High Point Design Center hosts Unity in Design this week

Three-day event offers CEU-accredited seminars and second annual Design Professionals of North Carolina trade show

Casual Living Staff -- Casual Living, 2/8/2011 2:33:10 PM

HIGH POINT — Unity in Design, a three-day event focused on residential, commercial, and kitchen and bath designers, is taking place here this week.

More than 50 designer-friendly showrooms, which are members of the High Point Design Center, will be open in downtown High Point during the Feb. 9-11 event. Unity in Design also will feature parties, factory tours and CEU-accredited seminars.

Featured speakers include:

Wednesday, Feb. 9

Richard Poindexter, AIDP speaker, "Decorative hardwood plywood & interior air quality." 0.1 CEU: Hamilton Square, 101 S. Hamilton St.

Hannah Davis, ASID speaker, "Oil portraits and the business of art." 0.1 CEU: location TBD

Thursday, Feb. 10

Carolyn Barton, IDS speaker, "How culture influences color." 0.1 CEU: 525 N. Wrenn St.

Friday, Feb. 11

Rebecca Miller, HPDC speaker, "The designer's passion: using it strategically in 2011." 200 Steele Café, 200 Steele St.

Melanie Turner and Laura Kirar, moderated by Chemmine Taylor-Smith, "What are the biggest influences affecting design today?" High Point University, Phillips Hall, Francis Auditorium

"I love coming to Market to see all the new product, but this event is more intimate and tailored to designers," said Madge Megliola, a Greensboro-based interior designer and adjunct professor in the interior design department at High Point University, who is encouraging all of her students to attend Unity in Design. "We're not competing for service in the showrooms with big retailers; it's all about us when we come here. Designers that attend see a huge return for the investment of their time."

Unity in Design is sponsored by the Association of Interior Design Professionals, American Society of Interior Designers-Carolinas Chapter, International Interior Design Association-Carolinas Chapter, Interior Design Society , and the National Kitchen & Bath Association.

For more information about Unity in Design, or to register for the conference, visit www.highpointdesigncenter.com. The event is open to interior design professionals and members of the trade.