KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia —
In its early years, the Malaysian International Furniture Fair had a fairly predictable product mix, heavy on country-styled case goods at promotional and lower-medium prices.

Today, some of those products can still be found at the show. But MIFF also has gained a strong selection of occasional, metal beds, leather and fabric upholstery, and home office and entertainment products. It also has more solid-wood transitional style bedroom and dining room at medium and upper-medium price points.

Exhibitors also are becoming more attuned to product design and innovation. That much was clear at the most recent show, which ran March 7-11 at the Putra World Trade Center and the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center.

Mixed media and trendy design elements gave some pieces a contemporary look and feel.

Among the innovative products were combination sofa and bed units that convert to work spaces, and lighted home entertainment and curio display cabinets.

The shift is partly in response to encouragement from government officials, who view design and innovation as a way to grow exports. In many cases, however, manufacturers say they are simply responding to market demands.

Lighting was a key design element at JB Wood Inds., the manufacturer of the Dome brand of audio-visual racks. One of its signature pieces was a plasma TV console with lighting that cast a fluorescent blue hue in the center shelf area. The piece also had drawer storage space on either side of the glass shelves.

Lighting also was a hit at U-Chuan Furniture, a manufacturer of bedroom and occasional furniture. Its platform beds had fluorescent blue lighting on both sides of the headboard. Curio cabinets and TV cabinets cast a similar hue along the edge of their glass shelves.

The effect was created thanks to a bulb along the rear edge of the shelf near the back of the cabinet.
Contemporary design elements are popular in the Asian market, said company marketing representative Cavin Ng. He hopes it will resonate soon with U.S. and European customers too.

Companies also touted their materials stories. Novel Furniture’s Bonita dining collection, for instance, features a table with solid teak frame and a smoky glass top, and chairs with woven bamboo elements.

The company’s Lena dining collection has teak dining chairs with suede fabric and woven rattan on the chair backs.

Azurwood Furniture, a recent startup, showed a line of upper medium-priced occasional and home entertainment products made from azurwood, a plantation-grown Malaysian material sawn from oil palm tree trunks that undergo a kiln drying process. It is lightweight and has a distinctive grain pattern.

The company was displaying a dozen SKUs available in multiple finish options, and has another 10 in development, said C.S. Tan, corporate advisor.

“We dare to be different,” Tan said. “We go for excellence and innovation.”

 Take Export’s Freda bedroom group incorporates mixed-media elements such as woven rattan on headboards, footboards and drawer fronts. A new dining group also uses woven rattan on the chairs. Last year, the company also started using more rubberwood solids in place of fiberboard, said Michelle Woo, head of purchasing and shipping.

Case goods producer Ascent Furniture also touted its use of rubberwood solids. Once a bedroom specialist, the company has evolved and now makes  whole home collections, including dining and occasional. Many are original designs by an in-house team, said Eric Au, managing director

“We used to be driven by (designs from) our customer,” Au said. “Now we produce our own designs.”
More metal beds manufacturers also are producing their own designs rather than relying on those from OEM customers.

“We are very keen on creating new designs,” said Joan Lau, executive director of Everhome International, which has a line of transitional and contemporary style metal beds.