While the main objective of the fourth annual Ohio Hardwood Furniture Market is to get people together who can enhance one another’s business while promoting the value of quality hardwood furniture, it is also a time for people in the hardwood furniture business to explore new and exciting ways that the industry is growing, and learn more about how they can get ahead of the learning curve when it comes to manufacturing furniture.

A pair of seminars at the March 2 and 3 Ohio Hardwood Furniture Market in Walnut Creek were presented to give hardwood wholesalers some insight into how they can best utilize their time and energy in building furniture that is lasting and desirable.

“Providing seminars that are informative and meaningful to our clients is something that is very important to us when we design the market each year,” said Kurt Kleidon of Kleidon & Associates.

The main topics for this year’s seminars were geared toward color and an overview of how wood gets from forest to finished product.

With the settling in of the recession over the past two years, the stock market isn’t the only thing looking bleak. Along with the economic downturn came a movement toward safer, grayer colors in products throughout the U.S. and that includes everything from the automobile industry to clothing to the furniture market, where safe, non-threatening colors that felt like a safe choice flooded the market.

Now, as the economy appears headed toward brighter things, so, too, does the color palette of choices for the future.

According to John West, of the Color Marketing Group (CMG), who offered the presentation “Colors” as one of the Ohio Hardwood seminars, a brighter economic outlook makes for brighter things on the horizon in America’s industries, including the hardwood industry.

West, like the other members of CMG, are color designers involved in interpreting the use of color as it applies to the profitable marketing of goods and services. Their major focus is to identify the direction of color and design trends. Members then interpret that information into salable colors for manufactured products across all industries. Color is everywhere, and the woodworking industry is no different.

“Over the last 18 months, CMG has seen the graying of the color palette,” said West. “Now, we see some subtle changes that shall lead to brighter, clearer colors. ‘Self-inflicted optimism’ is the operating philosophy of many consumers who are choosing colors that will enhance their lives and lift them out of frugal fatigue. These consumers are finding real value and beauty in natural materials with all their imperfections. Buyers are moving from glitz and glam to colors with longevity. So look for colors that are grounded in nature, faded, patinated, rusted and calcified, to come back strong.”

West noted the upcoming popularity of blues and grays as well as yellows, the latter especially as an accent color, as people try to bring a little life into their homes and businesses. John gave the example of a muted mustard yellow as the color of the year.

The second seminar was “Forest to Furniture,” which featured five local specialists explaining how hardwood furniture is manufactured, taking the lumber from the forest to the dining room. The seminar included discussion on the ongoing reforestation efforts business owners are leading to ensure long-term viability.

The speakers included Edward Hershberger of Hillcrest Lumber, who spoke on forestry management, logging and sawmill; Atlee Kaufman, owner of 77 Coach Supply, who provided insight as to how the wood is dried, shaped and bent; Fryburg Door’s Vince Mullet, who touched on the importance of detail in creating doors and edge panels; Mark Hochstetler, who talked about construction and joinery in composing furniture; and Jordan Mullet of Mullet Cabinet, who provided a three-step presentation on catalyzed conversion varnish, antiquing for an authentic look and how color sells products.

Hershberger began by touching on the importance of leaving quality trees after the harvest, and discussed the idea that tree harvesters have a choice of simply gleaning the very best trees for themselves or doing what is right and managing the harvest so that the trees left will provide ample shelter for wildlife, as well as assure a better chance for harvest down the road.

He also noted that it is imperative that harvesters put the entire log to good use once a tree is felled. Lumber at the center of the tree is used for more cumbersome objects like railroad ties and pallets, the wood in the next tier of the tree is used to create hardwood floors and cruder furniture, while the more mature wood furthest from the center is used to build high quality furniture.

“Harvesting is about planning and taking care of what we have,” said Hershberger. “We’re making sure that we take care to reproduce for the next generations to come. Forestry has gotten a bad rap over the years, but Ohio now has over eight million acres of woodland, which is more than we had 40 years ago.”

Kaufman took a walk through the art of bending and shaping wood, talking about air drying procedures. He, too, spoke in detail about utilizing all of the wood, and discussed the three most important factors in bending wood, including getting the right amount of moisture, the plasticizing of the wood and pressure, which allows it to be bent.

The speakers took the wood through each step of the process. “A good piece of furniture will look authentic, natural to the eye,” said Jordan Mullet. “If it is not done properly, people can tell. A lot of time and effort goes into creating a piece.”