29 March 2024, 10:09
By Furniture News Jan 24, 2016

Unveiling the winners of The Furniture Awards 2016

The winners of the The Furniture Awards, a programme that sets out to identify the best new products launched at the January Furniture Show, created by Furniture News magazine in partnership with the show’s organiser, have been unveiled.

Led by awards co-ordinator, and editor of Furniture News magazine, Paul Farley, a team of industry judges toured the NEC yesterday to evaluate those shortlisted for this year's awards. The judging panel for the 2016 edition comprised: Maxim Romain, general manager for Wayfair Europe; visual merchandising consultant Andrew Durham; ACID CEO and co-founder Dids Macdonald OBE; and Malcolm Walker, director of buying for Furniture Village.

The winner in the Value Category was Hong Kong 7526 in grey and yellow, from Think Rugs. A keenly-priced acrylic rug, Hong Kong boasts a geometric design and an on-trend colour palette. The judges commented: "It ticks a lot of boxes. It's very commercial, and it's colour, texture and potential margins make it a clear winner. The colours are bang on, and easy to furnish around."

The Mid-level Category saw Bentley Designs' Cadell dining and occasional range triumph. An affordable collection combining a vintage industrial look, contrasting natural finishes and waney edges, Cadell was described by the judges as "a really commercial interpretation of what is effectively a high-end design. It hangs together very well".

The runner-up in this category was the Wycombe dining and living range, from Gallery Direct's Hudson Living range, which was labelled "a very honest product" in which Shaker meets Scandi style.

Nicoletti Home's contemporary Allure sofa, upholstered in rich Italian leather and boasting motion functionality, won the Upper-level Category. The judges said: "It's a great interpretation of this style. Everything about it - the way the feet splay forwards instead of sideways, the decision to employ blanket stitching, it's slanted design - works so well."

Brooke, a scooped-arm sofa in natural fibres from Collins and Hayes, was the runner-up in this category, and was described as "excellent on a comfort level."

All of the winning products are on display at the January Furniture Show, which runs at the Birmingham NEC until 27th January. This year's awards were sponsored by bed specialist Dreams, and the March issue of Furniture News will feature a full run-down of the winning products.
 

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