BOGARI celebrates 20 years of European style in the South
When it comes to furniture, what does “European style” really mean?
It’s a question most Upstate residents had a difficult time answering two decades ago, when BOGARI European Contemporary Furniture first opened its doors in Greenville. Even today—with Ikea still the only familiar option for many American consumers looking for European-style home furnishings—BOGARI occupies a unique niche in our pocket of the South.
“Here in Greenville, the average consumer has really changed in the last 20 years,” says Ivet Ivanova, interior designer and co-owner of BOGARI. “When you look at what we offer, that was really not what they were used to seeing. But I’ve seen the consumer mind shift towards our style over the years.”
And by its sheer staying power, BOGARI has played no small part in nudging local consumers over the last 20 years toward the aesthetic view of what a home should be.
The BOGARI Influence
Step inside BOGARI’s 15,000-square-foot showroom at 66 Carolina Point Parkway just off Woodruff Road in Greenville, and you won’t find the kind of ornate, lavish furniture that would have been the envy of Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind. Instead, you’ll find deceptively simple pieces: low platform beds in favor of the giant four-poster variety; stainless steel in favor of old-fashioned brass materials; tables and chairs that can fold as easily as a book while remaining sturdy enough to dance upon.
“And that’s not saying that American designers and manufacturers don’t make sleeper sofas or extendable tables—they do, of course,” Ivanova says. “But because Europe is an old continent with many small countries, and everybody lives in smaller spaces than we do here, so much of the furniture is multifunctional.”
And with more consumers these days looking to downsize—whether out of necessity or simply to declutter—the trend toward a more European aesthetic is not slowing down.
For Ivanova, who emigrated from Bulgaria to the United States with her husband, Lyudmil, in the late 1990s, BOGARI has been a personal creative outlet as well as a way to share her own artistic heritage with the Upstate.
“At first we were not quite sure how ready Greenville is for something that contemporary,” she says. “But I had a feeling that it would not be such a bad idea to try. Now 20 years later, after making it through the Great Recession and COVID, I have to say I am very proud of what we created.”
The ‘TV effect’ on home design
Have you scrolled through Instagram or flipped through magazines and noticed home design is becoming more sleek and minimalistic? Blame TVs for that trend. “When electronics and home appliances, especially TVs, became sleek and modern-looking, it had a [ripple] effect on home design,” Ivanova says. “All the sudden you have this sleek, high-tech and minimal TV in your home that makes the rest of the home feel ornate and old fashioned by comparison. So gradually the rest of the home changes in that direction.”
European style means:
Often minimalistic, with a focus on functionality, contemporary European style emphasizes high quality materials, craftsmanship, understated simplicity, and elegant use of straight lines.
BOGARI
864.254.0770, bogarifurniture.com
Opened in 2004.
Sources pieces from:
Italy, Denmark, Germany, Sweden and Norway, along with select Canadian and American designs.
