how to buy sofa

When you're thinking about a new sofa, you'll want to check our sofa buying tips. While it is important to get a sofa in just the right color, it is just as important to get one that will last. Inexpensive furniture can break, pop springs, and look out of shape within a year of constant use. Quality construction will offer years of enjoyment and has enough good "bones" to allow you to recover it periodically.

Choose the Style of Cushions for Your New Sofa

First decide if you prefer the look of loose back cushions or attached. Loose cushions give you the option of turning the pillows as needed, while attached backs won't need fluffing or rearranging. Be sure to sit in the sofa you are considering. Is it comfortable? Are the arms the right height for taking a nap or reading a book?

How Many Cushions Do You Like on a Sofa?

How many seat cushions would you like? One cushion offers a clean modern look while two or three are traditional. When you sit on the cushions, do they stay in place or do the corners flare up? Are they attached to the frame with a clip to hold them down?

What Style of Sofa Arm Do You Like?

Choose an arm style for your new sofa. You can choose from armless, traditional rolled arm, curved English arm, or a straight Parsons style. The rolled arm has a flat front panel and is often outlined in cording. English style is rounded at the front, with fabric formed into sunburst-type pleats. Straight arm sofas are most often seen in contemporary settings.

A Skirted Sofa or One With Bare Legs?

Do you want a skirted sofa or one with the visible legs? Choose from leg styles that vary from heavy square chunks and wide bun feet to more delicate tapered legs or carved and curved formal versions. Legs are usually available in a number of finishes as well.

Understand Frame Construction for Upholstered Furniture

Ask about the construction of a sofa under consideration. The best are made from kiln-dried hardwoods (oak, maple, poplar, etc.), while inexpensive furniture is made from softer pine lumber. Interior construction is important as well. Cheap furniture is stapled together and has haphazardly constructed corner bracing. Better frames are securely screwed together.

Understand Sofa Seat Construction

Find out how the seat support system is made. Often a furniture store will have a cutaway model of the interior of upholstered pieces. Does it have quality 8-way tied springs or cheaper wire coils?

Choosing the Cushion and Pillow Filling for Your Sofa

The cushion and pillow filling are important to the feel of a sofa. Upholstery foam is inexpensive and comes in several thicknesses and weights, however the best cushions have down fillings. All-down cushions must be fluffed daily, though another option uses down pads wrapped around a core of foam. Understand these options for the sofa you want and which might be best for you. Are the cushions standard or special order, foam or down?

Choose the Fabric for You New Sofa's Final Cover

Choose a fabric for your sofa. Chenille is soft and durable while Leather is long-lasting and attractive. Velvets and other fabrics look lovely but may wear out with heavy use over the years. Finally consider options for trimmings. Dress up a sofa with fringed pillows or double welted seams. While these options add to the cost, they also give your piece a one-of-a-kind look. Many furniture manufacturers also offer the option of custom-made slipcovers to give you a seasonal change.

source:interiordec

china shopping mall

James Kanter over at the New York Timespoint out a very important statistical update: According to an assessment of per capita carbon emissions by the Netherlands Environmental Agency, China now emits on a per person basis more than France. While emissions in France in 2009 were 6 tons, those in China were 6.1 tons--up from 2.2 tons in 1990. Which really means that China can no longer claim to be a developing nation.

I realize that glosses over things a bit, but not too thickly.

China Has Radically Reduced Poverty, Manufacturing For The World
Since it's essentially the world's factory, about one-third of China's emissions are the direct result of making goods for consumption overseas. If France manufactured more of its consumer goods domestically, its emissions would likely by higher--though since most of its electricity comes from nuclear energy, it's not a direct comparison, since China is largely coal-powered.

Also because of all that manufacturing, those higher emissions in China don't directly represent the lifestyle choices of the average Chinese resident, much in the same way that statistically per capita emissions in US states with high levels of oil refining and chemical production are skewed higher than just personal lifestyle choices would create.

That said though, a quick glance at World Bank stats shows that the poverty rate in China has dropped from 65% in 1981, to 16% in 2001, to just 4% today. Statistically that's actually lower than in France by about 2%.

Keep in mind that what counts as poverty in France probably counts as luxury to many of China's poor--an important point in terms of human development--but it's all still quite telling.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/07/china-no-longer-developing-nation-per-capita-emissions-higher-than-france.php

kitchen design

Need to blend your home appliances well with the kitchen interior design? Well, stickers can bring different elements of your kitchen in to harmony. As example,you can use wall decals stickers to make your different pieces of furniture from different set look them similar. You can also covering furniture with it to make them have expensive finishing touches. Below is some creations from Kodu Design.

Furniture Design in Cebu

Cebu is the creative craftsman city of the Philippines and is one of the most renowned furniture exporters of Southeast Asia. Local designers have successfully improvised around the region’s lack of rattan (the predominant wood used in traditional furniture) with freestyle experimentation of other indigenous natural materials. The playfully geometric work of up-and-comer Vito Selma (pictured) and the always influential eccentricities of Debbie Palao show how Cebu is living up to its “Milan of Asia” reputation.

The best and brightest are on display every year at a furniture exhibition dubbed Cebu X (not to be confused with Cubao X, Manila’s bohemian community). Recently, the biggest buyers have come from the Middle East followed by North American and European purchasers.

friendly home office

More and more people are working from home these days, and are putting together their home office to create a comfortable and quiet work space. When you are making decisions about what to buy for your home office, its a great opportunity to make eco-friendly choices. Desks, shelves and chairs can do more damage to the environment than simply using up energy and natural resources when they’re manufactured. They can also introduce toxic chemicals into the environment, both during their manufacture and after their disposal. Some of the top office furniture companies are aware of these issues, and have started to offer greener choices to the consumer.

At this time there are more choices than ever for choosing sustainable, environmentally-friendly home office furniture. Furniture and equipment that has been certified by third parties like BIFMA and SCS. With this growing number of environmentally conscious furniture manufacturers, you are sure to find something that fits your ergonomic, style and eco-minded needs. There are even more online shops that put their main focus on eco-friendly office and home furniture with options to fit any budget.

Another option is getting used furniture for your home office. Look for used office furniture on eBay, Craigslist or even at yard sales. Now is the time to start making eco-conscious decisions about your home.

interior landscape design

Perhaps the fastest growing trend in interior decorating today is what is known as interior landscaping. What it basically involves is the greening up of interior spaces by bringing the effect of the "outdoors" inside. Of course the first thing that should come to mind is live plants. However; the truth be told, its fake or silk plants that are the first choice in most cases.

The idea of interior landscaping came into popularity over the past two decades. Today, many homes, office buildings, shopping malls and other commercial establishments are designed with specific areas meant for interior landscaping plants.

Obviously, a landscape designer must consider environmental factors when incorporating interior landscaping plants into the design. Some of the important considerations include sufficient light (artificial or natural), supply of water, drainage, and proper air circulation, among others.

Indeed, people expect that interior landscaping plants should be kept attractive and healthy at all times but one must remember that plants are not naturally grown inside houses or buildings so plants that do thrive in these areas have special needs that must be met in order for them to survive

Fortunately, there have been many developments in interior landscaping that have improved the living conditions of interior landscaping plants. In addition, there has been a wide selection of plants that have evolved from their desert of tropical origins to become suitable interior landscaping plants.

Because light is a critical aspect in choosing plants for an indoor environment, the typical categories of interior landscaping plants are low light, light, medium light, high light, and very high light, which all refers to the plant’s light requirements in order to thrive indoors.

Below are some examples of common interior landscaping plants for your home or office.

Low light plants include the Parlor Palm and the shrub-like Neanthe Bella Palm, which you can grow in large pots and would need constant watering. Low light plants are ideal for indoor areas where there is minimal or no natural light and where a fluorescent light is the primary light source.

An excellent medium light plant is the durable and attractive Laurel Fig and the unique Madagascar Dragon Tree, which is great as an accent in your design. These interior landscaping plants will survive despite poor gardening habits such as forgetting to water the plants.

Examples of high light plants, which have a light requirement of a minimum of 500 foot candles, include the Elephant Foot Tree, Clustered Fishtail Palm, Miniature Date Palm and the European Fan Palm. Very high light plants such as the Queen Palm and the Lady Palm require a minimum lighting of 1000 foot candles.

While most interior landscaping plants can withstand the special conditions of an interior environment, proper caring for them is still essential because they are still vulnerable to insect and pest problems. You should also take care in giving the plant just the right amount of fertilizer because too much will kill the plant. You can easily manage the size of the plant using the appropriate container size. If you purchased the interior landscaping plants from a greenhouse, you can expect it to undergo an acclimation period. It may loose some leaves but will eventually adapt to its new environment

floating house

Floating houses sound great in theory, but there are upkeep costs – not to mention the price of parking one in the first place. The parallels end quickly, to be fair, but this core structure of this home does appear at first to float on air – or at least on the thin glass partitions on the ground floor – and despite its unique appearance it was relatively cheap and easy to construct.

The design concept by Kraus-Schoenberg Architects is actually (and rightly) driven far more than by use than by exterior appearance, however, revolving around a lower-level open family living space with individual rooms above separated as needed and allowed to ‘push’ the ceiling below into this area only as needed. Despite the functional aspects of the design, though, it is hard to escape the sense that everything is upside-down.

Cut into the ground, the first floor gives one the sense of being cozy and enclosed but also provides views out in all directs to the lawn, garden and forest beyond. More limited fenestration on the upper levels grant greater privacy. What is perhaps most compelling is that the materials and construction methods are remarkably simple and inexpensive, yet the net result is a home sure to be unlike any other on the block.

small house of joy

Let us pause in our worship of square footage and his ‘n’ her master bathrooms to count the joys of the small house.

1. There are fewer places for things to get lost.
2. You can vacuum more quickly.
3. The heating bill is lower.
4. No room for furniture you can’t afford anyway.
5. Families spend more time together (because they have no choice).

.. is dedicated to talking up the benefits of living small. Needless to say, the message hasn't exactly caught on like wildfire.

Here is the society's overview on its web page:

The Small House Society is a voice for the Small House Movement. That movement includes movie stars who have proudly downsized into 3000 square feet, families of five happy in an arts and crafts bungalow, multifamily housing in a variety of forms, and more extreme examples, such as people on houseboats and in trailers with just a few hundred square feet around them. Size is relative, and mainly we promote discussion about the ecological, economic and psychological toll that excessive housing takes on our lives, and what some of us are doing to live better. It's not a movement about people claiming to be "tinier than thou" but rather people making their own choices toward simpler and smaller living however they feel best fits their life.

I would guess that most people living in small houses are doing so out of necessity, not choice. But the environmental benefits of living small are just as great if they're forced upon you as if you took a vow of poverty.

If the Small House Society succeeds, people who can't afford to move into a bigger house might start feeling proud of the good they're doing the planet. And wealthy people who are thinking of trading up to a rapacious 12-room chateau with power skylight blinds might just reconsider.

Hmmm. No wonder the National Association of Home Builders reported today that its index of builder sentiment fell this month to its lowest level since December.

small space ideas

Base architecture has designed houses on almost all combination of small lot configurations from corner lots, flat lots, sloping lots front to back and back to front and also side falls. In the case of the Small street house being a site that slopes both from front to the back and across the site, it offers many opportunities to explore the spatial relationships proven across a mixture of levels and functions within the house whilst at the same time exploring the close relationships that exist on the adjoining lots.

Along with the parameters of the residential house lot code, character code, single unit dwelling code and the requirements of the client, it is equally important to address the architecture of the surrounding dwellings. After assessing the surrounding neighborhood it is apparent that there are various existing strengths in the built form that express there own character. The overall character of these dwellings is expressed in the form of the building which includes flat roofs, low pitched roofs, parapets, skillions and gables. – Photos by Christopher Frederick Jones

small natural house

This Tye river cabin small and natural house design is nested into a nine-acre site on a river. Protecting a fragile river ecosystem was the challenge here. The owner wanted a home that was in harmony with natural sorroundings by minimizing the impact to the environment to the greatest extent possible. at the same time the client wanted a home that was comfortable, functional and aesthetically pleasing.

The 600 square foot living space consists of two bedrooms, one bathroom, a livng room and kitchen. Features and finishes, such as reclaimed old growth douglas fir and a poured-in-place concrete fireplace, evoke the surrounding environtment, and the many large combination window/doors that open the interiors to the outside serce to further enhance the connection to nature. This retreat is essentially a wooden tent on a platform that opens to the forest and river. Materials are allowed to weather to merge with the site.