Attention-getting colors, large blocks of color and bold, bold, bold are the bedding trends we are seeing this year and they are the perfect compliment to the sleek, understated bedroom furniture that has become the rage.

Silks, cottons, or even fabrics with more texture like wool and organza find their way into bed coverings for the savvy sleeper. Whether you want something to wow the eyes or prefer bedding that is all snuggle and comfort, there is a bold pattern and a perfect color waiting for you.

Continue Reading

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 . . . .

I’m in the middle of a mini-bathroom makeover due to a leaky shower. My parents are getting ready to renovate two bathrooms. Let’s be honest: we all want more from our bathrooms today than strict functionality. We want them to be fashionable, comfortable retreats which reflect out personal style as much as the rest of our home. Although you might not think about actual furniture in the bathroom, your Chicago furniture dealer has many suitable pieces.

When you prepare for a bathroom makeover the first thing to do is pad your budget. That’s because Murphy’s Law always applies to home renovation and bathroom renovation in particular.

I lived through a major bathroom renovation in my last house and it cost about twice as much as we thought it would. But the addition of a large custom closet for my clothing, a laundry closet and a Jacuzzi tub were well worth the mess and the stress! You know where to find the best furniture Chicago has to offer. Now do yourself a favor and find out where the best deals in fixtures are as well.

A few dollars can be saved if you do your own demo work, and, of course, you can save a bundle doing the entire project yourself. But that takes some knowledge and experience. Consider the possibility that you may encounter mold or water damage when you begin the demolition. This can add to your rebuilding cost.

Ventures into plumbing and electric work are best left to professionals. If you happen to have some licensed friends who owe you a favor, by all means give them a call! Other tasks like tiling and drywall can been done by the homeowner, but for a finished look I recommend a lesson. Many home improvement stores offer free workshops on these types of renovations.

With a bathroom space, your layout may be pretty well set, so think about smaller changes you can make such as cabinet and sink styles or how best to use the wall space. Well-placed outlets and good lighting and ventilation also should be discussed at the outset. Designers of the best furniture in Chicago can give you advice on room layout.

If it’s storage space you need, look at how you can work it into wall cabinets, closets or a vanity. Your Chicago furniture dealer will have ideas and samples of furniture-style sink stands and vanities you might want to incorporate. Make a mini-mock-up of the space – or better yet, a life-sized model out of appliance boxes. A friend advised me to do this before our first renovation and I was surprised at the difference in the real space and what I had pictured in my mind.

Keep in mind that even a small bathroom space can easily cost $4,000-5,000 to renovate. You may want to do the basic necessities and add in the niceties a bit at a time as your budget allows. As with any home project, choose something you like and that fits with your lifestyle. A bathroom is not as easy to trade out as a sofa.

Home design these days requires more than function. Home design must be a blend of personal style, convenience, comfort, and practicality. When incorporating today’s design trends into your home best furniture Chicago buyers will appreciate these tips.

Small handmade touches throughout a home can reflect your personal style and make your friends wonder if you hired a decorator. Mosaic or hand-painted tiles can create that designer look in a kitchen or bathroom.

For a sleeker look, borrow a page from last year’s Hollywood Regency design catalog and add silver accents to basic black and white. Chicago furniture modern style lovers will appreciate this trend.

When it comes to color, it’s a simple way to finish off a room. Choose a colorful textile in eastern design, a bright-colored religious icon or some pop art that will pop off your wall. Transitioning to pattern, look to stripes of all sizes and retro bubble patterns or classic patterns like Hound’s-tooth or Greek key.

The home office is also becoming a center of style within the home. Most of us prefer comfort and a space that’s pleasant to look at over function, so find your personal style and build it into the function. Incorporate textures in usable pieces like filing baskets and calendar or bulletin board frames. Then consider some green like a plant or piece of artwork to help warm up the space. Buyers of the best furniture Chicago will have no problem making this space their own.

Other ways of adapting a room to today’s trends can include changing the room layouts, furniture and fixtures for an aging population, which is a growing need with the large population of aging Boomers in our country.

Outdoor living spaces have become a much bigger part of our homes in the past few years. This might be a simple arrangement of furniture at the fire pit or a complete gourmet kitchen customized for the outdoors with pizza oven, grilling station and wine refrigerator. Special lighting, rugs, or even an outdoor television can make a back yard an oasis. Your Chicago furniture modern retailer can offer ideas for you outdoor space.