Spring Cleaning

When the weather starts to get warmer, people long for a clean, fresh house to match the fresh outdoors! Don't get caught off guard. Be prepared for the warm weather by starting your Spring Cleaning early! Follow these steps to get a jump-start on spring, and shake off that winter dirt!

Plan your attack. Don't plan on doing it all in one day. Make a list of tasks for each room. Talk to your family about your plans and get them involved, too. Assign each person an area and a day, so they know in advance. Clean the woodwork and corners, clean the windows inside and out, and clean drapes. Dust lamps, accessories, electronics and pictures frames. Start tackling your laundry. Enlist family members to help out folding and putting away!

Store away all of the winter clothes. Donate any clothes that are in good condition and won't fit next year. Store all of the winter boots and jackets, too. Make sure everything is clean and dry before storing. Sort through your cabinets and drawers, get rid of or donate anything you haven't used in the last year. Wipe out the bottom of each drawer and cabinet. Clean out your office. Go through your inbox, sift through your papers and get rid of the clutter. Prep your outdoors for the warm weather. Check your patio furniture and clean if needed. Check your lawn mower, start to clean up your flowerbed, and clean out the garage.

Every time you finish something on your list, take pride in crossing it out. Spring-cleaning doesn't have to be the dreaded chore it sounds like when it's broken down into manageable pieces. Set achievable goals and you'll be done in no time. Now for the most important part, remember to reward yourself after each milestone…grab some hot chocolate and go for a walk with your sweetie, take a long hot bath in your freshly cleaned tub, or put up your feet and watch a movie.

How to Hang a Picture

You’ve found the right art, you’ve found the right spot and now it’s time to display your beautiful piece for all to see. First, check your hanging surface. If your work of art is a large heavy piece that is going on drywall, you may want to use two picture hooks to make sure it gets plenty of support. Drywall, the most common surface, it is also the softest and inserting a picture hook is fairly uncomplicated. However, because drywall is the softest, it is recommended that you use an electronic ‘stud finder’ to locate a vertical beam of wood in the wall and hang your picture there, using a screw instead of a nail.
For bigger pictures hung on drywall, a fastener may be required. Besides using two picture hooks, a more reliable way to provide support is to install a toggle bolt. A toggle bolt has ‘wings’ that slide through a hole drilled into the wall and expands after it has been pushed through. It grips the wall from the inside as it is tightened.

Although plaster tends to hold fasteners better than drywall, when it comes to plaster, forget about the nail and hammer. You’ll want to drill a hole and use a wall anchor in this case. A wall anchor is a sleeve inserted into a drilled hole that will expand as a screw is driven into it. This will give a little extra grip in supporting the frame and makes sure the screw doesn’t slip back out. Brick or masonry will be the same as plaster- except this time; a little bit of epoxy might be inserted into the drilled hole. When you insert the screw or hook this time, be sure it is large enough to support the weight you need. Once it goes in and the epoxy dries, it’s not going to easily come back out.

Now that you have decided on the location your art should hang, it’s time to take a look at the wire that will be supporting the weight of the frame. The heavier the frame the, thicker the gauge of wire needed. This wire should then be attached to screw eyes, which are driven into the wood of the frame about 2/3 up from the bottom. The wire should extend up into the middle of the space between the top of the frame and the screw eyes. If you can see the wire over the top of the frame, you’ve gone too high. This is where it can be really handy to have a second person’s help. While the other person holds the frame up to the wall, you can stand back and decide which height is best to display your picture and then mark the wall lightly with a pencil at the top center of the frame. Flipping the frame over, push the wire on the back of the picture up towards the top of the frame and measure the distance from the peak of the wire to the top of the frame. Then take the same measurement and mark an X below your marker line on the wall. Now hang your picture and, with the help of a level, adjust it to your taste. If the picture seems too high or too low, adjust the wire on the back of the picture to achieve the desired result. Now your favorite art piece or your family picture is ready and on display for all to admire!

The Unrecliner

When choosing a recliner, you no longer have to choose from a limited number of styles. Today, you can find a recliner in any style to go with your existing décor. You can also find recliners that are useful for medical conditions such as limited mobility or back problems. Recliner can rock, recline, swivel, massage, and lift, or simply look fabulous while also providing the most comfortable seat in the whole house. When it comes to recliners one size does not fit all, but you can easily find one that fits your individual needs.

A rocker recliner does exactly what the name says. It rocks and reclines. Wall hugger recliners take up less space, and are a good choice when you have a smaller room. Most recliners are available as both wall huggers and rocker recliners. A lift chair is usually recommended by physicians for people having limited capacity to use their legs. It is especially useful for someone with weak knees. Lift Chairs come in different shapes and sizes, so it is easy to find one to fit every body type. Massage recliners sometimes come with a heating function as well. They can massage your back and some also massage the backs of your legs. They can help lift you or recline.

In addition to these, there are recliners that don’t even look like recliners. They are available in styles such as wingback chairs. At Creative Elements, we carry Best recliners that are available in all of these styles for a reasonable price. They have an impressive array of fabrics to choose from in addition to leather, suede and microfiber with a wide range of colors and textures. Considering all this it is no wonder that recliners continue to be so popular.

Benefits of Custom Furniture

Custom furniture is the perfect way to bring creativity and unique design into your home. It can be a tough search to find exactly what you are looking for in a furniture store. Even with more on the market than ever before, it does not make it any easier to find a piece of furniture with the exact design, measurements and materials that you desire. Choosing to commission a piece of custom furniture brings many benefits. You are able to specify the precise size and details of your item. For example, a unit to fit into the corner of a study might require very accurate measurements in order to fit. You might require a dining table have a certain height and length, in a particular wood. Not only is custom furniture allowing you to get exactly what you want, it is also unique. Handcrafted custom furniture is made to the customer's exact requirements and therefore never duplicated again. Even if it was, the nature of handcrafted items is to each be slightly different, be it in the knots in the wood or the finish. There is no better way to 'wow' your friends and family than include custom furniture in your home.

At Creative Elements we have many options for custom furniture including Custom Shoppe, Conrad Grebel, and many custom choices for upholstery pieces. Custom Shoppe is fine furniture crafted in America to your specifications. They can create anything from office furniture to entertainment pieces. Conrad Grebel has custom dining tables and beds. You can work with one of our designers to create the perfect piece for your space. We can blend practicality and style into your final piece of custom furniture. Get designing and enjoy seeing your vision come to life before your eyes.

Home for the Holidays

The holidays are quickly approaching. The earlier you prepare your home for the holidays the more you are likely to enjoy the spirit of the season. There are so many things to do that it can be overwhelming. Where should you start? It is your home and you can do as much or as little as you wish to. The key is to be organized. Here are some ideas to get you started, wash windows, clean window coverings, wash bed linens, clean closets, clean refrigerator and stove, polish silver, clean carpet, have fireplace professionally cleaned. Write a list and try to stick to it. Be realistic, there is so much you can do!
Make sure you have enough items for your guests. If you plan on having guests stay with you for longer than a day you will need plenty of bed linens, hand and bath towels, dinnerware, etc. I recommend having some extra pillows and blankets as well. Do not forget to count how many chairs and tables you will need to accommodate all your guests!
Jazz up your Entrance, Dining Room and Living Room. These are the areas that your guests will see first. These rooms need to be warm, inviting and beautiful! Paint the walls; it’s amazing what a fresh coat of paint can do! It will enhance moldings, baseboards and bring life to furniture. Select some warm colors such as pumpkin, deep reds, burgundy. Dress your banisters and mantels with garlands; add pinecones, beads, pomegranates, ribbons of all colors. Place some accent pillows on sofa and a few on the floor. Pillows are so inviting. Select silk ones in deep red and gold. Put scented candles everywhere. It is the least expensive way to give a festive touch to a home. Buy different sizes and colors. Place in groups of 3 or 5. Fill the house with seasonal plants and flowers like Cyclamens, Poinsettias, Amaryllis and Holly to name a few. Put in your entrance, on coffee or end tables, on consoles and mix different colors. Get baskets in different shapes and sizes, fill them with natural, gold or silver pinecones or shiny ornaments and even with chocolates and candies. Set the table, invest in a beautiful centerpiece, it will enhance the beauty of your table. Buy your Christmas tree, if you celebrate Christmas. Select a tree for its nice shape and size. The size should be proportionate to the room. Whether it is a real one or an artificial one your tree will be the focal point. Sort out the ornaments you want to hang by color, shape and size. Remember that less is more. Trees that have too many ornaments on them will look overdone.
Now that you are ready, you can invite a few your friends for a preview of what is to come! This is the test. See how they react to your spotless and beautifully decorated home. Have a fire burning in the fireplace and some warm, spicy cider ready for them. Let the aroma fill the house. It will be the final touch.

Fall Colors

Fall is one of the best seasons to be inspired by when it comes to interior design. There are so many wonderful hues and colors that come from autumn and so many things to take inspiration from. There are several fun and popular hues and tones that are good to choose for your design. Colors for fall 2009 are a palette that include hard colors, earth tones, and more including deep woodsy green, ice blue combined with a darker blue, brick red, pumpkin orange and chocolate. This range of colors is specifically used in wall accents and in painting a complete room. Using the colors from the fall interior design trends are a great way to change up the look of the environment.

Something to think about is the fact that many of the Fall colors that you see are on the darker side. This means that if you decide to choose the main paint color of a room as a Fall color, you'll want to consider the amount of light it will take away from the room if it is a darker tone. There are plenty of wonderful lighter colors, like gold, that you find in the fall that can inspire you to use lighter colors for the majority of a space. Rather than having four walls in a room painted in all the same rich red that you find on the changing Autumn leaves, consider making an accent wall. This way you can still get your wonderful red color on the walls but you can choose a lighter color for the rest of the walls and still allow the room to be nice and bright. Keeping the tones in mind will help you have a nice finished space.

There are some ways that you can incorporate Fall colors in a room that won't require you to permanently change your walls. This is to add curtains to the windows, lampshades to your lamps and/or pillows to the furniture that you have. Rather than getting a dark green sofa to have in your living room get some nice pillows with greens and gold, or whatever Fall colors you want to include in your design, to put on the sofa that you already have. Some nice curtains with Fall colors will dress up even the whitest of walls and a simple new lampshade with your Fall color of choice can make all difference in the room that you have. Changing the simplest of things and adding the smallest of details can really make the big picture very nice.

How to Clean Your Furniture

It is important that you know how to clean and care for your upholstered furniture so that it can look its best for a very long time. The maintenance is much easier when you choose the right fabric in the beginning. Make sure the fabric is appropriate for your lifestyle and for the upholstered furniture piece. Synthetic fibers would be a good choice for heavily used pieces. It is also a good idea to use fabric protection. A lot of work is done for you when the upholstery fabric undergoes the finishing process at the factory. It is usually treated with soil and water repellents and some form of mildew inhibitors may also be used. Additional fabric protectors can be applied to your upholstered furniture in the store or at home. This helps with maintenance and care by keeping spills from being absorbed into the upholstery fibers right away. However, it is not a substitute for prompt cleaning of a soiled piece. Always clean up any spills or stains in a timely manner, and follow manufacturers’ instructions for proper care methods.
You can extend your upholstered furniture’s life by periodically turning over the loose cushions if you can. This easy maintenance method allows for an even distribution of wear and tear. Change the cushions around from one part to the other in addition to turning them over. Some seats get more usage than others, so changing cushions around will ensure even usage. Vacuum your upholstered furniture weekly for general cleaning and to remove surface soil. This also prevents dirt from becoming embedded into the fibers. While regular care does a lot for your upholstered furniture's maintenance, accidents will happen. Blot any spills immediately with a clean folded towel. Sometimes this is enough to get rid of the stain completely, especially if the fabric has been pre-treated with a fabric protector. Always test in a hidden area before you use any product for spot cleaning, and check the manufacturer's instructions to see if you need water based or solvent based cleaner. It is best to use a mild cleaning product. Apply with a soft brush in a circular motion to work into the fibers, then vacuum when dry.
Too much sun can damage your upholstery fabric, causing it to fade and even fray. Try to position it so that it doesn’t sit in the sun for extended periods of time. Airborne pollutants such as fumes from cooking or smoke can also harm your fabric. It isn’t always easy to avoid that from happening, however, proper ventilation can help. It can also help with odor control, as upholstered furniture can easily absorb odors. It is best to have a professional clean your upholstered furniture every couple of years. Experts recommend having this done on a regular basis and not wait for it to get visibly dirty. The dirtier a sofa or chair becomes, the harder it is to restore to its original beauty.