Posts Tagged ‘furniture’

Lil’ Chics Dig This Furniture

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

Today’s little girls have grown up surrounded by Disney and Barbie princesses. So it’s no surprise that so many request a princess themed bedroom so they can feel like Cinderella in their own bedrooms. Instead, of going with a generic themed princess design turn to Shabby Chic furniture and bedding for a romantic, uncluttered and unique looking princess theme. Even adult woman can jazz up a princess theme with a Shabby Chic dresser, desk or chair for a home office or bedroom that offers a calming oasis to come home too.

“Shabby chic” means a type of design for your home that is comfortable and functional. Usually, “shabby chic” furniture is white, and antique or gently used furniture can be painted white to give it a clean, functional, fashionable look. However, “shabby chic” when it comes to a bed or dresser doesn’t just mean one thing. You can combine shabby chic with Victorian, country or romantic themes for a unique style. You can also take vintage furniture, paint it white, and use vintage lace for a comfortable, “lived in” quaint quality. As a furniture line, shabby chic uses quality wooden white furniture that’s both well made and of the highest workmanship, but is also still affordable and comes in many stylish designs.

Many shabby chic rooms have as their central focus of vintage, old-fashioned, ornate mirrors. These types of large mirrors can be very feminine, can make a small room look larger and give it more depth. If your daughter is small, make sure you anchor a large merchant wall for safety, then create a fantasy world by giving her a dress up corner fit for a princess. Some wall hooks by the mirror can display your daughter’s favorite costumes, and you can put small wooden bins by the mirror to hold costume jewelry, crowns, feather boas and other accessories fit for a princess.

A central feature of many Shabby Chic rooms with a vintage theme is the use of large old fashioned, embellished mirrors. Large mirrors are feminine and give a room more depth. For young children anchor a large mirror to the wall for safety purposes and give your little princess a fairy tale dress up corner. Add hooks to the wall by the mirror to display your daughter’s princess dresses. Then place several small wooden bins by the mirror to hold various crowns, costume jewelry, feather boas and other princess themed clothing items for role playing.

If the room is for an adult, a small secretary mirror can add to the decor in that they are handy to go on the vanity table, or on a matching secretary desk or “shabby chic” dresser. All of these things will make room look much more elegant.

The next thing to consider for a shabby chic bedroom is the bed. A large ornate headboard for the bed is one popular shabby chic choice, but make sure that the bed and dresser will go together. One of the most popular items for a “shabby chic” princess themed bed is a canopy. A canopy can make a bed look luxurious and royal, and will certainly make your daughter feel like a princess indeed. If you choose a shabby chic bed and it doesn’t already have a canopy, you can make your own with tulle material and chandelier hooks. Glitter, rhinestones, or sequins can add the final touches.

Painting a room with a fresh coat of paint is a good start when you begin to redesign your child’s bedroom. The perfect princess room may have a softly pink or purple-backed fairy tale design, although you can use any color you want, including soft yellow, off-white, or pastels. If you wish, you can start with white and then add colorful borders, murals, butterfly or star wall hangings, peel and stick decals — anything goes. Use a large banner with a fairytale scene and inscribed with your child’s name hung up over the bed for a personal touch.

Before you begin, make sure you put a fresh coat of paint up so that the walls are fresh and clean when you design your child’s bedroom. What color of paint should you choose? That depends on your preferences. Many “princess themed” rooms look good with soft purple or pink, although just about any pastel color will do, such as soft yellow; off-white, too, is another option. If you do paint the walls white, you can add a colorful border for accents. You can make murals on the walls themselves, or you can add a border with lots of color. You can also do wall hangings that are star or butterfly themed, and you can also use peel and stick decals for a more personal option. To make it a little girl’s dream, a large banner depicting princesses, fairytale castles, and other fairytale themes can be hung up over the bed; for really personal option, put your daughter’s name on it.

Though Shabby Chic works great with a light colored carpet for a truly authentic princess look go with hardwood floors. Area rugs featuring a floral design can be placed in front of a Shabby Chic dresser or by the bed. Lighting also matters in a Shabby Chic design. A chandelier, desk lamp or floor lamp with teardrop chains or glass beading can be the focal point in a room. Fairy lights can also be hung over the wall for added detail.

Although shabby chic is a design, it doesn’t just mean finding explicitly designed “shabby chic” furniture. Instead, you can take old items and give them a fresh new look; find pieces at flea markets, yard sales, attics, estate sales, and more. If you’re buying old furniture items, make sure you buy those that have been cared for well. If they’re too damaged, they may not be salvageable. And although most furniture with the shabby chic theme is white, you can also add some dark pieces. Cream-colored furniture, too, goes well with the shabby chic, princess-themed look you’re going for.

Written by: Laura Barnhardts works in fashion and interior design plus knows all about shopping saddles for sale and owns a web design company.

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Twitter
  • Technorati
  • Live
  • LinkedIn
  • MySpace

Antique Furniture Stylings

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

Shabby chic furniture is not only found in, New York or L.A. Shabby Chic is found in a small corner of your home town vintage or antique stores. You can find true shabby chic furniture for you home and stay within a reasonable budget.

Shabby chic is a style that you can create on your own or buy original. This style of furniture is white or light pastel colors. The wooden furniture will have a coat of paint that appears to have been sanded so the wood is peaking through. The fabrics that are used are light colors that look like the color has been rubbed off or bleached. A white fabric with a light colored stripe is common in furniture that is true shabby chic.

This stylish look is one you would find in large country home where as the furniture looks if it is worn or faded. The effect of having all of your furnishings in matching characteristics becomes an overall elegant effect. The furniture structure does not need to match as long as you stick within the shabby chic decor.

Furnishing a home in the shabby chic style is becoming a very popular way to decorate. You can travel the world and find items you can use. Both Paris and Greece are well known for their stylish chic furniture. You will often see these styles on movies sets that have been reproduced to set the theme for vintage and country settings.

You can set a reasonable budget and easily decorate one room or your entire home with shabby chic furniture. You can find a piece of furniture that you like and refinish it so it fits your dcor. You can use a faux painting technique that will give you the desired chic effect. By refinishing the furniture yourself you can fill your entire home with shabby chic furniture for a small amount of money. If you decide to go this route, be sure to figure the cost of the materials into your budget.

When you are trying to complete your design job, expand your collection, or entirely change your home’s dcor you will start shopping in the very last place you would normally consider. You will start your search in the vintage stores and antique shops. Shopping for the right pieces of shabby chic furniture is more fun than shopping at the mall.

Antique and vintage stores will have odd and ends that will be true shabby chic furniture items. You can always spend a day driving to an antique store that you have never been to. This will help you with more options than going to just one store. Shopping on the internet is also a great place to find what you are looking for and you can find competitive prices. Remember to factor in shipping price to your budget when you are searching on the internet. You can find very reasonable shipping prices and companies that will deliver directly to your home

One of the best shabby chic furniture ideas is to use a slip cover. Your current furniture may have a color that’s outdated, but there is no reason to buy new furniture if its not broken. You can change the style of your old living room furniture and have a new and improved look in minutes. This is the most cost efficient way to upgrade your room with a shabby chic furniture look. You will be able to find slip covers that match that match the dcor of your home when you shop online or in a home dcor store.

Written by: J. Gufrane works in the furniture market plus knows all about shopping saddles for sale and owns a web design company.

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Twitter
  • Technorati
  • Live
  • LinkedIn
  • MySpace

Bargain Hunting On Home Furniture

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

To turn a house into a home you need to put your personal stamp on it, and the way to do that is to fill it with items that fit your personality. There are many ways to do that, and here are a few ideas so that you bring your home together through a great diversity of mediums.

So think a bit more out of the box as to where to get your things from. Check out garage sales and market places, consignment shops are a good place for bargain, and my personal favorite, Craigslist.

The amount of furniture for sale in the classifieds is astounding, and most of it is in excellent condition and are usually 50% or more less than you would pay retail.

The bottom rung of furniture sales are garage sales. The weekend ones tend to be the best, and there are some bargains to be had if you look hard enough.

Yard sales can be a lot of fun if you go to them realistically and don’t set your expectations too high. On the plus side you get to actually see the stuff as opposed to just a picture and there are no charges to shipping as its instant purchase. There are dedicated yard sale addicts who plan their weekends around these sales.

Market sales will also generally have merchandise at reduced prices but check the quality before you buy. One good things about markets is that you may find craftsmen selling their own goods, and you can get these for a real bargain.

If you had your own yard or garage sale, would you want old junk from your home on display to the neighborhood? Me neither, and that’s why these kind of sales held at a neighbors house generally contain good quality stuff, even if it isn’t theirs and they are selling it on for family or friends.

We all wish our neighbors held sales like this every week but that just isn’t realistic. Just make sure that when one does come around, you are at the front of the queue and bag yourself some quality bargains.

Enjoy more of this writer’s advice about subjects such as leather sofa beds and futon sofa beds.

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Twitter
  • Technorati
  • Live
  • LinkedIn
  • MySpace

Decorate Your Home? Here Are 5 Ideas For The Types Of Rugs To Use

Tuesday, March 16th, 2010

If you are lucky enough to have wooden floors in your house, then you have to fastidiously plan how accent them with flair. Nothing tops a good traditional area rug to focus on a room. Color can add a great deal of character to any room. Can you remember the color-wheel? Use it selecting to mix painted walls, furniture and floor coverings. Here’s a top five list of the best area rug ideas for the entire house.

1. Starting with the least amount of guest traffic and more for’your eyes only’, the bedrooms. The master suite is your secret solace. That doesn’t mean drab. It can be exciting. You can mix earth tones in the bedroom and offset it with a bright yellow or red area rug. It gives the room style and some color.

2. In the guest room, you will probably stay in the yellow family. It is inviting and welcoming. Pale yellow walls, floral bedspread and curtains and a green, pink or blue area rug that pulls a color from the bedspread. Use your best judgment here, as it should all look as though it is going together.

3. The children’ bedrooms are next. When choosing kids area rugs, let them pick their fave colours if possible. You will find green, blue, pink, yellow, brown, orange area rugs and more. You can get octagon-shaped area rugs in several sizes. These make excellent floor coverings for any child’s room.

4. In the family room, you will most likely have a great deal of traffic, so you will want to choose area rugs that are made to bear it. Recommendations would be to choose in the family of browns and perhaps some designs in the rug to blend with solid furniture. This room should feel comfortable and welcome the family together for movie or game time.

5. If you have a formal living room or formal dining room, then selecting the area rug is quite straightforward. You ought to have a rug that borders the room and seems natural with the furniture. There are rugs that are only one shade with no designs or those that contain straightforward patterns for the more formal atmospheres.

Area rugs are a good way to accentuate a room. They bring together the furniture, walls, and art, and can create as dramatic or delicate a look that you want. They come in many shapes and sizes – even pink rugs are possible – so you must simply be in a position to find one for every room of your house.

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Twitter
  • Technorati
  • Live
  • LinkedIn
  • MySpace

How to Choose an Upholstered Chair

Tuesday, March 16th, 2010

If you are trying to find child upholstered chair, you need to explore all your options.

Do you want to buy an upholstered chair? These types of chairs are a very good investment if you are looking for a chair that looks both classy and feels comfortable.

Now, there are a few things you need to know if you want to get an upholstered chair. The first thing is that you need to know exactly what you are looking for first. One of the biggest mistakes people who are shopping for chairs make is to buy a chair without knowing what they need.

So how can you find out what chairs you like? The best way to do so is to think carefully about what you really need in a chair. Where do you intend to put that chair? Maybe you want an office upholstered chair? Or maybe you want a new upholstered chair for your living room. Once you figure out what sort of chair you want, you can then choose from the many styles, colors, and designs offered.

The next thing to do is to actually purchase the chair you want. If you visit your local furniture store, you should be able to actually examine a variety of different chairs and find one that you like. But don’t buy it at the store! Make the purchase online instead. Chances are you can find the store offered for a cheaper price – somewhere between 5 to 10 percent, usually.

It’s a good idea to do some comparison shopping between different stores online. You can often find the very best deal by doing so. The prices can vary slightly from online retailer to retailer, so by shopping around online, you can secure the best deal.

Why are online prices cheaper? The main reason is those online retailers do offer cheaper price because they don’t have the overhead that physical stores do have. This means you can indeed save a lot of money by buying an upholstered chair online.

Acquire kids upholstered chair online. But make sure you look at all the choices to save the most amount of cash. There are lots of good deals to be had on the web for other products too. Consider getting cheap travel cot with a bit of searching online.

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Twitter
  • Technorati
  • Live
  • LinkedIn
  • MySpace