Exciting Room Themes for Little Boys

Looking for a fun and exciting theme for your little boy’s room?  How about doing something different for your son’s room? The trick to having a themed room is to not overdo it. Otherwise it can become overwhelming and start to look redundant. It’s not difficult to work with a theme. You can simply mix up colors and patterns for a successful design.

Sports

The most common theme that comes to mind is sports. Luckily there are plenty to chose from, which is good for creating a unique look. Pick one, two or even three! Painted words, sports balls, equipment, team names, logos, flags and more look really great on solid colored walls.

If you choose to do all of this on the walls, pick a solid color for the bedding and add sports patterned pillows. Chose painted or light stained wood furniture. The light wood can remind us of wooden baseball bats while the painted furniture is great to add a pop against the solid colored walls. For a finishing touch, try framing some pictures of your little guy playing his favorite sport!

Sailing

Maybe you want to stay away from the common sports theme room. Well, what about sailing? Little boys love blue and what theme could possibly have more blue than sailing?

Striped, dark blue bedding and decorative sailing pillows are a great place to start. Pair this with white furniture, Paint the walls a light blue. Hang up sailing prints or even mount a lifesaver on the wall. Finally, add a dark blue lamp base with a white shade, sailboat accessories and photographs of your rugrat boating with his family.

Construction

For my last suggestion, what about creating a real manly man theme such as construction? Little boys love cement trucks, dump trucks and tools, so why not bring this into their room? I recommend painting the walls a solid light color with construction images. Add construction theme bedding and pair it with solid colored decorative pillows. Finally, keep the lamps, accessories and stuffed animals of a non-construction theme to change things up a bit.

What Makes A Dining Room More Comfortable to Eat In?

What elements of design make some dining rooms more inviting than others? When having dinner with friends, the majority of your time is spent in the dining room or kitchen, so let’s talk about how to make an eating area more comfortable.

Table Shape

The dining room is often one of the first rooms your guests will see when walking into your home. For this reason alone, it is important to make a great impression. Figuring out if a round or rectangle table is right for your space is a great place to start. If your room is more of a square shape, a round table is usually the right fit while a rectangle table will obviously fit well in a rectangular room.

Furniture Size

Make sure you buy the right size table for the room that will allow for a nice walking space behind all chairs. I recommend leaving at least two feet. This gives your guests one foot to pull out the chair and one foot for those walking behind.

Upholstery or Wood?

When deciding on upholstered or non-upholstered chairs, first think about the majority of your guests. Will there be many kids? If so, you may want to go with a wooden seat for easy clean up. But upholstered chairs add an element of comfort that lasts long after dinner is served.

Keep the Eye Moving

Rooms that can accommodate buffets or china cabinets offer a stunning effect. Having items for your guests to look at while spending time in your dining room will make their eyes move throughout the space, keeping them focused and awake after a big delicious meal. I recommend placing colored glass, intricate china or vibrant accessories on top of the buffet or inside your china cabinet.

Window treatments

Window treatments can be helpful in more formal dining spaces by adding splashes of color that can be repeated in the china cabinet, buffet, artwork or rug. When walking into the space, the window treatments will soften the look against the hard wood table and give off a comfortable feeling.

Flooring and Walls

It is a smart idea to keep the walls a neutral shade with colorful artwork. Rugs always look great under dining room tables. However, if you have a beautiful floor underneath, rugs may not be necessary. A rug can make sliding chairs in and out difficult and could collect stains. On a positive note, rugs will absorb sound that may carry out of the space and disturb others in the home.

How have you created a comfortable space to dine in?

Why Shopping for Furniture in a Store is a Great Option!

Are you ready to make your next big furniture purchase? With today’s technology it can be easy to buy furniture online. While this is very convenient and quickly accomplishes your task, it may not be the best option.

Furniture is a major purchase and will most likely be in your house for 10 to 20 years. Do you really want to buy it online without seeing it in person first? Online photo quality and colors have come a long way in the last 10 years, but I must admit that more often than not the piece of furniture is going to look different in your living room than it does online. I recommend looking online first for what you like, then finding the local store that carries it. Call and make sure they have it on the floor and then make the trip to go look at it!

Stains

Are you looking for a wood case that would look great in your bedroom, living room or dining room? Wood stains can vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. It is a smart idea to see the wood in person if you are trying to match a piece with other furniture in your room.

Finishes

Consider is the feel of the wood. Some companies offer smoother finishes than others. A smooth finish can give off an expensive yet elegant look. Distressed wood is a popular choice, but companies distress their wood at different intensities so it depends on your preference. Online photos can make it difficult to see this so seeing the wood in person is the best option.

Drawers

The way drawers are installed in dressers, end tables, cocktail tables, china cabinets, buffets and consoles can vary greatly. Some companies have them on metal slides while others use a wooden track on the base. If you buy that piece online, how are you going to be able to tell how easily the drawer pulls out and in or if it locks before falling out? If you see the piece in person, you will have your answer and be able to make the best decision.

How does it feel?

Upholstered goods are an entirely different process for purchasing. If you buy the piece online you don’t get a chance to experience what it feels like when you sit in it. Everyone’s body is different in size, shape and weight, so sofas and chairs need to be made different to accommodate everyone.

Soft or Hard?

Cushions can be hard or soft so it’s important to sit on one before you make your purchase. If sofa cushions are too soft you can sometimes actually feel the wooden frame underneath you. Does that sound comfortable?

Deep or Short?

Sofa seats can be designed deep or short. When you sit normally on the sofa, don’t you want to make sure that your feet can touch the ground or that your legs aren’t hanging off too much and causing stress on your back? Sitting down and standing up can also be a difficult task to accomplish if the sofa is too deep and soft. We wouldn’t want anyone to fall trying so please go test it out! I highly recommend sitting in the sofa or chair at the store.

Custom Options

Another great reason to go to the stores is that the sales associate can give you all of the custom options for your piece. These options might include firm or soft cushions, custom fabric, nail head trim or adding a sleep sofa. That is what they are trained to do so let’s use it to our advantage.

Do you prefer to shop online or in the store? Do you agree with me on the importance of store shopping when it comes to choosing your furniture? Have you ever bought a piece of furniture online that turned out to be just awful? Tell us your story!

Can You Find Inspiration For Your Home in Your Summer Cocktail?

Looking for inspiration to transform your bedroom this summer? Well, look no further than your favorite summer cocktail!

That’s right many of the fresh colors we find in our cocktails are trendy today! Consider my personal favorite summer cocktail – the margarita. It comes in many different flavors and colors: golden, strawberry, lime, blue, etc. If you love the color in your drink, don’t you think you might love the color in your home? Beware – the bright pink cosmopolitan may not have the same effect on your walls.

The Walls

These fresh summer colors can be brought into all areas of the home. The bedroom is always a great place to use a refreshing color palette. After all, this is where we go to relax, refresh and recoup after a long day. For starters, I suggest painting the walls in your favorite cocktail color. Want to go the extra mile? Try painting one wall a couple shades darker than the main color for a stunning accent!

The Furniture

You will notice that you have a ton of the same color in the room once the walls are painted, so be careful not to use too much of just one color. I recommend using maple, white or ebony colored wood furniture. This will offset nicely off the fresh colored walls and bring a nice balance to your room.

The Accessories

Try pairing a white duvet cover with accent pillows that repeat different shades of the color on the walls. Keep the artwork of a similar nature. Flowers, seascapes and sunsets always speak well of a summer feeling and will most likely have corresponding colors.

Lamps on the nightstands should be kept light. Try a skinny silver base with a round white shade or perhaps a white or glass round base if you would like more of a weighted lamp.

Accessories that work well with these fresh colored themes are seashells, simple photo frames, candles and books. Don’t forget to buy some corresponding coasters. We wouldn’t want that glass of water to ruin your brand new nightstand!

The Flooring

Finally, keep the flooring a neutral color. Beige carpeting, hardwood or tile are great for creating a summer feel. If you are using a hard surface, try a simple solid colored area rug for under your bed to keep your feet warm when you get out of bed on those cool summer nights.

How do you create a light, summery feel in your home?

Crown Molding! The Decorative Benefit

One of my biggest pet peeves in newer home construction is the lack of detail in the design of the interior. More often than not there is no crown molding, baseboard, base shoe, or even a simple chair rail throughout the home.

It is something that I have overlooked, as it was a common feature in my home. I never really appreciated it until I had the experience of seeing so many homes that lacked this character. For those of you who live in homes that lack this woodwork, charm, and dose of character, read on to learn how simple it can be to install!

Why bother? What will it do for you? It will never have a structural impact – only decorative. Most of your friends and family probably won’t even notice it, but it will give you a sense of completion. You’ll be left with well appointed rooms that introduce a sense of charm and help make your house a home. Today’s crown molding can be traced to the late Renaissance, when designers adapted elements of Greek and Roman architecture to ornamental plaster and wood cornices used to disguise and beautify the juncture of ceiling and wall.

Installing crown is only slightly more complicated than running baseboard. The variety of different joints and saw cuts, including a coped corner joint, an outside miter, a square cut, and a scarf joint, are best done with a coping saw and power miter saw. With practice, you should be able to make tight, long-lasting joints. Start measuring.

1. Determine how much molding to buy, measure each wall, round up to the next foot, and mark those measurements on a plain-view sketch of the room you’re working in. If one wall measures within a few inches of the length of a full piece of crown, buy the next longer length.
2. You will want to find a Miter board – or make it (ask about this at your hardware store). You will begin to get into some geometry and this tool will help save you time and a lot of unnecessary cuts when you are trying to fill a corner of a room.
3. The first piece will be square-cut on each end. Each piece will typically have one end that is square cut and another end that is coped or mitered. In some cases, the end opposite the cope will have to be mitered to help make an outside corner. When a length of molding is coped on one end, cut the coped end first. When you find that the coped end fits tightly, mark and cut the opposite end (whether it’s a miter or a square cut). Think of it as cutting an angle on a pretty piece of ribbon – what is left on the roll is now an exact mirror image of the piece that you just cut. This is exactly what will happen to your wood.
4. Place a length of crown upside down on the miter saw so that the molding’s bottom edge (the edge that will sit on the wall) rests against the fence, and the top edge (the one that goes on the ceiling) rests against the table.
5. To create a snug-fitting joint, hold a coping saw at a 5-degree angle away from the face of the molding and carefully cut along the pencil-marked edge. Check for a tight fit by bringing the molding to the wall and sliding it into place. To measure a coped piece of molding that ends at an outside corner, make a mock-up of the corner from two 12-inch-long molding scraps.
6. Repeat this process for the second scrap piece, but rotate the saw blade to the opposite 45-degree angle.
7. Glue and nail the pieces ends together.
8. Hold the mock-up in place and mark the ceiling where the two pieces of molding come together. Then measure for and cut the butt end.
9. Align the piece on the wall, spread glue on the surfaces of the miter, and nail the molding into place.
10. If the ceiling height changes and the molding must end in the middle of a wall, cap it with a return.

It is a great idea to sort of mock up the pieces and join at least two sides creating a corner together before you attempt to hang them. It will help in the frustration department. Trust me.

If this isn’t for you, make sure you hire a professional. Try to find someone in a local lumbar yard. They will probably know someone, if not themselves, to help you.

Do you have a crown molding? Are you a do-it-yourselfer? Tell us your story!

Wood or Fabric Headboard? That is the Question!

Is it time for you to select a new headboard? Do you find yourself trying to decide between wood and fabric?

These are the main two choices available to us without making something creative ourselves to serve the function of a headboard.

Typically we find ourselves searching through furniture store after furniture store for a bedroom set. They come in matching pieces – headboard, dresser, nightstands and possibly even a chest of drawers. Wood headboards that match a bedroom suite can have a dramatic effect on your bedroom. Everything looks as if a professional picked it all out for you. All you have to do is coordinate the bedding.

But maybe you don’t have the money for the matching bedroom set. Or you already have a bedroom set but find yourself in need of a new bed size.

I recommend an upholstered headboard. You can use it over and over again with any furniture in a similar style. Upholstered headboards can even be reupholstered to match the new bedding you may get in the future!

Common upholstered headboards available today might be tufted with neutral fabric or leather, which would be perfect for a more traditional styled bedroom. Try sectioned off leather squares in the shape of a rectangle. This can be easily applied in a modern bedroom. Or you could keep it simple with a plain rectangle or curved top. This provides a great opportunity to coordinate fabric with your bedding.

When working with existing furniture or trying to throw together a guest bedroom, upholstered headboards can work wonders. Do you have an old chest of drawers, end table or dresser? When using an upholstered headboard, the sky is the limit. Nothing is required to match. This may be the perfect chance to strip the furniture and re-stain or paint it. Make all the miscellaneous pieces have matching finishes. What an eclectic looking room you will be able to create! I guarantee no one will have a room just like yours if you take this route.

What kind of headboard do you prefer? Have you ever created your own?

What Product Is Best To Care For Your Beautiful Wood China Cabinet?

Spring is definitely in the air! Aren’t we all happy to see it? I don’t know about in your area, but the days are becoming longer and the warmer weather always give me an extra boost of energy. This little boost kicks me into gear when it comes to working out, but it also affects my need, want and desire to clean my house!

So here is your furniture “Cleaning Care” tip for Spring. I wanted to pass on my experience I have learned over the years about caring for furniture.

I am sure that you love the smell of “fresh” lemon in your home, so I suggest you head to the grocery store and buy some lemons.

When it comes to polishing your furniture, I recommend polishing once a month unless your furniture receives heavy wear or you live in a dusty environment like I do. The more windows you open, the dustier it gets. Agreed? If so, more frequent polishing should be done.

For cleaning fingerprints and other household dirt and grime, a furniture cream will work best (I highly recommend Weiman’s wood furniture care products). For dusting and polishing, a clear oil polish will moisturize your furniture beautifully. You can also try some mineral oil! This is a great natural way to clean.

In 1941, the Weiman family started a new revolution of ‘clean’ by giving its customers a complementary bottle of special polish to preserve and protect fine wood furniture. First to the market and innovative at the time, Weiman wood polish was formulated to perfection and contained a distinctive blend of the finest emulsions, natural oils and nourishing wood cleaners and conditioners.

The Weiman brand has grown into an extensive collection of cleaning and polishing products. Weiman products enjoy top status among fine furniture restorers, interior decorators, leading museums, embassies, craftsmen and antique experts worldwide.

For those of you addicted to Pledge, did you know that Pledge and many other furniture polishes contain silicone, which is difficult to remove even with mineral spirits. It has a tendency to take the “shine” right out of your furniture. If you have a waxed top piece of furniture, it will make it streaky and gummy. You may not notice it right away, but it does happen over time.

I promise you will be thrilled with the conditioning and cleaning the Weiman products offer. Yes, it is more expensive, but caring for your furniture should be part of the investment to begin with. Get in with the Weiman’s and out with the Pledge.

So grab that old t-shirt you were going to throw away, or that cloth baby diaper you have, and get to it! (I also love using old mismatched socks for cleaning rags – put it right over your hand and you will be finished in no time!)

What are your favorite cleaning products to care for your fine wood?

Hall Trees, Coat Racks, Hooks and Hangers

My inspiration for this article came from my very own foyer, where my hall tree has begun to see its final days. The hall tree that I am referring to sits in a niche and belonged to my parents; it is what I remember hanging my coats on as a child. Over the years it has seen many-a-coats and has a charm about it that is hard to explain. The brass has seen better days and one of the arms finally gave way.

As I began to search for a replacement, I found myself hard pressed to find something even remotely similar. More recently the design has changed to incorporate a bench and perhaps a tall backboard with hooks – a perfect design for the right application in maybe a mud room…not very good for my formal foyer entry to my home. Still searching!

I began to question the history of coat racks, who created them? Why were they designed in the format of a tree? Maybe this research would help me find a replica of the one I would like to replace.

There’s very little history to be found as to the origins of the coat rack and no one is quite sure who invented it, but it is widely believed that Thomas Jefferson (yes, author of the Constitution and the United States’ third President, as well as the person responsible for the Louisiana Purchase) invented the first coat hanger, which precedes the coat rack or hall tree. (It’s thought, at least, that the popular wire hanger was invented in 1903 by a Mr. Albert J. Park house because there were too few coat hooks on the coat rack available for his employees’ coats.) Considering that Lewis and Clark embarked upon their expedition while Mr. Jefferson was President, it is certain that the coat rack existed as a tool in the woods on a branch of a tree.

We don’t know who invented the coat rack, but historically, it has been a very handy option (especially since before the turn of last century, most houses were built with limited closet space). Clothes were usually stored in trunks and coat racks were made for hanging clothes. Cabinets today known as armoires were also created around this time to act as wardrobes which stored coats.

After numerous attempts to find information in my Google search, I found a handful of styles. The first image is by a craftsman in Florida who refers to himself as the wood wrestler. He has an exquisite array of handcrafted wood pieces available on his site, including some of the best looking rocking chairs that I have seen in awhile.

I also found a store bought item that is tongue and cheek in its “natural” state of design. There are a few more modern options as well. Finding them is slightly difficult, but so is finding the perfect piece of art sculpture.

Because of their ease of use and versatility, coat racks are making a comeback. They are ideal for small spaces, such as a studio apartment and are much more versatile than built-in closets. They are also a much more inexpensive option, rather than installing closets. Often times in older homes there are no hall closets at all and this becomes a simple and obvious solution for that problem.

Enjoy your quest to finding the right hall tree, coat rack, and/or hooks! Consider it a piece of art! One that will last a lifetime and carry generations of coats!

Who Knew You Could Use Wood Veneer for Lighting?

I go to lighting shows every year so I can keep up on what is new in the industry. LEDs have been the big news for a couple of years. The world has decided that the scientific end of lighting is important right now, so everyone has their calculators out and are figuring cost savings.

Not that I am against green or energy savings, but there is a great deal to be said for design. Creating beauty and fun while still keeping energy efficiency is my idea of good lighting design. Most of the changes have been in industrial and commercial spaces.

So imagine my surprise when I found these absolutely fab lighting fixtures. LZF is the manufacturer of these gems. The design that first caught my eye is ANFORA by Miguel Herranz. The line has three types of suspended fixture that range in size and weight from 20” x 20” x 36” and 8 pounds, the next size is 20” x 20” x 53” and weighs 16 pounds and the largest of them is 40” x 40” x 69” and weighs 66 pounds. They also have a floor lamp and a table lamp.

Now, I cannot tell you how many times I have fallen in love with a hanging fixture or table lamp only to find there is nothing else in the line to go with that single product. With this line, you can have a phenomenal foyer light and then have a couple of table lamps in your entertainment space and a floor lamp in the family room.

These fixtures are made from reconstructed and natural timber veneers. They create this glowing effect when on. The light peaks out through the twists and loops and the veneer becomes a glowing element of the design. Everything they have comes in eight different colors.

Standing back and watching people’s reactions was fun. Everyone wanted to touch them. Each line of fixtures LZF has are unique and would add punch in a residence or a corporate entryway, CEO office or could even be fun in a library along a separation wall.

Since I typically go to lighting shows yawning, there was no camera so please excuse the phone picture of the ANFORA table lamp. But I think you will get how absolutely cool this line is. Have you found a line of lighting fixtures that made a design statement?

Summer Fun or Work on the Deck?

I am one of those fortunate to live on a lake. It means a lot of things to different people, but to me it means trying to find solutions that minimize the amount of maintenance work that must be done in the spring, summer and fall when I would much prefer to spend my leisure hours in, well, leisure. So, because the deck is looking awful AGAIN, I decided it was time to take another look at the costs and efforts of maintaining the cedar deck and maybe go for something new and different this year.

There are many costs to consider to maintain a cedar deck. Power washing the deck – $250.00. Restaining the deck at $30.00 a gallon for stain & sealer – $250.00. Replacement of boards (there are always 2-3 boards that need to be replaced each year). The cost of cedar boards is $1.12/lineal foot – $50.00. None of this includes my time and effort of running around town to get the stuff, removing the old boards, cutting and replacing, waiting for the power washed boards to dry before I can move on, etc. So I figure a week of time and effort.

I began my remodeling project by checking out all of the man made materials that will allow me to have fun without all of this work. Forgive me, but most of the stuff I looked at was not green. Not only that, most of what I looked at promised to be hotter than Hades if I stepped on it with bare feet.

Then I came across Novation Decking by Royal Outdoor Products and here is what I learned. The reason this system does not burn you feet or my grandchild’s hands, knees, or bottom is because it is made of cellular PVC. It is the cells in this material that prevent it from heating up. Because it is PVC, the deck resists scratching and is water repellent so the opportunity for it to rot or mold is nil. Unlike when you screw into wood and risk the possibility of the board cracking or breaking an edge off, this just simply won’t happen with this product. Even the ants aren’t going to be able to eat it up like my cedar boards. The color chosen for the finish will not fade for approximately 10 years and you can wash off anything spilled on the surface with a hose. The cost equals $8.00/lineal foot.

So what do you think – going green or low maintenance? Have you had any experience with Novation or another system?

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