Turning an Old Dresser Into a Display Cabinet

By turning what is old into something new again cannot only be a money saver, it can also be away to avoid taking your old dresser to the local landfill and become a bit more environmentally friendly.

The first step into giving an old dresser a new look is adding a fresh coat of paint or stain. For those that like a country or shabby chic look, a coat of white or light blue paint can do the trick. Many prefer to give it a more rustic look be adding a stain or wash of color that allows some of the natural wood color to peek through. Maybe you want a more modern or contemporary look to give to an old dresser. Black or red lacquer can turn a dresser into just that with a few strokes of a paintbrush.

Replacing knobs and handles can help complete the look of a new paint or stain job on a dresser. To get a shabbier chic look, try finding old handles and knobs that are ornate and remember, they do not have to match. This adds a unique twist to the overall look. Brushed chrome or nickel knobs and handles in a more streamline design are great for dressers that are painted with a lacquer finish.

Some dressers have open shelves that make a great place to show off unique pieces of pottery or art pieces. To make them more appealing, cover the shelves with contact paper or old wallpaper to add more visual interest to the whole piece. Another way to make more display areas in an old dresser is to replace the solid doors with glass doors. If new glass doors are not in your budget, just take the doors off for more display areas in the dresser. By attaching mosaic tiles onto the center of the doors will also add a variation in colors, designs and textures to the dresser doors too.

If the dresser has a mirror attached to it, why not etch a design onto the glass to match your décor. Painting the mirror with a design can also enhance the total look of the dresser. For those that want to display an old post card collection or photos, the mirror will make the perfect display case. Just tape them on with specialty paper tape to keep from damaging the post cards and or pictures.

Changing the legs or height of the dresser can be easy. By sawing the legs off evenly can change the whole look of a dresser. If you would like the dresser a little higher, new legs can be screwed on and painted to match the whole piece. Just make sure that they are even to prevent the dresser from falling over or looking lop-sided.

Making an old dresser into a display cabinet can be not only a great way to redecorate a home; it is a way to recycle furniture. With new paint and a few embellishments can change the ordinary into the extraordinary that will become an instant conversation piece in any home.

Ways to Care for Leather Furniture

Leather furniture could be a good choice when you are on the lookout for suitable furniture to spruce up your living room. You can choose from a wide range of leather standalone pieces, sofas, love-seats, chairs and recliners that are available in an exhaustive range of styles and colors. Leather furniture, typically, requires less maintenance and can greatly handle spills and stains.

However, you need to take some measures so that your leather furniture keeps looking new for years. Here are some of them.

Clean stains immediately

Make sure you clean a spill immediately. Should the stain get time to sink, it could become more stubborn to clean. Besides, it has a high chance of reappearing some months later. Blot the stain lightly using a soft towel or cloth. Avoid smearing and rubbing the spill. This would spread it. In fact, it's best to clean spills on leather with mild soap and warm water. Don't use any strong cleaning chemical that could contain bleach, solvents or acids. Avoid commercially available cleaners as they aid in rapid re-soiling.

Avoid direct sunlight

Exposing your leather furniture to constant and direct sunlight could cause the tan of the leather to fade over time. It's best to place leather furniture under a shaded area inside the room and have the curtains drawn, should the furniture come under direct sunlight.

Avoid direct heat

Make sure that your leather furniture is placed away from heat sources like furnace vents. Exposure to strong heat can cause the leather to dry out and make it vulnerable to splits and cracks. It's advisable to keep the furniture at least a couple of feet away from possibly harmful heat sources.

Avoid air pollutants

Never expose the furniture to any potentially harmful air pollutant like cigarette smoke or excessive cleaning fumes. Air pollutants often change or fade the color of the furniture and even distort the leather in other ways.

Dust regularly

Keep the leather furniture free from debris by dusting at least once each week. Do this by wiping the furniture with a dry, soft cloth or using a vacuum cleaner gently. Make sure you dust the crevices and under the cushions where dust and dirt is more likely to accumulate. Dusting regularly would prevent your furniture from any long-term damage and the furniture would look like new for years to come.

Avoid exposure to harmful objects

Avoid exposing your furniture to any object that may puncture or scratch the leather like needles, pens, animal claws etc. Though a small scratch is simple to repair, large rips can cause lifetime damage to your leather furniture. It's also unwise to avoid leaving newspapers and magazines on the leather as the ink could bleed and leave behind marks on the leather's surface.

If properly cared, leather furniture can last for decades, looking as good as new. However, most of us tend to overlook the simple maintenance that such furniture calls for. Following the above simple steps will make your leather furniture keep looking, smelling and feeling new.

Memory Foam Mattresses - The Future of Comfort Is Here

Have you ever experienced those annoying back pains right after waking up? And no matter what position you assume at night, the end result remains the same. Well now, you don't have to worry about waking up to the feeling of being run over by an 18 wheeler truck. Memory foam mattresses are here to make your trips to dreamland seem like an uninterrupted weekend getaway.

This type of mattress technology was originally developed in the 1970's by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as a means of improving safety provisions within aircrafts. Initially, memory foam is a product made up of polyurethane. And through the years the technology was further enhanced with the addition of several chemicals which maximizes its viscosity (ability of the material to adjust to stress) and its density. But due to the increasing costs of production, this technology wasn't available to the consuming public until the late 1990's.

Since the turn of the millennium, this foam technology has been reproduced with continuously decreasing prices to fit the need of even the most financially cautious consumer.

But what makes memory foam mattresses so special that you'd want to get one for yourself?

Compared to traditional mattresses and adjustable beds, this new technology provides optimum comfort for absolutely anyone. No longer would you have to stick to flat mattresses that hurt your back or worry about adjusting the form of the bed when you feel like shifting to a new position. With Memory Foam, the mattress adjusts to you. Yes, you heard it right. The mattress adjusts to the contour of your body. So whatever position you want to take, the bed will fit itself to your needs.

With the miracle of memory foam technology, pillows and mattresses don't assume a single form. This technology works similar to the concept of molding clay except that it incorporates comfort as its main feature. As you lie down to rest, the memory foam mattresses would take the form of your body where pressure is often felt (the back of the head, shoulders, and your lower back) and accommodates the contours thereby relieving such pressures. This makes the technology perfect for practically anybody. Since, a consumer no longer has to worry about finding the perfect bed; instead, the bed adjusts itself to be perfect for you.

One more feature about memory foam mattresses is that you don't have to worry about it assuming a single position after molding itself, because it always reverts back to its original form ready to take on new sleeping positions on demand.