Every year at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York, Skram Furniture out of Hillsborough, N.C. unveils its new, modern, approachable products to the market.

This year is no different, said Skram founder Jacob Marks (that’s Skram spelled backwards) – except for the debut of heavyweight saddle leather in a number of new items.

“It’s real thick – about five thirty-seconds of an inch,” he says. “It’s an amazing material that just gets better and better with time. It gets scratched and dinged and develops a real patina.”

Of the six new pieces Skram will be introducing, two feature leather, and the material will be an option on others.

The re-designed Lowdown Media Unit, a mindful reconfiguration of one of the company’s most popular pieces, is now available with ebonized white ash woodwork and tan saddle leather door and drawer faces. And the Saddlestool, Marks says, is inspired by techniques of Western saddlery. It’s handmade, using sharp knives, needles and awls. The leather is hand-mitered and joined with high-strength waxed linen using the saddle-stitch method. It’s offered in vegetable-dyed black, tan and chestnut.

The company says it has expanded its material offerings as an option on a variety of products. “Because the leather is so versatile, customers will have the opportunity to use it creatively on select Skram casegoods in combination with our range of solid timber options,” he says.

Other new products range from the high-end to the affordable. There’s the Version 5 Rocker at $10,000 and the Neutral #2 Chair that retails under $1,500. In between are the Tallshelf and the Neutral Trestle Table. “The Neutral #2 Chair is the most affordable we’ve ever done, and aimed at the budget-minded,” he says.

It’s a chair that’s basically made to complement the Trestle Table. “The Trestle Table is hearty and functional, and when you put the two together – the heavy table and the graceful chair, it’s a pretty striking combination,” he says.

And it’s pretty cool stuff.

For more, go here.