We’ve downsized a lot since the Big 80s – cars, hair and many other things have been minimized. In the last decade furniture has begun to follow that trend as well. With the baby boomers retiring to smaller quarters, young professionals gravitating to smaller urban apartments and some of us just trying to save money by downsizing out homes, the need for slimmer furniture is at its peak.

Chicago, Illinois furniture retailers have noted and met this demand for smaller profiles in chairs and shorter sofas. Small-scale furnishings may not be in the majority but they certainly have their place in the decorating market.

Manufacturers and designers don’t limit their selections to seating; tables, beds and other functional pieces are being scaled down to fit into consumers’ homes. Your Chicago furniture dealer will likely have a slimmer version of what you now own if you need to save on space. Just don’t expect the price to be scaled down as well. Most pieces run about the same cost-wise as their larger siblings.

Rooms are getting smaller as well. The high ceilings and open spaces – such as the “great room” – so popular in the last decade are slowly giving way to smaller “purposed” rooms. Media rooms, offices, even crafting or scrapbooking rooms are showing up in today’s homes. Chicago, Illinois furniture buyers are looking for smaller pieces to be in synch with their smaller spaces.

So for those who have noticed their floor plans being a bit crowded, visit the designers at your custom furniture store in Chicago, Walter E. Smithe, for assistance finding pieces to perfect scale for your lifestyle. Whether you need to swap out the high-backed dining chairs for something lower or trade your eight-foot sofa for one a half foot shorter, they have the resources and ideas to make your floor plan work.

With many of us on tight budgets in this economic climate, major redecorating may seem beyond our means. Some professional designers offered tips on how we can spruce up with a few small changes and give our homes a spring makeover.

Framing or reframing favorite photos or artwork in coordinating frames can lend a gallery look to your home and be a focal point in a room. Your Chicago Illinois furniture store staff can offer ideas on making your decorating dollar stretch further as well.

If you want to accent current pieces such as a dining room set Chicago decorators can help you find the perfect table accents or echo the color of wood in your wall décor. Condensing your wall hangings mainly to one wall can provide a nice backdrop for a gorgeous piece of furniture.

If you’re feeling brave and in the do-it-yourself mode try changing out the backsplash in your kitchen. Rather than outdated tile or a bare wall, update the tile with bright colors or a mosaic look or try copper or stainless steel. In a bathroom setting leather is even an interesting choice.

While you’re in the bathroom with the tools out, consider changing the vanity or sink. This change could be a bit more expensive but can really alter the look of the room. A vessel sink which sits on top of a washstand or dresser is sharp. Even a funky new faucet will add interest to a bathroom with the blahs. Chicago Illinois furniture dealers have storage pieces and chairs designed for the bathroom. A nice option if you have the space.

If you like the look of your room, but just want a subtle change you might shop for new light fixtures or a chandelier. Lighting can be a design or focal point all its own. Think about combining styles or just going with something over-the-top with colors or textures that enhance the room. Customized shades or a wrap of material around a chandelier can achieve this effect.

In the bedroom try spicing up the headboard. If you have a wooden one drape something colorful over it like beads. If you don’t even have a headboard consider creating one from decorator panels found at discount stores, or staple some textured fabric over plywood and foam in a whimsical shape. Your imagination is the limit!

When I was in grade school I read a book called “The Velvet Room” where a girl who loved to read would sneak into an abandoned mansion near her own shack home, which came with her father’s job during the Depression. She finds a magical velvet room in the house, filled with books.

I always pictured her (or myself) curled up on the velvet-covered window seat on the plush velvet sofa, reading one book after another. Velvet does make me think of a bygone era; one more elegant and gentle than today, but velvet is also a very modern fabric. Dealers of the best furniture Chicago offers offer many choices in velvet. The colors and combinations can fit into any décor.

Today I am looking for a couch that will accommodate my entire family, guests, a black feline and, of course, some snuggle time with a good book. Chicago leather couch retailers also are offering great selections of velvet sofas. The color choices and rich texture make them irresistible to professional designers as well as those of us who reply on our personal style and the assistance of the in-store designer.

Velvet is now showing up in the most upscale rooms and works well with traditional, retro or even ultra-modern styles. When I peruse the best furniture Chicago showrooms, I notice that velvet has become much more prevalent recently.

Although I haven’t re-created the velvet room in my own home, a piece or two of velvet gives me that magical, carefree feeling of childhood. I always take note of the velvet accents when shopping Chicago leather couch showrooms. There might just be a velvet couch out there that needs the company of a good book.

Whether you’re red or blue or just plain red, white and blue, campaign furniture may be just the unique touch you need to complete a historic look or spark a conversation. Your Chicago furniture dealer, without getting too political, wants to offer you the opportunity to bring a piece of history, or at least a replica of it, into your home.

If you’re not familiar with campaign furniture, let me enlighten you a bit. It really has nothing to do with politics, except so far as war and politics go together. Campaign furniture is actually thousands of years old, possibly invented by the Romans. About three hundred years ago the English decided it would be elegant, if not practical, to use in some of their war campaigns as the British attempted to conquer the world.

Now campaign furniture is among the best furniture Chicago buyers can find with historical significance. These campaign pieces were designed for easy travel. They could fold up or be dismantled to pack into the hold of a ship or the back of a horse cart.  Tables, chairs, desks, beds – almost anything a master carpenter could dream up and assemble without nails or screws might find its way into the tent of a high-ranking officer or ambassador.

Sometimes known as “knockdown furniture”, campaign pieces were very portable and took little time to set up. You might visit a Chicago furniture dealer to add one of these pieces to your décor as a novelty, but they can be useful as well as being a showpiece.

If may be difficult to picture a fancy wooden piece in the tents of our modern warfare, but we have to remember that the British liked to do things in style and the Romans did everything on a grand scale. We can just thank them for providing us with a novel decorating idea.

Buyers of the best furniture Chicago retailers offer are fortunate to be using these pieces as décor and not small comforts as they trek far from home on dangerous missions. Of course, we can choose to furnish an entire room with campaign pieces and never have to worry about breaking them down before the enemy advances or packing them into a cart for transport.

Most of the pieces were made of stronger woods like teak of mahogany, which could survive various climates, harsh travel conditions and insects. For us, these are just beautiful woods reminiscent of a bygone era.

Some antique campaign furniture never made it to the campaign. Some was just designed for country homes which were not used year-round. One very eccentric Roman emperor even had parquet flooring constructed and laid out in his tent. Those were the days . . . .

Accent tables may not be the first thing you shop for to furnish a room, but they can certainly be the finishing touch and provide a hint of your personal style or even a touch of whimsy.

Your Chicago furniture dealer can offer you styles of accent table in a variety of styles and materials. If you prefer a classic or traditional style, wooden and detailed may fit in your décor. Those with a more modern or even a retro preference might look to metal or even acrylic in flowing shapes or transparent designs.

The fun part about the accent table it that it is what the name implies – an accent. This does not have to be a functional piece, but it might as well be. Why not perch a lamp or basket on top or fan your favorite decorating magazines across the surface? Buyers of Chicago furniture modern styles will appreciate the freedom in decorating that accent tables provide.

The accent should be on your personal style. If you are eclectic or eccentric you may want to mix in a few existing pieces or flea market finds with your purchased tables. A stack of antique hat boxes, an old steamer trunk, a brightly-painted milk can or any other fun items that can stand on their own can be pressed into service as an accent table. Chicago furniture dealers have many choices and ideas on how to best use accent tables to maximize your room space and personal style.

Retailers with Chicago furniture modern pieces also carry items made from repurposed and recycled materials which add a point of interest to a room. Many of these pieces are unique and unusual, so can become a conversation focal point in your décor.