Author: The Roomplace

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Design Tips DIY Room Makeovers

What Does your Home Office Say About You?

Anyone who’s ever been fortunate enough to have a home office all to themselves (or even to share) knows that the right furniture can make or break your concentration and productivity. For instance, if you don’t have enough drawer space for storage—where do all of your papers end up? If the answer is “anywhere and everywhere,” then it might be time for a complete office overhaul. Read on to learn what other aspects of your office furniture says about your work habits, efficiency and personal style.

home office

Sleek lines and crisp details means you’re a no-nonsense worker.

A contemporary home office like the Garrett inspires productivity with its multiple flat surfaces and minimal bells and whistles. While some Chicago folks enjoy working with various knickknacks or photos decorating their space, someone who occupies their home office only for work will enjoy the limited distractions contemporary office provides. The natural material also inspires an earthy feel and connects the room to the outdoors in an effortless, strategic way.

office

A traditional-inspired office means you have a flair for multi-tasking.

With more traditional pieces like the Marshall, your home office style is more decadent and decorated than purely functional. You enjoy the ornate and sophisticated aesthetic of old-world decor, but you aren’t beholden to any old-world ideals that your office need only be for work. With the varying shelving levels, you can surround yourself with all manner of decorative embellishments—photos, awards, or plants just to name a few.

A modern office means you enjoy harmony in your workspace.

white office

Modern office furniture like the Claire is making a comeback in a big way—and for good reason! Its marriage of multiple textures and straight lines is perfect for those of us who enjoy bringing balance to all of our rooms. As a stylish and functional piece, hip and modern office chairs like the Clair Swivel Desk Chair add a hint of unexpected personality in a space otherwise devoted to work in your Chicago home.

If you’re ready to see what other magic you can work in your home to make your personality stand out, check out some of our other furniture blogs about goin’ traditional and decorating your new Chicago home. Put all of our tips together and come see our design loving staff for stylish furniture sets that can deck out your entire home!

Categories
Design Tips

Get the Look: Frank Lloyd Wright with a Twist

Frank Lloyd Wright wasn’t just a pioneer of architecture and design—did you know he was also a native Illinoisan? You can still visit his Oak Park home today right outside Chicago and take in the Prairie style for inspiration. Before you head out, though, we’ve compiled some tips you can use to achieve the modernist look in your own home but with a RoomPlace twist. Keep reading after the jump to learn how!

 

  • Clean Lines are Key
    Before the modernist movement really came into play, most furniture was still fairly traditional with swooping lines and embellishments. When Wright started designing furniture with his team, he wanted it to really fit with the clean architecture of the homes. The result was defined, simple lines with clean edges.

sofa room design

Lucky for us, the modernist movement is still alive and well—many furniture designers are still drawing inspiration from Wright’s famous contributions to architecture and design. You can replicate this look at your own home with something like the Enzo—this set takes the same idea of low, clean, straight lines and updates it ever so slightly with contemporary arm rests.

Enzo

  • The Marriage of Textures and Hardware

Wright’s famous style was all about the fusion of natural elements with the artificial—his chairs being no exception. The material in Wright’s chair here coordinates with the wood used to craft the bookshelves, coffee tables and other wooden structures in the room.

chair

The cushion color and texture are especially eye-catching because the colors in the room are mostly warm browns and reds. The cooler blueish tone is able to pop in contrast to the warmer tones.

You can mirror this same idea with the Ally accent chair, shown here in blue to match the referenced Wright chair. But if your home deploys cooler tones throughout, you can select a warmer fabric like green or purple.

blue chair beige chair

Harnessing the classic style of an iconic designer is no small feat—let the experts at the RoomPlace in Chicago and Indianapolis show you how to transform your home from drab to fab with a few simple tricks. Come in and chat with us today to get started!

Categories
Design Tips Living Rooms

3 Pieces to Boost your Living Room’s Look for Under $300

Increasingly, our living rooms have become the grand central station of our home—it’s where we (sometimes) eat, watch TV, read books and entertain. It’s the one room where our personal style gets to really pop. If you’ve taken a look around your living room and found it to be more drab than fab, it might be time to invest in some key design elements to elevate your style. At The RoomPlace in Chicago and Indianapolis, you don’t have to go broke while boosting your living room’s look. Learn 3 different ways you can upgrade your living room without going over $300.

zebra chair

By far, accent chairs are one of the easiest ways to pull in your individual style because they are so many options to choose from. Do you want a swivel chair? What about a traditional, ormate chair? Or maybe a wingback is more your speed? Whatever the case may be, accent chairs provide exactly what the name suggests—a decorative accent to your otherwise perfectly polished room.

rug

If you’re currently rocking hardwood floors, an area rug is an absolute must. Especially in our harsh Chicago winter, nothing will save your chilly feet more comfortably than a plush area rug—perfectly matched to your specific style, that is. Just like accent chairs, area rugs come in tons of different color combinations, textures and prints so you can have not just any old rug, but the right piece for your room.

Ottoman

These aren’t your parents’ ottomans. Not only are ottomans completely functional as foot rests or extra seating—this decorative choice can also be used for covert storage! If you find yourself struggling to locate extra room for throw blankets, small pillows or magazines, an ottoman that can hold your extra stuff is an easy answer to a clutter problem.

Still unsure about how to achieve the added oomph your living room needs? Come in and chat with our style savvy team members in Chicago or Indianapolis today—we can’t wait to work with you!

 

Categories
Design Tips Entertaining Room Makeovers

2015 Big Game Ready Living Room Tips | The RoomPlace Chicago & Indianapolis

Whoever said you had to choose between having an organized, comfortable living room and a wide open space to host your next Super Bowl party definitely hasn’t met the creative minds at The RoomPlace or any of our determined Chicago and Indianapolis customers. If you’re gearing up to entertain 10 or more of your closest friends on February 1, we have a few tips to impart on how to get your living room Super Bowl ready.

De-clutter if you are short on time to clean

Let’s face it—not all of us have enough time to give our living spaces the deep clean we’d like. If you’re short on time before guests arrive, a simple de-clutter can do wonders to open up your room and get it comfortable enough for eager sports fans.

Reposition your sectional couch

Thankfully, unless you’ve bolted your furniture to the floor, couches are easy enough to move around. Sit in every seat of your sectional—can you still see the TV? Is there a lamp in the way? If you’re having trouble seeing the screen from any spot on your sectional, reposition it until you’re able to get the full viewing experience.

Divide and conquer

If your living space just doesn’t allow for the number of guests you’d like to invite, consider opening up another room of your home for viewership. Splitting up your guests between rooms will make for a unique experience for everyone—especially if you have a few Seattle fans sprinkled in with your New England fans.

Win Free Furniture or Free TV from The RoomPlace

When’s the last time you bought something that will last you for years? The Super Bowl is an excellent reason to invest in your next sofa, recliner or bring it all together with a new living room set.

Stop in and see us between 1/20 and 2/2 for your chance to win a free HDTV or free furniture. The more you spend, the bigger your free TV will be! Spending $2,000 on a single furniture item will award you a 42” HDTV whereas spending $5,000 or more on a single item will earn you a free 55” HDTV.

If a free TV isn’t your thing, that’s ok—we’ve got an alternative offer. As with the TV, the more you spend, the more you’ll save. Spending $5,000 or more on a single item will earn you $1,000 in free furniture!

Come in and see us today to take advantage of this special offer!

 

Categories
Color Design Tips Home Decor Room Makeovers

Intro to Color Theory: How to Create Color Combinations that Wow

Have you ever flipped through a magazine and were blown away by the detailed and elegant choices the interior designer picked out? We’ve been there too–which is why we’re going to show you how to tap in to your inner decorator and use simple color combinations that will amplify the style in your Chicago or Indianapolis home.

 

Opposites actually do attract!

color wheel

Opposites on the color wheel, that is. The idea here is pretty simple: colors opposite each other on the color wheel will complement each other. So, blue/yellow; purple/light green; red/dark green are all good beginner combos on your journey to become a color combination expert. Let’s take a look at some of these combinations in action to give more of a sense for why they work so well.

sofa

So, here we have the Chazy, a turquoise sectional with matching turquoise and yellow/chartreuse throw pillows. Part of the reason why this combination works so well is that they are both cool tones, meaning both the turquoise and the yellow have more blue in their hue than red. The brightness of the pillows matches the brightness of the couch but more subtly. Pairing light colors together can be tricky since you don’t want to overpower either color.

Pick one neutral and pair it with additional accent colors

room

Is it just us or do you think this room would be garish if all of the furniture was bright yellow? The reason the Macey’s rich espresso color with the reds, yellows and blues works so well is that brown is a distinct neutral color. Meaning, it’s the color that can fade into the background and let the other colors be the star of the show. Red, yellow and blue are primary colors—using just these three hues, you can create every color we can see! When they’re brought in as accent colors, they do a nice job of complementing each other without fighting for center stage.

Tap into gradients and create a spectrum from one color to a lighter color

light

As we can see, a gradient naturally grows from darkest to lightest with only the barest shifts visible to the eye as the color changes. You can use this concept to your advantage in your next Chicago bedroom set—like the Milano. Take into consideration the color of your furniture along with the color of your throw pillows and bedding to create a soft shift from darkest to light. If you were to place navy blankets or navy accents around the room, the look might come across as harsh since there’s a big gap between the soft turquoise and navy.

milano

If you’re in the market for additional style advice, visit us at one of our 22 Chicago or Indianapolis locations and let us show you to put some winning combinations together.

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Cleaning & Organizing

The 2015 New Year’s Cleaning Challenge: Are You Ready Chicago & Indianapolis?

New Year, new priorities! As we bid farewell to 2014, it’s time to focus on New Year’s Resolutions that will help us live a simpler, stress-free 2015. We believe that the best place to start is—you guessed it—home sweet home.

Inspired by Organized Homes’ 2015 New Year Cleaning Challenge, we decided to compile our favorite new year cleaning tips for your space. Let’s dive right in:

Entryway

  1. Give shoes a home with a shoe rack. If they can’t fit on your rack, they don’t belong in your entryway.
  2. Ditto for coats and jackets. Install a few hooks to house them and store the rest in your closet.
  3. Avoid placing chairs or tables in the space. They tend to accumulate clutter.

Living Room

  1. Become best friends with your vacuum and dust your space weekly.
  2. If possible, wash shams and furniture covers at least once a season. Wipe any non-removable upholstery with a gentle cleaning cloth.
  3. Clean your windows! Spotless panes make all the difference in the world.

Kitchen

  1. Clean your counter tops before bed each evening.
  2. Regularly wipe down all of your kitchen appliances.
  3. Don’t forget about your fridge! Regularly scan the space for expired condiments or forgotten leftovers. Periodically remove all the contents to wipe down the shelving.

Bathroom

  1. Scrub the sink, toilet, and shower with disinfectant cleansers.
  2. Make your reflection shine and thoroughly clean your mirror.
  3. Mop or sweep the floor and cleaning tools to rid them of dust bunnies, hair, and any other debris.

Bedroom

  1. Don’t let under the bed become a clutter zone. If possible, keep it entirely clear.
  2. Clean out your closet to free up space.
  3. Wash your sheets weekly in warm water.

If you need a hand getting your goals into gear, use Organized Homes’ house cleaning checklist to get started. As our favorite house cleaning blog, this site is chock-full of tips and tricks to make 2015 your most organized year yet. After the chaos clears, The RoomPlace is available to offer you furniture and tools to help with your clutter-free goals!

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Cleaning & Organizing Design Tips Living Rooms

4 Tips for Buying Pet Friendly Furniture from The RoomPlace

Newsflash: Your pets and your home decor can coexist peacefully! With these buying tips, you won’t have to sacrifice any aspect of your home sweet home from beautiful, elegant furniture or snuggle time with your favorite feline or canine companion.

Be a Matchmaker

A black upholstered sofa might make a dramatic impact on your space, but the white fur that clings to it has a way of deadening the effect. Select fabric that either matches the general shade of your pet or features a bold pattern. This will distract from the pesky stray hairs that will inevitably follow when you have a pet in the home.

Focus on Durability

Microfiber is king among pet friendly fabrics for sofas. This synthetic fabric is tightly knit and not easily ripped, torn, or scratched. Leather is another durable option for pet resistant furniture. While it isn’t completely bulletproof – repeated cat scratching will take its toll – a piece like the Odyssey will see your canine companion through its rebellious puppy years and into mellow adulthood.

rendezvous

Create Limits
Furniture can serve as a creative way to create boundaries for your pet. Ottomans, benches, and occasional tables are the perfect way to artfully prevent your pup from straying into a do not enter zone, saving you from an eyesore of a fence or pet crate. When your pup isn’t around, you can simply move the pieces to suit your needs. Make sure that these pieces are upholstered in the dog friendly furniture fabric we mentioned above.

Train for Your Furniture’s Sake

Even the best pets can get a little rambunctious sometimes. In general, pet owners will want to learn how to keep dogs off furniture, as this will minimize the risk of any unexpected accidents. Also regularly trim your cat’s claws to eliminate kneading damage.

Gearing up to augment your home with new furniture? The RoomPlace team can provide guidance on the best option for you and your pet. We’ll help you find the perfect match!

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Shopping & Gifts

Get it All for Less! Browse Our January Clearance Sale in Chicago and Indianapolis

Happy 2015! There’s nothing like a new year to give you a fresh look at your current furniture situation. If it’s time to upgrade your dining room table or sectional sofa, look no further than your friendly neighborhood furniture store—The RoomPlace!

If discount furniture in Indianapolis or finding the perfect clearance mattress sale in Chicago is top of your mind this month, we have good news. Our January clearance sale is happening now—from January 13 through January 19, you can save up to 68% on your next furniture purchase. By slashing the cost of our inventory, we pass on enormous savings to you so you can furnish multiple rooms of your home for a low price.

You can also take advantage of our zero down/zero interest promotion and have up to 2 years to pay for your new furniture. If you’re unsure if financing is right for you, we’ve created a handy guide to highlight the pros and cons of the many ways to finance your new furniture.

If you’re stumbling across our stylish and diverse inventory from outside of Chicago or Indianapolis, you can still get many of the clearance items through our secure online payment portal. There are many reasons to purchase your new furniture online and cash in on major savings for your next dining room table, sectional, and more!

At the RoomPlace, it’s never been less expensive to get it all! Your next Chicago sectional sofa is just a click away. Stop in and chat or hit us up on Google+ for design inspiration, advice, and future sales.

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Bedrooms Design Tips

Contemporary or Transitional? Discover the Differences in Furniture Design

Do you have a style niche? At The RoomPlace, we’re divided: Some of our design team has been gravitating towards a contemporary aesthetic, while others can’t get enough of our transitional pieces. Learn a little bit more about what defines each design, then decide which style suits you best!

Contemporary furniture is bold and minimalistic. It relies on its striking silhouettes and rich materials, rather than accompanying home accents, to set the mood. Most contemporary furniture has a neutral color palette that will seamlessly complement any space. This is the perfect style for you if you like clean lines, open space, and understated elegance. When you walk into a contemporary living room, you can expect to be met with simplicity that is anything but boring.

The Stanton Bedroom Set offers another example of this design. Its muted colors, sharp angles, and a bold final effect epitomize the ‘looking ahead’ energy that makes contemporary furniture so special.

Stanton bedroom

Transitional furniture, on the other hand, is a fusion of modern and traditional design. It isn’t overly extravagant or ornamental, yet contains more curves than you would find in contemporary styles. Wood and leather are the most popular materials for this design. A transitional leather living room set, for example, is sophisticated without overpowering your space.

The Metro Bedroom Set defines transitional flair. It is straightforward and clean-cut, but features a curved headboard that makes the piece pop. The result is a gorgeous furniture investment that will complement both modern and traditional aesthetics.

metro

Using this cheat sheet to guide you, you can begin to plan out your contemporary or transitional space. First select your chosen style, then map out your dream space in our Room Planner. Finally, bring those dreams to life! The RoomPlace is here to provide any guidance you need to create your perfect space – no matter what design speaks to you.

 

Categories
Design Tips Featured Room Makeovers Shopping & Gifts

Why Buy Furniture Online?

Non-traditional methods of buying furniture online are becoming easier every day. The internet helps inform buyers on a wide range of questions when researching big purchases. With furniture stores that have physical stores and an online space to shop, you can’t go wrong with choosing a furniture online. Here are a few benefits of buying furniture online:

  • Material details: Select merchandise has material-specific details listed under the “unique features” tab listing valuable information you might otherwise miss.furniture guide
  • Room dimensions: You don’t need to memorize your room’s dimensions or bring them with to the store. Online furniture stores provide all of the dimensions for every item.
  • Buy online and see in store: If you’re one of those people who has to “feel” the furniture, check out your selection in store after buying the great deal online at one of our Chicago and Indianapolis area locations. Look out for “see in local store” icons on inventory pages. Many furniture stores have accommodating return policies if you’re not 100% smitten with your purchase.
  • Price comparing: Compare prices of the furniture you want with other furniture store’s prices to find the product that fits your budget. Often times, stores offer price matching incentives that you can take advantage of.
  • Sale look-out: Have your eye on a certain piece? Sign up for newsletters and look out for holiday sales. Furniture stores constantly receive new inventory and drop the prices of older furniture to make room for the new ones.
  • Customer service resources: Take your time and browse through our frequently asked questions on customer service pages. You might find answers to questions you hadn’t event thought of.
  • Nocturnal shopping: Browse our selection in your PJs at 2am if you wish—we’re not going anywhere!
  • Easy payment: Secure payment portals will keep your payment information safe.
  • See what you want to: Spend time browsing only the furniture you wish to see by shopping by style, price, or new arrivals.

The online marketplace is more than accommodating for online shoppers, and so is The RoomPlace. Shopping by room, style, or type has never been easier. Now you can delight in quality merchandise from the comfort of home, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And if you have lingering questions, we’re a phone call away: 630.783.8000.