Accessories for Coffee Tables

If you want your coffee tables to look vibrant year-round, why not invest in a few fabulous accessories?

If you buy a beautiful coffee table, it will look good no matter what you put on it. But accessories are a great way of transforming your living space and keeping your room vibrant and seasonal, whatever time of year it is. If you love putting bowls, vases and pots on your coffee table, fill them with seasonal delights to help add texture and life to a room. In the summer time, a simple vase with colourful, bright flowers on your coffee table will instantly cheer up any room. Use a vase and type of flower that suits the design of your coffee table. For instance, an earthy, traditional wooden coffee table would suit a natural pot vase with wild garden flowers and herbs. Elegant glass coffee tables can take designer, structural vases with orchids or lilies. Keep flowers in your room throughout spring too, but switch to daffodils and bluebells for earthy spring tones. Autumn is a great time to bring in pine cones and autumnal colours – create a display in a beautiful earthenware bowl – add acorns and dried flowers. Or for a simple, effective impact – an unusual piece of driftwood works as a standalone sculpture. Winter should embrace Christmas colours and smells – pine and cinnamon candles can fill a room with nostalgia. Create colour schemes such as red and silver with natural pines dipped in silver paint and red glitter.

The accessories on your coffee table can help create the atmosphere you want in your home, as you embrace the seasons. Here are a few more simple accessory ideas to keep your coffee tables vibrant and ever-changing:

• Books! Coffee table books and glossy magazines are born for showing off coffee tables.

• Chess sets or Scrabble boards are great on coffee tables if you are hosting a dinner party – a great way to entertain your guests!

• If your coffee table isn’t big enough to take a vase of flowers, nothing is as simple and thoughtful as a single flower in a small vase – for charm, quirk and beauty.

• Coasters are important if you want to protect coffee tables from heat or water rings; why not swap the coasters every few months to match your moods – you can find quirky, contemporary clear coasters filled with goldfish and frogs or opt for traditional, floral coasters depending on the vibe you want.

• Whatever accessories you choose for coffee tables, make sure they are a true reflection of your tastes and personality.

http://www.ikea.com/

Bedroom Furniture – Make Your Bed

When it comes to kitting out your bedroom with furniture – the bed is the most important feature.

One item of bedroom furniture is the most important piece of furniture you’ll ever buy in your life – your bed. Research shows we don’t replace our beds as often as we should (every ten years) and yet sleep is the most important thing we do. If you struggle with a good night’s sleep, it could be time to rethink your bedroom furniture.

Bedroom Furniture for Easy Sleep

A supportive bed can make all the difference. A worn out bed can leave you tossing and turning, leaving you with a night of broken sleep. Good bedroom furniture is crucial to achieving a functional and restful environment. There have been many scientific studies into the importance of sleep – how it affects our mental abilities and physical health. In today’s ever stressful environment with increasing worries around money and job security, we can find ourselves lying awake tossing and turning. But research shows that sleeping on life’s worries is the best way to solve a problem. REM sleep can play a crucial role in helping the brain solve problems – which could explain why creative people often say they dreamt up a story or song (Paul McCartney famously said he dreamt ‘Yesterday’).

Sleep on it

Sleeping on a problem is advice that has been passed down for generations – research has found that those who have good quality sleep have more chance of solving problems involving creative associations. High quality bedroom furniture – especially beds – can drastically improve your life by improving the quality of your sleep. Not only can it boost your creativity, but sleep can boost your health. High blood pressure has been associated with poor sleep – a study revealed that those who slept less were more likely to have high blood pressure. Previous studies have already linked poor sleep to heart disease. You may decide to invest in high quality bedroom furniture when you consider poor quality sleep can impact on immune function, glucose metabolism and other health problems.

Relax and Recharge

Of course achieving a good night’s sleep takes more than just comfortable, supportive bedroom furniture – a good diet, regular exercise and cutting out stimulants like alcohol and nicotine will all help you achieve a restful night. The land of nod is a place we need to visit more often – it’s a place where we relax and recharge. If your bed is more of a battlefield, perhaps it’s time to invest in some beautiful bedroom furniture to achieve a restful, relaxing environment.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feng_shui

Coffee Tables – Not Just for Coffee

Coffee tables are named because of their primary function of propping up the nation’s coffee cups – but considering our drinking habits, is the name fair?

The name ‘coffee tables’ suggests a certain amount of sophistication. Coffee tables are for coffee drinkers – and coffee drinkers are well travelled types with complex palettes who can sometimes appear to have more in common with wine snobs than lovers of other hot beverages. Not surprisingly, we Brits of the more down to earth disposition are a nation of tea lovers. So why aren’t our coffee tables called tea tables?

Coffee Tables – What’s in a Name?

After all, the legacy of taking afternoon tea on our coffee tables has been passed down from generation to generation - made from reclaimed oak furniture. Even if today’s tea lovers may not always add tiers of cake or cucumber sandwiches without the crusts, many of us still have a reliable cup of tea – and maybe a biscuit – in the afternoons. And in the UK, the majority of us will drink tea in the mornings. When they tried to ban tea breaks, the nation went on strike. But somehow ‘coffee tables’ sounds more sophisticated and aspirational.

Addicted to Tea

The paraphernalia around coffee – the grinding machines, specialist cups, espresso machines and various coffee concoctions from macchiato to cappuccino – means coffee is an altogether more expensive and perhaps affluent beverage. But a little research shows that perhaps it’s time we renamed coffee tables for tea tables. It isn’t just us Brits who love drinking tea on our coffee tables. Even A-list celebs it seems have turned their backs on lattes, cocktails and champagne and would rather have a cup of refreshing tea. A slew of stars have been spotted sipping delicious cups of tea. Perhaps because tea is such a perfect pick me up as well as famed for its health-giving properties. If you imagine Jennifer Aniston kicking back with her feet up on her coffee table, chances are she’s sipping a good old cup of tea. Her love life causes a lot of speculation in the gossip magazines, but it’s said that her preferred venue for a date is not over lunch or dinner, but over afternoon tea.

Time to Rename Coffee Tables?

As expected, many British actors have come out as preferring tea to coffee, including Kristin Scott Thomas who has said she is addicted to tea, drinking about eight cups a day. Anna Friel may live in LA but she buys PG Tips from American supermarkets. So isn’t it time we Brits reclaimed coffee tables for what they really are – tea tables!

Tiles for fabulous floors

Tiles have become one of our favourite floor coverings

Floor coverings follow fashion just the same as clothing and cars. It’s not just the design of the flooring that matters, but the material too. Some people opt for comfortable carpets, whilst others prefer the warmth of wood flooring. Increasingly, however, many people are opting for tiles – and tiles of all different types – that can give their homes a feeling of luxury.

Why choose tiles?

So, why are so many people choosing tiles for their floors? For most, tiles are the ideal choice for kitchens and bathrooms. If you choose the right tiles, they are waterproof, which is important in these key areas, but tiles are also popular because of their:

• Durability – most tiles are extremely durable, because of the construction process and because they are specially glazed and sealed – particularly those that are destined to be floor tiles. Choosing a good quality tile and fitting it well will ensure that the flooring looks good for many years to come and will survive most types of wear and tear.

• Maintainability – tiles are easy to clean and floor tiles aprticualrly so. A good quality dry brush will remove most day-to-day dirt and fluff, whilst a mop and a recommended detergent will get rid of stubborn marks and any stickiness, leaving your tiles looking as good as new. Depending on which tiles are used on the floor, there may be specific cleaning instructions, and you should be aware of this when you recommend, choose or fit the tiles.

• Flexibility – pretty much any floor can be tiled, and you can use a variety of tiles to create the effect you want in each room. Whether you choose plain white, stone effect, patterned or any other type of tiling, you can match floor tiles to a décor scheme without any trouble. And although most tiles come in either square or rectangular shapes, there are other shapes available, or you may even be able to get tiles made to your specification.

• Variety – as well as a wide choice of colour and size, flooring tiles are also made in very different ways, so you can choose a type of tile or manufacturing process that suits the look you want.

Many people are choosing to put underfloor heating in underneath a tiled surface. This gives you the clean, tiled look you’re after, without having to walk on the cold tiles first thing in the morning. If you’re tiling a living space or conservatory, you an also put down rugs in order to bring some additional colour to the room and to make the floor feel more comfortable without losing any of the benefits of the tiles. http://www.housetohome.co.uk/homesandgardens

Licence Premises Wood Flooring – Join the Club

If your launching a new pub or club, you need to make sure you get the flooring right from the start – which is why you should invest in specialist licence premises wood flooring.

Wood floors in licensed premises has to be durable, strong and aesthetically pleasing. The demands on licence premises wood flooring – especially clubs or pubs that feature dance floors – mean investing in high quality wood flooring is crucial in order to be cost effective in the long term. And if you're opening a new club, timing is crucial. Whether it's installing new licence premises wood flooring from scratch or treating existing licence premises wood flooring, you need to recruit a specialist flooring company that can work day and night, offering speedy solutions for the pub and club industry where closed doors for refurbishments mean lost profits.

Licence Premises Wood Flooring – On Site UV Cure Sealing

For those clubs that desperately need maintenance and up-grading, it's possible to turn to on-site UV Cure Sealing. This cuts out the need for drying and curing times – wood floors are ready to use immediately after the work is complete. If you can't afford to lose trading time, this is the perfect solution for sanding and sealing your licence premises wood flooring. By regularly servicing your licence premises wood flooring, you can ensure it lasts longer and remains appealing for your discerning clientèle. Using Titanium Polyurethane Seal for example is one way of maximising your club's wood floor. It's important you don't overlook the floor space when you are launching a new pub, club or restaurant or simply looking for a refurbishment. Opting for specialist licence premises wood flooring solutions designed for high-traffic areas will help keep your establishment look better for longer.

The Party Begins

And times may be hard with the credit crunch and UK recession, but it isn't stopping people partying. The recently opened multi-million pound nightclub in Bradford shows that clubbers are refusing to put away their dancing shoes. The new club owner told the local press that opening his club, Tokyo, in Bradford's city centre was a prime move despite the credit crunch. He believes that the club will mean Bradford residents will save money – they won't have to get taxis to bigger venues in neighbouring cities like Leeds, but will have a great night-life on their doorstep. Working around the clock, the builders ensured the right licence premises wood flooring was installed, alongside saving the building's original cast iron structure, with a sky-bar overlooking the city and state-of-the-art lighting, with the largest laser in the north of England. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_flooring