Essential Home Furniture

After my recent post on outdoor furniture, I found this really cool set called Fiore by B-alance.  It is a beautiful set of what I call tear drop furniture, pictured below.  Really, the set is fashioned after the look of a flower, which makes sense too.  The handmade set includes a couch, coffee table, and foot stool.  I’d really like to see a table and chairs added into this set, for function reasons.  That said, I also think it would have challenged the designer to include some different forms in the overall flower design motivation.  In any event, a neat little piece of furniture design to share with you.

Whether you are in an urban apartment or have a large house, a balcony can be a great place to spend your time, especially during the summer.  Finding the essential furniture for your balcony can be difficult though.  Balconies can be tough because you have to balance many factors include space, comfort,  and weather resistance.  The main pieces of a solid balcony set include a small table, two chairs, a love seat/bench and a coffee table.  These items all make for a nice set-up outside, but can be difficult to find as one set.  The key in the case of not being able to find a complete set is to find a look and/or a color to go with.  If you stick to a look (say wicker), you can still put together a uniform balcony set.

The textiles section of the Ikea website is one of my favorite places for finding ways of spicing up that old furniture without purchasing new items.  Let’s face it, not every piece in your home can be updated the minute you want it.  In fact, your style will grow tired before your budget is ready for something new.  Well, there is a cheaper way to improve the look of your home or apartment and that is with textiles.  What do I mean by textiles?  This can be anything from new rugs, pillows, throws, slip covers, etc.  The Ikea store offers lots of cool, modern designs at affordable prices, but really many other places including Marshalls and TJ Maxx offer some interesting mixes for your furniture.