Development Ben Radoll.
“Development over the past five years has been a bit under this percentage, as we’ve looked to soften and add more casual looks to the line, but we see more development in exposed wood in our pipeline, especially in accent chairs,” Radoll said. “Being able to tie our frames back into our occasional and case goods collections, both in feature and finish, provide Stickley a unique position in the market.”
While an upholstery specialist at the high-end, Hancock & Moore always has had a strong wood component to its seating, which has long represented 40% to 50% of its frames.
“We think it sets us apart by showing off our case good quality finishes,” noted Director of Marketing Tonja Morrison.
Creating an atmosphere
Case goods resource Najarian got back into the upholstery business a couple of years ago and now runs five exposed-wood frames compared with four all-fabric frames. The move was “going back to our roots in a way,” said Executive Vice President Michael Lawrence.
“Twenty years back we were very well-known in the industry for our line of solid wood accent chairs and wood-exposed upholstery,” Lawrence explained. “The frames were made in our factory in Beirut, and then we assembled and upholstered them in California.
“That business went away as we focused more on growing our case goods side, but we came back around to it after finding sources in Asia that could execute to our specs. It’s not easy to do, as design is critical, but we have the talent and had the support of our dealers and have found success with it once again.”
He added, “Wood-exposed frames just have this feeling of being more enduring, more classic and more formal. These frames aren’t necessarily for everyday use, but for folks with larger homes or formal living rooms, they fit in perfectly.”
Exposed wood frames provide the consumer the opportunity to further customize their furniture and create something truly distinctive, according to Sam Moore Furniture President Alex Reeves, who said such product represents 20% of the upholstery manufacturer’s line.
“It also provides us with the opportunity to showcase the sophistication of our finishing department here in Bedford, Va.,” he said. “Many upholstery manufacturers purchase exposed-wood frames and parts prefinished. Few have the resources or equipment to produce the quality, variety and consistency of finishes that Sam Moore offers.”
Half of Four Hands’ chair line incorporates exposed wood, and the company continues to add styles each season.
“There’s a stylistic element that can only be achieved by incorporating wood elements,” said Jessica Green, director of upholstery. “Wood elements add character. Clean lines, intriguing angles and a touch of repetition make for modern styles with high impact. The juxtaposition between hard and soft is alluring and adds complexity to create a compelling design story.”
While Universal entered the category only last year, upholstery is a fast growing segment. Ten percent of its frames feature exposed wood at present.
“We started using exposed wood styles early in our entry to upholstery to tie our living room offering into the case goods everyone was familiar with,” said Vice President of Sales Sean O’Connor. “Our Lacquercraft factory in China was building our case goods and our upholstery on the same campus, so it was easy to make our transition to whole home.”
Things changed after Universal’s purchase of Southern Furniture in October 2019.
“Manufacturing domestically, we now have the ability to import wood frames or build them domestically and offer finish options we know the consumer desires in the custom world,” O’Connor said. “For some folks, it’s bringing the room all together with matching accent tables and matching sofa leg finishes. We believe it gives the consumer another opportunity to make the product her own.
“We love using exposed wood frames with our Coastal Living brand, but we incorporate it throughout our offerings from contemporary to transitional,” he added.
Getting the treatment
Which sorts of exposed-wood treatments are vendors incorporating into their upholstery?
Sam Moore’s range from complete frames to accent areas on the piece including various base shapes, wrap-around trim on tops and bases, extended leg and stretcher rails — some pieces have exposed deconstructed backs — as well as unique rocking settees and various arm shapes on stationary and swivel chairs.
“Today’s consumer is looking for something distinctive and our expertise with exposed wood finishing enables us to help them create these statement pieces for their homes,” Reeves said.
Exposed-wood details at Four Hands address what Green called “undeniable” interest in wood details, which vary from ladder backs and easel bases to full wood bodies.
“Sometimes we are inspired by the actual material, and that drives the design,” she added. “We are currently working with high-character woods and bleached finishes to bring a fresh, high-end feel to traditional details.”
Najarian’s Lawrence believes if a company is going to use wood for upholstery, it might as well get credit for it.
“We’re not using wood simply as a decorative element,” he noted. “We want to incorporate wood in ways that make a piece solid, which goes a long way to telling the consumer that this is a piece that’s built to last.”
All-wood bases, rails and frames, as well as wood-wraparound treatments, all are found in Hancock & Moore’s upholstery line as points of differentiation.
“It helps to make things special and unique and set our designs apart from not having the same cookie-cutter styles as everyone else,” Morrison. “We believe the exposed wood adds character to the piece.”
Wood treatments depend not only on a sofa’s configuration, but also a product’s targeted market, according to Rozenboom at A.R.T.
“For example, our international designers and customer sales are successful with more statement shapes and usage of wood elements,” he explained. “In that case, we try to drive a design element to coordinate with a theme from other furniture items in the room. In other cases, we use wood to create off-the-floor styles not always possible with just fabric, or inside-out frame designs that are slightly deconstructed. Overall we want the total sofa to look great and not particularly be all about one element, providing as cohesive a look as is possible.”
It’s a similar story at AICO.
“The type of exposed wood depends on the collection,” Galvin noted. “Many of AICO’s more modern groups have straight wood base rails while our more sophisticated groups tend to have curved wood on the top rail. It is all about the design aesthetic.”
O’Connor said most of Universal’s exposed wood upholstery involves wood bases and accent chairs with exposed arms or overall frames, all with showing off the wood in mind.
“Many of our styles incorporate wire brushing to bring out more wood detail and depth in the finishes we offer,” he said.
Stickley features exposed wood in all its current upholstery categories and lifestyles.
“Our recent Portfolio 120 introduction relied heavily on full wood frames built domestically,” Radoll said. “We leverage resources in both our domestic wood and upholstery manufacturing facilities (in Manlius, N.Y., and Archdale, N.C., respectively) to ensure the highest level of quality in our upholstered collections.”
Complementing style themes
Vendors also have a range of opinions on matching exposed wood with various style categories, i.e., traditional, contemporary, etc.
Stickley maintains a very productive portfolio of iconic Craftsman-style exposed wood frames with references going back well over 100 years, but the technique is working on more updated looks as well.
“Recently we have seen great success in the Mid-Century Modern and contemporary categories and feel this is an area where our capabilities have much to offer,” Radoll said.
Morrison at Hancock & Moore noted that traditional first comes to mind with exposed wood, but also has seen a shift to its use in more recent transitional, casual looks.
“Within this styling, you’ll see exposed wood with cerused or distressed finishes and also more oak and sometimes ash,” she said.
Green pointed out that wood details are broad enough to elevate the “entire spectrum” of style categories at Four Hands.
“We’ve been able to layer in the material across the assortment,” she said. “We’ve worked with bent plywood for a more modern feel on contemporary silhouettes and in the same season worked with distressed woods to reach a traditional style initiative.”
There’s a similar breadth of style application at AICO.
“The exposed wood on our contemporary Michael Amini-Jane Seymour Living collections are sleek and sophisticated with gentle curves and soft, elegant finishes,” Galvin said. “Our more transitional Michael Amini-Kathy Ireland Home collection pieces tend to have straight lines and simple finishes. The Michael Amini brand offers all style categories, including traditional which has intricate carving and antiqued finishes.”
Whatever the style, A.R.T.’s Rozenboom said exposed-wood design details’ scale is a key for such treatments with upholstery to help create an elemental balance.
“I would say the trend across all typical style categories whether it’s traditional or cotemporary is to be more clean, casual and up-to-date,” he added. “Being up-to-date also used to be referred to as ‘modern,’ but not modern as a style. Modern home interiors are becoming more reflective of the home’s architecture and style, and help create this through the furniture itself.”
Scale of details also is a focus for Sam Moore, which has expanded into a modern and transitional product category where exposed wood accents feature graceful lines and refined, contoured sculpting on corners, edges and bases.
“The scaling of these pieces is revisited continuously throughout our product development process, and the end result is a design that allows the wood finish to accentuate the look and feel we are trying to achieve,” Reeves said.
At Najarian, exposed wood lends itself more toward traditional and glam styles.
“That consumer really understands the value of wood-exposed frames, and usually the offerings in the marketplace are from high-end sources, so for us that’s a sweet spot as we can provide a high-end look but at a very reasonable price,” Lawrence said.
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