Furniture Reporter

: :          : :

Today I gave away four nearly-new wooden barstools away.  Posted on Craigslist and got 5 enthusiastic responses.  Matt from Guernville came to get them.  Nice guy - didn’t get to say goodby.  Enjoy Matt!!  I have given away items ranging from a boxspring mattress to moving boxes to clothing on Craigslist - and got some of my fave pieces of furniture there.   Think Pottery Barn Chair-and-a-Half.  Oh yeah. What a way to recycle and make other people happy.  It can also be a frustrating experience of no-shows and strange strangers.  Using Craigslist is a big lesson in trust and goodwill.  Thanks for those lessons Craig!

These barstools were inherited with my home.  I loathed them so much that I nearly put them in the dumpster.  That wouldn’t be too responsible of me.  I’m glad I didn’t do anything like that on impulse as this was much more satisfying.

: :          : :

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving already.  Can you believe it?  I had a very generous invitation from some friends who normally host the orphans and stragglers for the holidays.  This year, their friends are hosting.  So really, I am dropping into a Thanksgiving party by an invitation once removed.  In the past, I would never do such a thing!  But my ego is softened and my heart & my head are more open than they used to be.  Take me a dozen years ago - I was so shy, I would never even think about it.  People don’t believe me . . . even those who knew me back then . . . so I don’t try to convince anybody of that fact anymore.  A thanks in advance to the strangers having me for dinner. I look forward to breaking bread with you.

: :          : :

So you’ve decided to Go Green.

And by going “Green” I don’t mean dying your hair like some of the kids we see walking around. You’ve turned down the thermostat, installed compact fluorescent light bulbs and even started riding your bike to work and started eating better.

Whether it’s for environmental or economic reasons, millions of people are making the change to a more ecologically sound way of living. Not only do environmentally-conscious actions help to make the world a cleaner place, they can also help to save you some of that green in your wallet. Unfortunately, for many people, being environmentally conscious stops at their own backyard.

What do I mean?

One of the biggest expenses for any backyard or patio is outdoor furniture, and for the most part, this furniture is constructed of wood or metals, such as aluminum or wrought iron. In one way or another, whether it be from the deforestation of trees or the use of chemicals in the manufacture and painting of outdoor furniture, the production of patio furniture products can be very harmful.

If you are looking for a more environmentally sound solution for your own backyard or garden setting, you may want to consider recycled plastic wood patio furniture. Recycled plastic outdoor furniture offers a cornucopia of benefits for consumers that are helping to make recycled plastic the fastest growing material for patio furniture.

What is Recycled plastic Furniture?

Excellent question. Most recycled plastic patio furniture is made from HDPE, or High-Density Polyethylene, which is made mainly from recycled plastic milk bottles. HDPE is used in a variety of commercial and residential applications, including decking, railing, and public park furniture. Recycled plastic offers a number of benefits to consumers.

• Long lasting. Recycled plastic patio furniture will last for years. Test results have shown that recycled plastic lumber products will last over 400 years with hardly any degradation.
• Vibrant color. Recycled plastic wood products offer a wide array of colors that will not wear or chip like painted wood or metal patio furniture. This is because the colors of recycled plastic lumber are impregnated into the material during manufacture.
• Maintenance Free. Unlike wood or metal patio furniture, recycled plastic requires very little maintenance throughout its life. In fact, most recycled plastic furniture is resistant to staining and graffiti, requiring only minor scrubbing with soap or a little solvent to remove unwanted stains.
• Affordability. Recycled plastic outdoor furniture is very comparable in price top traditional materials. Over time, however, the need to purchase new furniture or pieces of wood or metal patio furniture will far surpass the single recycled furniture purchase.

And best of all, recycled plastic patio furniture is available in all the popular outdoor furniture styles. Whether you are searching for a new patio dining set, lounge set, Adirondack chair or even a luxury dog house for man’s best friend; recycled plastic outdoor furniture will help you be as ecologically conscious as possible

I gave a seminar at the Central Exchange for 50 women last week. The topic was “Help, I Want to Decorate My Home, But how can I do that in today’s Economy?” I gave many of the design tips I give in my blog. I had many of the women contact me to say thanks. I gave them concrete ideas and gave them much to think about. I know that we all want to make changes in our homes, but we are not sure that we can do them to the extent we would have a year ago. We can have a design plan and budget, and know which direction we want to go, and make the changes slowly. For instance, we do not have to change all the appliances at one time. We can change them slowly as they no longer work or serve us in the way we would like them to work. When we lived in Europe, the philosophy there is that you loved what you purchased and you lived with it for a long time. They purchased good quality and they were both happy and proud of what they bought. We paid cash for every purchase and therefore planned a long time ahead for every major purchase.

With my clients I would prefer to wait and have the budget and styles designed & specified and then make the purchases over a period of time. It is easy to go out and buy cheap furniture because we want it now, but it does not last and many times we realize that if we had waited and planned and saved we could have purchased what we really wanted. I remember my father saying to me “We don’t remember what the cost difference was; we remember that we didn’t get what we really wanted”.

Visit DesignConnectionInc.com

Have a great Thanksgiving,

Arlene

THE biggest, the best and the only fully comprehensive online directory featuring hand picked brands & companies from the kids fashion, decor, furniture, interiors, photography, design and graphics industries.

Skout Trade Fair Kids Products Directory is part of Skout Trade Fair - the only online network for kids industry members.

Learn to reupholster furniture so that one day I can have gorgeous chairs like this one via Absolutely Beautiful Things (I’m serious):