Most decorators will tell you that big bold pieces are the way to go, rather than cluttering up your home with knickknacks and debris. The following pieces of furniture are perfect ways to help your home make a statement about you and look great doing it.
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Coffee Table
Don’t take this common piece for granted– coffee tables can be for more than propping up generic photography books or your lazy spouse’s feet. In fact, if you happen to have some precious ‘knickknacks’ you can’t live without, a coffee table can be the perfect way to display them. A recent trend is to turn a coffee table into a shadow box. By placing a glass lid on a hollow table and compartments inside, you can put various precious memories on display in one cohesive unit. Treasures from your college summer abroad, like a museum or plane tickets, arrow heads or crazy Japanese wind up toys can find a permanent home safe within, becoming conversation pieces for all your guests to admire. Alternately, your collection of geodes and fossils will remain dust free. With the right coffee table, all your bric-a-brac combines into a useful, memory-filled piece of furniture that really makes a statement.
Sofa
It’s hard to do without a sofa, since these ubiquitous pieces of furniture serve such a vital purpose. The choices available are much more varied now than they once were. Many people are now choosing sectionals that can be grouped and arranged to suit a variety ocf circumstances. Sectionals come in many styles , including the L shaped and circular shapes. The key to a sectional is that the individual pieces can be separated and moved around, or joined together for one continuous seating arrangement. Circular sectionals curve to offer a cozy, inward looking group seating for intimate conversation, or can be separated into pieces to all face one direction, for movie viewings. The modern look of many sectionals meshes well with a variety of decor styles, and keeps this piece of furniture both practical and stylish.
Book Shelves
Most homes have bookshelves, and most bookshelves serve a purely utilitarian purpose. A number of wild variations in bookshelf design have made this practical piece of furniture into a statement in and of itself. One of the most popular trends today is to re-purpose wood or other suitable materials for a bookshelf both practical and stunning. The rustic and weathered look goes great with a variety of your favorite, classic tomes. Taking planks from an old barn or a house that has been torn down, you can create a hanging bookshelf with rope or chain linking each plank on the four corners. This kind of backless design makes it possible to place the hanging shelf in any part of the room, including as an attractive and airy room divider for a space that’s being utilized as multiple rooms.
Chest of Drawers
Unique to Japan, the tansu chest was once an incredibly practical piece of furniture that did double duty as storage and staircase! Large, and with graduated steps, this piece of furniture could be moved to an opening in the ceiling to allow entrance to upper rooms. Now these chests can be found in a variety of styles and conditions, both new and used. While you probably won’t actually need one of these to get ito your own second floor, these fabulous chests are a great way to accent the wall below your real staircase. The lack of an elaborate or overtly Asian style means they work with a variety of decors.
The Accent Chair
Accent chairs serve both a practical and architectural purposes. Browsing the internet, you can find everything from an octopus throne to an elegant arm chair these days. Imagination is the only limit when it comes to the chair. Consider a chair made of the seat of the same kind of car you first drove back in the sixties, or an antique purchased during your trip to Italy. Whatever your choice, a well-chosen accent chair can be the star of your room.
These five pieces of furniture are among the most common to be found in every home, but common doesn’t need to mean dull. The right choice can express your sense of style and personality, while serving the proper function and making you and your guests feel at home.
