Written by: Nick Scaringelli
Interior design is as old as civilization. From the cave paintings at Lascaux all the way to Better Homes and Gardens, people have wanted to curate unique and comfortable homes for as long as they’ve been living in homes. At CORT Furniture Rental, we know this better than anyone, because we’ve been sourcing and collecting tasteful, high-quality furniture to provide to our renters for the last 50 years.
CORT Yesterday and Today
Because we’ve been around for so long, we’ve been able to keep an eye on trends and see what comes and goes. We all may shudder at the shag-carpets and blacklights of old, but there are some styles that just never seem to – well – go out of style! Looking back through our archives, we’ve seen some familiar faces.
Take this setup from Mohasco Furniture Rental (CORT before we were CORT). Back in the day, it was called the ‘Avant Garde’ collection. Its clean lines and polished chrome and glass appealed to bold modernists. That sofa, in particular, draws the eye with its bright white and ample room for sitting and lounging.
While the patterned chairs might give this room’s age away, the sofa certainly doesn’t. Especially since you can browse CORT’s website today and find something like:
Our Kerman sofa. It captures the lightness and poise of the Avant-Garde sofa, just with some delightfully updated
(and enhanced) new features. The seat is deeper for even more comfort and curling up for movie nights. The arms and back have a little curve to bring it into the 21st century. Shiny (and easy-to-smudge) chrome legs have been updated into a stylish matte black. And, most importantly, the original sofa boasted its “blinding white… wet-look vinyl”, while this one is supple genuine leather. It’s a piece that calls back to the past without compromising modern values or comfort.
In days gone by, a smaller acquisition of CORT’s was called Finger Furniture Rental. Finger had plenty of furniture that was all the rage at the time, but looking at it today, some of their striped and floral patterned pieces would be a bit… much. However, they also had some pieces that would fit in even the most on-trend living rooms of today.
Take this Chesterfield sofa, for instance. Comfortable curves and a plush, buttoned back are as timeless as they are tasteful. Chesterfields have been around forever and they’re not going anywhere, which you can see with the Brennen sofa from CORT today.
Our modern chesterfield has that same feeling of luxury with its beautiful button tufting and genuine leather composition. It’s riveting on the front rounds out the look, while the rolled arms are perfect for resting your head or perching at parties. It’s everything that the 70s got right about Chesterfields, with just a little more modern sensibility
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Another excellent collection from Mohasco was its Penthouse group. This living room (minus the stripes) would do numbers on any design inspiration page. The gently sloped arms of the sofa and chairs make them inviting without giving you the feeling of being trapped inside.
For that same easy sloping style, our Hensley sofa and Piper chair are available in gorgeous neutrals that seamlessly fit into any room’s color scheme. And the best part about keeping them neutral is that if you ever feel like you need a change of scenery, freshening up the whole room’s look is as easy as switching out colored throw pillows or wall art.
CORT once released a catalog with the idea that “We Make It Easy to Feel at Home.” It followed a beautifully airbrushed young woman as she explored some of the different styles that CORT had to offer and talked about how simple the process of renting from CORT is, as well as how easy and convenient it makes moving. A lot of that furniture has since gone out of style, but the simplicity of CORT’s business model and the convenience that furniture rental affords is as true and important as ever. 
One of the looks from that catalog is a light and modern, Bauhaus-inspired dining set. It’s clean and modern with a boho-style flair, and it would look at home.
For a piece that recalls everything that works about this set, our Gianni chair is a perfect complement to any style. Its sleek and modern frame fits perfectly into even the smallest of spaces, while its delightful Italian leather construction sits even more comfortably than you’d imagine.
Yves Saint Laurent very famously said that “fashions fade, but style is eternal”. Nowhere is that more apparent than in home decor and furniture. So many people are going out of their way to find vintage pieces or pieces that look like vintage pieces because the very core of what was in back then has remained in style now. Here at CORT, we’ve been in the business long enough to recognize this, which is why our selection of furniture is always focused on quality and timelessness.
Trends come and go quickly, and it can be easy to be swept up in them. Luckily, if you’re renting your furniture from CORT, you’re not spending an arm and a leg on furniture that’ll be out of style by the time you’ve finished paying it off. If you lease your furniture from CORT, once your lease term is up, you can keep renting month to month, exchange your furnishings to try something new, or schedule a pickup. No matter what, our job is to make sure that you have access to furniture that lets you be in charge of your style – no matter what that style may be.
Embracing Furniture on Your Terms™ with CORT Today, Tomorrow, and Always
Why has CORT been around for the last 50 years? Well, simply put, it’s because of you. Because of our customers, employees, partners and so many more, CORT has consistently innovated the way we provide our services over the years.
In a recent interview, Tim Deagan, CORT’s Executive Vice President of IT, shared “Furniture is our bread and butter. But we also look at a lot of other features that, ideally, will increase some furniture rental. But also provide a more valuable service to our customers.”
Since 1972, CORT has been an organization that believes EVERYTHING is Possible Through Service™. When choosing our furniture, we consider more factors than style and look at the total lifecycle of every piece we offer. Not only do they remain timeless, regardless of the current trends, but so we can continue offering the highest quality of products and services to our customers.
Our pieces are manufactured to a higher standard compared to most furniture. They’re built to be rented and re-rented several times through CORT Furniture Rental services. Once these pieces have completed their rental lifecycle, they’re moved to the CORT Furniture Outlet to be sold and to avoid having them thrown into a landfill.
Design your own furniture and decor subscription package that’s custom-tailored to your space and style today by browsing CORT’s selection of high-quality furniture, decor, and housewares online or in-store at your local CORT Furniture Rental showroom.
