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We keep hearing about green and eco design as well as the terms recycling and upcycling, what do these two terms refer to and how are we seeing their development in furniture and decor? Like many of these "eco" terms they are often misused in order to increase sales and give consumers a false sense that they are purchasing an item that has been manufactured in a responsible manner. We will take a look at some of this terminology and how we may see these processes used in decoartive accessories as well as furniture manufacture.  Let’s begin with the term recycling. Recycling is taking a product or the material from which it is made and breaking down its properties to totally recreate a new product, material or item. A good example of this would be glass that is smelt down and reformed into vases or decoaritve tiles. Another example is taking metal pieces from one item and putting them through a process to transform these alloys and again create a new product. It is impor...

On the 10th of July, the doors seamlessly opened to what promises to continue to be the most important decor, furniture and retail event on the African continent. This was the inaugural Inspire Trade Expo, which ran until the 12th of July 2014 and was the brainchild of Expo genius Rina Fortmann, who was not only a director of SARCDA for many years, but who also chaired EXSA (Exhibition Association Of Southern Africa). This show was a properly controlled trade show where every single visitor had to pass a host of stringent criteria in order to be allowed access, due to the focus being on quality trade visitors instead of thousands of consumers. There are many décor and design shows and expos annually occurring in South Africa, but these are all consumer shows and certainly not our target market explains Fortmann. Inspire was conceived, to promote décor, design and furniture to the retail, design and hospitality industry, to strengthen the trade of great local product and manufactu...