Caroline Hipple: President, Norwalk Furniture

Caroline is an industry strategist, adventurous merchant, culture advocate and fearless problem solver who currently serves as the president of Norwalk Furniture—a leading custom upholstery manufacturer in Norwalk, Ohio. Caroline is passionate about bringing beautiful and functional upholstery to retailers and designers who serve the decorative market while invigorating the culture of the organization and its “maker” community.

A confessed textile nerd, she and her partner Dixon Bartlett travel the world in search of the best palette of designs, colors and resources that suit the moment, while surprising and delighting the customers they serve. Together they have headed up textile programs for four companies over several decades. Caroline is the author of A Pathway to Profit and currently serves on a number of industry boards and organizations.

What are your favorite sources of inspiration? First and foremost, travel. I’m a global traveler— I could be in Paris or Iowa, Scotland or Italy, and I find inspiration everywhere. Nature provides rich inspiration, it could be the taupey grey of the bark on a tree and the perfect green that goes with it. I also look to set design in movies and television for inspiration. Right now, I love The Tudors and how the unbelievable sets and costumes tell a story and eventually influence our end-consumer. Social media is a big influence, particularly Instagram® and Pinterest®. I still enjoy reading good shelter magazines, the ones hanging in there are doing a good job. I love to turn the page, rip it out and pin it up. In fact, whenever I return from Europe, my bags are weighted down with dozens of international home magazines. I always make time to walk around tradeshows like High Point Market, Showtime, Maison & Objet, and others abroad. And, exploring textile document houses is like nirvana to me.

You’re a new addition to the crayon box, what color would you be and what name would you have? Dusted Violet. Today’s world is a bit cantankerous and we need kindness more than ever. What better color than a dusty violet to encourage it? It’s amazing how color plays out in the world—people have a visual

and emotional response to color. And a favorite quote of mine, often attributed to Mark Twain, is: Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.

What’s the last gift you gave someone or a go-to host/ hostess gift you give? I spent this past New Year’s Eve in Paris and brought everyone these amazing sparkly, sophisticated New Year’s-themed headbands from ElizabethAllenStudio on Etsy.

What are your favorite colors or color combinations? I’m a huge fan of green. I love wet, yummy, mossy greens. Deep emeralds. Not too yellow, not too blue. We just finished working on Norwalk’s spring color palette and there are teal and green accents. In my home, I have white walls and a lot of Asian accents, old Suzani and Indian textiles with red, green and pink, and black and white.

What is your favorite quote/words of wisdom? My favorite quote, going back to HB2 days, is: “Thought. Word. Action.” We used it in visioning and realized if you let go of the result, amazing things happen. And we’ve used it many times since.

What is your favorite vacation destination? While it’s hard to name just one, I’d say Fowl Cay island in Exumas, Bahamas. It has the most beautiful colors, at least 42 shades of blue that stretch to a lavender sky.

Do you prefer book or kindle? I love books, and now Audible is my friend. I enjoy author Ann Lamott’s take on tragedy and goodness that’s honest and funny and Richard Rohr’s Falling Upwards and Learning to Breathe Underwater.

Do you prefer concerts, plays or movies? Yes, yes and yes. I attend every Rolling Stones concert I can with a special group of friends that makes it even better. I love to go to movies and see them on the big screen.

What is your dream project or collaboration? One of my all-time favorite experiences was working with Emily Wynn at Fabricut on Jaclyn Smith’s first fabric line and researching antique textile documents for inspiration. That’s hard to top. Eventually, we’d love to create our own fabric line, exclusively curated for Norwalk. I love textiles, I’m a self-professed textiles nerd. And in every job I’ve had, there’s been a focus on curating textiles. Someday, I’d love to create an online fabric collection available to the consumer, designer and manufacturer where it’s a seamless experience and everyone benefits. What are your go-to paint colors? Decorator’s White by Benjamin Moore and a shell pink like the inside of a conch shell.

Do you have a favorite coffee table or interior design book? Falling Water by Edgar Kaufmann Jr.

What is your favorite thing to do when you’re not working? Enjoying good food, wine and travel with my friends. I also love gardening; I grew up in Lynchburg at the foot of the mountains, so I’m most at home outdoors.

Do you have a favorite charity or one you like to support? I support a number of organizations, such as St. Catherine’s School and the Atlanta Girls School—most centered on promoting women and education. WithIt (Women in the Home Industries Today) is important to me and I’m on the executive board of the American Home Furnishings Hall of Fame.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given? My mentor, Stewart Brown, was the visionary founder of the retail side of This End Up. He taught me early on to be honest with myself about my strengths and weaknesses and he said you should always surround yourself with people who love you and will tell you the truth.