Friday, December 28, 2007

Turn your home into a retreat that speaks of the beauty and color of the Southwest landscape and culture. Southwestern style is unlike anything else and places an emphasis on an inviting, warm atmosphere while melding influences from Native American and Mexican cultures.
Your foundation color should find inspiration in a neutral adobe or terra cotta tone. Select accent colors that occur naturally in a tawny Southwestern landscape, including green, both vibrant and muted blues, and the warm-toned yellows and oranges of mountain ranges and mesas bathed in sunlight.
Southwestern style rooms require hard floors, like wood or terra cotta tiling that flows with the room's more natural, shaped-by-the-land vibe. Toss on a couple of beautiful, hand-crafted Navajo rugs with simple, geometric patterns like stripes or diamonds for authentic Southwestern flavor.
The type of fixtures you decorate your room with depends on your preference. Lamps with pottery bases in earthen colors are an appropriate choice, but so are sconces with hammered tin shades, floor lamps with wooden frames and Tiffany-style lamps with darker, geometric patterns that recall Navajo rug designs.
Less polished than furniture found in a traditional room, Southwestern pieces should be more solid looking and rustic. Nevertheless beauty can be found in the grain of the wood, and the craftsmanship of its characteristic straight lines, molding, slats and iron decoration. Mission furniture is a handy style to use in a pinch, as the designs are the soul of practicality and function.
This style is actually rather minimalist in approach. Accent your living space with some lovely pottery and indigenous paintings and sculpture to achieve a more authentic look in your Southwestern styled home.
If you’re still looking for inspiration for your Southwestern styled retreat, plan a trip to New Mexico, Arizona, or Texas. These states are rich in Native American and Mexican culture and should give you an excellent idea of how to create an authentic style in your home.
Find a great selection of Southwest inspired furniture and lighting on the GREENCulture websites today.


Decorating Tips for Your Home Office Furniture
For those lucky (or smart) enough to work from home, or the rest of us who are just looking for an area to pay bills, play on the computer, or get some extra work done, a home office serves an important role. It needs to be a place where organization rules and where concentration is king. You work on keeping the kids out and we’ll give you some ideas on how to improve your home office.
First off, as with any other room, you can only do so much with your allotted space. Measure it out accurately and pick out the ideal place for your desk or work station. If you have a laptop, or plan on getting one, look into smaller desks. You obviously don’t need a compartment for a bulky CPU and don’t need quite the desk top space an old monitor requires. Make sure, though, you have space for a printer or scanner if you use these peripherals. If you do have a standard desk top computer with an old, bulky monitor, look into getting a new flat panel. The price of these space-savers has dropped considerably over the past couple of years to the point where it’s almost foolish not to have one.
If you’re short on space, a good corner desk is a great way to maximize the room you have to work with. There are plenty of these corner units that will work with both laptop and desk top set-ups. Plus, if you are stuck with an old, bulky monitor, these corner units are best suited to handle the extra “junk” that goes along with them. Even if you have a little more space to work with, a compact corner unit is still a great option. It might leave you enough room for a nice comfy sofa or futon you can use to “recharge your batteries” after a tough day.
If you have a lot of peripheral equipment, don’t try to cram it all into one desk unit. Many models feature add-on extensions and peninsulas to house your printer(s), scanner, additional hard drive, etc. The trick is to plan ahead and make sure you have the space for all your gear while still leaving you some work space and additional storage. Another great option is a tall narrow book case that can sit adjacent to your desk to house media, paperwork, books and office supplies. These inexpensive pieces take up almost zero space while adding invaluable storage area.
For a HUGE selection of home office furniture and bedroom furniture visit the Eco-Furniture website today.


Contemporary Bunk Beds Save Space in Style
If you have children that share a room, a modern bunk bed is the absolute best way to maximize space and “open up” a crowded, undersized room. There has always been a bit of a negative connotation attached to the bunk bed, and in the past it was for good reason. Older bunk beds can be unsightly monstrosities that are downright unsafe. Many contemporary bunk beds have advanced safety features that keep restless little ones from falling and safer ladders that make the climb to the top bunk much easier.
Aside from the safety aspect, modern bunk beds possess some added features that you just can’t find on older models. Built-in desks, shelves, drawers, and extra storage are some of the bonus features you’ll find on some modern bunk beds. How much space could you save in your child’s room if you get rid of the desk and extra storage vessels like toy chests or dressers? You can do that with one of these new bunk beds. Everything is self-contained in one unit. A desk area is built into one of the ends of the bed complete with shelf and drawer space. Storage drawers, ideal for clothes, toys, books, or just odds and ends are built into one or both of the support pillars, taking the place of dressers and chests or providing additional storage if need be.
And these new bunk beds are anything but unsightly. Many are made from solid hardwoods such as birch, pine, and ash, and feature beautiful finishes that provide protection as well as being aesthetically pleasing. In many models, an optional trundle bed is available to add even more versatility. This hide-away bed stores under the bottom bunk making it ideal for sleepovers or unexpected company.
Open up your child’s cramped room with a new bunk bed and take advantage of these outstanding features that take the place of multiple pieces of furniture. There is no better way to maximize the limited space you have to work with, so check one out today!
For a HUGE selection of children’s bed frames and bunk beds check out the Eco-Furniture website today.