Home Furniture Reference

Rafael Montilla asked:

Furniture Tips – If you’re downsizing or haven’t even upsized yet, then your home may feel a little small to you now and again. That’s not too surprising, considering that stuff has a way of accumulating at an alarming rate, filling even the tiniest nooks or crannies.

Full sized furniture only adds to the problem, making the room look claustrophobic. Hardly a place to unwind after a hard day at school or work.

If you have a full-sized sofa in your apartment, starter home or dorm right now, there’s little you can do to reduce its scale, outside of taking a chainsaw to it and cutting it down to size (we don’t recommend this, by the way).

Finding a space-saving sofa is the better option. Manufacturers have been clued into the need for scaled pieces, particularly in an economy where many people are moving to smaller homes rather than larger ones.

If you’re imaging miniaturized sofas for your home, don’t. A sofa’s dimensions are only part of the equation. There are other tricks of the trade that can be used to make a sofa look smaller in a room without cutting the useful seating space.

Modern sofas already know some of these secrets. For example, many modern sofas, whether they’re recliner sofas, sectional sofas, sleeper sofas or lounges, have low backs that make the walls look higher than they really are. This gives the room a feeling of spaciousness without compromising comfort.

The same is true for sofas that have large arms.  The arms of a sofa have only one true purpose: to support your arms. They don’t have to be overstuffed affairs, which are often uncomfortable anyway. To make a room look larger, go with a sofa that has a smaller set of arms that still offers the support you’re looking for. And if space is at a premium, you may want to go with vertical arms that don’t extend beyond the edge of the sofa. Those extra inches can add up to another chair or end in the room – well worth the sacrifice.

This brings up an important point. The more straight lines your sofa, sofa recliner, sofa bed or lounger has, the smaller it will look in the room. For example, a sofa with a straight back will look less voluminous than one with a camel back. For a smaller look, you also want the legs to be visible rather than having them hidden behind a dust flap.

Modern style sofas are also perfect for smaller spaces. Since “form follows function,” they usually don’t have a lot of unnecessary embellishments that don’t add to the comfort of the sofa. By their very nature, they will almost assuredly make your small space look larger.

Having limited space doesn’t mean you can’t have an attractive, comfortable room that is both welcoming and spacious feeling, even if it’s not. The most basic rules in design can help trick the eye and create a space that looks much larger than it really is. Stick with these basics and you’ll find you have plenty of space to spread out, even if you’re living in less square footage.

Tara Mathews asked:




The style of the average home has changed over the years. Large old farmhouses had huge front porches, which were an extension of the family living room. The porches were extremely large. Therefore, a lot of outdoor furniture was required. However, most of the furniture used was merely brought from inside. One piece of furniture was a fixture of most families outdoor furniture, that piece of furniture was a rocking chair. In the 18th century, the rocking chair was known as the American chair. The wooden rocker was also a lot more comfortable than the wrought iron furniture of the day.

You do not see nearly as many rocking chairs now as you did back then.

Another very popular piece of outdoor furniture was the porch swing. The porch swing was a relaxing piece of outdoor furniture on a hot summer evening. Remember, there were no air conditioners back in the 1800′s.

Wicker outdoor furniture was the next style of furniture that became popular in Victorian times. It was popular because it was fancier than the existing outdoor furniture. Plant stands and many different types of tables were added to the porches of American families. The Victorian style was the more the better. Many families had porches full of outdoor furniture.

In the South, many large homes had Verandas. The porch was larger to support the Veranda. These porches had a lot of large over sized furniture such as wicker or cotton upholstered outdoor furniture. Unfortunately, the weather in the South was not indicative to keeping cotton, upholstered furniture outside. Wrought iron furniture was a popular choice in this era as well. To alleviate the uncomfortable iron, cushions were used on chairs.

In the 1930′s, casual outdoor furniture began to appear. Handcrafted wrought iron, cast and tubular aluminum became popular years later. However, comfortable outdoor furniture was desirable to consumers. Lawn chairs became the rage along with straight back chairs as the urban centers became more populated and places to sit outdoors were much smaller in the city.

As the suburbs became a popular place for families, more outdoor furniture was required. This was where the real need for outdoor patio furniture began. People wanted to extend their entertaining outdoors and the need for outdoor furniture grew tremendously. This trend continues to grow today.

More high-tech materials are developed for the construction of outdoor patio furniture, as people want durability, ease of care and strength from their patio furniture. People are spending more and more time outdoors and extending their homes through the concept of outdoor kitchens and rooms. Entertaining at home has made it necessary to have a variety of types of outdoor furniture available. People own hot tubs, swimming pools and many more outdoor toys, which require specific outdoor furniture. As the people demand it, outdoor patio furniture will continue to evolve into stylish pieces they can use everyday.