Congratulations Beth Krupa Interiors

We keep close connections to our customers. We build relationships that span the years and many of them become friends as well. That's one of the reasons we love going to trade shows like the recent High point Market, it is a chance to reconnect and catch up. All of that goes into how excited we were to hear that Beth Krupa Interiors had won an award from the Interior Design Society. Beth is based in Connecticut, but has local connections...having gone to school at Loyola University Chicago...making us doubly excited.

We had a small part to play in this success, as she used our Cladded Brass Chest as one of the pieces but as you all know it isn't just having great stuff...it is how you use it! And Beth is fabulous. Congratulations!

High Point and North Carolina HB2

When the North Carolina state legislature rushed through HB2 (a one day special session??) and Governor McCrory signed it that evening(!?), we started a conversation internally to determine how we wanted to respond. High Point Market was coming up and it is an important event for us and our customers....and yet this law had a direct deliterious effect to many of our friends, customers, colleagues, family, and neighbors.

What does HB2 do? Among other things, it prohibits local anti-discrimination protections for gay, bisexual and transgender people and restricts transgender bathroom use.  So a city like Charlotte, who wants to make all their citizens feel welcome and accepted, could no longer pass ordinances to effect those goals. We were deeply concerned by this law and its implications We felt it was (and is) an unfair attack on employment, education, and local governance. It encouraged discrimination and is particularly demeaning towards transgender men and women.

So...what to do? Some businesses chose to respond to stop doing business with or in the state. The reasoning is that by applying economic pressure, the state government would change course. This worked on Mike Pence in Indiana, for instance. It is can be a powerful tool, to be sure. We didn't think it was the tool for us.

One of our core values is to support and contribute to our community. We show this in many ways, such as locating our Chicago facility in an underserved neighborhood and participating in political and business committees and action groups to revitalize the area. When given the choice between a positive or a negative action, we try to always choose the positive. More engagement. Louder voices. Taking action. Therefore, we decided to stay involved in the market, be visible, and speak out. We'd find an organization to support.

After reading on the actions taken by the ACLU and Lambda Legal, we started reaching out to our customers and partners in North Carolina to see what they thought and who they would recommend. The organization that came up again and again was Equality NC. After seeing the work they accomplished on The School Violence Protection Act, their advocacy for domestic partnerships, hospital visitation rights, parental rights, and a myriad of other issues, we knew they were the organization for us. As a small organization ourselves, we appreciate the big effects dedicated and enthusiastic people can accomplish.

We reached out to them and have come up with our plan. We are proud to announce that we will be donating 1% of all our High Point Market sales to them directly. We will also have literature supporting their organization in our booth and will support their efforts going forward. If you'd like to join us in our support, contact Darren.

You can read our press release about this issue at Home Accents Today, Furniture Today, and the Greensboro News and Record.

Gold Leaf Design Group Opens Permanent Showroom at Americasmart Atlanta

NEWSFLASH!

Gold Leaf Design Group, trend-setting home and garden product design company, debuts its exciting new permanent showroom in Atlanta on Tuesday, July 7. The gorgeous corner showroom is prominently located at Building 1, Room 9A-1 and features the company’s wide range of home décor products, including tableware, vases, sculptures, area rugs, occasional furniture, and wall decor such as its exclusive Wall Play™ line.

“We’ve been showing in Atlanta since we started.” says principal Darren DeMatoff, “It has always been a great show for us and as we’ve continued to grow it made sense to take the next step up to a permanent location there. We will be a great addition to the floor with excellent neighbors such as Luna Bella and Bo Bo Intriguing Objects.”

The opening of its second permanent showroom – the first being Las Vegas back in January  – comes as Gold Leaf Design Group enters its 21st year. “Vegas was proof that we can really shine in a permanent location.” says Darren, “It allows us to be more bold and creative in our displays and to show a wider range of our product line than ever before. Customer response was phenomenal and we met a new set of people that rarely travelled to the temporary spaces.”

Gold Leaf will be celebrating this milestone with new product launches and specials throughout the show and also with a cocktail reception and merriment on Friday, July 10 at 5pm. This celebration will be part of the Floor 9 party.

The new showroom is open year-round with appointment.

Gold Leaf Design Group in the News

We're declaring today, June 4 to be Press Day. It is a great time to share some of the exciting news going around here at Gold Leaf Design Group and to let you know where you can see us in on your news stand.

ATLANTA AMERICASMART

We're continually growing and expanding. As a part of that growth, we opened a permanent showroom in Las Vegas at the beginning of the year and we're excited to announce that we are now ALSO opening a new permanent showroom in Atlanta. Americasmart Building 1, Room #9-A1. These permanent rooms allow us to show a wider range of product and to be more creative and striking in our displays. We hope to see you at this exciting event. Read more at Home Accents Today.

DEBUTING NEW FURNITURE

We're excited to show you our new furniture lines. Hand-made from sustainable harvested acacia wood and finished with exquisite craftsmanship, these beautiful new pieces can be seen live in Atlanta. You can get a preview by seeing our Farnsworth bench and dining table, Mantis bench and dining table, and MN Tables on our website. We'll be adding to these soon. So keep checking back.

------------------------

ON YOUR NEWSTAND

Interior Design Magazine. We're excited to be showing in three categories in Interior Design magazine's Spring Market Tabloid. They kindly shared preview images with us. You can find our Twig Benches in seating; our beautiful Scratched Leather Boutique Rugs in floor coverings; and our Hanging Orb Planters in Outdoor. It is now out...get it into your hands!

Home Accents Today. Our 24" Painted Gold Leafed Canvases were declared a Best at Market product in the May 2015 issue of Home Accents Today. Display them tightly as a set or individually.

Colorado Homes & Lifestyles. Our friends at Birdsall & Co appeared in Colorado Homes & Lifestyles with our popular Column Candle Vases as one of the 10 Things to Light up the Night.

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Congratulations to HOK and Martin Katz

A while back, we had shared photos of Martin Katz's & HOK's Jewel Suite at the New York Palace Hotel. The whole suite is exquisitely outfitted with great care. We were excited to see our Gold Seed Wall Play™had been used as part of the design, as well as our enamel bowls which had been customized and put to unexpected use on the walls.

We're very pleased, therefore, to have seen that the Jewel Suite had been named "Best Suite in the World" with a Gold Key Award for excellence at the 2014 International Hotel, Motel and Restaurant Show. Martin Katz and HOK created a 3 level jewel box of a space that includes a Grand Reception Foyer, "The Diamond Boudoir Sitting Room", and much more. The team was recognized for its vision and attention to detail in creating this extraordinary suite.

Congratulations!

You can read more about the award at Hospitality Net and HOK's website. See more photos at Interior Design magazine.

Sharing the #gldgLOVE

We recently joined Twitter and to celebrate, we decided to have a little contest. People from around the country tweeted us photos of their favorite Gold Leaf items...while at the High Point, in their stores, in their client's homes. We were so excited to see them. You folks are awesome and are doing great stuff!

We put the entries into a hat and pulled our winners.

10% discount on their next Order
- Baltimore Design Group
- Absolute Design Interiors
- Reside Home
- Kristen Petro Interiors
- Four Corners Home

Charley Harper Birds go to
- Home on the Harbor
- Kendrac Kole Interiors
- R Johnston Interiors
- San Francisco Design
- Karen Kole Designs
- Details Home Boutique
- Jessie D'Angelo Studio
- Sklar Furnishings
- Finnesterre

Thanks to all who participated and keep sending those photos in!

2015 Custom Designs

Our 2015 Gold Leaf Design Group catalog hit mail boxes last week. Every year we add many new high-style and unique artifacts to our collections and present new ways to think about our perennial favorites. We also devote a portion of the catalog to our custom creations for the Hospitality/Commercial industries. We pride ourselves on being creative, efficient, and dedicated to producing only high quality works here in our Chicago facility, and our customers (big and small) appreciate our attention to detail.

As you might imagine...when the possibilities are so open, trying to communicate them can be challenging. This year, we have made several changes to how we present our custom capabilities to clarify and make planning easier for you. 

Let's get Reorganized

In keeping with our tradition, we like to start with a splash. Our custom design gallery is up front, but the bulk of our custom portfolio is at the back of the catalog starting on page 175. It is there that you'll find examples of custom designs, our components, and a graphic layout of our streamlined ordering process.

It may sound cliché, but it’s truly as easy as 1, 2, 3. Choose the silhouette of your design elements. Determine the profile of your container. Add your finishing touches to make it unique and voila! You’ll have yourself a truly custom design that our in-house project managers can quickly quote and get you details on. We've organized our components in our catalog around these principles, reducing the need to search for items.  The process is streamlined, but the possibilities are nearly endless.

Plus, our Chicago-based facility means quicker turn around times and expert in-house production and oversight ensuring that your design vision comes to life. And, as always, your design will be constructed with the highest attention to detail and quality of materials. It’s the Gold Leaf promise.

For quotes and info on your specific projects, contact our Design Project Managers today: quotes@goldleafdesigngroup.com or 877.738.1790.

Other features

In addition to showing a selection of designs, we know that the details are important. That is why we included detail photos so you can see the texture and coloring of our components. Our exacting eye and demanding nature means the quality is unparalleled.

We have also sprinkled human silhouettes throughout the catalog, giving you a better sense of the scaling of our huge containers and large lux décor items.

You will also notice we have priced out some of our custom creations. These items are available "Off-the-Shelf." These "stock" pieces are still individually constructed especially for each project, but with the ordering process simplified, you'll find them to be quick and affordable. You can even order them directly off our website.

Go check it out

So go check out our catalog. You'll find not only great inspiration and options for custom designs, but our curated collections of unique artifacts.

Our 2015 Catalog

Our highly anticipated 2015 catalog has arrived and shipped. By now, we hope you've received yours in the mail. We are so very proud to offer you our newly curated collections of high style and unique artifacts, as well as perennial favorites.

In this digital age of NOW NOW, we still find the experience of a book to be very satisfying and natural. Which is why I found Ikea's Apple parody so funny. Mentally replace every instance of IKEA with GOLD LEAF and the soothing nordic accent with a slightly nasal Chicagoan twang and it's almost as though it's about our catalog.

THEMES

Like last year, we have organized our pieces into stylistic themes. Also like last year, however, there's a lot of cross over. After all, what is "Modern Farmhouse" but an appreciation of the "Rough" part of "Rough Luxe" So be sure to browse our entire book to create your own collection.

Let your Walls Play: Texture, color, space filling, art, focal – Vertical surfaces are a given because of the construction of our homes. Vertical art forms have become an important part of who we are as a society. Includes our very popular patent pending Wall Play™ line.

Modern Nomad: Natural materials and textures, earthy colors, graphic natural forms, origin stories, craftsmanship, sustainability – Modern nomad is a fusion of contemporary avant-garde free spirit and the keen savviness of the well-traveled.

Color Brite: Clear colors, transparency, pixelated and geometric forms, crystals, fractures, light, technology, colorful minimalism – Funky and fun, yet bold, serious, modern and hyper-connected.

Bohemian Chic: Indie, hippie, geometry, sophisticated vintage, free-spirited, DIY culture, romantic, sparks of metallics, unexpected combinations – Best known for a clothing fashion trend from the 1960’s, our bohemian chic is updated, stylish and elegant but avant-garde.

Glam Loft: Shiny metallics, bling, upscale, sexy, entertaining, pampered style, shapely, high gloss – It is exactly what you think it is. Pairings of mixed materials in a simplified, upscale setting delivers a punch.

Modern Farmhouse: Comfort, coming home, family, nature, simplicity, rustic chic, upcycling, shape-shifting wood, metal, stonecycling, glass, iron, textiles – The farm is no longer a farm as we remember or imagined.

Modern Social: Playful and sculptural luxuries, desk, home office, gifts that inspire, leisure, entertainment, amusement – We can communicate socially through objects.

Modern Earth: Line, form, texture, color, pattern, repetition – Designed by Nature,
our world is filled with so many wonderful things that bring us close
to our very existence.

Rough Luxe: Industrially chic, scientific artifacts, macabre, darkly elemental, patinated, weathered metals and textures – A charred piece of wood, the remains of a turtle shell or a deer skull may not seem like luxury objects; but, their unique unexpected ‘wow’ qualities attract the explorer in all of us.

AND MORE

We also show off our custom design capabilities for the hospitality / interior design industry, give some DIY tips, and show off a few unexpected combinations. It is a 228 page book of beauty and inspiration. Get yours today.

Getting Excited for Spring Shows

2015 is right around the corner. We are planning and finalizing our show displays and receiving the first of the the show catalogs like AmericasMart Atlanta where we were featured in their Worlds of Wonder picks. We are looking forward to showing you our new collections.

In Other Exciting News

Las Vegas market has a brand new section and in it...we have a brand new permanent showroom in Las Vegas! Help us inaugrate it by making it our most visited space ever. Come to Building C,  Showroom #502 and you can see how we have decked it out January 18–22. 

Where else to find us

We are all over the country in the spring. Check out our Trade show schedule on when and where to find us in Atlanta, Las Vegas, High Point and New York. And check back now and then as we might add a show or two. We might be near YOU.

Running for a Good Cause

Gold Leaf's (co-)Big Kahuna will be running the Chicago Marathon again this year. It is his tenth Chicago Marathon!  As many of you already know, he runs to support a local AIDS services organization.  For the third year running (ha!) he is raising money for Test Positive Aware Network (TPAN).  Our fundraising is very grassroots - this is not a large organized charity, Darren is the only person running the marathon for this organization, every penny raised goes directly to the services that TPAN provides.

Here's Darren: 

Over the 3 years that I have been volunteering with TPAN, I continue to be inspired by the difference they make in our community.  We have been working closely with local officials to bring education and counseling to the west side of Chicago.  This is the area where Gold Leaf is located, and it is a very underserved, underfunded area.

Please consider supporting us as we work to enhance our community. 100% of all donations go directly to AIDS education, counseling, testing and outreach. TPAN's mission is to empower everyone living with or at risk of HIV/AIDS to live open, healthy and productive lives.

To make a donation and support Darren's run, please visit his Marathon Page.

Happy 20th Birthday Gold Leaf!

May 19, 2014

Can it really be 20 years?  Although it seems like only yesterday, when we stop to look back, it is incredible to see all that we have accomplished.  Thank you to all of our friends and family, clients and customers, supporters and fans, staff past and present.  Our journey has been long (and often hard), but worth every minute.  Having you on this journey has made it possible and worthwhile.  Thanks.

We have had the opportunity to travel the globe, provide opportunities for individuals and communities, connect people to the natural world, remind us that in this fast-paced life, enhancing our environment adds an immeasurable quality to our daily lives.  Through our products, designs, and business practices, we strive to have a positive impact on the lives touched by Gold Leaf Design Group.

There are so many days walking into work, that Allan and I are in awe of all that has been accomplished.  Seeing employees that have been with us through thick and thin for 10 years, 15 years, 17 years.  Or our crew that has been with us over the last couple of years, propelling us out of the economic downturn ensuring a solid and strong future.  Or our clients, many that have been with us since the early days, sharing in our accomplishments and rooting for us along the way.  We are truly humbled by your encouragement and commitment to our success.  We do not take any of this for granted.  We are here today because of you, our Gold Leaf community. 

Thank you for an incredible, awe-inspiring, outrageous, unpredictable, lively, fun, stressful, exciting, hard, creative and unimaginable 20 years!  Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!!! And, here's to 20 more!

Darren

Congratulations to our Marathoners!

Darren and Jose both completed (yet another) Chicago Marathon this past weekend. It was a lovely day for a run (or for watching a run...there was a Gold Leaf contingent out there to cheer them on). We are proud of them both.

It has begun...

Under a cloak of secrecy and intrigue we have begun work on the 2014 catalog. Our Warehouse is stuffed to the gills with new product. Flashes of light can be seen under our loading doors. Mysterious sounds emanate from the aisles as space is created and built for photos and our showroom. Our graphic designers gird their loins and buy coffee by the drum to prepare for layout....

Well maybe not that extreme but our neighbors may well be wondering what we're building in there. We're very excited about our new offerings. Keep an eye on this space for some previews over the next few months.

Vote for Us in the Best of the Year Awards!

We recently completed a design for JCJ Architecture. They were commissioned to design the Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Hotel and Casino, which is situated along the Rio Grande. The design, inspired by the Texas landscape, called for vivid colors and textural contrast throughout the hotel. Our mission was to create a series of divider screens reminiscent of fiery Texas sunsets. We think our Sun-Kissed dyed hardwood arrangements succeed admirably! We and JCJ Architecture were so pleased with the result that we've entered it into the Interior Design Best of the Year Awards. The first round curating is done by YOU! If you are an Interior Designer, Architect, Industrial Designer, or in a similar field, please give us your vote!

Did you know that you might have already SEEN our Sun-Kissed Dividers? Hospitality Design magazine declared them a work of art by including them in a feature on...well..Art! We were also pleased to see our incredibly versatile Rubber Woven Wall Art in their article on Recycled Earth-friendly products. Waterproof, durable, great indoors or out and alone or in multiples, we have been happy with how much notice these pieces have been getting.

Congratulations to Design Group Carl Ross

Design Group Carl Ross indulged their Inner Diva and created this winning cool guest room for Boutique Design West. The task was to "Design a full-service, glitz-and-glamour hotel room (excluding bath area) that even the most provocative diva can call home." We're always pleased to have our stuff used in such a chic way!

See Gold Leaf Design Group at AmericasMart Atlanta!

Today's our first day in Atlanta and we're ready to show you the goods! Exhausted from the set-up but excited nonetheless. Come by, we look forward to seeing you! (High Design 1st floor, Building 2W, Booth 115)

Pick up a copy of July's Home Accents Today, our Grenada Furniture is featured on the GEO POP page, a page dedicated to market trending geometric inspired designs. Our aluminum Grenada Furniture adds magnificent texture to any landscape. Powder coated in black then hand-polished to expose highlights while leaving recessed details, these sculptural furniture pieces will maintain their luster inside or out. See dimensions and more photos of our Grenada side table and bench on our website.

Buckingham Fountain...Hancock Building...and now...

Sure to become the greatest tourist destination since the Sears Willis Tower...we are pleased to announce that the much anticipated Gold Leaf Showroom has finally arrived!

The showroom has all of our current collection on display in glorious 3-D technicolor for your perusal. There will also be an area designated to promotional products as they become available. You can even have the opportunity to see our production department assembling and creating custom projects for Hospitality and Commercial orders.

We welcome all of our registered customers to schedule a visit. If you haven't registered at our website, beat the rush and do so today! Call Joe with any questions or to get an appointment.