Cover story for Northwest Gift Buyer, Seattle Gift Center, June 1996, pp 26-28, 1555 words

User-friendly "living" rooms, hubs of family activity and a safe haven — family rooms are where people gather to do anything they want. Here are some insights into the great new summer products suited to this most bustling of environs.

With the changes in family composition, one wonders if "family room" is still the right name for the place in the home that provides the most comfort. By some reports, over 25 percent of Americans live alone, some couples are childless, many have adult children who no longer live at home and others are in the midst of raising an active family.

Still, almost every family — whether it has one member or many — has a room in the home where the family gathers to enjoy hobbies, read quietly, listen to music, watch television, add to collections, play games and visit with family and friends. It is this room that allows home decorators to show the most creativity. It’s the place where themes are often used in decorating. The spot that is warm, cozy and inviting. The center of many family activities.

To aid in the design of a room for the sportsman, Allan Davis and Associates offers folk art resin sculptures from Midwest of Cannon Falls. "Fisherman’s Dream" and "Hunter and Friends" pair well with a whimsical Anchor Photo Frame Holder featuring fish in the design. With so much interest in hunting and fishing, there is no indication that the hunting lodge look is going to exhaust its supporters anytime soon.

Raftery & Associates offers many fine items that would work equally well with many theme motifs. Especially For You (EFY) manufactures wood and iron carriers, totes and caddies. The gunner’s box with stand looks good behind a sofa and offers an attractive place to store CDs, throws and other family room miscellany. The magazine tote would look just right beside an easy chair. Bookends featuring large bear with fish and a matching table lamp provide just the right touch of whimsy.

If a gardening theme appeals to you, EFY has an over-the-door plaque from the Ardis Cerny Collection featuring a white fence and gate at the entrance to a garden. From the same collection, the gardening settler’s table serves well as a coffee table.

Midlands offers a garden’s delight watering can, gardening angel doll, and gardener’s angel with bud vase wall plaque to add to the feel of a summer garden. Each piece in this impressive collection is designed with refreshing originality and uses extraordinary materials. The whimsical craftsmanship and high quality of these items will make them family treasures.

But it’s not just gardening items that are offered by Midlands. Distributed by Allan Davis, Midlands offers many decorative accessories. Nested boxes from the Nature’s Voices collection, unique candle holders, terra cotta pedestal dishes, rock candles, trays and drum tables all help homeowners find the look that is right for them.

Where else but the family room for weather measuring instruments including thermometers and barometers? Mary Althoff & Associates offers products from Torka that you’ll want to consider. Admiral Fitzroy Storm-Glass Barometers are made with solid wood casing with a mahogany finish, hand-blown glass, brass facing and hardware. The 14-inch Galileo thermometer is constructed out of sturdy acrylic, with plastic spheres and temperature indicators.

Dick Gibson and Associates offers Toland floor mats, pillows and throws that add wonderful color, creative design and comfort to any family room. Carol Walker, the renown Oregon artist, designs many of the pieces in this collection. For cat lovers, accent rugs and matching pillows featuring Sammy and Ginger can’t be beat.

Some of the items in the Toland collection include matching director’s chairs, placemats, rugs and pillows, and are especially appealing for family rooms that adjoin kitchens. Ranging from country folk art to floral, garden, Victorian, sports, angels and animals, this line is selling faster than anything Gibson has seen in his 20-year career in this business. The Toland comfort rugs are made of one-half inch foam rubber that are soothing for people who have to stand in one place for a long time.

Don’t miss Bunches, Inc., when you are choosing items for the family room. Bunches carries the Carrington & Foss line of unique products from Central Mexico. Using wood, iron and reed, all the products are extensively made by hand by skilled artisans. Wood products are made from pine to show evidence of cracking, shrinking, separations and surface imperfections. This antique look in functional items, such as chests and stands, are perfect for the family room.

Using reed harvested from local lake shores by hand, each reed box is woven over sturdy welded steel armatures creating a durable piece of accent furniture. Reed trunks on steel stands — some designed as file boxes — help families organize their papers and keep clutter to a minimum.

Large boxes or chests, also from the Carrington & Foss line, are perfect for almost any decor. These aged-looking chests keep magazines and throws out of sight when not in use. But when you see and touch the chenille throws offered by The Barron Collection, Ltd., hiding these luscious throws will be the last thing you’ll consider. Designed by 525 Made in America, the soft, warm throws come in colors including pearl, fern, Bordeaux, midnight, rose, plum and forest. These cozy throws will remind you of something grandmother might have made when you were a child.

What family room would be complete without books? Rebeca Barron, owner of The Barron Collection, Ltd., suggests that picture-packed cookbooks, books on gardening or other hobbies, and children’s books that appeal to adults are especially welcome in the family room. Among her best selling titles are "How to Draw a Radish," by Joy Silkorski, "All My Edens. A Gardener’s Memoir," by Pat Welsh, "Griffin & Sabine, An Extraordinary Conversation," by Nick Bantock, "Patio Daddy-O (‘50s recipes with a ‘90s twist)" and Mommy Laid An Egg or Where DO Babies Come From?" by Babette Cole. All the books mentioned here are distributed by Chronicle Books.

If a sleek, contemporary look is what you have in mind, visit Linda Grossman & Company to preview their Orbit line. Candle lamps, Basque floor and table lamps with drum shades, and other unique lamps blend well with the console, cocktail and nesting tables they offer.

Mirrors continue to be an important part of wall decor. Whether it’s the contemporary look from Orbit or the more traditional look from Robert Grace (distributed by Raftery & Associates), mirrors of all sizes and mirror galleries add life to a room. Especially effective with flickering candlelight, a room with mirrors adds style and grace.

Hand-painted oils and framed prints add to the look. Robert Grace produces many hand-painted oils in sizes that range from 8" x 10" to 24" x 36." Fruit, flowers, domestic and farm animals, landscapes, fish, sports action scenes and impressionist reproductions — this line has something for every design approach.

Among the most creative and fanciful frames on the market today are those manufactured by Umbra and distributed by Linda Grossman. Leather, pressed aluminum, wood, acrylic, and metal are all used to create these frames. Perhaps the most unique, however, is the Sona floor screen frame. Available in either black or natural wood, the frame holds 15 photographs or pictures.

Shadow boxes continue to play an important role in family rooms, according to Grossman. Used for photos, collections or as memory boxes, these Umbra products help make the family room truly reflective of things that interest family members.

Don’t forget rugs and pillows. Bunches distributes Chandler Four Corners rugs that are just as suited for wall hangings as floor coverings. The collection comes from the looms of Susan Sargent, one of the country’s foremost tapestry artists. She uses radiant colors and charming designs for hand-woven accent pillows and original rugs. Produced by Hungarian and Indian artisans, the motifs from this collection add a colorful but soothingly beautiful accent.

Canvasbacks is another good source for pillows. Originally a clothing manufacturer, this line now makes pillows described like this: "Black and gray wool worsted stripe has art of black and red strips with block art accents; back of black and gray stripe; black/white cord trim." And this: "Soft multi-colored pastel woven silk has central focus of multi-colored thread art." Canvasbacks is handled by Linda Grossman & Company.

The family room design might be focused around heirlooms or family collections; themes such as sports, quilts, doll collections, fly fishing or skiing; or trends such as lodge, coastal, southwestern or Native American. This room is probably eclectic in design and has the individual stamp of family members. Family rooms are focused on comfort items such as throws, pillows, rugs, candles and frames. They have entertainment centers, books, places for hobby work — and maybe even the family computer.

Above all, family rooms must stand up to a lot of wear and reflect the values of the family members. The rooms are functional — but with style. They are classy, durable, functional and practical. Most of all, they are a creation of the minds of the people who live in the home. They are a safe haven where people can indulge themselves with products that reflect their own image.

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