Merchandise Mart Trip

The busy week continued with a trip up to Chicago touring showrooms at the Merchandise Mart in downtown! Several of us IED students boarded an early train, on our way to the hub of interior design in Illinois.

Our first stop was the IIDA headquarters. Here, we heard a little bit about IIDA and the design industry before getting a tour of their LEED Gold Certified space.

Next, we headed over to izzy+ showroom. We got to try out all their furniture pieces and hear about all the products they have.  izzy+ is a young company (began in 2001) that sells furniture to designers.   http://www.izzyplus.com/

 izzy+ had a great magnetic concept board

 After the tour, they kindly let us take home some samples!

The group at izzy+

After lunch, the group headed on to Kravet for the next showroom tour. Kravet is a home furnishings company that has high end fabrics and finishes for residential design. Their showroom housed countless materials from designers such as Ralph Lauren and Jonathan Adler that can be used for upholstery, drappery, etc.   http://www.kravet.com/

Jonathan Adler collection on display at Kravet

After Kravet, we hopped over to the Maya Romanoff showroom to learn about their incredible wall covering.  We were told several stories behind the hand crafted materials that make up the amazing collection of wall coverings.  Each of the coverings have their own special story of how it is made and who makes them as well as the part of the world they come from.   http://www.mayaromanoff.com/

 Wall coverings on display

Covering called "Bedazzled"

More free samples!

Materials can also be used as counter tops or table tops

Coverings used on light fixture shades

Our last stop of the day was a home furnishings showroom called CAI Designs. They offer luxury accessories and furniture for every taste and lifestyle.  http://www.caidesigns.net/index.asp

At the end of the day, our group dispersed and went our own ways. A few of us stayed back and wandered over to the Trump Tower to see the wonderful architecture and beautiful interior. We were immediately greeted in the hotel lobby where we were told countless facts about the building and Mr. Trump's obsessive love for French limestone and zebrawood and Italian marble. Talk about expensive taste... The man who greeted us in the lobby allowed us to travel up to the 16th floor which is also the first tier of the three tiered building. Here, we were greeted by another kind and helpful man who also gave us numerous facts about the building as well as the surrounding architecture. It was such an unexpected but amazing experience!