Furniture

7 Ways To Use A Serving Cart

December 30, 2018

Furniture can be divided into three categories: pieces you use daily, pieces you use weekly, and pieces you hardly ever use. To a minimalist designer, the latter category is clutter, filling up unnecessary space. A traditionalist will look at that piece differently, allowing it to remain as long as it jives with the rest of the decor. A transitional or functional designer says, “Let’s put that piece to use more often!”

Serving carts are a prime example of a furnishing that can be superfluous unless you’re getting more out of it than the occasional service at a party or social gathering.

7 Ideas to Make A Decorative Serving Cart More Functional

A serving cart can be attractive in its own right but, unless you’re using the piece regularly, it’s also a space hog. Here are ideas to put that piece to use.

Make it a home bar. Serving carts work great as a small home bar. Put all of the basic – or your favorite – liquors on the top, along with an ice bucket, napkins, a shaker and a glass to hold spoons or stir sticks. Put a few tumblers and wine glasses on the bottom level. Now, happy hour can migrate anywhere you want it and is at the ready when you have a visit from an impromptu guest.
A kitchen island. Have a small kitchen? Apartment, cottage or townhome dwellers find a serving cart makes a wonderful kitchen island substitute, providing extra “countertop” space for food prep and storage.
Enjoy fresh flowers. The idea of having a fresh flower arrangement on a weekly basis is lovely, the practicality is less so. It’s difficult for families to find a space where a vase of fresh flowers can sit relatively undisturbed – most of the spaces where it would rest are used on a regular basis, which makes it more of an inconvenience. Your serving cart, however, makes a perfect host for your arrangement, and when it’s tucked diagonally in a corner or along a wall, it won’t be in the way.
Craft cart for kids. No matter how hard you try, the kids’ craft supplies are rarely returned to their intended location. Why? Because kids draw on the coffee table, the dining room table, the kitchen table, on a book on the floor…etc. Purchase some attractive storage containers and make your serving cart a portable kids’ craft cart they can wheel to where its useful and then wheel back again – making it easier for the miscellaneous supplies to make it back into one spot.
Your craft cart. Do you love to scrapbook, embroider or sew? Don’t tuck those projects away in a cupboard. Instead, use the same idea as the kids’ craft cart. Organize your crafting materials in tidy, attractive storage containers and keep them out and handy so you can work on your projects more often.
Use it as an end table. If the height works with a chair or couch in your living or family room area, the cart can serve as an end table – holding a lamp, some magazines or those errant remote controls.
Plant stand. House plants add color and life to interior decors, and the right plants also improve your indoor air quality. Your serving cart will work as a plant stand. Put the pots on serving trays to protect the stand from water run off and to simplify things when it’s time to relocate the plants while you use the tray.

Shopping For Patio Furniture

November 11, 2018

April showers bring May flowers, right? That’s what we’re hoping for here in the Kristina Wolf Design studio anyway. While we’re thrilled about all the rain our state has absorbed this year, we’re ready to turn our sites on sunshiny weather – and that means more time spent in backyards and patios.

If you haven’t shopped for patio furniture lately, you might experience a bit of sticker shock; it’s an investment. Even lower-end products sold in big box gardening shops have whopping price tags. For this reason, I recommend saving up until you’re able to splurge on higher-quality products made by well-established brands. The right choice will yield furniture that lasts decades, and that beats spending money every year to replace cheaper, worn out versions.

7 Tips for Purchasing Patio Furniture

Here are 7 tips to help you make the right investment for your outdoor lifestyle.

Get your priorities straight

What are you purchasing the furniture for? This will dictate which pieces you buy. Do you dine outdoors on a regular basis? If so, a larger dining table and chairs makes sense. If not, a smaller café table with chairs will suffice and the rest of your furniture can be mix-and-match chairs and a couple of ottomans that also serve as tables or additional seating as needed.

Are you a lounger and/or is your backyard the go-to space for cocktail hour or morning coffee? In that case, a couch (which can always be pulled up to a table) and a chaise lounge or two are essential.

Make a list of which furniture gets priority so those pieces make the cut first.

Think about size

You’ll want to think about the square footage of your outdoor area and then make sure your furniture is sized according to the space.

Squeezing too much in, or placing oversized pieces in smaller spaces, yields a crowded and less relaxed energy – and that’s not the idea. Larger patios have room for furniture-style pieces while a smaller patio should feature perimeter benches and lower profile tables and chairs.

Try them on for comfort

Never purchase patio furniture you haven’t tried out on your own. Like bar stools or dining room chairs, you should be able to sit down and remain in place for at least a minute or two, so you’re absolutely sure you’re making a comfortable choice. The last thing you want is a chair that pinches thighs, tables that are too high or too low for eating or project comfort, or chair arms that are too skinny to actually support a real life arm. Don’t forget to check out adjustable chaise lounge positions to make sure the angles are all comfortable – and that you can access a completely prone position for lounging on your tummy.

Consider all-weather and storage options

Materials definitely matter for a few reasons. First, you don’t want to purchase a sturdy and heavy wrought-iron set if you’re planning to rearrange furniture on a regular basis, or if you’re going to be storing them seasonally as they are cumbersome to lift and maneuver. Similarly, you shouldn’t purchase weather-vulnerable wood furniture unless you’re committed to sealing them each year before the wet weather kicks into gear. Look for patio pieces that are inherently weather resistant and/or that are coated with high-quality protective coatings to extend their lifetime.

Really think about your outdoor lifestyle, weather you’re going to be storing furniture or not, how often it will be moved around, and the climate where you live. If you are planning to store it, have you narrowed selections to those that fold, stack or come apart easily for space efficiency? Answers to these questions will narrow your options in regards to materials and maintenance requirements.

Figure out which material makes the most sense for you

Those brand new plastic or acrylic pieces look amazing in the store, and the price may feel right, but you’re guaranteed to need new furniture within five years. Rule of thumb: always purchase from established brands to make sure you’re fully satisfied.

So, that leads to an analysis of higher-quality materials.

Wrought-iron. Beautiful and long lasting. Also very heavy and can be ruthless when it comes to stubbed toes and shins. Look for powder-coated, UV-resistant finishes, rust-proof hardware, and seamless welds.
Aluminum. Yields a high-quality look but is much lighter-weight. Again, you’re looking for powder-coated, UV-resistant finishes, rust-proof hardware, and seamless welds.
Recycled plastics or polymers. Unlike the cheaper plastic options, these are thick, heavy and durable. Consumers also like the rounded and more sculpted (mid-century modern) style available from these moldable materials. Look for UV-stabilizing pigments to prevent fading.
Wood. Only purchase patio furniture made from denser wood such as eucalyptus, teak or Shorea wood (looks like teak but is much cheaper). Almost all other wood products need to be sealed every year – and the reality is that most homeowners don’t do it. Look for wood furniture that isn’t glued together.

Purchase covers or a stylish storage shed

Even the most weather-resistant patio furniture materials last longer when it’s protected. If you aren’t planning on storing furniture, purchase heavy-duty covers from the manufacture so they fit well.

Pay attention to warranty information

Do pay attention to warranty information, particularly information pertaining to the furniture’s structural integrity. While paint and coatings are relatively easy to replace, your furniture’s structure should come with respectable warranty protection so you can rest easy – physically, mentally and financially.

Comfortable, high-quality patio furniture is the foundation for years of outdoor memory making with family and friends. Designing an outdoor living space that suits your interests and lifestyles – optimizes your outdoor space.

Making Your Shelves The Most Interesting Piece In The Room

November 9, 2018

Shelves are made to be utilitarian, which is fine. But, with the right eye and a little creativity, they can become utilitarian works of art – or, at the very least – utilitarian accents that enhance an interior design.

9 Ways to Make Shelves Stand Out

Here are 9 Ideas for replacing existing shelves, or updating the ones you want to keep, so shelves do more than just “hold stuff.” Give them something to brag about while they’re at it…

Make them disappear. Here’s an idea for the modernist as well as the decorator who appreciates a little whimsy. Purchase metal L-Brackets at the hardware store. Then mount them about 10-inches to 12-inches apart- or as far apart as some of your largest, hardly-read books. Then, stack the large book on the bottom (forming the shelf) with smaller books stacked on top. The effect is a floating stack of books on the wall.
Put an old ladder to work. Have a loft or industrial-style space? Find an old antique ladder and paint it any color you like. Then, open it up against a wall and run planks of wood, metal or whatever hard material appeals to you (thick glass with dulled edges would be awesome too) through both sides of the ladder.
Don’t forget the white space. One of the biggest mistakes most of us make is overcrowding shelves so they become a boring, non-stop run of books and/or cluttered with curios. Don’t forget the white space. From books to collectibles, shelves will always look cleaner and more interesting if you leave some gaps in between things.
Wallpaper them. Budget designers can turn ugly, old wooden shelves into works of art by wallpapering them top and bottom. You can often find old scraps of wallpaper for cheap, but even purchasing it new will cost less than $50, depending on how many shelves you have. This is idea is especially attractive for shelves that are higher up, because the undersides of the shelves add unobtrusive color and interest.
Old crates or boxes. Sand, finish or repaint old wooden boxes or crates. Even old dresser drawers or file drawers will work. They can be mounted on the wall like a curio cabinet individually or in unique arrangements.
Display collections. We posted an entire piece on how to display your collections. Interspersing a collection amidst books or designating “display” shelves is a smart way to add interest to various rooms in your house.
Use rough planks. I love the look of thick, natural wooden planks that keep the edges of the tree in their natural curvature. They work wonderfully for mantel tops and also as shelves. Have a small entryway? Use a thick wooden plank or two, hung above the height where it would knock ahead, to display some curios.
Stack antique benches. Most plain, wood benches are about the same depth as substantial shelving, which makes this a smart way to convert antique benches into shelves. You can stack them, bracing them for safety to make a bolder statement. A distressed look is always appreciated and it’s just fine to mix-and-match colors.
Use art. Shelves are a great place to display some of your art, especially smaller pieces that can get lost on a wall by themselve. Instead, you can show them off – and create a little of that aforementioned shelf space – by using a shelf to prop them up against the wall. Even larger works of art will look stunning this way if the shelf and space accommodate them.

Got The Winter Blues? Try Rearranging The Furniture!

September 4, 2018

Days of endless wind and rain make us all a little crazy this time of year. When I start to feel that restless itch, I know exactly what to do –use cooped up weekend days to rearrange things.

When I was a girl, my friends and I loved rearranging our rooms. Together, we saw possibilities we couldn’t envision on our own. This yielded creative, fresh arrangements of furniture, stuffed animals, and posters. It was my first time to experience a bed that was placed kitty-corner in a corner, for example, rather than along a wall.

Rearranging a bedroom was fine for that era of my life, but these days, I love rearranging a home. By looking all of your furnishings from a different perspective, your session will be more thorough and will result in more creative layouts and arrangements.

Tips For Rearranging the Furnishings in Your Home

Here are some of my tips for rearranging the furnishings in your home. In many cases, you’ll feel you’ve benefitted from a mini-remodel since things will look and feel so different. And, the best part about it – you don’t have to spend a single dime.

Tackle the de-cluttering projects first

First, it’s wise to get serious about de-cluttering. If you have accumulated “stuff” throughout your home, it will stymie your rearranging process. Piles here and piles there need to be dealt with before certain furniture pieces can be moved.

Believe me, when I say, this will take the wind right out of your sails. Come Monday, you’ll be sitting around with a bunch of furniture slid this way and that, piles of junk laying around – and no time to do anything about it. Instead, take the weekend before your rearranging project to eliminate the clutter. Read, A Guide to What Stays and What Goes, to help you sort through things.

Get out the extra paint cans

Once you start moving furniture and art, you’ll notice the walls are a bit dingier, dinged up, scuffed or faded than you realized. By having your extra paint cans and brushes at the ready, you’ll be able to do touch-up work in the moment, rather than having to scramble to find what you need.

If you’re thinking about re-painting, this is an optimal time to do it. Once the sun returns, you’ll want to head outside and latent paint projects will languish for another year. Hit the paint stores and start dreaming –using the time you have with furniture pulled away from the walls to slap on the paint or wallpaper you’ve been dreaming about.

Enlist the help of a savvy design friend

We all have them. Those friends with a great eye, always able to make something out of nothing. While your attempts at thrift-store shabby-chic wound up looking just-plain-shabby, theirs could grace the cover of Country Living.

This is the friend you want to have over for tea or lunch while you discuss your plans. His or her eyes will light up and the energy will begin to crackle with excitement. Ah, yes! The possibilities will now be revealed to you.

Don’t get locked into individual rooms

Obviously, beds and significant dressers are going to remain in the bedrooms, but don’t get stuck on a particular room’s furniture or items as having to remain in that room. Instead, try to see your home as a blank canvas and act as if all of your furnishings were sitting out on the front lawn in a big heap. These furnishings are your oyster and your mission is to re-think them – and your living space – in a new light.

So, that desk in the guest room may be the perfect new TV stand for the living room – or perhaps it would work in a corner as a display space for your indoor terrarium. The wood TV tray you keep tucked in a closet might become the perfect corner bar in your formal living room. Perhaps it’s time to find a new way to orient couches and chairs, swapping the wingback in the master bedroom for a chaise lounge you used in the living room.

Don’t be afraid to unload things

Sometimes, we cart things around with us for the simple reason that they’re ours. But they might not really work in our lives. We once had a very attractive and even comfortable loveseat in our family room. The problem was, nobody ever really sat on it. Finally, we realized, “this room would have a whole lot more space if we simply got rid of that!”

So we did, and we moved a lower-profile chair from the guest room in its place. We wound up with two rooms – the family room and the living room – that felt more spacious and we ended up cash positive to boot from the money we got for the loveseat.

Create your own gallery or collection wall

Once you begin rearranging, you may find you have enough miscellaneous art tucked away – or formerly on display around the house – that you can create a beautiful gallery wall. This will come in handy if you wind up with more blank wall space than you used to have when Furniture A moves from here to there. Similarly, your new arrangement might allow you the chance to display your collections in a way that does them justice – pulling them out of hidden corners and into the forefront.

Are you inspired or what? Rearranging your home is a wonderful way to embrace a new year and whole new outlook.

Making A Student-Centric Study Area In Your Home

July 9, 2018

Time flies doesn’t it? One minute you’re helping your baby learn how to walk, the next minute she’s in Kindergarten and before you know it – homework becomes an everyday event. One of the best things you can do to foster a reverence for learning is to create a customized study area for your children.

Not only does this begin to build an academic culture in your home, when done right, it also creates a soothing and distraction-free area where children can focus on their studies.

Your study area can arise just about anywhere, as long as there’s enough room for an uncluttered working space. Perhaps you’ve decided to add a message center or small home office space in the kitchen, or maybe you have a corner of a living room or the child’s bedroom that you can carve out.

I’ve found that creating a small work or study space in a guest room space can be a good idea. Getting the child out of their room and into a quieter, “special” space can help them focus on their work. In any case, here are the basics for making a study area where your child can get to work.

Study your child. We are all very different when it comes to how we work and study best. Make sure you create a study space that is tailored to your child’s needs, and not your own. For example, some people work best in absolute quiet and silence, while others actually do best with a little background music or hubbub around them. Some need to sit still while others (kinesthetic learners and higher-energy children) need to wiggle a bit. Your child’s learning style and studying preferences should lead the way.
Choose the space. Obviously your home will be a great predictor of where this space will be. If you have a small townhome or apartment, using a spare room is probably out of the question. But your goal should be to find a space that can accommodate a small desk or work surface, an appropriate chair or yoga ball (more on that later) and the essential work tools. You also want to take things like sound and lighting into the equation.
Choose the furniture. Make sure the workspace is ergonomically comfortable for your child. Typically, the work surface should be about waist-height and the chair should be one that fits your child well (no dangling feet!). If your child likes to wiggle, consider using a yoga ball or swivel chair, so they can move a bit as they work. Motion anchors thought for kinesthetic learners and many younger, active children – so if they can’t more or wiggle a bit while they work, they’ll have a difficult time concentrating and staying on task.
Eliminate clutter. Clutter is the enemy in any home design. It’s distracting and confusing. It tires the eyes and the mind. Your child will be particularly susceptible to clutter so a designated homework station should house only the necessary items – paper, pencils, pens, dictionary, and the homework at hand. Even markers, staplers, tape, glue, etc. should be stored in an accessible drawer or cupboard until they are needed.
Keep supplies stored close. If you use a table, rather than a desk, make sure the cursory homework supplies are stored within arm’s reach, if possible. Every time your child has to leave the area to get something, or get up to ask you where something is located, takes his/her mind off the task at hand.
Create space for organization. For the most part, organization is a learned skill. You can facilitate that skill in your children by teaching and implementing organizational tricks. Use a large wall-calendar to track and organize homework assignments and test days. If the homework area is in a family room or living room, you can use a desktop calendar instead so it doesn’t take up wall space. Make sure there’s a large, easy-to-read clock somewhere close so they can keep themselves on schedule. In and out boxes can help both of you keep on track of what needs to be looked at and/or signed and what is ready to be returned to the teacher.
Sanctify Homework Time. Finally, you lead the way and set the tone, so do your part by making homework time a sacred time in the household. The TV should be off, cell phones should be placed on silent (the child should not have access to their cell phone until homework is complete), social media interactions are put on hold, older or younger children should be equally beholden to respecting the homework space and quiet time, etc. The less distractions the better so you child can really sink into the work and do their very best.