Universal Furniture recently sponsored the Flower Magazine Palmetto Bluff Showhouse in Bluffton, South Carolina, providing a range of outdoor furnishings from its collaboration with Coastal Living for the English cottage-style home. With designs that included settings for al fresco dining and traditional back porch living, the project marks the first time the company’s outdoor furniture collections have been on display beyond the High Point showroom.
“Universal Furniture has been involved in show homes for many years, but this is our initial foray into providing designs for outdoor spaces,” said Neil MacKenzie, vice president of marketing for Universal Furniture. “Our presence in the Flower showhouse further demonstrates our ability to be a whole home resource, with furnishings for every room in the home, inside and out.”
The 2022 Flower Showhouse was designed by mother-daughter interior design duo Phoebe Howard and Nellie Howard Ossi. The designers allowed the natural landscape of the Lowcountry to take center stage in the home’s design, with textures and colors that complemented the outdoors. This approach extended to the outdoor living spaces of the home, where furnishings from Universal Furniture provided the comforts of indoor living but in all-weather materials suitable for the natural environment.
The classic covered back porch of the showhouse served as an extension of the home’s entertaining space and featured Universal’s Chesapeake sofa in Grade A natural teak and beige all-weather wicker. A grassy terrace behind the showhouse was the ideal location for the Chesapeake outdoor dining table, featuring a concentric rectangle design, and dining chairs, both featuring Grade a Natural Teak and beige all-weather wicker. The pieces are from the Coastal Living Outdoor collection and feature a unique mix of materials that complement the natural timber, stone, and plaster finishes of the house.