Happy Thanksgiving from the Smithe Brothers!

November 20th, 2011 by Caroline Categories: Featured, Furniture Tips No Responses
Happy Thanksgiving from the Smithe Brothers!

Thanksgiving is right around the corner – are you ready? Everyone here at Walter E. Smithe, your Chicago Illinois furniture leader, can’t wait! Food, football, family – such a relaxing day! Speaking of relaxing, what will you be relaxing on this year? Today we’d like to highlight some of our favorite comfortable living room pieces! Read on to see what we have to offer in our stores! Furniture for the holidays includes: Continue Reading

Decorating to make the most of your space

August 17th, 2010 by Caroline Categories: Design Tips, Featured No Responses
Decorating to make the most of your space

Whether you have a small home or a small space within your home that you just can’t seem to arrange and decorate exactly right, these tips from your Chicago Illinois furniture retailer will help you make the most of your small space. Continue Reading

How to Avoid the Most Common Decorating Mistakes

August 8th, 2010 by Caroline Categories: Design Tips, Featured No Responses
How to Avoid the Most Common Decorating Mistakes

Sure, you want to reflect your personal style, work in some sentimental possessions and be comfortable in your living space, but you don’t want to commit a major decorating faux pas in the process. If you’d like to make sure all your decorating desires smoothly blend together, take note of these tips. Also, remember that your Chicago, Illinois furniture dealer is always there to help with your decorating needs. Continue Reading

Carry personal decorating style into your home office

June 28th, 2010 by Caroline Categories: Design Tips, Featured No Responses
Carry personal decorating style into your home office

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. Continue Reading

Slim is in for couches too!

May 30th, 2010 by Caroline Categories: Design Tips, Featured No Responses
Slim is in for couches too!

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.