BY ALLEN NORWOOD
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — You’ll soon see three new furniture lines from American institutions: the


Smithsonian, Better Homes and Gardens — and Donald Trump.
Trump created the most buzz when new looks were unveiled at the High Point Market, formerly the International Home Furnishings Market, in late March. He strode the red carpet like a rock star and gave a thumbs-up to more than 300 cheering fans. He even managed to get in a snarky comment about Rosie O’Donnell.
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Trump’s furniture will be at home in your uptown penthouse or country estate, but the line from the iconic magazine is most likely to fill your suburban great room. A few pieces in the Smithsonian line are surprisingly current even though they’re based on historic artifacts, proving that classic design endures.
Celebrity endorsements have been important to the furniture industry for more than a decade. The industry said the three lines helped push the trend to a new high at this market, and officials offered a recent survey to help explain why.
The twice-a-year High Point Market draws furniture makers and store buyers from around the world. Styles introduced hit retail showrooms in about six months.
Here’s a look at the three lines:
Lexington Furniture introduced the Trump Home line with two full collections.
Central Park is sleek and contemporary, with a hint of Deco. It features dark woods and leathers and offers a lush but masculine appeal. Straight handles on wooden pieces are wrapped in black leather and tipped with touches of silver.
A signature piece is a bar with curved front corners that open to storage for wines, liquors and glasses, and a frosted glass central door that opens to more storage.
In the Lexington showroom the bar was stocked with gold-colored bottles of Trump Vodka, introduced late last year.
The Trump Westchester collection is ornately carved and larger in scale.
Like the Central Park collection, it’s based on furniture in homes and buildings Donald Trump built or restored. Lexington designers toured his estates, towers and other properties to create the look. The dining chair, for instance, is modeled after one at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla.
Designers toured many of his successful properties, Trump said. He got a big laugh when he said, “If I had an unsuccessful property, I told them to stay away from it.”
Select Macy’s stores and other retailers will carry Trump’s furniture.
The Central Park bar will retail for about $2,995.
Details: www.trump.com
The Better Homes and Gardens furniture line, produced by Universal Furniture in partnership with publisher Meredith Corp., captures the middle-America look reflected in the magazine.
“It was designed in collaboration with the editors of Better Homes and Gardens, taking cues from 38 million readers,” said Universal’s Larissa Rolland.
Colors are friendly, and so is the realistic scale. This furniture will be easy to live with, and will complement your grandmother’s china cabinet.
The line offers furniture for every room, in three categories: Cottage View, Classics Today and Modern Outlook. Magazine editors created a few mix-and-match groupings to demonstrate how easily the categories blend.
Fabrics include bright spring florals, with neutrals, garden greens and teals.
Wood pieces offer lots of innovative function: An end table has a sliding top, so you can pull the top across your lap as you sit on the sofa. A round dining table expands with perimeter leaves — and there’s a decorative storage pedestal for the leaves when they’re not being used. On a nightstand, a panel at the rear of the table top flips up to reveal an electric power strip for your cell phone and other gadgets.
Rolland said sofas will be priced from about $799 to $999. A full dining room — table, chairs and hutch — will be less than $3,000, as will a bedroom suite.
Details: www.universalfurniture.com
The Smithsonian collection from Bernhardt Furniture is based on pieces popular museums in Washington, D.C., own and on the structures, too. The pattern in the glass front of a china cabinet, for instance, recalls a window in the Castle, the original Smithsonian museum dating to 1855.
The sleek and surprisingly contemporary Campeachy leather chair and ottoman copy an early 19th-Century piece that Thomas Jefferson discovered in New Orleans.
The Legacy sleigh bed was inspired by a pictured discovered in the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt library, which houses books on the decorative arts.
A wall mirror is modeled after the stylized sun in the Smithsonian logo, and the image appears on cabinet hardware.
Why a Smithsonian furniture line?
“People feel like they have ownership because it is an American institution,” said Bernhardt’s LeAnna Graves. Most of the wood is walnut, she said, because it’s considered an American look.
Peter Reid, director of licensing for the Smithsonian, said the museums approached Bernhardt after deciding to offer a furniture line.
“The Smithsonian has been about capturing the American adventure and how folks have lived,” he said. “It made a lot of sense to collaborate with a fine American furniture company.”
A portion of sales proceeds will go to support the Smithsonian’s educational programs.