Sofa Furniture Buyer’s Guide Blog

I’ve found that even after all the painting and decoration and accessories, my kids’ rooms don’t look much like those in interior decor books. I am talking about the books with simple ideas for regular people on an average budget.

The kids and I decorate/plan together, and we are very happy with the end results, but the rooms just look ordinary.

So, does your kid’s room look like those in magazines and interior decor books? Or, does it look nice but "ordinary"?

A few of the families I have worked with have had amazing kid rooms that could be from a magazine. If your entire house looks like a magazine, chances are your child’s room will, too. If your own home looks "ordinary," the likelihood of pulling off a magazine quality child’s room is probably not any better than your non magazine style living room. Just be glad your kids can express themselves in their rooms. That’s half the fun!

I am painting my kitchen red and using white and green accents. My living room is the first room you walk into and leads to the kicthen… I don’t want a boring color for my living room but I don’t want it to clash with the red…any suggestions?

a toffee color would look great, and go well with red.
coffee with heavy cream, sand dune, camel, any of these would work. for a bolder look, use something a little darker like cinnamon.

I am in the process of setting up a small furniture making business and I need to know how do you go about sending coffee tables etc that are not flat- packed. I would imagine that you would bubble-wrap the items and then get a freight company like Fedex to pick them up. Is it that easy? Should I consider putting these type of items in crates. The coffee tables I have made would be sent out lndividually to customers. They are not overly expensive and really not that large. But would Fedex etc accept this type of furniture without being crated.

If it is OK to send just by bubble-wrapping, what is the best way to do this to ensure the items does not get damaged?
I would also be sending out the coffee tables etc to international customers.

Me and my wife had some furniture delivered from the pottery barn a few months ago. We had two nitestands, a big dresser and a head board and they basically put the two nitestands and dresser in big boxes reinforced with plywood strips and lots of stryrofoam, all kinds of it too. And all of our furniture was delivered flawless. not so much as a smuge. I can sort of see why the delivery charge was kind of steep.

New cream sofas just delivered today, very nice – but conflicting advice on how to care for them. Anyone got any good tips please?

Please do not use baby wipes on leather furniture – they will eventually destroy the finish on the leather.

It is crucial to protect all leather from new. This can be done yourself with Ultra Protect
http://www.lttleathercare.co.uk/product.asp?product=Ultra-Protect
or you can purchase Leather Protection Plans where a specialist leather technician will come to your home and show you the correct way of looking after your individual leather and protect it for you.
http://www.lttleathercare.co.uk/product.asp?product=Leather-Protection-Plans
This will help to make your leather easier to look after and give you peace of mind that you can use your leather as it is intended.

Leather cleaning should be simple and quick with the correct methods and products.

Maintenance cleaning of leather is the best way to keep leather clean, protected and in good condition and can be done by using a simple spray and wipe product such as Lazy Leather – this type of cleaning should only take 5-10 minutes on the contact areas and if used on a very regular basis will reduce the need for very in depth cleaning which is what takes the time and effort and is generally done with 2 products.
Use a lint free white cloth for cleaning by this method so that you can check dirt levels as you are cleaning.

If you are deep cleaning always use a foam cleaner as this will be safe and you can give it good dwell time to do its work. Use a stiff bristled brush (like a kitchen brush) to get the foam down into the grain pattern to do its job (Do not use it to scrub the leather but for gentle agitation)

If you use a leather protector after cleaning it will help to make the cleaning process easier next time as the dirt will sit on the protector rather than on the finish of the leather and so will be easier to remove.

For general rules on cleaning leather furniture:

Using household products, cheap supermarket cleaners and ‘old wives’ remedies are very short sighted when it comes to cleaning and caring for leather and can become very costly in the long run as problems they generally cause will be costly to put right. (although it does keep people like ourselves busy as we rush round fixing problems caused by using the wrong things!!!)
Firstly check the type of leather you have so that you understand the results that are possible:
http://www.lttleathercare.co.uk/whatkindofleather.asp

For deep cleaning leather you need to use a good quality water based foam leather cleaner. (LTT Leather Shampoo) With light coloured leather dye transfer from clothing can be a problem although using a good quality leather protector (LTT Leather Protect) will help inhibit this.

For dye transfer (which can be a real problem on pale coloured leathers) and ingrained dirt you may need a much stronger cleaner like Strong Cleaner or Maxi Cleaner (this should be used with caution)

DO NOT use anything containing oils, waxes or silicones. (Most ‘conditioners’ contain waxes or oils) and furniture polish (pledge) contains silicones which will eventually destroy the finish on the leather. Most car cleaners also contain oils or waxes so should not be used as they leave residues on the surface of the leather which attract more dirt which eventually leads to cracking.

BABY WIPES are the worst thing you can use as they will destroy the finish on your leather. This has been verified and proved to be the case. They are actually a very strong product and this is why they break down the finish. Leather is not like skin and should not be treated as such.

Saddle soap should never be usd on upholstery leather or garments it is meant for saddles which are very different from todays finished leathers.

A lot of leather wipes contain chemicals which will also destroy the finish or leave residues on the leather which will damage it. They are not cheap in the long run as you would need a lot to clean. Using wipes puts a lot of product on the first panel that you clean and then gradually gets less and less as you move around the furniture so you need a lot of wipes to clean the whole suite which works out far more expensive than using a proper cleaner which will also give better results.

Fairy liquid contains more salt these days to get dishes clean and this will break the finish down on your leather. This has been verified by the manufacturers (as with the baby wipes).

Magic Erasers should not be used unless you are going to renew the finish on you r leather. We have tested these recently and they sand away the top finish on the leather.

Lux flakes (although they used to be a good thing to use) now contain ingredients that will damage the finish on the leather and cause it to peel off like a skin (we have seen these happen hundreds of times at customers who have been ill advised by shops)

You should also follow cleaning with a good water based leather protector which will act like a ’scotchgard’ and inhibit dirt and stains from being absorbed and m

I am currently thinking of starting my own interior decorating and home accent business that would appeal to families that live on a budget but would like professional help with their home. If you currently live on a budget or are careful with you money, would you hire someone like this? My services would be alot like the shows on HGTV like Design on a Dime.

Currently, I work at a wholesale countertop fabricator where we sell to designers, builders, retailers, etc. Alot of the smaller companies I work with sub out their design work to people like you who have a passion for it. If you are worried about not getting call backs from contacts you can always try to get online with a company needing your expertise. This way you build a name for yourself by using that company’s good (hopefully!) reputation. Your idea is a great one, for sure, but I would be very careful about starting up without already having a client base. And because I already live on a budget, I probably wouldn’t hire you because I could do it myself….But if your services were included, at no charge, through a reputable company, I would be more likely to want to work with you and purchase materials.

Unfortunately, FREE, goes a long way. You may have to offer vouchers for a free in home consultation just to get going. Plus you will need to be very ambitious to keep clients coming in. Don’t forget that alot of people will be needy and indecisive so patience truly is a virtue….Good Luck!!!

I’m looking for furniture makers/brands that make solid wood bedroom furniture without veneers, and preferably ones that use old-fashioned carpentry techniques like dovetails, mortise and tendon, etc… Also, on another note, is Broyhill a good furniture company? My sister is looking into getting the Fontana collection for her room and I wanted to check that out for her. I’m still trying to see if I can find solid hardwood furniture before I give up and go with something else that uses veneers. Thanks.

A-America has really nice solid wood furniture. We just bought a bedroom set made from New Zealand Pine….it is very nice and reasonable. www.a-america.com

my living room and dining room are part of one larger room. i’m thinking light blue living room and darker but neutral green dining room. my furniture is black and my couches are light brown. is light blue a good color for living rooms? i very traditional in my decor.

Traditional can mean various things: colonial, country, Queen Anne, Regency, shabby chic, etc. Today, some 60s and 70s styles are coming back and are so considered somewhat traditional as well.

Unless you have a reason for having two different colors in two different areas of a room, don’t. Instead, have an accent wall (three walls of a rather neutral color and the fourth wall a totally different color, like blue or green). Either that or install a chair rail (or, maybe better yet, a wallpaper border) in the middle of the wall and paint one half light blue and the other the dark green.

I agree with the individual who mentioned the lighting. Your lighting is an important consideration in what colors to use. With a lot of light – combined with a larger area – you can get away with some darker colors. Of course, with the darker furniture, you may prefer lighter colored walls.

Whatever you decide, just make sure your throws, pillows, area rugs, etc. coordinate with the color on the respective walls. Also, you could decide to get furniture covers, print or otherwise, to blend better. Same thing with black dining set: cheerful table cloth and chair covers.

just bought new sofas..how do icare for them? Its a natuzzi italian leather sofa.

My first thought was to say… "With soft strokes and a kind word in Italian… " But, that would not be nice so, here are the instructions for caring for such nice furnishings.

Regular Care
Do NOT use saddle soap or mink oil! Also, the leather used in cars is generally a different grade and uses a different type of dye than leather used in upholstery. You cannot necessarily use the same leather products on both your car and your sofa. You will find some people who insist that saddle soap or mink oil is the best way to clean and/or condition your leather, regardless of what type of leather you have. However, oil-based cleaners will stretch the leather near the seams, changing the color and pulling the leather away from the stitching. Upholstery leather should be cleaned with a water-based cleaner to avoid stretching and changing the color of the leather.

You should dust leather furniture once a month. Use a soft cloth damp with warm water to lightly rub any areas frequently used – pay particular attention to head and arm rests. You also need to use a leather conditioner on the furniture every two to three months. Most leather workers will recommend Leatherique® or Lexol-pH®. These are both high-quality cleaner/conditioners that should work on either aniline dyed leather or pigmented leather. Lexol-pH® is a newer product that you will want to test on an unobtrusive area before applying to the whole piece to make sure it’s fully compatible with your leather upholstery.

Leather does acquire a patina as it ages. This is natural process and not a defect in the workmanship of your leather furniture. This changing patina of leather is the charm of the material and what makes it such a valuable type of upholstery – it won’t stay exactly the same as it ages; it ages with you. So, even if you clean and condition it regularly, you will eventually notice that the color changes as the piece ages – this is normal!

Removing a Stain
Eventually, something will probably fall on your leather furniture and create a mark – but don’t despair! You can usually remove or minimize the stain just by blotting with water.

Often water-based liquids don’t really stain the leather – particularly not with the quality of dyes in use today. Just blot up as much of the liquid as possible – don’t rub at it. Keep blotting until the paper towel or cloth comes back completely dry and then let the leather air dry.

If that doesn’t work, try some leather cleaner.

Ballpoint ink and newspapers both have some aniline in the ink formula. Unfortunately, this means that these inks tend to actually dye leather. If you find a stain like this, contact a leather professional

If you have a butter or grease stain, do not use water! Again, blot at the spill until the towel or rag comes back dry. Many leather workers recommend allowing the stain to "cure" over a day or so before re-evaluating it. Often the oil will re-settle in the leather and not be noticeable. If it is still visible, try some leather cleaner like Lexol® or Leatherique®. If that fails, contact a leather technician to see about a professional cleaning or repair – and remember that if you had a fabric sofa the results would be much worse!

I hope this helps.