Howard Miller scales down new Ty Pennington furniture

Also offers design suggestions

Thomas Russell -- Furniture Today, April 18, 2010

AT THE MARKET — Howard Miller is launching the latest home furnishings design concept by designer and TV personality Ty Pennington here.

Showing optional room designs using the same dining set is part of manufacturer Howard Miller’s new approach with additions to its licensed line with Ty Pennington.

Studio Home Furnishings includes some 150 SKUs of new bedroom, dining room and living room furniture.

The product is scaled slightly smaller than most Howard Miller product. For example, a chest in the original Signature Home Furnishings Line by Ty Pennington launched last April is 62 inches high and 42 inches wide, while one in Studio would be 54 inches high and 40 inches wide.

Styles range from casual contemporary to casual traditional, and a number of pieces can be used in more than one room. For instance, a nightstand can be used as a lamp table and an open display rack in the dining room can be used as a bookcase in the home office.

"It is meant to be very versatile," said Mark Siciliano, director of marketing for Howard Miller. "It is a group of living room, bedroom and dining room that can be used together."

Like the original Signature line, the company has photographed the products in room settings designed by Pennington, the host of ABC-TV's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition." The Signature lineup has some 75 room settings, each featuring a mix of different products.

The difference this time is that the company is showing consumers how to design a room three different ways around a single bed, dining table and sofa or sectional. It has created 25 posters, each with three images, showing different ways to build a room around a key bedroom, dining room or living room item. Some of the pieces are shown in a different finish or fabric.

"It still gives the dealer that visual reference to show the consumer one room three ways," Siciliano said. "This is just to give her that visual reference point."

The collection is on display in Howard Miller's showroom in space C-402 of the International Home Furnishings Center. Pennington will be in the showroom to greet guests from Saturday through Monday.