Tag: affordable furniture

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Design Tips Home Decor

Set a Romantic Valentine’s Mood with Home Lighting

You don’t need a five-star restaurant to set the stage for a romantic evening — creating the perfect mood starts right in the comfort of your own home! We hold fast to the philosophy that flawless Valentine’s Day décor starts with your light switch. Tap into our ideas and cultivate a space where sparks will fly with your loved one.

Think About Your Bulbs
Nothing kills the mood quite like bright, headache-inducing lighting. 100-watt bulbs might illuminate your sweetheart, but no one wants to feel like they’re standing under the spotlight when they’re enjoying a romantic evening. To achieve the perfect mood lighting, never exceed 60 watts when you’re shopping for the right bulb. Fluorescent and CFL bulbs are the most efficient choice, but make sure to select ones that read “warm/soft white.” This gentle lighting will instantly set the stage for your date night.

Create Focus
Planning an intimate dinner for two? Decide what parts of your room are invited to partake. Use a special floor lamp to make one part of your space the focal point of the evening. The Mikaela Floor Lamp offers a snapshot of what’s possible, as it will illuminate your seating area with romantic lighting but leave the television and lounge chairs out of sight. With this technique, you can make your kitchen reminiscent of a cozy restaurant.

Mikaela floor lampLow lighting is romantic, but dark shadows aren’t. Unique table lamps offer an effective way to achieve that intimate ambience without having your date break out his or her glasses halfway through the meal. Consider using a 40-watt bulb with a piece like the Havana Table Lamp. The result: Lighting that will provide just the right amount of illumination without distracting the romantic setting.

Havana floor lampOne of the biggest perks of these lighting suggestions is that they’ll continue to augment your space long after February 14 has passed by for another year. For your romantic Chicago lamp solutions, visit The RoomPlace! Our store locations and online marketplace offer the perfect tools to set the mood at home.

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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.

Categories
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.

Categories
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.

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Shopping & Gifts

Best Furniture Financing Options in Chicago & Indianapolis: Cash, Store Credit Card, or The RoomPlace Credit Card?

While many furniture stores in the Chicago and Indianapolis regions offer furniture financing options, it’s important to be aware that not all options are created equal. The most common forms of furniture payments include: credit card, store credit card, and cash. Read below to see the pros and cons of each.

Pay with cash: This is a good option if you are able to front the cash while making your purchase. Some people prefer to not have monthly payments, but the downside of paying in cash is that you are out a significant chunk of money that you can be using towards your other expenses. This is where using zero interest payment options to spread out your payments to several months is helpful because it does not affect your monthly budgeting as much as a one-time payment.

Pay with your credit card: If you have the credit limit to charge a furniture purchase on your credit card that may be a good option for you. Some people prefer to earn rewards points with their credit cards, but traditionally speaking, interest rates on payments can add up if you cannot pay the cost of your purchase that month.

Pay with a private furniture store credit card: Furniture store credit cards usually offer 0% interest financing for several months to a few years which you cannot usually get from a rewards credit card or debit card. For example, a store might offer a 12 month financing with 0% interest and no down payment on a minimum purchase price of $1,500. Meaning if you pay off your purchase in 12 months, you will not accrue any interest, which can be a great deal. The challenge is making sure you create a payment that you are comfortable with in order to pay often the amount in the long run.

At The RoomPlace, we believe that you shouldn’t have to wait to get your dream room, and that you should receive it from a company that believes in transparency. That’s why we’re proud to introduce the “Yes You Can,” a program designed to make the buying process more manageable for our customers. For $25 a month, you can get that modern living room set or embrace your traditional style with a rich oak bed. With thousands of carefully curated and crafted pieces, we’re proud to be your resource for your home furnishing needs.

When you use our credit card to finance your furniture, you can enjoy interest-free financing for up to 24 months with little to no down payment. We’ve also created a convenient online account to make bill paying simple and straightforward. Check out our frequently asked financing questions on our customer financing resource.

With the right research and financing plans, you won’t have to compromise quality for affordability. If you’ve been wondering how to pay for furniture without breaking your budget, then we have the solution. Go ahead and say it: “Yes You Can!”

Categories
Design Tips Dining Rooms DIY

How to Create the Perfect Buffet Set Up for Big Dinner Parties

Gearing up for a season of holiday parties? Make sure your dining room is ready to accommodate a bevy of merrymakers and enough dishes to keep them full. To help you get in the spirit stress-free, we’ve compiled a few tips that will get you host-ready in no time.

We love a good magazine-ready spread: dishes filled with colorful and delicious food all arranged expertly on a stylish sideboard or server. While the focus should undoubtedly be on your expert culinary abilities, it can’t hurt to make sure your furniture garners a few compliments as well. Sideboards and servers can make a big difference when it comes to showing off your hard work—they give you extra surface area and lots of valuable storage space below. Giving your wine glasses, dishes, and cutlery a centralized home will make it easier to setup for your party and ease the final cleanup.

server Montibello

To get the most out of your server, get your dining room setup arranged in host mode. Place your server away from your table and dining chairs to manage the flow of guests. That way, you’ll avoid traffic jams between the people getting their food and those sitting down to dig in.

If you’re a frequent dinner host, then you know all about the extra seating room table leafs can provide. They allow your table to easily expand to accommodate the extra guests at the drop of a hat. An expandable table will also impress your visitors with your thoughtful foresight and your keen eye for design and style. Say goodbye to banishing your guests into another room when you run out of seats!

There’s also an art to what goes on the table. Conserve space and eliminate clutter by placing all of your dishes on the buffet, and encourage guests to serve themselves in a left-to-right direction. Think of your food setup as a journey. Dishes and cutlery should go first, followed by the salad or starter. Next should go the main. End the table with condiments. Place all beverages on side tables away from the buffet so that people aren’t centralized in one place while they’re serving themselves.

With the help of the RoomPlace furniture, a little bit of planning, and a proper setup technique, you can easily cultivate the perfect setting for your next dinner party.

Next up? After-dinner cocktails! Our Indianapolis living room sets will create the ultimate post-dinner atmosphere!