Shopping for Architecture August 29, 2008
Atlanta style comes home, with ideas and inspiration from the editor of Atlanta Magazine’s HOME.
When Waterworks and Restoration Hardware came to town about ten years ago, the concept of luxury plumbing and hardware was a novelty. Valves as status symbols? You gotta be kidding me. But now people will design entire bathrooms around faucets. Well, here we go again. New retailer Insidesign is trying to do the same thing for high-end architectural wood products—moldings, floors, doors, and cabinets. The Indiana-based company has just opened its prototype showroom at Perimeter Place. At last night’s media preview, Director of Sales and Marketing Seth Pennington explained, “One night over dinner we started talking. Everyone loves high-end wood products, but no one knows where to get them.” Generally, consumers have to rely on builders or baffling line drawings. If they want to see the products in person, they have to chase to warehouses all over town, here for stair parts, there for moldings. Because Insidesign’s parent company, Koetter Woodworking, owns everything from the forests to the mills to the manufacturers, they can supply all types of wood products in one place—and at reasonable prices. (Interestingly, Koetter is a third-generation, family-owned business founded by Pennington’s grandfather-in-law Tom Koetter in 1959.)
The new 10,000-square-foot showroom is lovely, with rooms from a bedroom to kitchen to nursery to media room furnished with millwork and cabinetry in various styles, from Arts and Crafts to Modern. My favorite part was the door gallery. Along one wall there is a row of doors in different shapes and styles. Open one of them, and there’s another behind it in a similar shape but smaller size. Open that one, and there’s yet one more. Talk about getting a feel for the product. Insidesign has recruited some of Atlanta’s top design talent—kitchen designer Pam Sanchez gave me the tour. Customers can pay for design services by the hour for small jobs, or it is provided free of charge for more extensive projects..
Although this concept is especially helpful for consumers working with builders on a new home or a major remodeling project, Insidesign welcomes weekend browsers as well. Last night, Indesign President Jed Wickham said, “We want people to feel welcome. They don’t have to spend big bucks to feel at home. We want to feel less like a furniture store and more like a Barnes & Noble.” Indeed, an expansive selection of very reasonably priced accessories (down to the knitted children’s backpacks hanging in the mudroom) are for sale.
And in case you were wondering, Insidesign is a leader in sustainable forestry. The media room plays a video that Tom Koetter made about responsible timber management—eleven years ago.
Posted by Betsy Riley at 8/29/2008 10:23 AM
