Make the Most of your Bedroom Storage Space

If you’re struggling to find your favourite pair of shoes or you’re forever losing items of clothing and then finding them again a few days later, then you need to improve your storage space.

Under the Bed

The space under the bed is one that is often neglected or ill used – if not used at all. However, there, might be an array of lids, maybe a few socks, an abandoned hair brush and other things we won’t mention lurking underneath. However, utilized properly and it can be a very useful space. Under-bed storage is available from a wide variety of places, often as plastic draws on wheels, which are very effective. You can also buy divan beds that have ready-made draws included, though these often look ugly, and you can utilize the space under the bed much better. The beds from Revival Beds can be tailored to exactly what you want even when it comes to under-bed storage.

   

Next to the Bed  

If you’ve invested in bedside tables that offer no storage capabilities then you’ve really missed a trick. However, if you have plenty of space available, it can be a magnet for clutter. Make sure that you don’t simply shove everything in to a draw and forget about it. Periodically sift through the things that you don’t need and throw them away.

Tall Drawers

Instead of buying a wide chest of drawers, save floor space by having a tall one. You may find that this gives you more space to store your clothes, providing you fold them and store them correctly. Store your clothes so that you can see everything from the top, like spines of a book, and you’ll find that this system works really well. It doesn’t leave your drawers in a mess after you’ve been rooting around in them, trying to find your favourite t-shirt. When it comes to underwear, using individual containers or sections to organize it will make them much easier to find.

The Wardrobe

If you’re lucky enough to be reading this and you haven’t yet chosen a wardrobe, then you can pick a wardrobe that has features within it that makes organizing easier. If you’re not, then there are hanging storage solutions that you can hang in your wardrobe to provide space for folded jumpers or shoes.  

Elegant and Practical Storage: Armoires

Posted by savannahcollections in Bedroom, Craftsmanship, Design Tips, Featured Collections

Pretty and Practical Storage

Armoires can serve as a practical yet beautiful addition for your storage needs. They can be a delight to own, as they provide flexible storage and can be used in a myriad of ways.

Armoires have long been utilized among the powerful nobles as wardrobes in palaces and castles. Originally used for storing weapons, armoires have now taken on new roles in modern homes. This multi-purpose storage space makes it a popular luxury furniture piece to own and can be placed within almost any room in the home.

Convenient Out-of-Sight Storage

Some armoire enthusiasts opt to use them exclusively in bedrooms, but instead of using them as extended closet space, they may place a television set within the wide space on top, while putting cable boxes and TV accessories in the lower cabinets to create an entertainment system. The doors provide a convenient way to hide unsightly clutter when the television is not in use.

Others still prefer its traditional use for storing clothes, as the upper open area is ideal for hanging anything from blouses, shirts and jackets, while the lower portion can store socks or smaller items.  Again, the doors provide extra protection from dust and the elements, while any clutter is conveniently hidden behind closed doors.  Storing linens and thick winter blankets is also an option to consider, and is excellent for use as seasonal storage space.

A Mark of Luxury

The Monterey Armoire as shown above, for example, creates an understated elegance that immediately draws the eyes to that corner of the room.  Armoires have been growing in popularity of late, especially for use in smaller spaces that lack inherent storage space.  With the variety of ways armoires can be used, and the potential to store just about anything neatly out of sight, these luxury pieces go a long way, and are ever a welcome addition into any home.

Coromandel

We sat by the pool here in Pueblo Bonito Emerald bay talking with a woman from Las Vegas. The subject turned to furniture and she mentioned she had an antique Coromandel trunk that she really loved. That was a word we hadn't heard in awhile, Coromandel.



Coromandel is a decorative lacquer design developed in China that depicts figures or scenes etc. When we first started Landfair Furniture, one of our biggest sellers off the floor was unique Coromandel decorative trunks and boxes. They were end table height, perfect for a lamp and they could be used for storage. It was perfect for adding texture to a room. The trunks and boxes were great gifts for newly weds, or a spouse that is hard to buy for.



We still carry the storage boxes in our store. They are beautiful and brand new. If you can afford a good piece of furniture, buy a Coromandel Decorative Trunk - something you will value, that will become a classic. No matter how many times you change your design or the look of your home, this quality trunk will work.

Bev & Mike
Landfair Furniture + Design Gallery
Follow us @landfairfurnitu

Tomaz Erzetic of Slovenia

Click to enlarge.

Tomaz Erzetic of Slovenia has just sent me pictures of the most unusual piece of furniture I've ever seen.


Click to enlarge.

Erzetic is a young designer and has this description of his work:

Based on an elaborate concept and a carefully planned study this unique artistic creation is a perfect combination of functionality, and the art of painting, sculpturing and design.

New, revolutionary design of unique pieces of furniture does not only pervade the space, filling it up with a soul of its own, but also creates a charismatic essence of the object of art itself. This piece is the fruit of work of two promising young artists; Klemen Benedik, painter and designer, and Tomaž Erzetič, sculptor and designer.

Elaborately planed furniture design and a tender, refined painting are the artistic soul and an added value of this unique piece of furniture, which moves one's heart by its very existence, suggesting and narrating its story.

Erzetic writes the piece is 3.8m in length, 2.15m in height, 1m max in depth.

Bev & Mike
Landfair Furniture + Design Gallery

The Armoire Is Dead

The Pittsburgh Post Gazette reperts from High Point that the Armoire is dead. It is as old-fashioned as the telephone table.

...armoires were originally designed as gun cabinets. That is where they get their name. Later, when the French changed the tax code and began taxing the number of rooms, the aristocracy knocked down closet walls and replaced them with armoires or wardrobes.

Recently, meaning a five years ago, people bought armoires to hide the TV. Now, 42 to 50 inch flat screen TVs are considered status symbols, so there is a desire to show it off. Now we have media units or entertainment centers.

The latest solution is the low- to medium-height console, which is not necessarily dedicated to the flat-screen television.

"A console or buffet is a great way to anchor the flat screen, as well as a place for storage.

At Landfair Furniture, we see media centers of all styles from low credenza types to taller dresser type designs and from various vendors like Stanley, Dinec, BermanFALK, and Hammary. Come take a look at the styles on the floor and in catalogs, where you can select from many finsihes.

Bev & Mike
Landfair Furniture + Design Gallery

High Point Observations

Since we went to Las Vegas Market at the end of July, we did not go to High Point, however here's what some are saying about trends at this fall's show.

Jean Greeson of Greeson and Fast Design wrote

As we saw in the spring, there were a lot of eco-friendly and natural materials, and on the other side of the fashion spectrum, a lot of glitz and glamour. Metallic colors and textures were featured in fabrics, rugs and even ceramics, and rich linens and velvets were employed in upholstery and drapery

Richard Fast of Greeson and Fast design noticed

an evolution in surface textures — a couple of years ago shiny black lacquer was popular, then it was replaced with shiny white lacquer, and this time there were some antique French reproductions finished in flat white. It gave them a contemporary look.

As for colors Greeson still saw blush pinks and earth tones, blacks and whites.

I should say “charcoal and white,” because charcoal seems to be the new black.

The Rocky Mountain News reports that Small is the new black.

Remember the McMansions, now we are seeing baby boomers and tight-fisted consumers down size to smaller homes, condos, apartments and flats. Oversized furniture is out. Now we are seeing smaller arms on sofas. Customers are asking for tables where the leaves are hidden. Storage in condos is at a premium. They also want furniture pieces to "do tricks", meaning be a coffee table and a dining table or at least have multiple functions.

Furniture manufacturers are responding to downsizing baby boomers and the growing appeal of urban living by reducing the scale of dressers, coffee tables, nightstands and the like. They're compressing home offices into a single fold-out cabinet. And they're cutting back the length of sofas and entertainment centers that sprawled across the length of wall in McMansions.

If you were at High Point, do you have some other observations?

Bev & Mike
Landfair Furniture + Design Gallery

We need your feedback!

We need your feedback! Remember the conversation at Color Pulse 2010 about "authenticity"? Part of being authentic is Genesis: - Genesis is an extension of the RAW from 2009. It exposes "the parts" as they become "the sum" ...with its emphasis on honest materials and eco-inspired themes that feel like a call to action.

We came across this New York manufacturer, Platform Furniture, that makes these wonderful storage cabinets in one, two or three units in solid reclaimed fir or in solid walnut. This company's products certainly seems to fit in with what is coming in 2010, but here now. They also seem to fit in with The New Luxury. They are very unique. I can't recall seeing this quality for this price.

Storage China Cabinet 2 Units (Fir) 86 x 19 x 39 $8,500.00





Storage China Cabinet 3 Units (Walnut) 129 x 19 x 39 $14,000.00




Now here's where we need your feedback. Is this something you are demanding for your clients? How about the price point, will the price point work within your client's budget?

Email Bev & Mike at landfair3554@comcast.net with your thoughts.

Visit Ken Hoyt

Here's local Portland authority, Ken Hoyt, with some appropriate actions you can take now for your drains that will save you an expensive call to Roto Rooter.

And when you visit Ken Hoyt's site check out his formulas for cleaning outdoor furniture and pads before winter storage.

Bev & Mike
Landfair Furniture + Design Gallery

Adam Kalkin's Housing Solution

If you follow the trade deficit numbers as Mike does, you might know that the U.S. receives those big shipping containers full with consumer goods from all parts of the world, but especially Asia. The problem is, we tend to send them back empty.

Now, hat tip to by Jennifer Chait at Off Beat Homes, one architect may have found a solution. Adam Kalkin has designed the Push Button House.

The Push Button House is exactly that: it starts as a shipping container until a button is pushed, and it turns into a house. Motorized walls unfold like a flower, revealing a fully functional house, complete with refined, understated furnishings.

Take a look at Kalkins website and watch the short video: http://www.architectureandhygiene.com/main.html

Bev & Mike
Landfair Furniture + Design Gallery

This Just In, From Design's Front Line

There's a whole new world out there that is more current than the latest home furnishings magazine, the design blog. The Washington Post has a list of design blogs for the interior designer or the individual who is discovering his or her decorating style.

You can find trend forecasts, designer profiles, product launches and reviews, sale announcements and links to featured stores and merchandise along with practical decorating advice and inspirational eye candy. Reader insight and advice are welcome, creating a mix of design voices, resources and ideas from around the globe:

Apartment Therapy , about small spaces.

Design*Sponge

Decor8, an Elle Decor favorite by a blogger in New Hampshire.

Pigtown*Design, based in Baltimore.

Design hole, based in Detroit.

Bloesem blog, by a Dutch blogger.

SF girl by bay, from a self-described bohemian blogger based in San Francisco.

On the right side of this blog, you will find links to local designers and resources, interviews and links to design blogs around the world, for that is the reach of the internet. An article about you doesn't just reach the Portland area, but the U.S. as a whole and Europe and Asia and South America and is available everywhere there is a connected computer. Watch our blogroll grow!

Bev & Mike
Landfair Furniture + Design Gallery

Organizing Tips

Mary Carol Garrity, the proprietor of three successful home furnishings stores in Atchison, Kan., and the author of several best-selling books on home decorating, writes in Organizing: Think outside the basket at InsideBayArea.com. about organizing your home and increasing storage by suggesting:

• Cute containers for small items like stamps and office supplies

• Get the family to hang up their things with Hooks and Rods in the bathroom and mudroom

• Message centers of chalkboard painted doors

• Stealth storage with decorative containers that double as storage.

Baskets and boxes are another good way to increase storage in your home and they are attractive:

Bev & Mike
Landfair Furniture + Design Gallery