Tips on Buying a Wood Bed

Wood is durable and elegant too. You don't need to take intense care of wooden products and the most important fact is that wood can be given many shapes and can be decorated through innumerable means. Perhaps that's why we all love to have wooden furniture all around our homes. If you are planning to buy wooden beds for your bedroom, kids room or guest room, just browse through the following tips before going out to buy one.

• First of all make a layout of the room where you wish to place your new wooden bed. Accordingly decide upon the size of the bed- will it only support a single bed or king/queen beds also?
• Next, measure the height of your door, if you are satisfied with the fact that a king sized bed will go into your room, your door must definitely be high enough to bring in the large bed.
• If anyway, your room and door supports your decision of buying a big wooden bed, don't just go out and buy it. Ponder upon the other facts too- do you need a big bed? Won't a single bed enough for your needs? If you want to place some other furniture like wooden sofa or a wooden cabinet in the room, will the big bed leave enough space for them to fit? After finding all these answers, go ahead with your plan of buying the right size of the wooden bed.
• Next comes the purpose of buying a bed. If you are buying it for your guest room, it definitely needs to be large enough to accommodate more than one person. However, if you are buying it for your kids room, think twice before going for a big bed. A single bed is good enough for your child.
• If your kids room is smaller than the normal size and you have more than one child, you can even buy bunk bed for you kids. This will save space and will be attractive for them too.
• If you are planning to buy a wooden bed for your bedroom, you can give a thought to platform beds that have inbuilt storage space in them. You can store all your beddings and even other things in them. They are great for smaller apartments too. Know all the types of wooden beds for taking an informed decision.
• Always check the bed frames- their strength and joints- all should be perfect as it will support all the weights put on the bed.
• Give attention to the theme of your home decor too. If your interior is decorated traditionally or in country manner, you can even go for an antique wooden bed or antique reproductions but if all your other furniture have contemporary look, its better to buy a bed that has clean angular lines.
• Match the color of new wooden beds with the color of all the other furniture in the room.

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How to Renovate an Old Wooden Chair?

We all have wooden furniture in our homes. If nothing, everyone must be possessing one from among many types of wood chairs. If one of your wooden chairs is in such a condition that it can't be used further, you can revamp it to get a new chair. Chair renovation will not only save you money but also do a favor to the environment. You'll get a new cheap chair which is a fine piece of eco-friendly furniture too! Here is the step-by-step instruction for renovating your old wooden chair into a brand new upholstered chair.

• Get the required material for your DIY project of chair renovation. You will need wood glue and clamps; a staplegun; some filling material (batting) like cotton, wool, synthetic fibers etc. or a foam cushion; upholstery fabric-5 inch larger than the foam cushion; fine-grit sandpaper; some paint or stain; and of course, the old wooden chair.
• Remove any screw that is still there on the chair. Also pull out the parts that are no longer strong enough to support the chair.
• Make the chair as strong as you can by reassembling the parts (that you had earlier pulled apart) with glue and clamps and then putting the screws back from where you disassembled them.
• If you plan to stain the wood, take out all the paint with the help of sandpaper. However, if you wish to paint your old furniture chair, you don't need to sand it down to the wood.
• Wipe the chair with a damp cloth and let it dry.
• If staining, apply the wood stain with a piece of cloth evenly over the whole chair. Apply stain  everywhere, even in the cracks. Apply two coats of stain to get a perfect even surface.
• If painting, apply the paint on the chair with even strokes of a small brush. Here also, you may need two coats of paint to get an even surface.
• Take the wood base of the cushion and set it on some thick batting. Now trace around the wooden seat form and lift the batting, upside down, onto the fabric. Put the wood on top to make a batting sandwich and then pull the fabric towards yourself. Staple on the underside of the seat platform. Staple it tightly across the top surface. Trim the extra fabric from the bottom and turn it over.
• If you want, you can even make another thinner cushion for the chair back (to be tied on at the top and bottom of the back). Alternatively, take the fabric(whatever is left) and make a simple pillow case. Slip it over the back and secure with a sash tied from front to back with a large bow behind it!

Your all renovated eco-friendly new upholstered wooden chair is all ready to be used!

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Home Decor: Creative Uses of Wooden Trays

You have been using wooden trays for serving. If not, you might be using them for storing items like cutlery, cups, mugs etc. There are different types of wooden trays available these days and you are making use of them in various ways but what do you do with these trays when they become old and you get bored with them? Do you either push them into garage storage or sell them off as scrap? Whatever you have been doing with them, there are many creative ways to use these wooden trays. In fact, they are so innovative and beautiful ways that you would be tempted to bring new unfinished wooden trays and apply these techniques to satisfy the creative soul in you. Here are some novel ways to use wooden trays that I found on net while searching!

Room Divider

Make a folding screen or room divider by using some decorative trays. You will need three or four shelving units that are hinged together. Just fasten the trays onto the units and your room divider is ready.

Multi Level Side Table

If you need a side table with multiple levels, use trays for making one. Take three or four trays and wooden dowels having thickness of about one inch. Cut them into needed size. Drill holes in the corner of each tray and into the ends of the dowels. Then fasten the dowels to trays by using threaded rods. Screw wooden balls on top rod to give a finished look to the table.

Table Centerpiece

Take a wooden tray and fill its bottom with a layer of sand. Now take some decorated pillar candles and votive candles and arrange them in a beautiful pattern in the center of the tray. Now decorate the fringes with any of the materials of your choice- it can be pebbles, berries, gourds, bamboo sticks, anything! Place it on table and make it a delightful experience for your guests.

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