A house can be furnished beautifully from top to bottom with the latest designer furniture but it is not complete without those personal touches that turn it into a home. Those touches are what we call accessories. Possibly not essential but nevertheless reflecting something of the life style peculiar to the dweller therein, we need these accessories as much as a bed needs a pillow and a wall needs a picture. For those of us in the furniture and furnishings business a bunch of accessories may turn a mediocre day's take into a goodly one. I hear the tale too often that the figures for a day were only made up by a heavy sprinkling of small sales, after all your clients can only buy one sofa or one dining table per house but will soak up mini - mountains of cushions, myriads of mirrors and flower vases galore.
When do accessories turn into 'clutter'? It's not for us to judge because we need to keep selling just as the customers need to be tempted. Sometimes the juxtaposition of the right dish or ornament on a coffee table makes the discerning punter see the possibility of the piece in his or her home. Often it is the unusual colour of a rug or throw on a piece of upholstery that makes the prospective client reach for their credit card and purchase the cunning combination little realising that they have been into several furniture shops and the self-same piece of furniture failed to shout 'buy me!' until it was adorned by the piece of accessorisation in your shop.
Feblands have been in the accessory business a long time and over the years we have developed a nose or perhaps an eye for the exotic and affordable accessory range. Currently we are having a lot of success with our mosaic fruit ornaments and our silver ceramic ornaments such as the splash dish shown. Large important pieces of glass are taking off in starter quantities as people nowadays tend not to collect collectables but restrict themselves more often than not to that one statement piece. Unlike furniture, accessories can be great gifts. You give to your dear ones something of your own taste and why not find such icons in a furniture shop instead of a chain store or the shopping mall? Besides, a little investment in an accessory range will pay dividends in terms of lifting the display within and you can bet your bottom dollar that if your sell the desirable object d'art from the floor today, and it's the last one available, three people will come after it tomorrow.