What do you think of when you hear the word 'dining room?' An unexplored, shadowy place you only air out for Thanksgiving? The good china you only dust off for company? There is just something about dark wood and stylized, throne-like chairs that can make a dining room awkward to use. Luckily, trends have developed and formal no longer has to mean austere or vintage. Investing in a contem...

Most of the furniture you buy for a living room, you buy for the long-term. Big ticket items like your sofa set and seating, and workhorses like your TV stand or bookshelves serve two functions: to get the job done, and to look neutral enough that they won't make your living space feel dated a few years down the road. The real decorating comes when you fill in the gaps, and if you ask me, there's ...

Do you need a couch for your living room but a regular loveseat just won't do? Perhaps you need more space for you have more than two guests at a time, or legroom to stretch into a more comfortable pose for ideal computer browsing. Normally, you wouldn't think to pick up a sectional to fill that gap because you think, “Who has those anymore?” But that's not true!

A Quick Look at the Advantages of Choosing Armless Dining Chairs

We accept armless chairs as a staple of current dining room furniture, but have you ever thought about why? Dining chairs are necessary furniture in our homes, but rarely get thought about in comparison to flashier, bigger pieces like couches and beds. Designers love trying to make the dining chair step up to the plate with bold, e...

Many bookshelves are built to be utilitarian - designed to fit as many books as possible onto rows of simple, even shelves. But if you don't have a big book collection, standard shelves probably aren't the best use of your space. Of course, that doesn't mean it isn't worth having shelving units - you jus...

Rocking chairs are one of the great comfort chairs - a fixture from many of our childhoods, and often an heirloom piece passed down through families. But not all rocking chairs fit the iconic image of a mother rocking a baby or a granny knitting a sweater; rockers can come in a wide variety of different styles beyond the classic Kennedy rocker. Whether you're looking for a

Wedding-Bound this Summer? Try these Unique and Creative Gifts

Summer means long days, warm nights, beach trips, thunderstorms, and a veritable font of summer weddings. In the last few weeks alone I have had several friends announce the dates of their celebrations, which left me thinking about who the heck my plus one is going to be, but also about potential wedding gifts. Classically, a couple creates gift registries at a few retailers--department stores, fu...

Traditionally, a bed consists of a bed frame, a mattress and box spring, and maybe head and foot boards. But that time-tested definition is starting to change in a fairly significant way as more and more people turn to platform beds instead. These sit lower to the ground and have a more contemporary look and feel, and they don't require you to buy a box spring to go along with your mattress. But s...

Entryways are one of the busiest spots in any home - or at the very least, they're the spot in your home where you're most likely to feel busy: when you're rushing out the door first thing in the morning or dragging your feet back inside at the end of the day. But decorating that one odd spot well can make your life just that little tiny bit easier when you're at your most harrie...