European-Inspired Interior Design | EFI Blog

New DecorFlou Design Photos

2011-10-10T08:00:00.003-04:00

New DecorFlou Design Photos

We received the latest and greatest photos our glass offerings this week and I thought it might be fun to share some of them here. They are all fantastic in their own right, but I have a special affinity for some of the new designs (or patterns). Our glass partner, Omni Decor, teams up with prominent European designers about every other year to come up with new, fresh options.

The DecorGem colored options seem to have caught on the fastest, particular with the use of the Ice White Clear glass as a markerboard material. But we see big things for this glass in our market. See something you like? Comment here to let us know.

European Dining. Caribbean Living.

2011-03-21T13:49:00.002-04:00

European Dining. Caribbean Living.

OBM International recently finished a residential project on the island of Tortola in the British Virgin Islands. The kitchen in this contemporary-style european home features stainless steel tambour doors from EFI. These doors are a fantastic solution for applications requiring easily accessible concealed space and sleek styling.

While we are excited to be part of this project and think that the doors look great, what is most striking is the setting in which this home was placed and how this design takes such great advantage of them. The views are incredible and so is the craftsmanship. If anyone is looking for an upscale primary or vacation residence in the Virgin Islands, you should really check this place out.

Additional applications of this product, available in custom sizes, are provided in our Kitchen and Bath Showroom.

Congratulations to the folks at OBM! Really well done.

Indaux INDAmatic Soft Close

2010-11-11T10:00:00.004-05:00

Indaux INDAmatic Soft Close

Have you ever wanted to get the drawers in your cabinets and furniture to close without slamming shut? It is easy to do with the INDAmatic soft closing accessory!

This simple addition can be added to standard wood drawers with metal drawer runners and really upgrade these drawers to close like those fancy high end drawers shown in the kitchen show rooms today. They are easy to install on any euro style cabinet, and can be added for an easy upgrade offering to customers. There are also brackets to allow them to be added to the single wall metal drawer systems provided by many of the hardware companies. All this, and there is no modifications required on your standard drawer box construction!

Dampers are becoming standard products for most hardware these days, and this one is a really simple, easily mounted solution.

Check out this video to discover more.

Find more videos like this on Sawdust Soup

Made in the USA

2010-09-09T16:59:00.008-04:00

Made in the USA

Bringing jobs to the US has always been one of our goals.

Several years ago, there were over 50,000 European Kitchens sold in the state of Florida. From the beginning, our vision has been to provide the American Manufacturer a chance to compete with the European companies. We have done this by travelling to Italy and Germany to the various trade shows as well as visiting our vendors on a regular basis. This has allowed us to discover trends that are fresh and current in Europe and fast forward them to the US. After all, a box is a box – it’s what you do to it or set on it that sets your project apart.

We produce doors, but we also import high quality functional hardware and LED lighting systems to accessorize our clients’ American cabinet or furniture offerings. We began by importing our doors. After a few years and more air freight bills than you would care to hear about, we established our manufacturing facility in Kernersville, NC. You got it. Our doors are made in the USA.

Bringing fresh ideas to the US market while keeping jobs stateside continues to be our goal. This is good for us and it is good for you. It allows us all to compete in a market demanding custom-sizes and short lead times.

Innovative design and quality product are what we all demand of ourselves. Thank you for allowing us to be a small part of your team.

Glass Markerboard

2010-09-01T08:00:00.006-04:00

Glass Markerboard

One of the most innovative materials we have had the pleasure of working with this year has been glass markerboard. An idea originally brought to us by one of our commercial office customers, it has become a mainstay of some EFI products.

Ice White Clear glass is probably one of the top two or three choices as an insert material in our doors and drawer fronts. Our glass markerboard solution is simply the Ice White Clear glass (usually the 4 mm thick variety) with a thin gauge steel sheet adhered to the back. This combination of materials results in a magnetized product that can accept markings by either a dry erase marker or a Sharpie. Dry erase markings are easily wiped off with an eraser. Markings made by a Sharpie have a little more staying power. They can be removed from the face of the glass, but you do so with the aid of a cleaning product (like Windex).

Glass markerboard has some significant advantages over traditional centurion markerboard. Have you ever encountered residual markings on traditional markerboard? Someone else's notes, or perhaps your own, stick around long after they are gone - like a ghost reminding us of the past. This does not happen with glass. As a more rigid, less porous material, the dry erase ink does not find its way into the deep recesses of the material where it commonly likes to hide. Because the ink stays out of the product, it holds its aesthetic value for a significantly longer period of time. Because you are able to use a Sharpie on the glass, markings that you want to have longer life can be made less temporary. For instance, you have a long term project plan that you need to keep track of. Or you have his and her to-do lists that are perpetually being changed. Or maybe you just want to draw a pretty picture without risking the possibility of someone quickly removing it. Beauty. Durability. Flexibility. It's all here.

And oh yeah - put your kids artwork up, too.

EFI Glass In The News

2010-07-20T17:04:00.004-04:00

EFI Glass In The News

We were recently featured in an article by Architectural Record speaking to the increasing popularity of glass as an aesthetic choice in the architectural community. The author does a fantastic job of addressing the fact that, historically, the primary role of glass in exterior applications was to remain "invisible" so as not to detract from the beauty of the architectural design itself. Recently, modern architecture has begun to feature a much more attractive and versatile brand of glass in these projects.

The partnership of EFI with Omni Decor makes the architectural glass so popular in many of the newest European projects available to the North American market. You can browse some great examples of these in our glass showroom. Here is a short video that provides a little more insight on the subject as well.

We would love to hear what ideas you have for the application of glass in modern architecture.

"Our imagination is the only limit to what we can hope to have in the future." Charles Kettering

Omni Decor Partnership

2010-06-28T16:51:00.004-04:00

Omni Decor Partnership

We are proud of our partnership with Omni Decor, a leading European producer of finished glass and pioneer in the chemical treatment of glass. Sharing our concern for enviornmental responsibility, Omni Decor has worked to achieve an ISO 14001 certification for their chemical etching process. Although a little-known fact to many people even within the glass industry, the etching process is entirely safe to the environment if the chemicals used are treated properly after the process is completed. Take a few minutes to learn a little more about this important partner to EFI.

Our partnership allows EFI to take advantage of some fantastic opportunities to incorporate innovative glass into our product lines. Two of the most common Omni Decor offerings you will find within EFI product are the DecorGem and DecorFlou. Each offers its own unique features designed to meet your design needs. The following short videos shed a little more light on what these fantastic products can bring to any project.

DecorGem

DecorFlou

New LED Products

2010-06-23T08:37:00.011-04:00

New LED Products

This week, EFI introduces two new products into its LED line.

Miraggio

Witness the transformation of your shelving when it is illuminated from within. Create a unique ambiance even in traditional cabinetry, resulting in an innovative vision with Miraggio, an LED light shelf available in custom sizes. Choose Rain, Tree or Double-Sided Etched glass in 6mm or 8mm thicknesses. For a unique design feature, integrate the RGB LED option and change the light color as often as you change your mind.

Luna

Dress up the closet with Luna, a hanging rod featuring LED lighting for convenience in seeing the contents clearly. Also available in custom lengths, this low voltage lighting system serves to meet design goals of both form and function. Select the motion sensor option to make this a truly smart solution.

Green Living

2010-06-18T08:30:00.011-04:00

Green Living

Here at EFI, we are proud of the minimal environmental impact our products have on the world around us. Not only are the materials we use almost entirely recyclable, but our glass partner, Omni Decor, is ISO 14001 certified for their chemical etching process.

Take some time to learn more about how choosing EFI can help you to achieve your goals for environmental responsibility by way of this segment on Designing Spaces.

Check out what ISO 14001 certification actually means in the scope of environmental responsibility.

insight. innovation. influence.

2010-06-15T09:24:00.006-04:00

insight. innovation. influence.

In October of 2009, we rebranded our company and launched a new website. This was an exciting experience for our company and required that we cast some clear vision for the organization while we worked with our marketing partner to create a new look and feel for our brand and website.

Part of this process was the development of a tag line. The conversations among our marketing team revealed that a well-crafted tag line would inherently serve as a talking point through which we could expound upon our story and what makes us who we are. This week, as we share our voice with the world by way of our new blog, we wanted to provide a little more “insight” into what our tag line really means in a practical sense.

insight.

Our owners travel to Europe a couple of times a year to connect with our European partners and major trade fairs to gain insight on the latest European trends. This time spent affords us an incredible learning experience. We are able to witness first-hand what is new, fresh and exciting in the trend-setting world of European design. We have explored everything from functional and decorative hardware to decorative etched architectural glass. Our commitment to learning from those with whom we have formed relationships in the European market uniquely positions us to serve our market.

innovation.

Bringing great ideas from Europe is just part of the equation. Our headquarters is often the breeding ground for creativity and inspiration. For instance, we have developed new aluminum profile extrusion, base structure tubing for furniture legs or custom design and have even incorporated the use of LED lighting in some of our newer projects. Additionally, we have worked with customers in helping to develop ideas inspired by our materials for the purpose of creating a unique design element in one or more of their product lines. Simply visiting and touring our office and showroom areas have been known to incite new ideas.

influence.

New discoveries of forward-leaning European design that are most appealing often find their way back to the North American market by way of our company. We are privileged and humbled to share what we learn and discover with those who embrace modern design here at home. Our own brand of modern design also finds its way into various market segments and is, in many ways, our signature on said markets. Even if you don’t end up utilizing our products, we hope that you will utilize our expertise. Come back and visit us frequently to see what is new and exciting in our world. We would love to share what we know.

I hope this helps to shed some light on what our tag line means and, more importantly, what we are all about. If you see something you like, let us know. If you have a question, shoot! We’re here to help.