Design Stores
HorseFeathers Home
HorseFeathers Home has recently relocated from its liquidated warehouse-sized store in the Castlefield Design District to the former Artcore space in the Distillery District. The new collection is a much edited down version of the former store but still a familiar mix of eclectic antiques, imported furniture, textiles, glassware, knick knacks and overall fun finds.
I have to be careful in a store like this not to get too caught up in the general atmosphere, but rather make sure that I look closely at each piece of furniture and consider its shape, design and aesthetic to see if it's right for me. On my first walk through I was impressed by many of the displays and living/dining set-ups, but only on closer inspection did I really notice specific pieces. I started falling in love with everything, most notably a very masculine and industrial grey-steel bookcase with glass doors, (33 x 12 x 66) for $1975 and a decidedly less masculine, but still gorgeous mid-century Danish rosewood coffee table with bright red Janson tiles (60 x 29.5 x 16.5) for $975.
The large furniture is a bit expensive, but when so much of it is authentic and designed and crafted with such obvious care, then it's a little easier to justify. Plus, they're also really beautiful. A bit troublesome though, is the question of how realistic it would be to actually have these pieces inside an average house. French county and English formal furniture were not exactly built for condo living, But I still spent considerable time drooling over an antique Louis XV ash buffet for $5850 and an absolutely enormous 18th century Austrian pine cabinet (138 x 24 x 110) for $28380.
Oversized antique furniture isn't for everybody, so HorseFeathers Home also carries a large selection of furniture and design items from companies such as 18Karat, Company C, Tusch Seating, Kartell and Vi-Spring. These more modern pieces are a great compliment to anything that's more vintage and antique. Some of the more modern and contemporary pieces include several really striking dining chairs and tables and attractive and comfortable side chairs and couches, The way the showroom is set up also helps to illustrate exactly how to benefit from such a mash-up of design styles to make sure that every piece of furniture will shine just right.
To me, however, Vi-Spring seems like the oddest fit because they're a mattress company. These items are located upstairs in the showroom and while it struck me as a bit jarring at first, I guess it could make sense to have such a high quality mattress available. I tried the beds and they were quite comfortable - each Vi-Spring bed is also custom made to order, pretty much guaranteeing a good night sleep. But, when shopping in a store like this I'm rarely in the head space to buy something like a mattress, so instead I spent more time focusing on the beautiful headboards they also have available - including a really chic padded ivory one for $2100 (queen).
Beyond the classic furniture, the showroom also boasts a wide selection of antique lighting and chandeliers, pottery, dinnerware, vases and glassware. In fact, the collection of vases and glassware was so extensive that it wrapped around nearly half of the entire store. Many glass items are available in a variety of colours, sizes and shapes so it is easy to find the best pieces. There was also a decent selection of kitchen and bath items, including toiletries, soaps and lotions. These items are a bit more affordable and would suit practically any design style and budget.
The store really has a great selection of antique, modern and contemporary furniture, but more importantly their impressive showroom is inspiring to think about how to use different pieces in different ways to individualize any home and really make it stand out and be beautiful.
Photos by Dennis Marciniak
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http://www.danburysales.com/liquidation/horse/HFeathers.html
[odd, but I posted this a day or two ago and it was deleted... why exactly? It is a fact, after all.]