Category: Design Tips

Design Tips

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Design Tips Home Decor Living Rooms

How to Spruce up your room at The RoomPlace

 

A new area rug is the perfect way to spruce up a room.  They are not just for living rooms either.  A great area rug is an excellent way to warm up your bedroom or dining room.
They are often the focus of a room so a small change in a rug can completely alter the appearance and feeling of the room


 The addition of color and texture can pull together your furniture and it can help a collection of pieces fit into a group instead of separate objects.


To change the mood of your room and having some fun, try the following. If your space is currently formal and neutral, considering adding a rug with pops of color or a fun pattern to relax the atmosphere in the room. If you have a very casual space that you’d like to dress up, consider adding an area rug that is monochromatic or has a traditional pattern. This will formalize your space and bring up the sophistication level.

An excellent option is the Terra Rug

Versatile enough fit with any decor, our Terra area rug (5×8) boasts cool dimension and warm tones. The color palette is reminiscent of a desert landscape, and the distinct texture lends a handmade appearance that is worldy-wise and stylish. Machine-woven Olefin construction offers easy care and long-lasting durability.

 

Whatever rug you need to spruce up your living space, we have it – and we have it at a great price. Start browsing for area rugs online and have some fun!
Categories
Bedrooms Design Tips DIY Home Decor Living Rooms

How to Spread a Little Love around Your Home

With tempting chocolate displays, flowers galore, and oversized stuffed animals dominating every store you’ve entered in the past few weeks, it probably hasn’t escaped your attention that Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. Here at The RoomPlace furniture stores, we understand that the imminent holiday probably brings a mixture of delighted excitement and “oh brother” groans amongst those looking for furniture in Indianapolis and the greater Chicago area. So we’ll try to keep this post as cliché-free as possible!

Instead of marking February 14th by decorating your house with those staple cutout cupids and paper chains of red and pink hearts, try creating this year’s romantic Valentine’s Day ambiance with one of these slightly more subtle tricks.

  • Exchange those pink and red hearts for some gentler pink and red tones. Love is in the air when you infuse your living room with the alluring hues of lavender, amethyst, lilac, and plum. Try highlighting these colors in a soft flower arrangement, new lampshade or provocative candelabra, or invest in a jewel-toned-framed Venetian mirror for the foyer.
  • Bring out the fine china. Nothing says romance like breaking out the china dishware for an intimate meal by candlelight. If your grandmother’s china has been gathering dust in a box in your closet, romanticizing the home might be the best excuse to invest in a brand-new china cabinet that will give them all the attention they deserve.
  • Make it sparkle. It’s easy to create a romantic glow without going overboard. Try hanging some crystal sconces between your dining room windows so they catch the natural light, or select a glass lamp like this Jolisa table lamp from the Chloe Collection to make your living room really shine.
  • Don’t forget the details. What could be more romantic than luxurious linens and a beautiful ornate headboard, like the one on this king bed from the Santa Cruz Collection? The best kind of sensuality is comfort, so plump up some pillows and add some velvet or silk materials for some truly relaxed bedroom charm.

Between our 21 locations throughout Indianapolis and Chicago, furniture shoppers and interior design connoisseurs should be able to find all the inspiration they need when they shop at The RoomPlace. With a wide selection of living room and dining room sets, kids’ bedroom collections, and various home accents, our IL and IN furniture stores have plenty to offer! For all your affordable furniture and home decorating needs, count on The RoomPlace furniture stores to deliver.

Categories
Color Design Tips Living Rooms

The New Neutral

Grey is one of the hottest trends in fashion right now.  You will see this neutral hue everywhere this spring and that has carried over to furniture as well.  Grey creates a cool, contemporary look and is the perfect neutral.  It has become increasingly popular in homes including bedroom wall paint, kitchens for backsplashes, countertops, flooring, and dining cabinetry.  Because it is neutral, it never goes out of style.  It gives you dimension and depth and you can accent it with any color. The Room Place has an excellent selection of living room furniture in this hot hue.

 

 Like the Chloe sectional.  Wrap yourself up in the cozy comfort and contemporary good looks of our Chloe sectional! The classic L-shaped sectional design and deep seating encourages relaxation to your heart's content, and the plush, velvety microfiber keeps every moment soft and soothing. The swirled accent fabric adds whimsy and a sense of visual movement. 

 

 

 Our Devon Grey collection boasts a dual arrangement of fabrics for powerful appeal! Visually, the grey and black colors make a quintessentially sleek statement; texturally, the cozy, velvet-like microfiber contrasts the smooth touch of the faux leather. Comfort-wise, you'll luxuriate in the full-bodied cushions, pillowtop arms and recline options. The reclining seats offer a full chaise design — no gaps between the seat and the footrest — for total body support.

 

 

 Our Demi II collection will give your living room the update it deserves.  As stylish as it is comfortable, this set is made luxurious with its thick microfiber fabric, which gives the appearance of suede while being velvety soft. The flared frames offer a dynamic visual element, while the hardwood/plywood construction keeps you well supported. The fun toss pillows boast big circles in various patterns, all with a touch of chenille.

Make sure to visit one of our showrooms to see the rest of our living room collections in this season's hottest color….grey!

 

Categories
Bedrooms Cleaning & Organizing Design Tips DIY Entertaining Home Decor Room Makeovers

Make your holiday guests feel right at home in your home

As most of our Chicago and Indianapolis furniture customers probably know, Christmastime creates the busiest travel days of the year (besides the dreaded Thanksgiving Eve). And between holiday parties with extended family, New Year’s celebrations with old friends, and every other shindig you’d expect an invitation to this December, the team at The RoomPlace is gearing up for houses full of festivities, merriment, and of course, plenty of guests.

If you’ve ever shopped at one of our many furniture stores in the Tinley Park, Schaumburg and Merrillville areas, you probably already know that The RoomPlace is dedicated to providing the best furniture and home accents at affordable prices – all with the goal of helping our customers develop their own personal decorating styles. So this holiday season, why not share your flare for interior design with your house guests in the most inviting way possible? Here, The RoomPlace is happy to offer advice on how to create the most welcoming guest rooms to ensure your friends, family and in-laws give only rave reviews about your holiday hospitality.

 

Step 1: de-clutter your environment

We get it – the holiday season is busy. With all the last-minute shopping, school plays or concerts, and cookie baking you’ve been taking care of lately, it’s easy to let your guest bedroom devolve into a storage room or glorified dumping ground. But you don’t want your guests feeling like they’ve been thrown in with all the other junk that’s at the bottom of your priority list.

So take a few minutes to organize. Don’t panic, we didn’t say “clean”; just move some of those boxes to the basement and make good use of your closet space (but not the one in the guest room!). Your guests will appreciate the effort when they’re not competing with the extra Christmas decorations for a little wiggle room.

 

Step 2: spoil your weary travelers

It probably goes without saying that you tend to keep your favorite pieces of furniture in the rooms meant for you and your family, while hiding some of those older, well-loved items in the lower-traffic guest room. There’s nothing wrong with making the most of hand-me-downs, but if you’re not willing to part with that brand-new dresser just yet, at least splurge on a high-quality new comforter, classy full-length bedroom mirror, or some plush towels for your guests’ enjoyment. They might not notice the age of the bed frame, but nobody objects to a little pampering when they’re on vacation.

And don’t forget to provide extra amenities, like hangers, aspirin or toothbrushes. We all know how frustrating it is to forget that one essential thing when packing for a trip away.

 

Step 3: personalize the treatment

The most important rule of thumb when readying your guest room is to remember that decorating any room should really be all about the designer: in this case, you! Don’t be afraid to add a few personal touches of your own, especially anything that enhances the style you’ve chosen to use in your other home decorating endeavors.

If the rest of your house uses the homespun touches of a comfortable country style, try adding floral curtains to the guest room windows or placing a cozy patchwork quilt on the bed. If you lean more towards a tried-and-true traditional style, you might provide a few velvet throw pillows or consider investing in a comfy, trendy velvet armchair for the corner near the reading lamp. Whatever your interior design style, we hope you get the idea – don’t lose it in the guest room just because it sees less action than the living room or kitchen.

 

During the holidays, just being near your friends and family is what really matters. But putting a dash of extra effort into your guest room this year will show your guests how much you value their time. And besides, it never hurts to eat, drink, and be merry in style!

The team at The RoomPlace wishes all our furniture shoppers from Chicago, Indianapolis, Tinley Park and beyond a very satisfying and safe holiday season.

 

Categories
Design Tips DIY Entertaining Home Decor Room Makeovers

Own the season with holiday decorating tips from The RoomPlace: Part 2

Whether you’re online shopping for bedroom furniture in Indianapolis, clearance mattresses in Tinley Park, or a new bedroom set in Chicago, it’s never too late to shift gears and start decking the halls YOUR way.

If you happened to catch The RoomPlace blog last week, you probably remember that we’ve been offering advice on how to decorate for the holidays according to your own unique interior design style. Those who stick with a casual contemporary or comfortable country décor can find seasonal decorating tips in our previous blog post, but now the day has come for those of you who’ve been awaiting holiday decorating ideas for traditional or modern tastes.

 

Tried-and-True Traditional

If you’re into traditional décor, you probably have a few highly ornamental wood furniture pieces in your living room collection or dining room set, and a handful of lavish bedroom items featuring rich woods like mahogany, oak and cherry. In a word, tried-and-true traditional style is “grand.” As one of the most luxurious fabrics out there, velvet is the perfect choice for anyone looking to craft a more regal holiday ambiance.

  • First rule of thumb: less is more. When you overdo velvet, it’s easy to come off tacky. To rein in your royal-minded traditional style, it might help to remember that velvet isn’t the most durable fabric, so it’s best left for lower-traffic pieces of furniture. Skip the velvet sofa and opt for velvet cocktail chairs instead.
  • Velvet fabric is gorgeous in rich colors, so for the holidays, focus on darker hues like forest green, blood red, or deep maroon. Choosing these shades for throw pillows or the upholstery fabric on your dining room chairs makes a majestic seasonal statement. 
  • Since velvet is a heavy fabric, it keeps bedtime warm and cozy if you need a break from flannel sheets and down comforters. When it’s cold and snowy outside your windows, it’ll be hard to resist curling up in a velvet-swathed bed with a good book and a cup of hot cocoa.

 

Chic Modern

Here at The RoomPlace, we recognize that some of our Chicago and Tinley Park affordable furniture customers like to stay one step ahead of the latest trends in fashion and design. These homeowners stick with chic modern décor that emphasizes overstated simplicity, geometrical shapes, and shocking or unexpected colors – themes which are surprisingly easy to incorporate into seasonal decorating.

  • Cones: Try replacing the evergreen with a few cone-shaped metallic trees of varying sizes, preferably in silver, white and blue tones. If you absolutely can’t imagine Christmas without a little green, experiment with a metallic lime hue instead of the traditional forest shade.
  • Spheres: Shake up an old favorite by trading in your green wreath and its big red bow with one made out of metallic silver and white ornaments. Then add shocking contrast with a bold cerulean ribbon, and use it to hang the wreath from the top of your hallway or bedroom mirror.
  • Cubes: This time of year, everyone loves the look of a wrapped present. Take advantage of the familiar cube shape by filling a clear plastic box with ball ornaments – preferably of bright blue and lime green to keep up your chic modern color scheme. Wrap with a light blue bow and place on a silver platter for a surprising coffee table centerpiece.

 

When it comes to the holiday season, many of us tend to revere tradition above all else. But there's nothing wrong with changing it up just a little, especially when it helps you stand out from the crowd and express yourself at the same time.

Have you been following The RoomPlace’s style-based holiday decorating tips, but you’re not sure what you'd call your own personal decorating style? You can learn more by visiting us online, or the team at your local RoomPlace furniture store will be more than happy to help.

 

 

Categories
Design Tips DIY Entertaining Home Decor Room Makeovers

Own the season with holiday decorating tips from The RoomPlace: Part 1

The end of November usually comes hand-in-hand with the realization that you not only have just 24 days to finish all your shopping, but also had better get moving if you haven't already started decorating for the holidays. So while you're busy untangling the Christmas lights in the attic, The RoomPlace team would like to remind you that decking the halls can involve more than just the obligatory outdoor light display and that same ol', same ol' green and red.

When it comes to seasonal decorating, it's easy to just follow the crowd or stick with what's familiar and call it a day. But here at The RoomPlace, we like to encourage anyone who visits our furniture stores near Tinley Park, Merrillville and beyond to express their own style through their home décor.

Whether your decorating style leans toward casual contemporary, comfortable country, tried-and-true traditional, or chic modern, don't be afraid to incorporate a little “you” into this year's holiday ambiance.

 

Casual Contemporary Holiday Style

If you’re attracted to refined understatement, soft lines, and clean architecture when you’re shopping for furniture in northern IL or IN, you probably prefer a casual contemporary decorating style. Taking subtle cues from vintage or retro trends and updating them for today’s home, casual contemporary tastes make decorating for the holidays both easy and affordable.

  • Start by recycling some of those old clothes that have been gathering dust in your closet. With just a little sewing TLC, that old pleated skirt you haven’t worn in years can be transformed into a unique, retro tree skirt.
  • Add a contemporary twist to an obvious holiday go-to by trading in evergreen wreaths and their big red bows for something more understated. Try putting together some dry twigs and herbs, acorns with a soft glaze of glitter, or a simple mother-of-pearl button arrangement.
  • For a more personal touch, glue a selection of black-and-white family photos onto a wire wreath mold. These contemporary DIYs make for a casual yet classic update on a beloved old favorite.
  • Continue in that vein by positioning some of your favorite tree ornaments in a vintage tray or serving bowl. The placement away from the tree will be a refreshing surprise for guests interested in getting a closer look at some of your prettiest holiday-themed home accents.

Comfortable Country Holiday Style

Does your current home décor feature rustic finishes, pastel color schemes, and the beauty of natural hardwood furniture? Then you might be inclined to follow a comfortable country decorating style. Since comfortable country typically involves deep-seated living room furniture, quilted detailing, and unique upholstery fabrics featuring denim, plaid, or floral patterns, your holiday décor should have an equally “homespun” feel.

  • With evergreen trees and wreaths dominating the holiday home decorating scene, it’s tough to avoid a little natural energy in your seasonal home right from the get-go. Take advantage by adding a rustic floral scheme to your tree this year when you craft homemade ornaments out of real or faux pointsettas.
  • Instead of collecting your holiday cards in a cute storage tin or displaying them above your fireplace like every other year, try clothes-pinning your Christmas cards to a clothesline and stringing it in your living room or across the windows in your kitchen. This makeshift mantel adds a homey holiday touch to any room.
  • Hang a small chalkboard in your kitchen, decorated with green and red plaid ribbon, and use it as a countdown until the big day or to write Christmas messages to the kids.
  • Finally, try replacing the tree skirt that’s been in the family for ages with a wicker mini or wraparound that does the same concealing job – but adds just a little more comfortable country kick.

 

Are you more attracted to grandiose, luxurious home décor? Maybe you’ve surpassed the latest decorating trends, and are all about blazing your own trail in the world of interior design? Don’t worry. The RoomPlace has plenty of holiday decorating advice for all our Chicago and Indianapolis furniture shoppers, no matter what your preferred style.

Tune in again next week, when The RoomPlace covers the ins and outs of seasonal decorating for two very different decorating styles: tried-and-true traditional and chic modern.

Categories
Cleaning & Organizing Design Tips DIY Home Decor

The RoomPlace offers advice on preparing your house for icy temperatures

The week after Thanksgiving is always a tough one. Adapting back to early mornings at work and all the responsibilities of real life can be a struggle, especially on the heels of a long weekend filled with family, feasting, and festivities. And this year, the misleading 60-degree Thanksgiving enjoyed by The RoomPlace customers throughout Chicagoland and northwestern Indiana has made that adjustment even more difficult.

If you’re anything like the teams at The RoomPlace Furniture Stores, November’s unseasonably warm weather may have fooled you into procrastinating on winterizing your home for the frigid months ahead. But with temperatures as low as 15 degrees near our furniture stores in Schaumburg, Downers Grove, and nearby cities earlier this week, it might be time to start thinking about beginning that all-important yet dreaded task.

The good news is that preparing your home for winter doesn’t have to be quite the chore it’s cracked up to be. Here at The RoomPlace, we’re firm believers in mixing business with pleasure, and we’d like to take this opportunity to invite our Chicago and Indianapolis furniture customers to do the same. For all our interior design fanatics out there, let’s discuss the silver lining of any home improvement project: the chance to protect your house (and your family) from the elements, while simultaneously keeping up with the latest decorating trends and seasonal styles.

 

Work before play

Illinois and Indiana have nothing on the Great White North, but everyone from Merrillville to Chicago knows that winter in the Midwest can bring blizzards and accompanying heavy winds or snowfalls; hailstorms that wreak havoc in the form of ice dams and property damage; and sleet or freezing rain that cause slippery sidewalks and driveways. So, it’s important to keep a few main tasks in mind as you set about cold-proofing your home.

Unfortunately, some things need doing that just can’t be sugarcoated. If you’re a homeowner around Indianapolis or in the Chicago suburbs, you’re probably already familiar with draining your rain barrels, cleaning out your gutters, and trimming the trees around your home as the fall season draws to a close. But don’t forget about those smaller tasks that are easier to overlook.

Before the real cold hits, remember to make sure that:

  1. your snow-blower is in good condition and stocked with plenty of fuel, and you don’t need to replace any of your snow shovels.
  2. your furnace is running efficiently, and the filter is clean.
  3. your chimney is free of small animal nests or deposit buildup, both of which can result in polluted air inside the home or dangerous chimney fires.

Getting all your ducks in a row will save you not only time and work after a particularly nasty storm or freeze, but also energy and money on your utility bills, which often skyrocket during those cold winter months.

 

Insulate while you decorate

Insulating your house probably isn't how you want to spend your Friday night, but it only takes a few minutes to lay the groundwork. Next time it’s chilly, take a few minutes to walk around checking for leaks and drafts by feeling around your doors, windows, lights, and switch plates for cold air. This sign that your home's warmth is somehow escaping outside can certainly be irritating, but it’s also where the fun can begin.

  1. Protect your windows: Here at The RoomPlace, one of our favorite ways to insulate while decorating is by using full blockout curtains with fabric-covered pelmets or cornice boards. The great thing about pelmets is that you can kill two birds with one stone by decoratively concealing the curtain rod, while also insulating your windows. The combination of the pelmet with the blockout lining is a great way to mix up your home décor, while sealing airflow from the cold outdoors and trapping heat inside your home at the same time.
  2. Dress your room in layers: Drape a cozy knit throw over the back of your leather sofa, and heap extra blankets and oversized, fluffy pillows around your living room furniture to create an inviting ambiance where family and guests can all keep warm. Strategic layering of warm blankets, furry rugs, and heavy draperies throughout the draftier corners of your home is one of the quickest, most painless ways to create a new color scheme or tone and fend off the cold while you’re at it.
  3. Heat it up in the bedroom: Make sure the cold weather doesn’t interrupt your sleep by adding a few simple items to your Chicagoland king bed or your kids’ twin mattresses. Replacing your current bed linens with flannel sheets and a down comforter will help capture optimal heat in your bedroom, while wool mattress pads or underblankets and two-in-one quilts are useful for creating cozy warmth that can easily be stripped away as the weather gets warmer.

Of course, if the weather’s feeling unpredictably fickle tomorrow, it could always decide to jump up 20 degrees overnight. But don’t be tempted to put away your winter coat and blankets. It’s better to play it safe than be caught unprepared for below-zero nights, heavy snowfalls, and chilling winter freezes.

Take The RoomPlace’s advice and don’t fall for those hope-inspiring weather forecasts of sunshine and climbing temperatures – winterizing now could save you a headache later!

Categories
Color Design Tips DIY Entertaining Home Decor Room Makeovers

Use Thanksgiving-inspired home décor to get into the spirit of the season

With radio stations already starting to play round-the-clock Christmas tunes, the imminence of the holiday season probably hasn't escaped your attention. As most of The RoomPlace's Chicago and Indianapolis furniture customers know, Thanksgiving is already on the ten-day forecast and Christmas is just around the corner after that. But during the hustle and bustle of preparing for ever-dropping temperatures, noisy house guests and much-anticipated (dreaded) holiday shopping, it's easy to neglect the ways you could be getting into the spirit of the season just by doing a little sprucing up around the house.

Thanksgiving marks the end of the fall season and launches us headfirst into winter, so for 2012, make sure you give the end of the autumnal era all the respect it deserves! The teams at The RoomPlace furniture stores in IL and IN encourage our readers to celebrate this year's Thanksgiving the right way, by sending the fall season out with a bang.

 

Bring the outdoors in with rustic home accents

What better way to procrastinate on your Christmas shopping than by clinging to every scrap that’s still left of fall? For the final weeks of November, consider adding a little autumnal rustic flare to your dining room or living room. Furniture replacement won’t be necessary; we're not talking about transforming your house into a log cabin. Keep it simple.

Pick up some silken leaves at your local crafts store and drape them around your bookshelves, or display them inside your picture frames for a more sophisticated look. If you're truly dedicated to the "natural" vibe, try threading freshly fallen leaves into a makeshift garland and hanging them above your living room fireplace. While you're at it, invest in some cheap faux feathers or artificial birds for a nature-inspired mantel setting, and throw in a few wood-framed mirrors or a vase filled with red leaves and acorns for good measure.

Finally, Halloween might be over, but white or "ghost" pumpkins are still in style – and they're the perfect way to blend those last remnants of fall with the snowy white winter ahead. Pick up a few of these tasteful home accents and create a simplistic display on your dining room’s buffet table or sideboard by adding a few ceramic pedestals, potpourri, or a vintage clock. 

 

Spice it up with seasonal colors

You don't need to re-paint your entire house to add a seasonal color scheme to a few of your rooms. Incorporate the warm hues of autumn into your home décor with just a few extra touches of trendy fall colors like bold bronze, chocolate brown, copper, and wine. Try switching out your everyday draperies or rugs for some new ones featuring these kinds of colors. Feeling adventurous? Add a little fall flavor to your Thanksgiving table by picking out a few dining room chairs – or new upholstery fabrics for the ones you already have – that highlight autumnal hues in exotic patterns and prints.

For those more familiar and vibrant fall colors like orange, gold, and red, focus on the details: Select some of your favorite items from around the house that already utilize these colors, like a brightly colored cultural piece or shiny brass candle holders, and dress your room around them. You'll be surprised at how in-season your home feels with just a few splashes of bold Thanksgiving hues.

 

Reduce, re-use, recycle

It's nice to have the home looking gorgeous when relatives come calling, but when it's time to sit down to Thanksgiving dinner, let’s face it: Nobody will be concerned about the color scheme of the dining room. Keep your creative autumnal vibe in the spotlight during this year's feast by re-using some of the elements from our other tips, to create a simple recycled Thanksgiving centerpiece before you carve the turkey.

Take a leaf out of the rustic decor book and fill the center of your dining room set with fresh herbs and colorful fall foliage. Or, decorate your ghost pumpkins with your silken leaves for a more literal representation of the season. Our favorite minimalist Thanksgiving idea here at The RoomPlace? Stroll around the block and gather some bare branches for a sculptural, elegant centerpiece that costs you nothing and allows you to keep the rest of your fall decor intact. Incorporate your favorite autumnal color scheme by sticking the branches in a bronze or brass container, or create eye-popping contrast by placing them in a bowl of red apples or berries.

 

This Thanksgiving, don't forget to give the fall season a little credit as you wave goodbye to it and head into December! Whatever you end up doing to prepare your house for Thanksgiving and however you choose to celebrate, the team here at The RoomPlace wishes you a safe, healthy and happy holiday.

Now, don't you have some cooking to do?

Categories
Cleaning & Organizing Color Design Tips DIY Home Decor Room Makeovers

Brighten your home for shorter winter days with these tips from The RoomPlace

The end of Daylight Savings Time has officially brought the fall season to a close, and that means we’ll be greeting the sun a little earlier as we enter the long winter months ahead. But for The RoomPlace customers working 9-to-5 jobs, those premature sunrise hours might be the only opportunity to enjoy daylight that's vanished even before punching the clock at the end of the workday.

Unfortunately, the consequences of setting our clocks back can be more serious than just waving goodbye to that nice summer tan. Recent studies suggest that loss of daylight this time of year tends to result in more car crashes and pedestrian fatalities, while the darker evenings of winter increase our susceptibility to unhappiness at work, weight gain, and even Seasonal Affective Disorder.

But The RoomPlace has a few quick tips for how our Indianapolis and Chicago furniture customers can keep life feeling bright and cheerful, despite early sunsets and dropping temperatures. Just because it's darker outside doesn't mean it has to be gloomy where it really counts: inside your home.

 

Help sunlight help you

The first step in brightening your home for the winter is remembering one simple rule: Dark, matte surfaces absorb and hide light, while light, glossy surfaces reflect and maximize it. Take a quick look around and take note of which description best applies to your favorite rooms. Some of your home accents – like shadowy drapery, heavy shades, dark-value wall paint, or murky-colored upholstery fabrics – might be sucking up your rooms’ available light.

There’s only so much natural light to go around during the shortened days of winter, so try to make the most of it by storing some of your heavier or darker items away for the season and replacing them with lighter fabrics or reflective materials. For example, you might try exchanging your framed photographs for framed mirrors, or consider going without window dressings for a few months.

 

Let there be light

There’s no better time than the end of Daylight Savings to replace old or dated light fixtures. Replacing your lamps and sources of artificial light is one of the least expensive, least time-consuming ways to perk up an older house or a dim room that isn’t getting enough natural sunlight. Worried about ending up with mismatched lamps after updating? Choosing lighting package specials rather than individual items will ensure not only a cohesive décor, but also a lower total price tag.

Once you’ve found the perfect new floor or table lamps from The RoomPlace, you might also consider upping the wattage of your lightbulbs to further brighten the interior of your Illinois or Indiana home. If you’re trying to save energy, at least go for clear bulbs instead of opaque; they tend to shed brighter light at the same wattage level.

 

Create warmth underfoot

Finally, it’s no secret that temperatures are dropping as days are shortening. Looking for a quick, cheap way to stay warm while continuing your home-brightening project? Create warmth underfoot by investing in some new rugs – available at The RoomPlace furniture store nearest you in all styles, sizes, and price ranges. A new rug can bring a splash of bright colors and patterns to any room, while also protecting your feet from cold tile and the draftiness we’ve come to expect from those harsh Chicago winters.

 

Of course, there's no better way to brighten your home than jumping headfirst into the upcoming holiday season. Check back on The RoomPlace furniture blog frequently so you don't miss any interior design news about bringing holiday cheer to the home in Schaumburg, Tinley Park, Merrillville and beyond!

Categories
Bedrooms Design Tips Dining Rooms DIY Entertaining Home Decor Living Rooms Mattresses Room Makeovers

Being Eco-Friendly at The Roomplace

Make your choice Green!

What do you consider when you are choosing a place to buy furniture from?  I’m sure you probably think about the quality, cost, delivery options, financing, warranties, selection and reputation of the brand and/or furniture retailer. Is it fair to say that those are the most important factors?  Maybe not, have you ever considered not purchasing furniture from a retailer because they aren’t green, as in eco-friendly? 

With the changes in the earth’s atmosphere the concept of “going green” has gone from being a craze to being a lifestyle change for many people.  Blue recycling bins can be found virtually everywhere, along with people who are willing to play their part to save our environment. However, saving our environment only begins with the small things that can fit into a can.  What about larger items, such as a mattress, living room furniture or bedroom furniture?  Do you think recycling furniture is eco-friendly? Here’s an interesting fact:

While mattresses are one of the most difficult items to recycle, “95% of the material in mattresses is recyclable.  Metal springs can be recycled and the steel reused.  Polyurethane foam can be shredded and used for carpet pads and insulation. Wood in foundations can be processed by wood chippers used for fuel or mulch. (Source:  Enviro-Recycle)” Powered with that knowledge, let me ask what do you think about recycling your old mattress?  Or better yet, “will your furniture retailer recycle your old mattress?”  Silence is golden and it’s ok not to know, but my answer is The Room Place will.

While many companies prefer just throwing away that old mattress, The Room Place and their 300,000 square foot Distribution Center is playing their role in protecting our planet by being eco-friendly and recycling it.  In fact they are not only recycling mattresses, The Room Place also recycles the packing materials such as the cardboard, Styrofoam, and the plastic that is used to protect your Bedroom or Living room furniture prior to delivery. Now, this is no small feat as the Distribution Center is responsible for supporting 21 stores within the Chicagoland and Indiana area.  That means literally tons of recyclable material enter and exit those doors daily.  For a better understanding of how much is recycled on a monthly basis, let’s review the numbers:

The Room Place recycles 41.835 tons of cardboard per month on average.

Fun Fact:  Recycling 1 ton of cardboard saves 9 cubic yards of landfill space and 46 gallons of oil. (Source: Earth911)

Monthly The Room Place recycles 675 pounds of Styrofoam per month on average.

Fun Fact:  A male Siberian Tiger (Amur Tiger) typically weighs between 450 – 675 lbs. (Source: Pittsburgh Zoo)

1,116 pounds of plastic is recycled through The Room Place’s Plastic Bailer Per Month.

Fun Fact:  1,116 pounds is equivalent to lifting 11 couches or 13 love seats from the Bravado Collection.  By the way, the Bravado Living Room Collection is made of eco-leather and from an eco-friendly manufacturer.

So while other furniture retailers are filling our landfills with countless numbers of mattresses and recyclable material. Consider the Eco-Friendly alternative and go Green with The Room Place!