New Modern Furniture Trends

All Images Courtesy of: www.trendir.com

Amazing Interior Design and Upholstery

Photo Courtesy of : www.exquisite-design.com


Photo Courtesy of: www.furniturestocks.com


Photo Courtesy of: www.modern-interior-decoration.blogspot.com

Photo Courtesy of: www.luxuryinteriordesign.com

How to Spot Good Furniture from Bad

Many furniture stores will promise high durability, quality, and affordability. But how do you tell if they are really of high quality? I used to purchase furniture off the basis of it looking new, and durable, but noticing over time that it is not the best of quality. Many times I would judge a piece of furniture off of basic visual things such as scratches, nicks, or marks. I realized soon after that these things tell nothing of their quality and durability in the long term.


Photo Courtesy of: www.trendir.com

Many wood furniture pieces are labeled either hardwood or softwood. I always thought that hardwood was a better choice of composition because it would be more durable. This however, is not the case. Hardwood is actually wood from a deciduous tree. Hence, some hardwood pieces of furniture are actually softer than some softwood. Therefore, a good way to tell the quality of wood furniture's is if you are able to make a dent in the furniture by pressing your fingernail into it. You generally want furniture that will be resistant to these kinds of things. Don't let the description of the furniture fool you!


Photo Courtesy of: www.furnituire3000.com

Some woods to avoid are particle board, press wood, or fiberboard. These woods are pieces of wood compressed together. Overtime these will deteriorate and fall apart faster than solid wood pieces.

The construction of the wood furniture is also very important. Any signs of using staples or nails is of low quality. Try to find pieces of furniture that either use nails, Dowels (wooden pegs), or that are dovetail constructed (interlocking teeth).



Photo Courtesy of: www.planeanswers.com

There are also thin sheets of wood in between drawers and chests that seem to serve no purpose, but in fact help improve the structure of your furniture. It also protects the contents of the drawer, as well as the preserving the furniture itself.

All in all, your furniture can last you a very long time if chosen right. Good luck!

Interior Design Lighting Tips

Many people look forward to redesigning various rooms in their house or apartment. Whether it be a simple remodel, revamping, or rearranging, it can always be fun and beneficial, especially for the individual who enjoys a change of scenery every once in a while.

One thing to remember when doing this however is lighting. Ever wonder why so many catalogs with various luxurious furniture always look so great in those rooms? Yes, they are expensive, but also coexist with the correct amount of lighting in different areas to make the furniture shine at its best. It's seeing a picture of a great furniture set up in a catalog and purchasing it, bringing it home, and setting it up, soon realizing it doesn't look half as great as it did in the catalog. Here are some tips to make your furniture set look just as good, or even than those in the high end catalogs, with the use of lighting.

Photo Courtesy of: http://www.luxtam.com

1. Place or expand windows to let more light into darker corners. This greatly opens up the room and allows it to feel more "airy" and open.

2. Determine where the most exposure of light is. For example which direction the sun rises and sets in relation to the windows in the house.

3. Arrange your furniture so as much of it gets in contact with the natural light. When sunlight hits furniture it tends to reveal its more natural vibrant colors.

4. Shine artificial lights towards the ceiling. This causes it to bounce off and produce a softer more pleasant light.

5. Add art glass or grilles to your windows for different effects of lighting.

6. See where you can add door/window combinations. This is a unique way of bringing in light in certain, unexpected areas.

Photo Courtesy of: http://freshome.com

Adding natural light to your house also carries health benefits. Sunshine and vibrant colors tend to brighten people's moods, as opposed to dark, ominous rooms. This may lead to mood swings, depression, or seasonal affective disorder.

Best of luck on your interior design endeavors!

Benefits of New Hotels

In almost any city you visit now days, there is always some sort of hotel or motel available, and most of the time it is in the heart of the city. It makes perfect sense to have a hotel in a city. It is great for tourism, and people that are visiting are also in need of a place to stay. But hotels serve a much greater purpose and bring in much more revenue than just a roof over your head, some fancy places, and nice furniture.

Image Courtesy of: www.costaricapages.com

In Columbus Ohio, much hype and excitement is being built up for the New Hilton Hotel that will be placed in the downtown area of Columbus. When a hotel is put into place in a city, it is not merely the owner of the hotel that works on the project, but a collective collaborative effort of the city, its owners, and the developers. This is because once the hotel is in place, it will bring an immense amount of revenue to the city.

The first way is it will attract more tourism. The more vacant rooms a city has to offer for visiting guests, the more it will open up the field up to many different tourism possibilities.

Most hotels have a few large rooms used for banquets, events and things of that nature. By having these available to the city, many businesses, schools, and city functions can be held there to stimulate business using the hotel as a venue.

Image Courtesy of: www.maplandia.com

The city will also benefit from this by opening up so many more jobs. With a hotel comes jobs like reception, catering, management, cleaning, maintenance and much more. The hotel will also need to hire companies to install all the room necessities, including bathroom, furniture, and hospitality supplies. This will definitely stimulate the economy and generate large amounts of revenue through the opening of one hotel.

Updating Hotels in this Economic Climate

As mentioned in the previous post, right now is the best time to invest in electronic renovation. As much as furniture, design, and upholstery are all great, they’re too expensive to renovate right now correct? Wrong.

According to recent hotel articles and posts, right now it is the BEST time to invest in things such as hotel furniture, case goods, and upholstery as well. Why? Because of the economic climate.

photo courtesy of: www.tophotelsphuket.com

Right now nobody is really making any money, and the first thing the economy hits when it plummets is hospitality. Things like hotels, restaurants, and services. People cut back on these luxuries to save money. Instead of vacationing, they spend those hours working for more money. Instead of going out to eat in restaurants and feeding money back into the economy, they go grocery shopping in attempts to save as much money as they can.

Then the economy starts hitting other highways of businesses. One of these businesses is eventually the makers of hotel furniture, hospitality furniture, and businesses of that nature. Because of this, they lower their prices and thus, making it “more affordable” for the hospitality industry to afford these new renovations.

Photo courtesy of: www.ecosea.com

The factor that offsets this entire scheme is the fact that many businesses right now say they cannot afford to renovate. They say that they cannot afford to spend money on revamping their business right now. That makes sense right? Why would you spend money upgrading your hotel when its barely floating on the revenue stream you are getting from just being in business? My answer to that is how can you afford not to. With prices lower than they have been in a while, and giving your business an opportunity to catch up to the rest of the hospitality leaders, while giving your business a huge temporary competitive advantage, the investment might pay for itself.

Future of Hotel Renovations

It seems that within the hospitality industry many renovations are being in progress. During many hotel conferences and expos, renovation talk have been circling around panels and forums.

Many hotel businesses had design wars such as furniture, beds, and bathrooms. They all compete on the best designs, level of comfort, and efficiency. Renovations are usually highly expensive due to the changing out of many expensive furniture pieces, redoing bathrooms and design. However a new wave of renovations have hit the hotel industry.

Image Courtesy of: www.chipchick.com

Technology. It has swept the nations hospitality industry. I usually visit hotels from time to time, and the other weekend I ventured out from my modest home in southern California to Las Vegas, Nevada. Las Vegas, known for its high end expensive hotels, never ending night life, and casinos, had to have the latest in hotel technology, however I was thoroughly impressed with not only the interior designing, furniture, but also the upgraded technology I had not remembered in my last visit to a hotel.

At my stay, there was a bedside electronic control panel. This would control things such as the curtain, lights in every room, the room temperature, the television, and bathroom functions, all from a control panel from the bedside! Laying in bed, I could draw the shades, shut the bathroom lights, turn the television on and browse channels while I dim the lights next to my bed. This eliminated the hassle of having to get out of your comfy bed in your pajamas and manually executing these things. Highly impressed, I realized the truth in hotels renovating their electronic components as well.

I feel like not only with exceptional furniture and design, but technology the hospitality industry just opened up a new chapter in the history books.

Interior Design Foundations

There are many jobs that are solid and do not change drastically over time, and there are ones that do. Many jobs such as careers in art, fashion, cinema, and design, can change drastically over a night and day period. There are many elements to creating a successful room design. I am no grad school interior designer, but what i do know is a room must be functional, express a mood, and exhibit a sense of harmony.

For a room to be functional, the arrangement of furniture must fit the setting of the room. The whole point of a living room is to LIVE in it, meaning a comfortable common place, structured to engage the users in each other. Have you ever noticed the way hotel furniture is structured? Many interior designers in the lobbies of hotels arrange the furniture to gateway
conversations to their guests. For example, the chairs are positioned towards each other, and most of the time there is a small table or a common table for placing belongings, drinks, or food. These small little things create a convenient, functional room.


Photo Courtesy of: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/ and http://images.businessweek.com

As far as mood goes, a room must express a certain mood. Whether it be calming, exciting, vintage, or modern, it should give the room a certain aura that is consistent with what the designer initially intended. This also goes hand in hand with harmony. The colors and styles of the interior designing must all be consistent and match the mood as well. A combination of warm summer colored walls and furniture, placed next to a window where sunlight comes in, are all consistent of the same tranquil summer evening mood. This will surely give off the correct impression and aura when people are in it.


All in all, these three components are the foundation of creating and designing a room. Everything must be coordinated to where the user feels a sense of harmony, mood, and convenient functionality.