Furniture Finder

"Don't paint a small room a dark color." A deep, rich color in a small room can be a great way to enhance and embrace a feeling of coziness. "Don't mix your woods." According to the old school of thought, every wood tone in a room should match with the same finish. A more casual and eclectic approach is to mix things up, even with two finishes, like black and antique oak, on the same piece. "Don't leave your windows bare." It's okay to have naked windows, just so long as you don't stand naked in front of them. You can keep an open airy feeling in your room and highlight the view by keeping your window dressings to a minimum, or by forgetting them altogether. "Match your nightstands." Nightstands are not socks, and they don't necessarily have to match each other. You can personalize your bedroom to match the personalities of you and your partner by using different nightstands on each side of the bed. "Don't put a big piece of furniture in a small room." Putting a large cabinet in a small room can create the illusion that it is a built-in part of the architecture.

You can have only one metallic tone in a room. A look at the faucet display at your local home improvement center will demonstrate that silver and gold tones can be mixed. You can even combine different brushed nickel with shiny gold. You can't mix floral fabrics and plaids. Many fabric companies now offer coordinates of florals and plaids in the same color pallet and designed to be used together. You should pick one style and stick with it. Today's interior styles reflect an eclectic mix of influences. Not only can you switch up your style from room to room, but within a room as well. Whether you prefer a casual or a more formal approach to furnishing your home, the contrast of different styles enlivens the space. Furnishings should be placed symmetrically. Just as your furnishings don't have to match, the left side of the room doesn't have to match the right. An asymmetrical arrangement can create interest and emphasize a focal point. An asymmetrical arrangement lends a room a more casual air. Books belong on bookshelves. Books are a great way to add color and interest to a room. The idea of a coffee table book deserves some updating. Stacks of books can be used to elevate a lamp or a plant in a table top arrangement. If you are feeling adventurous, you can stack several oversized books to the side of a chair to serve as an end table. When you use a bookcase, not every book has to be standing on end; try laying some flat and place decorative accessories on top.

Does this fit my family's lifestyle (pets included)? Rethink a chenille sofa if you have a cat with claws. Exuberant, snack-eating football fans don't mix well with dupioni silk. How long do I want to live with this? If you like to stay on top of the latest fashion trends, you may want a change before an item is worn out. Consider how long you want to keep something before you make a sizable investment and plan to update your interior periodically. Will it fit through the door? This often overlooked issue leads to a lot of frustration and many returns. How will I take care of it? Accidents happen sometimes. Who could predict that your infant son would choose to teeth on the cushion of your leather sofa and chew a hole in it? Buying a protection plan, like Protection 1st, will give you peace of mind and the resources to fix problems when they occur. Have I done my research and am I getting the best value? Keep in mind that value doesn't mean cheap. Value means that you are getting the best quality relative to the amount you are paying. To get a good value you need to examine the sturdiness and expected lifespan of an item in addition to its appearance.

To adequately fill a room with light, ambient and task lighting are needed. Ambient light comes from a single source, like natural light, whereas task lighting is used to light a specific area such as a desk, workbench, reading chair or kitchen surface. Adding a little light to your respective living areas seems like a simple task, provided that you consider some of the factors affecting which lamp fixture you should buy. How to Choose the Right Lamp Many people choose a lamp without first taking measurements and considering both the style and the purpose of the lamp. Size, brightness, and look are very important when purchasing any type of home lighting, but lamp fixtures are especially particular because they serve the dual purpose of providing light and decorating the room. Before you go hunting for a new lamp, be prepared with a few helpful hints. The size of the lamp is possibly the most important matter to determine. This is somewhat dependant on how the lamp will be used.

Why is shopping for a sofa so intimidating? Sometimes customers are more comfortable dropping $30,000 on a car than to pick out a $1,000 sofa (and the latter will probably last longer). Perhaps the biggest hesitation comes from a fear of making a mistake - whether it's about how much to spend, the color, the fabric, the size or shape. Consider these factors before buying to help eliminate some of the buying concerns and make your new sofa truly enhance your living space. Know your budget. Sofas can run anywhere from $299 to $10,000, so the first thing you need to do is set a realistic budget. Sure, they may look all the same to you, but there's a huge quality difference in that range. Consider stretching a little beyond what you think you can afford - in a few years, you don't want a budget compromise to have become the shabbiest piece in your room because it couldn't stand up to your lifestyle.

Take a sample to the paint store. Bring a sample of the flooring or carpet as well as any fabrics that will be used in the room with you to the paint store. Don't pick your paint color standing in the store. After you've identified colors that work with your samples, take home the paint sample cards to make sure the color will work with the other furnishings in the room. Some paint manufacturers even have larger samples or whole books of paint samples available for you to take home and decide on a color. Paint a sample wall. Many paint retailers now offer sample sizes of their colors for you to try out on a patch of wall before you commit to painting the entire thing. Look at your sample at different times of day. Natural light can dramatically change how we perceive a color, so be sure the color works in the bright morning sun as well as the cool afternoon shade. Don't be scared of an intense color before you bring your furniture back in. A bare room in an intense color can be intimidating, but keep in mind that when you bring your furnishings into the room, the overall effect will be different. The tones in your furnishings will reflect on the painted wall and change or soften the effect.

Here are a few things to keep in mind as you shop for your new sofa. Keep in mind that what is under all that beautiful new upholstery will make a difference in how comfortable and durable a sofa is in the long term. Take the time to "kick the tires" and understand what is underneath cushions before you make a decision. Frame A sturdy frame is essential for a comfortable, high-quality sofa. The best sofa frames are constructed from kiln-dried hardwood. Green wood can shrink, crack or warp as it dries. Kiln drying removes the moister before the craftsmen begin to shape the frame, ensuring that the sofa will maintain its shape and stability over the long term. Quality frame construction also includes glued, doweled and screwed joints. Reinforcing blocks should be attached inside the corners of the frame for extra support. Plywood and particle board constructed frames held together with staples will not stand up over time and should be avoided. If you must choose a sofa without a kiln dried frame, then opt for 11 - 13 layer plywood over 5 - 7 layer plywood for better support. Seating Support

Want to talk about furniture? Well, you've come to the right place. Here you are free to discuss anything about furniture and we look forward to hearing from you. Feel free to talk about anything and everything in this board Post pictures of your furniture Ideas and improvement projects for your home.

With the proper care your oil-finished solid wood furniture ages beautifully; its mature colors warming and mellowing with the passing years. The following are some methods to clean and protect your furniture. The following are some methods to clean and protect your furniture.

Your bed is of great importance to your sleeping habits. You should therefore choose your bed with care. We usually say that you have found the right one when you "don't notice" that you are in the bed. You should only notice how comfortable you are.

Good things last even longer when you take care of them. Here are some helpful tips on how to take care of your BoConcept furniture.

I hope you can help us find a suitable furniture arrangement for our awkward family room. Because the family room and kitchen are open to each other, there is very little wall space to work with. The room is has a major traffic path running through it, as we normally enter through the garage/back door and must pass through the family room to get to other areas of the house. Also, the patio doors in this room lead to our deck and pool area and it is used extensively during the summer months. We have lived in this house for many years and the room is due for a complete makeover, so there will be few restrictions with regard to furniture, built-ins, colour, flooring, etc. We spend most of our time in this room and it is used for watching television and some entertaining.

You've heard of the fat-free, or sugar-free diet, how about the clutter-free diet (like Vicente Wolf's room above, ummm). Has your house been fed too much junk food? Do you feel overly stressed in your home? Is It hard to find things? Time to deny denial and get in shape (yes, I'm listening).

Some people think of wardrobes as purely functional pieces of furniture, but that doesn't mean they can't be fashionable as well. The way we see it is this: a wardrobe is one of the most important pieces of furniture in the home (together with a sofa, bed and dining table), so we want it to look every bit as stylish, eye-catching and chic as the clothes we hang inside it. Furniture manufacturers are well aware of this, which is why they're now creating wardrobes and matching furniture that will instantly give your bedroom the 'Wow Factor'. One of our favourite styles of wardrobe is the sliding door variety - these have a cool, cosmopolitan edge, often with mirrored fronts that add depth and light to your bedroom. Speaking of light, the high gloss explosion has taken the world of home trends by storm in recent years.

Worried about your wooden furniture? Here is how to take care of it... Varnished wood is considered to be one of the most popular surfaces available in furniture However, such kind of furniture needs special care. Here's how you can do it: -Protect the wood from water and other liquids, such as alcohol, food or cosmetics. If water or other liquids are allowed to settle on a wood surface for more than a few minutes, they seep through the pores in the varnish coating, into the wood, staining it. -Keep the varnished wood free of dust and dirt, as it can make the surface grimy. Using a vacuum cleaner with a brush attachment can do the job. A dry, soft, lint free cloth can also help remove dust and smudges and will also give the surface a soft shine. Lightly soiled varnished surfaces can be cleaned by using teak oil.

Finishing furniture is an art form - you can create whatever you want. The terms "distressing" and "antiquing" are often used interchangeably in the wood finishing world. These techniques can be used separately or together along with glazing to obtain the degree of "aging" that you desire

With the right questions - and answers - you can choose a new sofa or chair with confidence. What should you look for? Start by insisting on a kiln-dried, solid hardwood frame. You might never see the wood frame of your sofa or chair, but you should know what it is made of. Kiln-dried hardwoods like oak, alder, birch and maple are preferred because they hold pegs, screws and nails securely in place for a long time. Buying good upholstered furniture - and keeping it - helps the environment too. Landfills are overflowing with inexpensive sofas that are left on the curb after just a few years of use.

Details make the difference in a home. Crown molding and chair rails add architectural interest to rooms. Custom fabric elevates window treatments. And new hardware can transform tired cabinets or old dressers into stylish components. Liberty Hardware, a Winston-Salem hardware manufacturer founded in 1942, recently introduced a new line of custom knobs, handles and pulls designed and handcrafted by artists. The HomeGrown Hardware collection includes glass, metal and pottery hardware interpretations and allows consumers to create a personalized look without breaking the bank.

First of all, you need to know that the tips that will be mentioned in this article are guaranteed to remove stains safely. The best thing to do is to refer to your Coleman Furniture dealer or retailer for suggestions or to contact Coleman Furniture customer service for advice. It is also advisable to seek professional help from cleaning companies. If you decide to do it yourself, it is advisable to test on small and unnoticeable area like the back portion of the sofa in order to check if the color will be affected.

If you just spent a good amount of money on new furniture for your living room, it will break your heart to see the first stain that occurs on your upholstered sofas or chairs. But don't worry; you can actually get some of those stains out, without a lot of problems. The main thing is to choose the right way to clean the piece of furniture, so that you don't make the stain appear worse. If someone has dumped part of a drink on your chair, consider first the fabric, before you try to clean it. If you are dealing with a larger stain, you may want to try your cleaning first on a small area that you can't see well, to make sure it does not cause damage or discoloration. Greasy stains like butter can be cleaned with a dry type of cleaning solvent, available at any grocery store. Place a bit on a clean cloth and blot the stain. Be sure you don't rub the stain, since that could make it worse. Then mix mild detergent with warm water and blot that stain again. Use a towel to soak up everything you have used, and the spot should be gone when the fabric dries. This is a lot cheaper than buying new living room sets after your muddy dog joins you on the sofa. Cheese and crackers are often served as snacks, but when nacho type cheese gets spilled, it's no picnic. But you can get it out. Just mix one teaspoon-full of mild detergent in a cup of lukewarm water, and blot the stain with a clean towel. Blot it once more with a mixture of a half-cup warm water and a tablespoon of ammonia. Then blot up the stain and cleansers using clean water only, and let it dry.