HomeFashion Wants To Hear From You

Got a question for our Advisory Board? We’d love to hear what you would like our distinguished panel of industry insiders and experts to answer. Submit your questions to hfft@talcott.com.

Meet Our Advisory Board

HomeFashion & Furniture Trends proudly introduces its Editorial Advisory Board. In upcoming issues, look for the Board’s input and expertise as they respond to issues relevant to accessory and home decor retailers.

Sharon Davis
Executive Director, Accessories Resource Team (ART).

Just about everyone in the home décor industry knows and has worked with Sharon Davis, Executive Director of the Accessories Resource Team (ART), the association for the decorative accessories industry. Sharon began her career as a part-time assistant to the Director of ART in 1989 and assumed the position of Director of ART in 1993. Since then she has been instrumental in changing the criteria and judging process of the ARTS Awards, and is responsible for creating and administering the ART regional seminar series. Sharon also plans and produces the ART Conference, the accessory industry’s yearly educational forum. Learn more about ART at www.accessoriesresourceteam.org.

Libby Langdon
Interior Designer; Design Expert for HGTV’s “Small Space, Big Style.”

Libby Langdon is an interior designer and expert commentator on HGTV’s hit show “Small Space, Big Style.” She offers insights, techniques and tips to help viewers make the most of their own small space. Previously, Langdon hosted and was the lead designer on the FOX makeover TV show, “Design Invasion.”

Langdon founded Libby Interiors in 2003 and has completed numerous commercial and residential design projects across the country. She designed La Masseria restaurant in New York City, which was voted one of the top 10 new restaurants in the United States by Esquire magazine. She also designed the flagship store for Italian designer Massimo Bizzocchi in New York’s Meatpacking District. Langdon has designed private residences in both Austin and Dallas, Texas, Rhode Island and New York’s Sagaponack and Southampton as well as apartments in New York City. Langdon is also a regular on WCBS radio as an interior design/lifestyle expert, and contributes to the nation’s top daily newspapers, radio and television shows with design, food and entertaining ideas. She has just written her first book, “Libby Langdon’s Small Space Solutions,” published by Globe Pequot Press, in stores in March.

To learn more about Langdon, visit www.libbylangdon.com.

Greg O'Neal
Founder, philosophydesign; Product Development, Design & Merchandising, REVCO International

2009 marks Greg O’Neal’s 20th year in the home furnishings industry, during which he has traveled down all the avenues that the industry has to offer. In January 2002 — after investing 14 years as a retailer, wholesaler, buyer, merchandiser, space designer and product designer — O’Neal launched his own firm, philosophydesign. In just six years, philosophydesign has found a niche in many markets, including residential design, commercial design, interior design, brand consulting, product design and visual branding. The firm’s clients include restaurants, hotels, home furnishing retail stores, apparel stores, infant and children’s stores, cosmetics, and consumer goods manufacturing all the while serving clients with a desire to develop “good business with good people.”

O’Neal has three new restaurant projects slated to open in spring 2009, seven residential design projects, and serves as Head of Product Design and Development for Revco International where he is building and producing the Candice Olson furniture/case goods brand with HGTV personality Candice Olson. In October 2008, O’Neal was honored with the Award of Merit from the High Point Market Authority for “Elements And Principles Of Design,” a presentation of his furniture designs for Revco International.

Hilary Sopata
Owner, Interior Visions Designs, Inc.; ASID-Illinios Chapter President.

A 1995 graduate from Valparaiso University with a double major in Interior Design and Art, Hilary Sopata is a professional member of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) and currently serves as President of the Illinois Chapter Board of Directors. The Owner and President of Interior Visions Designs, Inc. in Park Ridge, Illinois, Sopata is a registered interior designer who has more than 13 years of experience in the design industry encompassing both residential and commercial design. She holds a professional certificate from the National Council for Interior Design Qualifications (NCIDQ), serves on the panel that judges the professional exam administered by the NCIDQ and recently received her Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Accreditation — one of only 115 accredited interior designers in Illinois to do so.

In addition to hundreds of residential clients, Sopata’s career project list includes such companies as Blue Cross Blue Shield, Navteq, The Federal Aviation Administration, Amica Mutual Insurance Company, ABN Amro, Chicago Public Schools and CDW.

Paul Thompson
Vice President-Creative, OneCoast.

Since 2004 Paul Thompson has been responsible for the brand and signature direction of OneCoast’s visual display and merchandising efforts in permanent and temporary showrooms in market centers throughout the country.

Thompson’s creative vision and energy are apparent in the seminars he presents on store design, merchandising and display at home furnishing markets and for industry organizations. Additionally, he shares merchandising and trend directions as a columnist for OneCoast’s electronic newsletter, The Advisor.

During Thompson’s tenure in the home furnishings and gift industries, he was Director of Trend & Visual Merchandising for The Pfaltzgraff Company (2000-2004), Visual Merchandising Director for Department 56 (1992-1999), and an independent designer for residential and commercial clients (since 1988).

Most recently, Thompson has been an instructor in the Home Products Department at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. Since 2002 he has served on the Board of Gift for Life, the gift and home industries’ charity that supports the efforts of DIFFA: Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS.