Furnishing on a Budget

We have always struggled with finding the cash to furnish our home. My husband and I don’t use credit cards, for various reasons, and furniture tends to be quite expensive! It can be difficult to come up with the cash up front for such large purchases. Some ways we have managed to furnish in the past include garage sales, estate sales, hand-me-downs from family and friends, newspaper ads, Craigslist… these are all commonly used, and commonly known and understood, ways of obtaining furniture at an affordable price. And you can get by fine using these options most of the time. … Continue reading →

When to Spend More on Your Furniture

Usually, I try to do everything I can to save money around our home. We make do with used or free items, even when it comes to furniture. Our dining room set, for example, was purchased at a yard sale and is serving us very well. Before that, we had a smaller table that was free and covered with a table cloth to cover up its imperfections. That is why you may find it surprising that there are certain times when I actually advocate spending more on your furniture. There are only a few instances, but in the long run, … Continue reading →

When Buying Furniture

One of the things needed when buying furniture, whether new or second hand, is to make sure it fits the space where you want it to go. It sounds obvious doesn’t it? Measure up first before you go looking for a piece of furniture. Otherwise you may find when you get it home or it or delivered it doesn’t fit. I have to admit we did that once with a fridge. We had measured the width but never thought to measure the height. As a result when it arrived it would not fit and missed out by about an inch, … Continue reading →

Buying a New Lounge – Part 3

Decide on the type of lounge or sofa you want. Do you want causal or formal. A cane lounge will always be more informal and suitable more for a sunroom or family room than a traditional lounge suite. Fashion also plays a part in color choice. Back in the 1970s we had a lounge that was orange and brown striped velvet. It sounds awful now, but it was the height of fashion. Needless to say it dated very quickly and now when I look back on that I shudder. We later had it recovered in a more sedate fabric that … Continue reading →

Buying a Lounge- Part 2

There can be a huge difference in prices as well as quality in furniture, so it pays to shop around. It’s worth time to go to several places and compare prices, warranties on the workmanship, delivery times, etc. You might want to consider whether in arm chairs you want recliners or rockers or even one of each. Mick prefers the recliner. I find them uncomfortable and would never use the reclining action. I much prefer a rocker, so a suite that had one of each or that could do both would be best for us. Be aware manufacturers may charge … Continue reading →

Buying a New Lounge Suite or Sofa

Buying a new lounge suite or sofa can be a lot of fun or it can turn into a hassle. When buying a new lounge or sofa, several things need to be considered. One, and for many people a highly important one, is the price. But even before you get to price you need to decide a few things. Do you want leather? Then if you do, to get good leather you will have to pay more. Leather is practical and certainly easy to wipe over and keep clean. I know people who love their leather lounges because they are … Continue reading →

3 Reasons to Rearrange Your Furniture Now

As the weather warms up, your thought are probably far from your furniture. Or maybe not so far. Do you look at your room and think it has gotten a little “lived in” over the winter? Now is the perfect time to remove those doldrums by rearranging the furniture. Here are three reasons why. Change of Season There are a couple of reasons why the change of season is a good time to rearrange furniture. The first is that as the sun starts streaming through, you are likely to notice new things about your room, such as worn spots or … Continue reading →

Cleaning Outdoor Furniture 2

No matter what your outdoor furniture is made out of, it could probably use a bit of cleaning right about now. Personally, we have a mix of different types of furniture, depending on use: oiled wood, painted wood, fabric and even plastic. All of these types require different methods of cleaning. The first steps as outlined in my last post was to do a visual inspection and determine if anything needs repair. Now let’s continue. Take a look and see if there is anything that can be machine washed. Perhaps you have washable slip covers, pillows or even rugs. Shake … Continue reading →

Cleaning Outdoor Furniture

Is your outdoor furniture ready for spring? The weather is getting warmer here, and we have had a few nice days. I have to tell you, though, that it is pretty strange to have a warm spring day where I can wear just a light jacket and yet see snow on the ground. You see, we’ve had a lot of snow: tons and tons of snow. So, while it is melting, it takes a while for those warmer days to whittle down at the many feet of snow and ice that was laying on the ground. Still, I am about … Continue reading →

You Can Paint Your Upholstered Furniture, But…

According to Darlene Michuad from Examiner.com, you can paint your upholstered furniture to make it brand new. Having see and article or two of Trading Spaces where painted upholstery ended in tears, I was wary of the advice. In addition, being an trained artist and understanding the property of paints, I was doubly wary, so I did some research. It’s not that she’s wrong. You can paint upholstered furniture and it will give your furniture a new look, but it will hardly be good as new. Remember, upholstered furniture is for sitting on, and painting it with general house paint … Continue reading →