Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams Home Furnishings believe in keeping it comfortable
A new home is a blank canvas. Walk in an empty room and you have the opportunity to create and envision how you will spend your time there. Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams Home Furnishings (MGBW) approaches its design with one mantra in mind: comfort for all. The residential and commercial furniture manufacturing company was cofounded by Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams, each of whom bring the perfect blend of business and creativity to make their brand so successful and current, almost three decades after inception.
“I would describe my style as modern, but with a definite influence of traditional and country. I have antiques and 18th-century Chippendale pieces mixed, but it’s mostly modern,” said Gold of his home. “It’s a definite desire to be comfortable. A home has to be an oasis and a place where everybody, regardless of what their job is, can use as their refuge.”
While Gold oversees marketing, sales and production, his partner, Williams, directs the design execution. Of his personal style, Williams says he accumulates quite an eclectic mix of décor in his home.
“There’s a lot of stuff when you walk into my house. I’m a huge flea market and antiques person; I love things that have history that are not quite perfect,” he said, adding that it’s important to get a feel for a person when you enter their home. “I enjoy doing rooms where there’s lots of things on the book cases or coffee table; it’s interesting to see collections from childhood or travels and let people discover something about you that they may not have known before.”
The ideal MGBW customer is someone who has a style sense like the brand’s founders, who note that they do not want to be a store that has several different styles, but can instead, create a space people can enjoy. Right now, several items from the MGBW home collection are having a moment, including a luxurious upholstered bed, incredibly comfortable upholstered dining chairs and the recent debut of the media sofa, which is extra deep and the only sofa you’ll want to watch a movie in.
“We hope that people create an environment where they can enjoy the furniture and live in it,” said Williams. “A living room or family room where they can read a story, drink coffee or watch TV with the dogs, those are the most fun to design.”
MGBW is all about living comfortably, which people tend to associate with lacking elegance. Gold and Williams strike a balance between comfort and style by blending textures and colors from room to room. Williams’ forte is adding depth to a space, which can be accomplished through said mediums.
“You don’t have to have a ton of color; some of the prettiest rooms are monochromatic, but there’s a lot of different ways to incorporate colors: pillows, artwork, fabrics, etc.” said Gold.
Referred to as the “masters of modern home furnishings,” both Gold and Williams believe the key to decorating a home in the modern contemporary style is simpler than one may think.
“It’s all about clean looking silhouettes and offering a variety of pieces that look very comfortable and at ease,” said Gold.
“We also know that people’s homes are very personal and not something we get a chance to redo constantly, so we try and make sure our pieces have a lifetime of looking good,” added Williams. “We want people to enjoy our pieces for a long time and not regret buying it.”
Just as the fashion industry is ever-changing, so is the design business, and both Gold and Williams recommend staying away from trends when decorating a home. Instead, look for pieces that will become stylish and classic, as you never know what could inspire the lines of a table or curve of a chair.
“I find it exciting when something goes out of style and then 25 years later, it gets rediscovered and a whole new generation that didn’t grow up with it finds out about it,” said Williams. “I enjoy looking at that time period when pieces get to be in that period of their life and then make them feel fresh for today with new fabrics.”
“Being with others, you get inspired by talking with each other and looking at design through each other’s eyes,” said Gold.
Find out which collection inspires you by visiting Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams Home Furnishings at 1900 Northern Blvd., Manhasset or shop online at www.mgbwhome.com.
