Customizing the Basics

Friday marked the launch of WEDGE, a new furniture, home furnishing, accessories and decorative arts store. WEDGE replaced the All Ears record store at 401 E. 10th St. The opening of the store was a dream come true for WEDGE co-owner Marc Cornett.\n"I live in the neighborhood, and I always wished that I had rented the space years ago," Cornett said. "And when the second time came around, I had to take it."\nCo-owners Cornett and Ernesto Castaneda were both trained as architects and have been designing furniture as a hobby for the last 10 years. Most of their designs rely on wood as a medium.\nAfter a successful furniture show at the John Waldron Arts Center, the designers decided they should open a furniture store.\n"The show was a real eye opener to me to be involved in that," Cornett said. "It's pretty hard to get that out of your system." \nBoth designers saw the need for their craft in Bloomington.\n"We are always sketching and coming up with new ideas to turn into furniture," Castaneda said.\nUsing art techniques and carpentry, Cornett and Castaneda create brightly colored artistic pieces that serve as functional furniture. \n"We are both well-rounded in design and see our furniture as a combination of art and construction," Cornett said.\nAt a time when home design shows are all over cable TV, Cornett and Castaneda have been able to keep their art completely original and use the media phenomenon to their advantage. The artists experimented with different colors and shapes to achieve the art in their space.\n"All of our pieces are custom designed, and a customer can pick the color and piece they want in their home," Cornett said. "We actually had a customer request a headboard to be custom-made based on a piece of artwork we sold him off the wall. People are really thinking outside the box."\nSenior Ari Nowacek was impressed with the store's concept.\n"I loved the use of color. Everything seemed really well constructed and durable," Nowacek said. "I definitely could see pieces like this in my own apartment."\nThe designers categorize themselves as "modern" in their pieces; however, they are not afraid to incorporate vintage designs in their works. Canvasses and colored wood blocks line the walls.\n"A lot of our stuff comes out of the construction we are comfortable with, and it sort of gives life to the design," Cornett said. "We have a lot of square edges and bold shapes and colors. We are really trying to replace the image of furniture as heirlooms."\nCastaneda stressed the importance of the tangibility of the art.\n"We want customers to pick up the art on the walls and change its arrangement. We want people to feel like it isn't art in a museum," Castaneda said.\nNowacek noticed this aspect of the store.\n"The setup was perfect," Nowacek said. "You could look at the pieces in the store as though they were art, yet at the same time I wasn't afraid to touch the wood and flip through the art books on the tables."\nCornett and Castaneda said they see a bright future for their store, including a larger line of furniture and accessories. \n"We have really had a great response from the community as well as the students," Cornett said. "Our first customer was actually a student. We really hope to continue that relationship."\n-- Contact staff writer Jaime \nCohen at jrcohen@indiana.edu.