In case you haven’t heard, people are going “greene” at home – that’s right, green with an “E”! In addition to doing things like driving hybrids, using reusable grocery bags, and recycling, you can help the environment by making your home greener (And no, you don’t have to buy furniture that’s the color green!). Today we’d like to give you a few reasons why you should consider making your home more eco-friendly and also let you know where a good place to start would be.

Let’s start by talking about why you should go “greene.” First, you would be helping out the environment! Our eco-friendly products come from recycled materials and well-managed wood products; this conserves natural resources and limits the volume of waste sent to our already overloaded landfills. Beyond the environment, there’s your health to consider. By choosing furniture that’s manufactured with sustainably sourced materials, your indoor air quality will improve making it easier for you to breathe; this will contribute directly to a more healthful lifestyle for you and your family!

Now that you know a few reasons why you should go “greene,” where can you start? How about with one of our OMI organic mattresses? This is something that you may never have heard of, but an organic mattress is simply one that is made from all-natural materials. Organic Mattresses Incorporated (OMI) mattresses in particular are constructed with Eco-Wool, certified organic cotton, and 100% natural rubber latex.

Here’s a few more details about the materials in their mattresses:

• The Eco-Wool is sheared from free-grazed California sheep.
• The cotton is grown and processed without chemical pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, or fertilizers.
• The rubber is naturally anti-microbial and dust-mite resistant.

At Walter E. Smithe, we specialize in the best furniture Chicago has to offer and we are proud to offer products from OMI. They are a company committed to supporting American organic farmers and their products are top-of-the-line. When you choose an OMI mattress, you can also have the peace of mind that comes with its industry-leading 20-year limited warranty!

If you’re looking to do something for yourself and your environment come see us at Walter E. Smithe, a leader in furniture retail. Chicago customers won’t be disappointed when they choose an OMI mattress or any of our other “greene” products! Come see us today!

Do you ever thumb through a magazine, watch an old movie or even visit a bed and breakfast and wish you could make a room in your home look ‘just like that’? Well, you probably can. Whether high-end designer pieces or rare antiques, you can find similar pieces in your price range.

Your Chicagoland furniture store has a wide selection of style and can also help you design a room to you specifications – even if it’s imitating a page in a magazine. Designers often take their inspiration from vintage pieces and you can do the same.

You can choose favorite vintage pieces and work them into your more contemporary décor, carefully but successfully. If you aren’t sure just how much is too much, the professional staff at Walter E. Smithe can help you balance your look.

Whether you want a touch of the decadent Rococo style with its overdone carving and sumptuous fabrics or a mid-century look softened by some frills, combinations of styles and periods can often be what defines a room’s unique character. Dealers of the best furniture Chicago offers can help you find the pieces you desire.

Mirrored furniture is another trend that is on the increase and, whether classic or modern, the mirrors can serve a double purpose by making the room look larger and lighter, which is always welcome. Buyers of Chicagoland furniture can find any size, shape and style of mirror and even mirrored furniture pieces that will add panache to any room.

The important thing to remember when copying a style or period is that less is more. You probably don’t want your home to look like Versailles even if you love the opulent French look. A styled piece of furniture and a few accessories is often all you need.

Best furniture Chicago deals can be found not only at fine furniture stores like Walter E. Smithe, but in second hand stores and even at tag sales. Keep an eye out for those special touches everywhere you go:  they can be found.

Our local movie theater, built in the art deco style over 80 years ago, decided to update recently and exchange a few rows of seats for leather sofas and coffee tables. It’s wonderful! Just as comfortable as watching a movie at home.

For many, though, the design of a home theater presents a dilemma: To emulate the theater with “theater seats,” or to present the movie screen experience with a couple of sofas? It’s really a personal choice, but your Chicago furniture retailer can help you make practical choices when it comes to home theater seating and décor.

Cozy seating is the key. How many times have you been to a theater with uncomfortable or small seats? I think that’s why our local theater went with the couch seating. The short-backed padded seats are, if not original to the theater, close. They also don’t have cup holders. That makes for interrupted viewing and a sticky floor.

Specialized seating in the theater-seat realm can be found at your dealer of the best furniture Chicago offers, but if you prefer a sofa where you can snuggle, they can help you choose one for optimum comfort and viewing. You may even want a mixture of the two.

Seating options range from sofas to small theater-like seats to “theater” recliners with cup holders and snack tables. They are pricey, though, so if you may want to opt for something more crowd-friendly if you like to watch with friends.

If you wonder about the best layout or design for a home theater room, the experts at Walter E. Smithe, your Chicago furniture retailer for custom pieces, can help. Dedicating the room as a theater space is important if you want to maximize the sound and the experience. Even putting in a top-of-the-line surround sound system won’t matter if you don’t arrange the room well and keep the sound-absorbing materials to a minimum.

The seats themselves can be affordable for most any budget, as the plain-Jane models can start as low as $300 each and can even be connected like real theater rows. Designers also recommend a flat screen no smaller than 27 inches, and you’ll want to go bigger if you have a large room or several rows of seating.

Visit the showroom for a look at examples of the best furniture Chicago has for home theaters and don’t forget to pick up some popcorn and Dots on the way home.

If you didn’t have one in your house growing up, you probably know someone who did. I remember my aunt’s living room with the perfectly raked carpet and the pristine furniture. At least she didn’t have plastic covers on it. But it wasn’t a room that welcomed you in and certainly not a room where you ate dessert or hung out with friends.

Walter E. Smithe, your Chicago furniture retailer, knows it’s sometimes tough to break the sacred living room mold – but they are here to help. Today, most homeowners want to get maximum use out of their space and one way to do that is to actually live in your living room.

Rather than making it a formal space where no one wants to relax, opt for a quiet space for reading or music. It’s a great place to put the piano and ban the TV. This way your room can be used every day and not just for company or holidays.

When considering the best furniture Chicago offers for your living room, look to classic pieces and make sure they are comfortable. You don’t have to buy a set either. Pulling together coordinating pieces you love is much more the trend and reflects your living style better than a set that some designer put together.

Make a conversation area and maybe even a cozy reading corner with a couple of chairs. Your dealer of the best furniture in Chicago can help you find unique pieces. Create interest in the room by using pieces of different heights and artwork that you love. Not a mass-produced, showroom-purchased piece, but a striking black and white photo from a favorite trip or an antique textile. Put your personality into the space.

Lighting is another important aspect in creating a welcoming space and might come in handy in that reading corner as well. Chicago furniture retailers offer a variety of floor and table lamps as well as ideas for spot lighting art and recessed lighting for a cozy atmosphere.

Those of us shopping for the best furniture Chicago offers also want to have access to timeless, classic pieces that can be used for years with updated colors and accents. That’s sometimes a difficult combination to find.

The key to decorating in a classic style is usually to avoid too much of that classic style. Mix it up a bit. A friend of mine with a very Victorian home had several antique period pieces, but mixed in several more modern, casual pieces to break up the dark woods and the formal feel. Avoid too much clutter and a closed-in feel from large, dark pieces.

The same can be done with a modern look. Too many clean lines without soft accents, or warm touches like natural colors, can feel cold and austere. Not somewhere you want to kick back and relax. Bringing in a plant or two or even adding decorative green glass can warm up a room instantly.

Change is good. If you’ve had the same furniture arrangement for three years, it’s time to switch it up and try a new look. As you rearrange, you can eliminate any clutter that may have accumulated. You may not even recognize that you’ve stuffed a room too full until you see it from a fresh angle.

Stick with furniture that has simple lines and you can’t go wrong. Some of these simple styles have been in vogue forever. Rolled arms on chairs and sofas dates back to the Colonial period and can still be found at Chicago furniture retailers today. If you want a change, add some textiles or throw pillows with a splash of color or reupholster your piece.

While you’re choosing that upholstery, keep it solid – as in a solid color. Unless it’s an accent chair, you probably should save the patterns and wild colors for something that can be changed more often, like pillows or wall hangings.

Buying classic styles doesn’t guarantee quality furniture. The best Chicago furniture retailers sell will be made of quality materials. Look for upholstered pieces with wrapped springs and high-quality fabrics. Buy the best you can afford and it will save you money in the long run.

When shopping for eco-friendly home furnishings, the best furniture Chicago customers can expect will be made of sustainable wood, recycled materials or some other combination of materials that can help save landfill space and old-growth forests.

When visiting your personal furniture retailer in Chicago, office furniture and home furnishings for every room can be found in many styles and materials that are good for the environment.

Sustainable wood pieces are one place to start. These may be made up of wood, metal, plastic, cloth or a combination of materials. Sustainable woods come from forests grown specifically for harvest and are usually of tree varieties that grow quickly and are then replanted.

Chicago office furniture shoppers wanting a really unique piece might opt for something made from reclaimed materials. This could range from older furniture pieces or buildings, to factory scraps or even lags rescued from the bottom of a river. Bamboo is another popular option, as it is sturdy and grows very quickly. The color range is wide, from greens to reds, and it can be molded or flattened into furniture or flooring. Most bamboo is grown pesticide free and comes from China.

Recyclable materials can be a fun alternative as well. Not only does this save landfill space, but the plastics and aluminum most common in this type of furniture can often be whimsical and unique. Materials can’t be the only criteria for buying furniture, though. Look for pieces that are well-made, can be easily repaired and are non-toxic or have very low toxicity. That means knowing the types of finishes and fabrics being used and how likely they are to give off chemical gasses in your home.

The most important thing is finding furniture pieces that fit your needs and the best furniture Chicago retailers will help guide you to pieces that will be good for the environment and good for your lifestyle.

Reds, pinks and even periwinkles are all the rage and the bigger and bolder, the better. When shopping for the best furniture Chicago offers, step out of your comfort zone and try out a new colorful piece. Many designers and furniture makers are using rooms full of color these days, according to stylists at HGTV.

If bold-colored furniture pieces seem too wild for you, try starting with one piece as an accent for your room. Color as a background is becoming more of a norm in decorating. No more beige sofas with brightly-colored throw pillows – now the sofa is bright and the pillows are a coordinating bold color.

Your Chicago furniture dealer has some colorful choices in the showroom and can custom design any pattern or color you choose. Even traditional natural-finished woods are receiving a splash of color. Several wood furniture makers are opting to let buyers choose the color or finish rather than offer only a limited choice of “natural wood finishes”.

Red is definitely proving to be the hot color, but if you have other preferences they are certainly available. This color trend is just one more way you can express your personal style – only on a larger scale. There are so many choices for buyers of some of the best furniture Chicago has to offer. As such,  you might want to have a good idea of your color preferences and personal style before you visit a showroom. That could prevent you from being overwhelmed by the sheer number of choices.

So don’t be afraid of color – it can be your best friend when furniture shopping and decorating your room. When you visit your Chicago furniture dealer’s showroom, don’t rule out bold choices and out-of-the-box pieces. Try something new and add some color to your home – and your life.

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens may not make it into your décor but you might bring in a bright copper kettle while working your favorite things into a room design.  It just makes sense to design our homes around things we love. That makes us comfortable, and if we feel comfortable in our homes we will enjoy them more and our guests will too. Dealers of the best furniture Chicago offers can help you achieve this goal.

One place to start is by getting rid of clutter. That means not only piles of mail and old magazine that have accumulated on the end table or kitchen counter, but anything that we don’t use, need or want. One home makeover show used to have a designer that asked: Do you love it? Do you need it? (If you haven’t used it in six months to a year the answer is NO!) Can it make you money? If the homeowner could not answer yes to one of these questions the item was out. This process of eliminating clutter can be emotional and may take some time, but work at it steadily and it will happen.

Find a wall color you like. This is an easy and inexpensive way to give a room that “wow” factor. You can do the entire room or just an accent wall, but don’t be afraid of color. Think about how different colored rooms make you feel and go from there. Continue that color in accent pieces throughout the room.

Be sure that your furniture is comfortable. How many of us have been to a home with that one formal-looking room that no one ever uses. The atmosphere is cold and the furniture is stiff, so no one wants to use it. This is why kitchens so often become the gathering place. They are warm and inviting and we feel comfortable being ourselves there. If your furniture is not comfortable and you don’t love it, get rid of it! Buy the best quality you can and upgrade when you can afford to do so. Even in a room like a home office, your Chicago office furniture retailer can help you combine comfort and function.

Put things where they are accessible. I can’t count the number of times I have gone to my storage closet to get a fan and found it is hidden behind boxes of Christmas decorations and piles of camping equipment. Pack things away seasonally so the fans are at the front of the closet in the summer and the Christmas decorations are there in December. Keep other things close at hand, like some throws or blankets in a basket or drawer near your favorite place to curl up at read or watch a movie. Keep your most-used cooking pieces close-at-hand. This goes for reading material and lighting as well.

Speaking of good lighting – get some! Don’t count on a ceiling fixture to illuminate your entire room. Place lamps strategically where you can use them to save energy or to highlight reading and handwork. Recessed lighting in kitchens and bathrooms and spotlighting on artwork can be convenient as well as warm and welcoming. Consider dimmer switches wherever possible to allow mood lighting and save on energy costs.

Don’t forget the personal touches. Heirloom pieces and family photos not only give you a sense of ownership and recall fond memories, but they warm up your home and guests often enjoy then as a conversation piece. Photos should be displayed in groupings if they are small. Change some of them out seasonally to keep your room fresh.

When you shop for the best furniture Chicago has to offer, think about what you want in your home, not what a decorator uses in the displays. Most of all, keep your personality in your decorating – that will assure a comfortable home.

So you want a bit of workspace that doesn’t remind you of work?  A comfortable, efficient spot where you can focus for an hour or two at a time that won’t require sacrificing personal style? Not a problem when you visit the store with the best furniture Chicago has to offer.

When it comes to the home office, the newest trend is to keep your space from looking like a home office. Your work space should transition smoothly into the rest of your home while serving your work and organizational needs. Chicago Illinois furniture retailers also want to provide you with seating to fit your home office needs.

Because you spend much of your work time in one chair and may not use the proper posture during that time, an ergonomically correct chair is a must. This can help prevent or eliminate back and neck problems and even headaches.

While shopping for the best furniture Chicago retailers offer, consider a piece like an executive secretary, which unlike a desk, can be closed up to hide all your work when you don’t want to think about it anymore. It also is a beautiful, decorative piece which hides its function inside and won’t take up as much room as the traditional desk. This is a good option if you plan to designate one corner or portion of a room as your work area rather than an entire room.

Chicago Illinois furniture dealers have many ideas and plans to offer for your home office. The most important thing is to make it work with your lifestyle and interior space. If you have pets or small children, keep safety in mind as well. Use cord minders to prevent tangling or shocking and keep important work and sharp office tools put away safely in a designated spot. A desk or secretary with a lock is a good investment.

When you are a guest you want to feel welcomed and pampered, so why would you want any less for guests in your own home? You don’t of course! You want to provide a haven where they will feel like they are visiting a five-star hotel, regardless of the purpose of their visit.

Your Chicago furniture dealer can help you achieve a guest oasis in the midst of your home, no matter how chaotic is seems to be most of the time. If you truly have a dedicated guest room it is set aside for guests and ready at all times. It is not a catch-all for items you can’t decide what to do with or a repository for all your old furniture.

Your guest room must be clean, smell fresh (not like cleaning solution) and look inviting. It should be somewhere you would love to stay if you were away from home. When shopping at your best furniture Chicago retailer bring in your chosen color palette and some style ideas and let the designers assist you in preparing your guest paradise.

You don’t have to spend a lot. Some basic yet comfortable bedroom pieces, including a comfortable chair for reading or watching television mixed with some interesting pieces you already own can create the effect of being in an upscale hotel. Chicago furniture dealers will help you decide the scale and number of pieces to best meet the needs of your guests.

After shopping for the best furniture in Chicago for the key pieces, be sure to clean out the closets and buy some quality linens for your guests. Then don’t forget the posh and thoughtful touches: a basket of towels and soaps on the bed, some chocolates or mints on the pillow, and reading material, including some literature on local sites or events.