If furniture has ever been on your list of things to buy, you know how expensive it can be; this is especially true for a living room. Though you might know that it’s time to remodel or update the room’s look, your problem might lie in knowing where to start. The information in this article will help you select furnishings that will stay in style for years to come so that you don’t have to break the bank keeping up with future trends.

Keeping up with the current trend would cost a fortune, especially since they always come and go. The following are a few ideas that will help you create an appealing and beautiful living room that is always “in”.

Go for Neutral Colors

Something to definitely keep in mind is that you do not want to get colors or patterns that won’t be in style in about a year. Colors that are loud and out there are totally out of the question; neutral colors are what you need if you want to change your accessories at any given time.

If you want to make your living room look new each year going with colors like taupe, cream, sand and light gray is a good idea since they are easy to accessorize. You can do this easily by just changing and updating your room’s throw pillows, curtains, candles, wall accents, etc. Make sure to keep away from any designs that are intricate and elaborate; instead keep it basic and stick with natural colored or leather furniture.

Go for Quality Instead of Quantity

When it comes to larger pieces such as a sofa or love seat, take a little extra money to buy something durable that will last for years. Replacing rocking chairs or recliners and tables is much easier on your budget. Since your guests are most likely to use your larger furnishings, you need something that will last you years and stay attractive.

Do it Right by Staging First

Your room’s furnishings should be in scale with the room. Having large furniture in a small living room only makes the living room smaller and it further limits already limited floor space. A room that doesn’t have enough furniture and is too large will only look and feel cold and indifferent.

Staging your living room is easy, you just need ribbon or painters tape to mark the areas where you plan on setting your sofa, love seat, chairs, coffee and end tables, etc. Pillows and blankets can also be used to accomplish this.

After marking off the areas where you think you should place your furniture, step away and observe the room. Do you feel as if you will have enough floor space? Is there too much? By staging the room you are figuring out the proper amount of furniture for the room, and how big the furniture needs to be.

Just as a general rule, remember that large and bulky furniture is better for a large living room, and smaller rooms need smaller furniture that is more in scale. Just remember that when you purchase large furnishings that they should be in neutral, basic colors and fabrics so that you will be able to have furnishings that change with the trends any time you like.

About the Writer..

Leon Tuberman has been part of the home furnishings and interior decorating  business for 4 decades. He owns and operates a popular furniture store in California. They have a large inventory of handcrafted Amish built solid wood mission furniture for your bedroom, dining room and living room. It doesn’t matter whether you’re shopping for a wood file cabinet for your home office or a maple bed for your bedroom then they carry everything you need.

Use color even in the smallest of rooms to liven things up Make Connections with Color Many people worry about decorating in small spaces with color. It’s been said (as per urban legend) that color makes small rooms look even smaller. This is barely based on facts, but it’s been blown entirely out of proportion. In fact, color is one of the best ways you can define a room, and anchor it. Here are some ways you can use color wisely in smaller spaces “Join” two rooms by utilizing a single color theme for both. Of course, you’ll probably think of this technique with rooms that are open to each other, such as with a kitchen and family room, but you can also use the same method for rooms that simply fall within each other’s “sight.”

If living rooms have an arched opening through to the dining room, for example, or if the kitchen flows into your dining furniture, your bedroom has a small bathroom attached, and so on, you can “join” these rooms by sharing the same color schemes. Let’s say, for example, that you’ve got a favorite color combination and your house is particularly small. You can use that color combination in every room to some capacity — whether it be hallways, dining area, kitchen, living room, bathrooms  — to give a sort of visual “flow” that continues throughout the house. Use Solid Color to Add Depth You can add depth with solid colors.

For example, changing a bland space that’s all one color (say, white) with elegant oak furniture to one with the depth of layered colors makes things appear bigger. For example, you can paint a living room all blue and then paint the walls and door openings red, which accentuates the space nicely and gives depth. In a kitchen, you can use white cabinets and white refrigerator as accents in a corner, and then add a horizontal line to visually separate walls, which makes a small room look bigger. Layer Colors to Add Depth Layer on glazes of color to give walls depth. You can also separate walls into blocks of color to give them more visual depth. This can be especially useful if you’ve got a large wall to cover. Using just a single color of any type can make the wall look very large and very flat. Using something like patterned wallpaper is simply overpowering for such a large space.

However, you can layer soft “color tones,” used to complement furnishings, and yet visually recede so that you look at the whole room instead of just the wall itself. Using Accent for Emphasis If you want upholstery and wall colors neutral, you can simply accent with a particular color and then layer it throughout the entire room. For example, if you like red, it might be overpowering on your walls, but you can use it on couch cushions, in wall pictures, or on foot stool coverings. If you use even bright colors sparingly but carefully, the bright colors will provide accents but won’t overwhelm any space. Lastly, you should use the accent color you’ve chosen throughout the room, and not simply concentrate it in one particular area.

Neutral Tones Should Be Varied Even if you like all-white rooms, for example, you can add some variation was neutrals to give it a less sterile look. For example, tone on tone stripe can add visual interest but still maintain a quiet “neutral” effect. That is, it’s quiet like a neutral, but still has a slight change of tone that gives the depth you need without the starkness of a bright, eye-popping element.

Have you perused the terms commonly used for art glass? Most people find them numerous and perplexing, so much so that I threw in a ringer right in the title. For starters, mica isn’t glass at all, as most of us learned in elementary science class. Rather it’s a mineral that flakes nicely into translucent sheets. Thus it is an ideal material for lamp shades, as demonstrated in the famous “coolie” shades made by Dirk van Erp.

Although you can’t go wrong using the term “art glass” to refer to most kinds of decorative glass in period lighting, windows, doors, or hand-blown vases, there are terms that are much more accurate and specific. The first thing to discern is the distinction between stained and leaded glass. The stained glass used in European cathedral windows of centuries past is actually colored glass that’s been painted with vitreous oxides and fired, either with or without the application of silver nitrate. This stain glass is considered to be leaded. Individual pieces of the composition or mosaic were held in place with lead cames, which you can recognize as the dark matter holding together the bits of light-filled glass.

Fortunately, nowadays things are much simpler. Today, the term “stained glass” is considered to be any window with colored glass. Any clear glass windows that are leaded are simply just called “leaded.”

Colored glass gains its tint from minerals. But not all stained glass is transparent. The term “opalescent” is used for translucent stained glasses. But opalescent glass is not transparent—it’s milky. Also, this type of glass can have more than one color in a sheet. Tiffany windows are a great example of opalescent glass.

Another notable example of this is the windows by Greene & Greene, who layered their glass the same way as Tiffany, but they used copper foil and lead overlay to enhance the dimensional quality of their compositions. Like their wood furniture and wood dining chairs Greene & Greene’s glass is actually very common. Iridized on one surface so it has the appearance of a rainbow, it’s been used by Frank Lloyd Wright and Tiffany.

Favrile became the brand-name of Tiffany’s version of this shimmering opalescent glass, a term that was trademarked in 1894. What makes this iridescent glass so special is that it appears to change colors when it’s seen from different angles. Although many other companies made their own versions of this iridized glass, no one else used the term Favrile.

Now that we’ve clarified mica, stained glass, leaded glass, opalescent, iridescent, and Favrile, what exactly are slag and slumped? Slag glass refers to the sheets of opalescent glass used in Arts and Crafts light fixtures. (The word “slag” actually comes from the undocumented belief that the glass got its color from slag from iron smelting works.) As for slumped glass, that’s glass that’s fired in the kiln so it will curve. Some glass artisans will actually climb into the kiln to manipulate the hot glass to their liking. To create glass shades, the hot glass is actually “slumped” over a bowl. With this technique, artisans can achieve effects ranging from delicately folded glass in tulip-like shades to futuristic wild shapes.

Paper Clutter Is the Worst!
Paper can easily get the best of you and your space. The most important thing is to establish an easy-to-maintain system to manage the paper in your office.

Do you have a spot for those incoming bills? Do you have a place to put the newspapers that you don’t have time to read right away? How many magazine subscriptions do you have? Do you actually read those magazines? It will help tremendously if you designate a specific bin, box or basket for your mail, newspapers and magazines. Just as you have a home that you return to at the end of your day, create a home for your paper.

Don’t pick a box or basket that’s too large. Then you’ll be tempted to save several weeks’ worth of newspaper instead of just a few. Remember, there’s no new news in a week-old newspaper.

Watch Out for Large Furniture
Large bulky furniture really clutters up a room, making it harder to feel organized. That huge desk might seem like a good idea, but consider if you’re getting good use out of it, or if it’s become one more place for you to dump stuff at the end of a workday.  Select mission office furniture that fits the size of your room. Make sure the size of your furniture meets the size of the room.

Try to follow the “less is more” theory here. Having less furniture is an easy way to create more space and less clutter. For example, to reduce your paper clutter trying get a mission file cabinet to organize your bills and archive your important papers.

Combat Closet Clutter
Like many, do you have no space in your closet? I hear this complaint all the time, but remember that it’s not the closet’s fault. Get your closet in order by following these simple tips.

Has it been a long time since you sorted through your things in your closet? Do this before you do anything else. You’ll be shocked at what you have. The key to a successful clear-out is, if it doesn’t fit or you don’t wear it, then get rid of it.

When you go to put away what’s left, group like items together. It’s nice if you use the same kind of hangers. A great place for additional storage is the inside of the closet door. It’s best to store your frequently used items at eye level or below. Save the higher places for long-term storage items. This is called storing smart, and it will help keep your closet super organized.

To keep your closet tidy, before you purchase that new pair of shoes, consider whether you have room for them. A good rule to follow is the “one in, one out” rule: If something new goes into your closet, then make sure something comes out.

Looking for a way to create cozy comfort without the stress of redoing your entire bedroom? Consider this list of economical decorating ideas as a way of revamping your boudoir.

1. Chenille, fleece, raw silk and soft wool are the perfect fabrics to choose for adding warmth to the room. When the temperature drops, pull out the flannel sheets to keep warm or treat yourself to a plush down comforter. (If allergies are a problem then substitute feathers for a synthetic down comforter.)

2. Keep your feet warm during the winter with a lush area rug to cover up the hardwood floors.

3. Where have your put your bed? Squared off against your door? Perhaps the head of your bed is directly under a window. Your personal energy depends a lot on where you sleep. A person’s health, mental attitude and love life are all greatly impacted by your sleeping habits. A line of red tape on the mattress where it faces the door or window can help. The color red is a powerful force to dispel negative energy. If you’re serious about making over your drab bedroom into a vibrant love nest then follow this effortless feng shui tip.

4. To create a warm glow, why not swap out your lampshades to comforting colors of yellow and gold? Try a dimmer switch on your overhead fixtures as a way of controlling the brightness. Have you thought about adding even more “light warmth” to the bedroom? On your night table, place a group of candles on a small plate.

5. Creating an intimate atmosphere is easy by adding mirrors to reflect the light in your room. If you want a easy tip to make your small bedroom seem larger, try putting a big mirror over your dresser. A large mirror placed over your dresser will make a small bedroom seem much larger.

6. One way to keep off the chills in the winter is with a chenille blanket for your bed. A red, purple or deep brown variety of a soft chenille blanket will give your room even more of a warm feeling.

7. Time to toss out those stuffed animals and bring in pillows. With plush pillows filling up your bed space you’ll be creating an inviting atmosphere. For add interest, switch up the size and texture. A wonderful addition for the winter months are soft down pillows.

8. You can also repaint your room as an inexpensive way to make a huge change. Increase the warmth of your bedroom by selecting earth tones such as reds, camel, butterscotch or honey gold. With blues, lavenders and some shades of green you can achieve more of a cool and soothing feel to the room. If you’re looking for a cooler, smoother feel to the room try tones of blue, lavender or shades of green.

9. Let the things you love be everywhere you look. Keep family photos on display on your dresser or bedside table. Hanging up your kid’s frame artwork is a great final touch. Put those wedding candlestick gifts to use on a shelf.

Leon Tuberman has almost 40 years working in the interior decorating and home furnishings business. He owns and operates a popular furniture store in Los Angeles. They specialize in Mission style and Arts & Crafts living room, home office and bedroom furniture. His store offers a line of furniture that not only looks great, but is built using Old World craftsmanship. You’ll find everything you need within one roof, from a handmade oak nightstand to American crafted solid cherry bedroom sets, they have the best in quality at affordable prices.

Taking Care of Oak Office Furniture

After you have reached the status at your office that you have been working towards, choosing beautiful office furnishings should be your next undertaking. This is not something that should be taken lightly since it directly reflects your standing in the company and you’re aesthetic taste. Choosing oak office furniture will give your space a distinguished look and set it apart from others. Some people think it is difficult to care for, but the reality is that oak furniture poses no maintenance problems.

If you already have oak furniture in you office there are a few things you should be careful with. First, your office should have a good air conditioning system since oak is rather vulnerable to changes in humidity and temperature changes. Extreme weather conditions could cause the furniture to expand and contract. Oak furniture should also be kept out of the direct sunlight so it will not be damaged. Heavy drapes for your office are a good investment if your furnishings are oak.

Furniture should not be moved any more than what is absolutely necessary. It is best to decide where you want it and just leave it there. Moving the furniture frequently can result in unsightly scratches that will mar the beauty of the furniture. Use the cabinets and drawers gently and dust your oak furniture frequently.

Wood polish should be used very sparingly on your furniture. Excess use can cause excess dust to settle on the furniture which will ruin its look and rob moisture from the wood. If you spill liquid on the furniture, don’t use harsh chemicals that will dry the wood.

Another thing that is important when caring for oak furniture is the use of coasters. This will keep the moisture from the glass from being sucked into the wood. Moisture can be very damaging to wood furnishings, so you must be careful and prevent spills. If you accidentally spill something like perfume, alcohols, or nail polish on oak furniture, never rub it. This will just aggravate the situation and destroy the effect of the furniture.
While you do have to take a few precautions, your furniture will always look elegant and classy. Oak furniture will create a stunning ambience for any office, creating a space you can be proud of. When decorating with oak office furniture, be sure to treat it with care in order to maintain its beauty for years to come.

Phillip Gasvar has been in the furniture and home decorating business for almost a decade. He writes for a popular home furniture store and showroom in the San Fernando Valley. They carry a huge selection of Mission, Traditional and Amish living room, bedroom and office furniture for your home. They take pride in offering furniture that’s built to last for generations. Whether your trying to find solid mission desks or an oak filing cabinet, they carry the largest selection at prices that won’t break the bank.

Take advantage of these hints on how you can get the right size, fit, and comfort in your new dining room furniture.

How Big and Comfy
When you purchase a new dining room set, you have to think about how you want to eat. Many people want to feel comfortable at the dinner table, so it’s important to have enough “elbow room” for everyone. Just allow for 24-30 inches per person and you’ll be fine.

The next thing to look into is your leg room. Depending on the seating arrangements, each individual should be able to have a leg at each corner, a center pedestal, and enough trestles to keep it stable. Even if you want a true architectural design, you can do it as long as there is enough leg room for comfortable seating.

While the table will be easy to choose, the dining chairs are different story. You want to be able to relax at dinner, which is why the backs should be upright. This way you get support and can still move up close to the table.

Don’t get the chairs that have wide legs. You’ll end up having problems and if guests are over they will feel uncomfortable. Plus, they could be weaker then the other chairs.

Your oak dining room furniture should also be able to slide nicely underneath the table. If you’re having problems, then the one you’re looking at probably isn’t a smart purchase.

Oh, and don’t forget about the apron. So many times we’ve seen families purchase a new dining room table, and then have their legs squished in between the chair and the apron. If you’re having this same issue, look for another option.

Standard Table Sizes
Obviously your new table needs to fit in your dining room, so figure out what type of room you need. This will narrow down your options a bit, which is usually better.

If you need a few of the normal sizes, we’ve listed the most popular below:

ROUND: – 36-inch diameter seats 2 – 40-inch diameter seats 4 – 56-inch diameter seats 8

SQUARE: – 38-inch square seats 4 – 60-inch square seats 8

RECTANGULAR/OBLONG: – 36 x 60 seats 6 – 36 x 72 seats 6 to 8 – 36 x 84 seats 6 to 8 – 48 x 96 seats 8 to 10 – 48 x 132 seats 12

Styles that are Common for Wood Dining Chairs

• Parsons- This traditional style is popular amongst families who enjoy tall, straight back linear design. They can also come with skirts on them.

• Queen Anne- The urn-shaped center splat makes this 18th century chair unique. You will also find a recognizable crest rail on the top of the back part of the chair.

• Windsor- Anytime you see this chair, you’ll enjoy spindles and stick legs that come from the English style. You’ll be able to choose from bow and hoop-back options.

• Regency/Empire- This beautiful style offers a 19th century style and has a magnificent feature, which includes a scroll back, squared top, and saber legs.

• Midcentury- These are modern house styles that were born in the mid-twentieth century.

• Chippendale- Offering elaborate splats, this 18th century design comes from British carpentry. You could also find ball and claw feet included.

• Shaker- This is also known as the Ladder-back and their simplicity can make the difference in any country styled home. Plus the seats are usually woven from rush or tape.

Choosing the Finish
Bleach- Obviously you don’t want to add the Clorox to your furniture, but “bleach” basically means that the colors are lighter. In fact, some finishes will be almost white with the grain still showing. You will also notice a lacquer that is used to seal the bleaching effect.

Enamel- You’ll find that enamel actually hides the color and grain of the wood. This is done by applying it over a couple of primer coats. Taking advantage of these will make it scratch resistant.

Lacquer- Some individuals may want a quick-drying application, which in this case is lacquer. Most of the time there are several layers added, but it can show the grain or change the color of it nicely.

Oil- When you rub oil into the wood surface several times, it will give off a natural appearance. Even though they are delicate, they restore a piece easier.

Paint- The basic idea of applying paint is to hide any imperfections in the product. It’s probably the most popular style out there because most people can do it themselves. Just remember there are several ways to achieve a perfected finish when using paint.

Shellac- This option was used many years ago to allow for cheaper costs to consumers. However, it’s also easy to damage and shows water marks if not kept dry. Most people today use it as a sealer.

Stain- One of the reasons everyone loves stain finishes is thanks to the alterations in colors. Depending on the wood your dining room furniture is made out of, it could give you a unique appeal that no other home has today. Once you have the right color, the clear finish is applied over the stained wood.

Varnish- This is used to leave a transparent coating with a brown-styled touch. You can choose from matte, satin, or glossy depending on your preference. It’s usually used on antiques and reproduction pieces.

Wax- This is used when you want to maintain a natural look, but will also give you the protection you desire. Just keep in mind it might darken the wood a little, so you’ll have to reapply periodically. You can develop sheen if you buff it, but how much depends on the duration of the buffing process.

The Amish are known mainly because of their unique lifestyle defined by strict rules and regulations ascribed by their faith. Even though the Amish reject many modern conveniences including electricity, their techniques for building furniture are not all manual. However, with the inclusion of some old-world techniques, the Amish create timeless heirloom quality pieces to be cherished throughout the home.

While most people are given the impression that the Amish rely only on hand tools to build furniture, the truth is that many of their tools are belt or air driven tools. In other words, they utilize the same technology that was used in the United States in the early part of the century. Behind an Amish furniture shops, one will usually find a diesel engine and fuel tank. With the help of a drive shaft running under the floor of a shop, there will also be a belt that powers their different equipment. Among the most typically used equipment there’s planers, drill presses, and table saws.

There are, however some Amish craftsmen that only use hand tools that are known as the Old Order Amish. Because of their limited technology, furniture created by the Old Order Amish is very hard to find in retail stores. The main reason being because long distance communication can only be conducted through the mail and the turnaround time would be too long.

Amish oak furniture is mainly constructed from solid oak whereas mass-produced furniture is often built from particle and sometimes rubberwood. While rubberwood has similar qualities to oak, it isn’t kiln dried as well. Mass production is based around producing items with speed as the main goal- as opposed to quality. The wood used in Amish made furniture is harvested with respect for the earth’s resources. Harvesting of lumber is carefully planned and controlled so as to affect the forests at the most minimum.

Besides oak, Amish craftsmen construct furniture from Cherry and maple. The oak used by Amish craftsmen is quarter sawn. The unique specks that make quarter sawn oak so valuable are actually protein that run perpendicular to growth rings on a lumber log. This protein makes the wood stronger as well as gives it a distinctive aesthetic. The Amish are considered the most productive craftsmen because after they hand pick the lumber to go into a unit, the parts that are left over are many times used for drawer sides.

Amish craftsmen employ several time-tested techniques such as tongue and grove glue joints, drawers constructed of ¾” material of the same wood type as the rest of the unit, dovetailed front and back and the backs are ship lap and made using ¾” boards of the same wood as the rest of the piece. Each piece of Amish made furniture is hand rubbed with oil stains and finishes that bring out the natural beauty of wood.

The result of all the hard work and detailing is beautiful, high quality pieces of furniture, whether it’s solid cherry dining tables or oak wood dressers, that can be proudly displayed for generations.