I was going to make a Viagra joke, but decided against it. So, I’ll just focus on the actual topic at hand. We just received our first batch of reclaimed douglas fir which we plan to use on new Viesso products such as tables, chairs, and outdoor furniture. The wood comes from sites in the Los Angeles area where the flooring or lumber from old buildings would be otherwise be thrown away.

Not only will this make these products extremely Green, but it will reduce their costs. This reclaimed wood is very affordable so we look forward to lowering some prices on the products that utilize it. Less expensive and recycled? Wow! Amazing, I know. Old growth wood for new designs: a great way to leverage recycled materials.

In April, in the lovely city of Milan, the world’s greatest furniture event took place. Called the Salone Internazionale del Mobile, it features the best and brightest in the world of modern and contemporary furniture design. Consisting of large design houses, international companies, or up and coming designers, each product there is expected to inspire. for the most part, they do.

This year, a few designers stood out. Moroso brought out their usual big guns and offered some amazing sofas and seating solutions. Via, a collection of French talent, showed some pieces that focused on functionality and minimalism, a rarity at the show that seems to beg for designs that wow with their artful ways. Nacho Carbonell had some interesting pieces, some using understated materials like cardboard, and other using oversized proportions.

In all, the show presented a very wide collection of designs from the world of furniture. The always charming city provides a great backdrop to showcase these goods, offering a contrast to the uber modern feel of the products. If you have the time and the means, I highly suggest you check it out.

Over the past four years of running Viesso, we have changed or updated our website a countless number of times. We’re always trying to improve it to create the best user experience. Ease of use, functionality, enjoyment, style…these are the objectives. We get feedback all the time from people that love our website. And we get some people with some frustrations or general confusion. The shopping process with Viesso is different from most other furniture websites. This is a point of pride, and a challenge.

Currently we are rethinking the way customers create their custom sofas, chairs, tables, beds, etc. Providing a clear path is extremely important, so we are tweaking the process by which you shop on viesso.com. Should be launching in a month or two, and it will make the user experience with Viesso that much richer, and that much easier. Until then, by all means, call or email us if you have any questions about customizing our furniture online.

Middle of the week and a coupel good items to discuss in regards to Viesso. firstly, our long awaited prototypes for dining chairs are finally here. They look pretty amazing, but we still need to make a couple slight tweaks to get them exactly where we want them to be. Great designs though, and with the numerous fabric options we’ll be able to offe a very unique product.

In the marketing world, our commercial from 2008 is garnering some buzz. In the Twin Rivers Media Festival, we just won 3rd place for Best Commercial. Here’s a link to the site: www.twinriversmediafestival.com

This is the third festival we have won (the others we won first prize). Not bad for a commercial that was concepted and shot in one week.

Today and tomorrow, one of our sofas will be on display at the AltBuild show in Santa Monica. A Green focused show, this gathering of designs further demonstrates that you can be both Eco-friendly and stylish.

Viesso isn’t participating in any trade shows on our own in 2009, as we we part of four last year. Through the Santa Monica Design District, however, we were able to place our Ason sofa in the area along with other furniture companies in the SMDD.