Taking Care of Wooden Furniture

When our daughter turned four, she began asking for a “big girl room.” My husband and I knew this day would come. She no longer wanted the toddler bed she had been sleeping in for the past two years. It was time to redecorate. We took her out to the store and let her examine all the different bed options. Ultimately, she chose a simple white bead board head rest for her new twin mattress. She then decided she wanted to continue with a whole beach them. We let her pick out everything from coral colored sheets, to seashells and starfish lampshades. After we finished her newly designed room, my husband and I noticed, she wanted to spend a lot more time in there. She even wanted to invite friends over, just so she could share her new grown up room with them. We were so pleased that by just changing her bedroom furniture, linens and some accent pieces, we were able to give our daughter a brand new space, all her own, that she could grow up with for years to come.

Having a well designed dedicated home office can make a huge impact on both the success of the business and the family. Last May my husband, a CPA, decided he was going to start his own business. I reluctantly sacrificed our daughter’s basement playroom, for his new home office. I let him use my old desk from college and some book shelves my mother had given us. The colors, of course, didn’t match, but they were functional. Over the weeks, more and more mismatched furniture built up down there from people trying to help my husband’s new upstart. Unfortunately, during the day, he would spend most of his time working from our kitchen table. That’s when I realized, his office need two things: style and organization. One weekend while he was away, I got rid of all the mismatched old furniture and bought him new matching sets of dark wood cabinets and an executive desk. I added beautiful accents of brown, gold and orange in the wall hangings, carpet and lamp shades. After he returned home, the business started to pick up. He would spend hours in his newly designed home office, talking with clients and working. He got an office and I got my kitchen back!

After my husband and I got married, we had a difficult time merging our two styles of furniture. He had all modern lines with black and grey, while I had an antique four poster bed. Neither of the styles seemed to fit with our new married personalities. So, we went in search of more appropriate décor for our most personal space. Ultimately, I gave up my country French style furniture and he let go of the sleek black lines. Now we have crisp blue and brown bedding, marble side tables and gold accents, with much more stylish bedroom furniture. We like to call it “regal.” Our dark wood sleigh bed fits both of our styles! Now that we have given our bedroom a facelift, the space really feels like home. We find ourselves drawn to our room to watch movies, read book’s, we even sneak dinner up there sometimes. Having a beautifully decorated bedroom with our stylish new bedroom furniture has really changed our mood, as well. Before, with an old mismatched bed set and all pink floral linens, we dreaded going to our room. We even noticed bickering over tiny things: clothing on the floor, toothpaste on the sink. After we decorated our bedroom, the little things became just that: little. Now we joke about never wanting to leave our gorgeous bedroom! Next stop, the living room!