Northshore Home

Fall 2015

Northshore Home magazine highlights the best in architectural design, new construction and renovations, interiors, and landscape design.

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136 FALL 2015 It began with shared passions: good food, entertain- ing, and comfort. "We thought that upholstered dining chairs would be a real future trend," Gold says. "We had them and knew how nice it feels to be comfortable at the dining table. They were available, but they were in the high- end design showrooms. We could do them at a more popular price, and we could deliver them in four weeks versus four months." The two bought a defunct chair-making factory in a small North Carolina town and, with an initial invest- ment of $60,000, set out to bring comfort and style into dining rooms. Williams brought a new design sensibility to the enterprise. "Those upholstered dining chairs in design show- rooms came in six shades of beige," Gold laughs. "Bob wanted to make them in florals, in these beautiful rich velvets. I was on the sales end of things, and right away, I could see people responding to them." Their instincts proved right again when they uphol- stered sectional seating furniture in washed denim and khaki, and when they reinvented slipcovers. Always, the emphasis was on comfort and ease. Furniture, they believed, should serve lives that include dogs and chil- dren with sticky fingers and friends who curl up on the couch with a glass of wine. "Executives in our industry worked in suits and ties, but we wore jeans and oxford-cloth shirts," says Williams as the two explain their concept of the word "comfort." Not only the guiding principal for modern furniture that's clean-lined and undemanding, it also sums up an approach to life that is short on pretension and long on happiness. "Comfort also means the ability to feel good about yourself. Supported and respected at your job. Safe in your home and community. Proud of the legacy you are leaving behind." Within the company and without, the two are known and rewarded for their progressive principles. In 2007, Out magazine named Mitchell Gold as one of the "Top 50 Most Powerful Gay People in America," and Clockwise from top, cozy settee, Vega cocktail table in brass, and the Emmet chair in smoky blue tastemaker nshoremag.com/nshorehome/

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