This year I was honored to be a Sponsored Blogger at the Fall Highpoint Furniture Market for Tomlinson Furniture. Somehow in my eight years of visiting Highpoint, I missed this fabulous company that has been around since 1901!

Our tour guide extraordinaire was Kay Lambeth, sister to Rod Lambeth, the current CEO and owner of the Tomlinson/Erwin-Lambeth, Directional and Carter companies. Having been exposed to the furniture business her entire life (her Mom and Dad, K.C. and James Erwin Lambeth founded the company), Kay was full of interesting facts about her family's company.

The first thing Kay told us was "we have the best seating in the industry". Now that's a pretty heavy duty statement given the company the Tomlinson showroom keeps in Highpoint. So we figured we'd just find out for ourselves.

Guess what? She was right!  Joann, Lauren and I probably sat in at least 50 chairs and sofas and every single one of them was perfectly pitched and undeniably comfortable!

Not surprising since Rod Lambeth has a simple plan in running his company:  "Take the best craftsmen, the best material, the best engineering and the best design and create the best furniture for the best customers in the world."

My favorite sofa in the showroom was designed more than 50 years ago by K.C. Lambeth herself (history note from Kay: Her mom went by K.C. instead of Katherine because in the male dominated furniture industry of the 1950's, she wanted to be taken seriously so she didn't publish her full name).

I love the clean lines and the oversized width of this sofa but what I REALLY love about it is the seat cushions. Do you avoid the crack on a 3 cushion sofa? I do. Notice how the center cushion on this sofa is larger than the outer two. Perfect for at least three people!

The showroom had a contemporary/mid century modern vibe that I wasn't expecting. I loved so many of the chairs - statement pieces for sure (and of course comfortable).

Our biggest thrill of the day was that our friend Barry Dixon has introduced his own line for Tomlinson Erwin-Lambeth.

I really need to have this Michael Bench just so I can move the lumbar under my knees like I'm at the spa (pretend the extra pillows aren't in the photo).

Clever design huh?

Tomlinson hosted a great panel discussion this market called "Inspire Tomorrow" with distinguished designers Barry Dixon, Bea Pila and Michael Wolk moderated by trend forecaster Ellen Gefen.

The bottom line to this panel discussion and the story of Tomlinson? History continues to inspire design today. It's all a clever reinvention with respect for the past.

Thank you to Rod and Kay Lambeth, Pam Cain and the rest of the Tomlinson team for allowing me to share their story!

Kelly