Blogs for August 2011

Storage solutions

By Alain Juneau - 29 August 2011 - No comments on this post

Does opening your closet doors strike fear in your heart? Are you reminded of a warehouse when you look under the bed? Is trying to find your youngest’s red pants like a treasure hunt? Maybe it’s time to reorganize!

Make sure your furniture meets your needs

The change table you bought when your little angel was born no longer has enough storage space for all the skirts and tops she looks so adorable in. Before adding an extension to the house or building a Beverly Hills-worthy walk‑in closet, start by looking at your current furniture arrangement. Purchasing a bed with drawers might be all that you need. Or maybe you can solve your storage woes by replacing the three-drawer chest with a double dresser and storage hutch added on top. If, however, after a systematic analysis you find that your rooms are adequately furnished but you still have a serious storage problem, here are some options you might find useful.

Wall storage

Cupboards or cubbies secured to the wall just under the ceiling won’t get in the way of your living space and will provide you with storage for those items of sentimental value that don’t get used daily. They’re a great place to safely keep wedding presents, out-of-season clothing, slides from your tender youth and the recipe books handed down from mom.

A room of their own: personalizing your child’s room

By Nicole Basenach - 19 August 2011 - No comments on this post

Your child is one in a million—shouldn’t his or her room reflect that unique personality? Read on for some great ideas on how to personalize the decor of your child’s room.

Create homemade works of art!

You don’t need to be an artist to design striking pieces. It’s as easy as framing a piece of cloth from your child’s bed set or a piece of wallpaper you like. You could even personalize the frame by adding your child’s name or a photo that has similar colours.

Some stores sell very deep picture frames into which you can place treasured objects. Why not add some pieces of your little one’s baby clothes, his or her first pair of shoes, a soother or another beloved object? You could also choose an item that represents each year of his or her life and build a beautiful memory wall. Don’t be afraid to play with the colours of the objects, backgrounds and frames to mix and match with the room’s decor. One interesting option would be to use tone-on-tone colours to create depth with understated elegance.

Pick a theme, any theme!

Your little quarterback dreams of touchdowns while your little princess won’t wear anything but pink?

Three successful combinations

By Annie Lavigne - 16 August 2011 - No comments on this post

You might have found yourself wanting to add an extra item of furniture several months after buying multiple items as part of a collection set. What do you do if the item is no longer offered in the right finish or if the collection is no longer available?

Here are some tips to make the most of the situation!

Combining similar tones

This approach is based on finding the common thread between two finishes. In the picture, the colour of the pine tree rings goes very well with the cherry tone. This eclectic mix produces an overall harmonious look.

The drawer chests are in Sunny Pine (model 3242 LOGIK) and the bed is in Sumptuous Cherry (model 3156 VITO)

We paired the two finishes in this office space together because they both have soft wood grains, their tones mesh well together, and they are of the same style.

The desk is in Chocolate (model 7219 ELEMENT) and the shelf bookcase (model 4356 SKYLINE) is in Sumptuous Cherry

Contrasting combinations

In this case, use the brightness of one or more light items or spice up the uniformity of a collection by combining darker furniture. You are more likely to pull off a contrasted combination if you keep to the same style.

Colors that are suitable for all

By Annie Lavigne - 2 August 2011 - Show comment

When shopping for furniture for a child’s room, you can always choose a typically feminine or masculine style. But if you want furniture that will suit more than one child in the family, go with something more neutral. Even with neutral collections, options abound to make each child’s room special. Read on to learn more!

Lighter finishes such as white and vanilla are popular for girls’ rooms, while darker finishes—black, charcoal, chocolate and ebony—are preferred for boys’ rooms.

Here are some unisex finishes:

Sumptuous Cherry

Morgan Cherry

Natural Maple

Medium cherry and maple finishes are great for either boys’ or girls’ rooms. Keep in mind, however, that the style of the collection can also influence your decorating choice.

For example, the sleigh bed and decorative moldings of the Louis Philippe-style Vintage Collection, even in an Ebony finish, are perfect for a girl’s room, and the collection’s dark finish lends itself nicely to a boy’s room. Without the gentle curve of the sleigh bed, however, a similar collection in the same finish may not be as well suited to a unisex style.

As strange as it sounds, our brains associate the shapes we see with the lines of the human body.