Get Ready, Get Set

When predicting what might be the next fashionable color or inspiring place setting, you can take a tip from The Designed Table competition at the annual International Home & Housewares Show, in Chicago, presented by the International Housewares Association.

The Designed Table is an annual student competition that highlights the variety and innovation in tabletop and home decor products featured at the International Home & Housewares Show. The first-place winner for The Designed Table in 2007 was “Every Day is a WARHOLiday,” by the International Academy of Design & Technology in Chicago. The theme combined ’60s-style Pop Art with a contemporary design to create a party environment. The display had a layered tablescape, featuring a plate of glass held up from the table by Campbell’s soup cans, for additional space and visual appeal.

Lisa Skolnik, a judge at the competition, says some design principles from the competition can be used by retailers to create winning store displays. “This is universal: Create displays,” she says. “[A few retailers] do this well, and the trick is to learn from those who do.”

Trzuskowski, the owner of T Is For Table, agrees. “Either you have a knack for display or you don’t,” she says. “If you don’t, you need to find someone who does.”

Randall Mielke

Mielke is a freelancer who writes about retail, business and economic development for a variety of publications.