PRESS ROOM

In furniture, hospitality, and commercial design, the words interior designer, specifier, and procurement company are sometimes used as if they mean the same thing. They are connected, and they often work together, but they do not have the same role.

Understanding the difference matters because each one approaches a project from a different angle. The designer shapes the vision. The specifier defines what should be used. The procurement company helps make sure it gets purchased, tracked, and delivered correctly.

For hospitality teams, developers, restaurant groups, multifamily operators, offices, senior living communities, student housing projects, and other commercial buyers, knowing these roles can make a project move more smoothly.

For years, buyers could treat indoor and outdoor furniture as connected but separate conversations. Indoor meant living rooms, dining rooms, bedrooms, accents, lighting, and décor. Outdoor meant patios, pool decks, garden sets, and seasonal retail. Today, that line is much less clear.

Hotels want outdoor lounges that feel like extensions of their lobbies. Restaurants want patios that look as designed as their dining rooms. Multifamily properties want pool decks and courtyards that help sell the lifestyle of the building.

So, did AmericasMart make the right decision by separating indoor-focused Atlanta Market activity from a dedicated Casual Market Atlanta for outdoor and casual furnishings?

LAS VEGAS — Summer Las Vegas Market 2026 is one of the most important buying opportunities of the year for furniture retailers, interior designers, gift buyers, hospitality buyers, stagers, and commercial specifiers. But flights, hotels, meals, transportation, and time away from the business can add up quickly.

Buyers do not need a luxury Vegas trip to have a productive market. With the right plan, a retailer or designer can keep costs under control while still discovering products, meeting vendors, comparing categories, and building a stronger buying strategy.

Summer 2026 Las Vegas Market takes place July 26–30, 2026, at World Market Center Las Vegas.

A café can have the perfect espresso, a bakery can have the best croissant on the block, and a restaurant can serve a menu people genuinely enjoy. But if the chair is uncomfortable, the table feels unstable, or the dining area looks cheaper than the food tastes, the customer’s memory of the experience changes.

In hospitality, furniture is not background. It is part of the product.

Customers come in for coffee, lunch, cocktails, pastries, or a casual meeting, but they experience the space through the furniture. They pull out the chair, sit down, rest a drink on the table, lean back during conversation, and decide whether to stay, order more, open a laptop, or leave as soon as they are done.

For cafés, restaurants, bakeries, bars, hotel lounges, and

LAS VEGAS — Zuo Modern Contemporary will welcome professional home stagers attending RESACON Vegas 2026 for a special Sunday showroom experience during Summer Las Vegas Market, bringing together education, sourcing, design inspiration and a celebration of the staging community.

The visit is scheduled for Sunday, July 26, 2026, as part of the RESACON Las Vegas Market Tour. RESACON, produced by the Real Estate Staging Association, brings home staging professionals together for business education, networking and industry recognition. The Sunday market tour gives attendees an opportunity to take those conversations into the showroom, where they can explore products and vendor resources built for real staging needs.

Zuo will host guests at its Las Vegas showroom inside W

A hospitality space does not always need a full renovation to feel new again. In many cases, the fastest way to change how guests experience a hotel, restaurant, bar, lounge, or multifamily amenity area is through focused furniture, lighting, and décor updates.

Renovations are expensive, disruptive, and time-consuming. They can involve construction schedules, closures, permits, budget approvals, and weeks of operational stress. A refresh is more focused. It updates the areas guests notice first: the chair they sit in, the barstool they use, the outdoor lounge where they take photos, the table next to their drink, the lighting over the host stand, or the mirror near the elevator.

For hospitality buyers, interior designers, restaurant owners, property managers, and multifamily developers, smart product swaps can make

In the furniture industry, the perfect piece is not always perfect right out of the box.

A designer may love the shape of a chair but need it in a specific performance fabric. A hotel may want a lounge piece that matches its brand palette. A restaurant may need outdoor seating in a material that works better for heavy traffic. A furniture store may have a customer who loves one ZUO design but wants the textile from another item. A specifier may need several pieces to coordinate across a lobby, lounge, patio, and dining area.

That is exactly why ZUO’s domestic COM program exists.

COM stands for “customer’s own material,” but at ZUO, it means more than simply sending in a fabric. It means giving customers more control, more flexibility, and a much

For a long time, “contract furniture” was mostly associated with hotels, resorts, restaurants, and large commercial projects. It suggested furniture built for heavy use, frequent cleaning, and demanding environments. Today, that type of thinking matters far beyond traditional hospitality.

Restaurants need furniture that supports long visits and fast turnover. Offices are becoming more lounge-like. Salons need pieces that feel stylish but can handle daily appointments. Clubhouses are used for events, meetings, and social gatherings. Student housing and senior living communities need comfort, durability, and easy maintenance. Short-term rentals need furniture that photographs well and survives constant guest turnover. Even busy homes often need pieces that perform more like commercial furniture.

That is why “contract-inspired” furnitu

Outdoor spaces are no longer secondary areas of a commercial property. They are revenue centers, brand moments, guest experiences, leasing tools, and social hubs. A restaurant patio can make a meal more memorable. A hotel pool deck can become one of the most photographed areas of the property. A multifamily courtyard can help sell the lifestyle of a building before a prospect ever sees the model unit.

That shift has changed what designers, buyers, developers, property managers, and hospitality teams expect from outdoor furniture. The new fashion of outdoor furniture for commercial spaces is not just about weather resistance. It is about creating exterior environments that feel as designed, intentional, and comfortable as indoor rooms.

Outdoor Is Now Part of the Main Design Story

Mixing materials is where a room starts to feel intentionally designed instead of simply furnished. For interior designers, retailers, stagers, and hospitality buyers, it is also where a project can quickly lose direction. Too many undertones, too many finishes, or too many competing textures can make a space feel disconnected, even when every individual piece looks great on its own.

The goal is not to match everything perfectly. In fact, overly matched rooms can feel flat, dated, or overly “set-like.” The stronger approach is to build a material story that feels coordinated, layered, and easy to understand. Whether you are pulling multiple SKUs for a hotel lobby, model home, restaurant dining area, showroom floor, or residential project, the same rules apply: repeat with purpose, contrast with control, and let one material direction lead.