Monday, June 16, 2008

Give Your Bedroom A Makeover With Modern Furniture

There might come a time that our bedroom might look dreary and worn out. The design may have been too common for your taste, or you might have gotten used to it over the years.

Our bedroom must be comfortable in both style and design. The rest and relaxation you will be getting from it depends on its overall theme and the furniture you plan to put in it. If you think that you need to give your bedroom a makeover, then it might be a fine time to introduce to it the concept of modern furniture.

The Modern Bed

Modern furniture designs vary both in theme and style; assorted designs of beds, nightstands, cabinets, mirrors, dressing tables, and so on. Choosing one will depend on what kind of theme you want to use on your bedroom, so it's best to choose well.

The main furniture in a bedroom is, of course, the bed. You need to pick one that will provide the most comfortable experience, as well as the style that will add to your overall Zen. The latest trend is the platform bed, traditional ones or the more modern design.

For a start, you need to take into consideration the space of your bedroom. If you are living in a single-family home, an apartment, or a condo, then you better look for the space-saving variety. The latest designs are those that provide maximum bedroom space, such as the wall variety or the ceiling variety.

The wall variety can be pushed into the wall when you don't need them, or pulled down when you do. The modern ceiling-type uses an elevator-like function that is attached directly on your ceiling. Both can be transformed to free valuable bedroom space, as well as the comfort when you use them.

Futuristic Design

Other variety of modern beds combines both entertainment and comfort. Futuristic designs of platform beds include their own version of entertainment systems like televisions and movie theaters. Some of them incorporate a flat screen TV instead of a headboard with a canopy to provide proper lighting. Others have their own TV attachment at the foot of the bed where it can be slid up and down, and a rotating panel to adjust the view.

A movie theater combo platform bed incorporates a headboard stand that can be used to place your DVD systems or game console. The flat screen television is hidden on the foot of the bed, which will slide up with a push of a button.

You don't have to rush when you purchase a platform bed to give your room a makeover. Try to get as much ideas as possible from magazines, bedroom furniture catalogs, home improvement magazines, or even from the Internet. The main point here is to fit the design of the bed with the overall feel of the room for maximum rest and relaxation.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Designing the Perfect TV Stand

TV's were becoming pretty cheap, however with new HDTV sets appearing the price seems to be creeping up. The designs do look pretty stylish though! Problem is that all of the accessories are also creeping up in price, particularly TV stands. If you don't agree with spending a couple of hundred dollars on a simple stand then there are some alternatives.

You can purchase a simple TV stand made out of steel for just $100. They are very strong and can be purchased in a number of different sizes which are suitable for many different sizes of TV. These are very easy to make and even if your DIY skills are nonexistent you shouldn't have any problems. Most of these have space for a DVD, cable box and of course the TV. You may not need a cable box as many of the new TV's contain a slot for a cable decoder card.

Most steel TV stands hold up to 90KG, which should be more than enough for most models of TV. If you like the modern simplistic look then you'll appreciate the design of this stand. You should choose a Plexiglas or acrylic shelf instead of glass as they are much safer.

You could build your own wooden TV stand, there are lots of plans that you can find on the interest. One easy to build wooden cabinet is below.

Buy two planks of cedar, 3ft by 2ft; it should be around an inch thick. Cedar is a very beautiful wood which doesn't require any staining.

Start by cutting a curved pattern to the planks at the bottom. This curve improves the design and also makes the design stronger. You must ensure the edges are smooth by sanding them down.

You should make grooves in the planks which are around half an inch thick so that you can attach the shelves. Make sure you make enough grooves for your DVD and cable box. You can make these grooves easily by using a router, or if you want the old fashioned method then you can just use a gouging tool.

Depending on the size of your set purchase shelves which are cut to the right size. You should use wooden shelves to keep the same style throughout the stand. You could use glass or metal if you want. The shelves just need to be slid into the carcass. Add strength using some screws under the shelves.

If you don't fancy making grooves then you could consider drilling holes and using pins to support the shelves. You can get metal pins which are idea, but they are a little difficult to find!

Wires are ugly and so you will want to hide them out of sight. To achieve this attach a strip along both sides of the cabinet. The cables can be run down the back of these panels which will keep them out of view. If you fancy you can keep them in place with the cable pins.

You can just go out to the shop to buy a stand for your TV, but making one yourself can be much more fun! It's quite cheap, plus you get a unique piece of furniture which nobody else will have.

A Mattress - Your Most Valuable Home Investment

Honestly, how productive you think you were today at work? Do you think you could have performed a lot better if you have had more time to sleep the night before? -- most people will answer yes to these questions without giving much thought to them, it is because it is very common to lower our performance at anything we do if we haven't had a proper night sleep.

Sleep deprivation is not something to brag about, the fact that you have spent too much time awake when you should have been resting only shows that you have a disorder which will affect your cognitive abilities and memory. In some cases people get sleep deprivation because they don't have the right mattress, owning a mattress which will make you feel comfortable and provide a good night sleep is absolutely crucial if you want to be successful at anything you do, this is because when you get a good night sleep you are more alert, your cognitive abilities improve and you are able to respond more efficiently to any problem.

It is said that a mattress is perhaps the most important investment that you could do because if you purchased a good one you will be able to rest properly and therefore you will become more productive, having a good mattress can improve your health and solve back pain problems. People spend one third of their lives lying on a mattress, this may sound like wasted time however, during this time our body performs maintenance functions which will allow us to perform our daily tasks without any problem.

When it comes to mattress there are several materials which are used to manufacture them, one of the most important ones is foam, according to the future are going to give this mattress the thickness of the foam will vary, foam with standard thickness is used to manufacture a mattress which is comparable to the models found in places such as IKEA, reflex foam mattress are different because they are able to emulate the feeling of a sprung mattress.

Among the most popular type of foam we have the one which is referred to as memory or Tempur material, NASA played a big role in the development of this particular type of mattress, the material was originally used in order to protect astronauts from gravitational or G-forces which could harm their bodies when they were about to enter our atmosphere. Memory foam is able to take shape of our body and act as the most versatile material which offers no resistance or points of pressure which might make a person uncomfortable during a good night sleep.