Your Used Furniture

If you are thinking of carrying out some home renovations, then designing your own bedroom is a great place to start. Designing your own room will allow you to create your own veritable little haven away from the strains and stresses of daily life. You can also ensure that your design fits with your budget, however small it may be. Here are a few tips to get you started.

Colour Scheme

Perhaps the first point you will need to consider is the colour scheme. This will often depend on your temperament and habits. For example, if you happen to be a morning person, then you are best to go with warmer, more invigorating colours. On the other hand, if you are more of an evening person, cool soothing colours will be best. Using white bedroom furniture here is a good option.

The Focal Point

Next you may want to pay some attention to the bed. After all, this is likely to be the focal point of your room. With this in mind, you need to get the size right. A bed that is too large will make the room appear much smaller, while a bed that is too small will naturally be uncomfortable. In addition, pay special attention to the mattress, as this can be the key to a good night’s sleep. This is not the thing to try to save money on.

Room to Move

You will definitely need to design your room so that there is plenty of space to walk around comfortably, especially if you often have to get up during the night to make a trip to the bathroom. As a rough guide, leaving at least 24-inch-wide lanes around all the furniture should be sufficient.

Saving Space

It is a good idea to design your room so that you have plenty of storage space. Make the best use of the open spaces, for example under the bed, to install some handy space-saving containers and baskets to ensure your room remains clutter-free.

Finally, wherever possible you should ensure your bedroom remains as a place to sleep and relax in. Having it double as an office or an entertainment centre is sure to break the calm, reducing your chances of a good night’s rest.

You’ve decided to build your own home. This seems to you to be cheaper than buying a ready built house. But architects’ fees are not a bargain. If you are thinking of becoming your own architect, just follow a few initial tips.

Every home design begins with the outside, from its roof slates to its slate house signs. What will the house look like from the street or from the air? Is it going to be situated where you will have a good view, or will it block the view for neighbours?

Regulations

If you already own the site for the house, or have one in mind, investigate local planning regulations thoroughly. Speak to the local council, local power, water and electricity utilities about your plans. Contact local builders for information about ground and drainage conditions, especially if you are planning to build on sloping ground. These conditions will affect the design of the house’s foundations and load-bearing walls.

Site investigation

Walk around the site and pace out the rough shape of the house you have in mind. Feel the ground for changes in moisture and soil conditions. Locate all local gas, water and electricity lines. If in doubt, hire a geotechnical engineer to carry out a professional site investigation. The cost will be worth it.

Style

Next, decide on the style of home you would like. Do you prefer something contemporary or based on older styles such as mock Georgian or mock Tudor? If you are renovating a barn or an old farmhouse, work out how much of the traditional structure can you preserve.

Sketches

Write down all of your ideas in a note book. If you have an idea about a window, door or roof shape, make a rough sketch of what you imagine. Look through the property sections of newspapers and magazine, or in estate agents’ windows, to see what can be built in practical terms. Take at least three months for your ideas to gel.

Final picture

Once you have a final picture in mind of your house, make as realistic sketch of its exterior aspects from various angles. Develop the pictures to scale and you have an outside design for your house.

A sofa set for one provides a nice place for guests and hosts to sit and mingle with each other. A dining table is where individuals can sit down and partake in a hearty meal.

To those who have a limited income, however, buying furniture can be a hassle. With skyrocketing prices these days, it is no longer practical to buy a new set to complement the mood of a house or office. So either one has to make do with existing items, or buy cheap but quite unreliable and poor quality materials.

Those in a tight budget can however maximize the use of various types of furniture in their homes. There are many ways in which house owners can make full use of existing materials in their households. Buying select furnishings that are versatile and can work in any type of home is a good way to maximize the resources they have. These furnishing can also be easily moved around the house whenever the need arises, or offer storage whenever possible.

First, always buy pieces of furniture on a small scale. This also goes for home accessories. This is practical for those who have small homes. It makes easier for items to be moved around in the house if they are small.

Most homes suffer from insufficient space. If you have that type of a house, then it is more wise for you to go for furniture that have drawers as well as hanging space, like a chest of drawers and an armoire. They can maximize storage space for your clothes or other important items. They can likewise be used in a bedroom, living room, or foyer.

If you are refurbishing a family room and you have little space, then two loveseats might actually be more practical than one big sofa. The loveseats are easier to reposition than one big sofa. Plus loveseats are more versatile since they can be positioned opposite each other, where one can create a place for small gatherings.

In choosing for furniture pieces, always opt for neutral hues like black, tan, navy, camel, and dark green especially for upholstered items. The neutral color will serve as the anchor color. Also make sure that the fabric for upholstered furniture is strong enough to last a couple of years.

Then throw in pillows and accessories that will complement the anchor color. You might also want to change the color scheme of your set in accordance to the season. You can go for yellow floral designs during the summer, or camel tapestry pillows during fall. You can use slipcovers in order to alter the look of the sofas without necessarily spending a fortune.

Don’t settle for a typical table. Be creative. Go for interesting shapes and bases and then put plate glass on top. You can also construct your own sidetables out of plywood, and having it covered with a decorative tablecloth. You can use the side table in the living room, or in the bedroom as a nightstand.

Purchase side chairs, lamps, pillows, and vases in pairs. They put symmetry and continuity in any room.

You should also always stick to a color scheme. You can make white as your color anchor then throw in accessories and fabrics to accentuate the color scheme. If you have the same color scheme around your house, then you have no problem moving pieces of furniture and accessories from one room to another.

Choose a color scheme and stick to it. Start with white or your anchor color and select fabrics and accessories to compliment the color scheme. If you carry the colors throughout your home, you’ll be able to move furniture and accessories from room to room. They’ll look great wherever you place them.

Always think out of the box. You can make use of cabinet to hold the TV, or dresser to contain various video and audio CDs.

Lastly, never hesitate to experiment. Mix and match pieces of furniture according to what you think works best for the household. As long as you keep your accessories versatile, you wont have any problem with your arrangements.

Spark an Interest in Gardening for Kids with Fun Gardening Gifts

Kids today often don’t realize how fun and rewarding gardening can be. But with a few fun gardening gifts, you can spark an interest in gardening for your own children, your grandchildren, or students with just a few simple gardening gifts. Children love to try something new. Every time they receive a gardening gift such as a new planter, a garden decoration, or even their own patio furniture, they can “try it out” in a garden they designed all on their own.

Lessons of Planting – Sowing and Reaping

Children need to be taught the principle of sowing and reaping at a young age. They need to realize that every decision they make and every action they take in life brings some type of results, whether good or bad. What better way to teach sowing and reaping than with planting a garden? It doesn’t have to be a large garden necessarily. Just a few short rows of plants, vegetables, or flowers will do.

The child will be able to see results of their efforts as the plants grow. They can care for them and learn responsibility. For vegetable gardens, harvest time is always an exciting time for children. They can even help prepare and cook meals using their newly grown foods.

Gardening Gifts for Starters

To get your child or students started with gardening, give them a gift that includes some unique garden tools (just for them), a few planters that they can decorate on their own, and some packages of seeds. Try an assortment of seeds that can all be planted during the same time of the year so the plants will grow simultaneously.

Garden Decor Gifts for Kids

Once your child or students have located a proper area in the yard for their garden and begin to plant, start giving gifts along the way to help them decorate their garden. Garden sculptures, garden fountains, and garden statues come in a variety of shapes and sizes. They also come in different themes such as animal themes so you can easily find items that your child will love. There are also wind chimes, flags, stepping stones, garden stakes, thermostats, and solar path lights, which make great gardening gifts for garden or lawn decoration. The garden can be finished off with a beautiful arbor or garden trellis decorated with flowers to their liking.

Teach them about Birds

Another way to enhance your child’s interest in gardening is to give them items that will attract birds to their garden. They can watch for different types of birds, discover nests in the trees or hanging plants, and enjoy the birds’ singing. Gifts for attracting birds might include bird feeders, birdhouses, and birdbaths along with some packs of birdseed.

Children usually enjoy creating something big that they can call their own. Creating their own garden will be rewarding and will teach them some valuable lessons about life. To find an assortment of themed gardening gifts, go online today and explore all the great gardening items that are available.

One of the keys to running a successful small business or home office is learning to control costs. Even the smallest expenses can quickly add up and cut into profits, leaving you with a business that won’t move forward.

Many small-business owners know where their money comes from, but are not as clear on where it goes. This can have a significant impact on their businesses’ cash flow.

It’s important to review your expenses regularly – every quarter if possible – so you can accurately manage your outgoing expenditures and look for ways to save.

Demos Parneros, president of U.S. stores at Staples Inc., provides the following suggestions to save your business money.

* Buy last year’s model. Furniture, computers, PDAs – there is always something new. This also means that there is always something old. If you wait until the end of the year or for sales throughout the year, you can save on your office needs.

* Buy in bulk and buy ahead. By buying commonly used items in large quantities, you can save a lot. Replenish your supplies before you run out. Thinking ahead, and thus buying ahead, gives you a chance to comparison shop and take advantage of sales.

* Buy products that save money. Consider quality alternatives to national brands. Staples ink and toner products, for example, offer consumers quality products at a 15 percent to 20 percent cost-savings per cartridge.

* Take advantage of discounts. Professional and trade associations often offer their members discounts on insurance, travel, shipping and other common expenses. Similarly, some credit cards, like the American Express Corporate Card for Small Business, may get you discounts as well.

* Save on mail costs. Mail costs for your business can add up fast. To save money, use postcards or consolidate shipping. You also can buy or lease a postage meter or get a mail scale to eliminate overpaying.

High prices of furniture and office equipment are the most common obstacles any start up or home-base business face. With the current trend of setting up home businesses, it is still important to maintain a degree of functionality and professional appeal to your home office. After all, clients might want to meet with you at your office and you surely don’t want them to see you slump in your kitchen chair. They may not want to close deals on the counter top or the kitchen table. They surely cannot wait until your city office has been fully set-up and furnished. Buying furniture is only a practical option if you intend to keep your business at home forever. But if you’re waiting for the set up of your true office and want to keep doing business at home for the meantime you might want to try furniture rentals, furniture leasing, and equipment rentals.

There are certain advantages to furniture rentals, furniture leasing, and equipment rentals. First, no large payments. You get to minimize expenditures if you only plan to rent the item for short periods. This is an especially good option for renting audio-visual equipments for home presentations or an extra computer while yours is still being fixed. Also, you can use top quality equipment for minimum rent. A high grade equipment which you could not normally afford for your own office can be rented for a fraction of its cost for a period of time. Second, you have the unlimited access to the machine or furniture for the period you rent it. You don’t have to worry about moving it in with you come relocation time or finding a buyer that can give you a good deal. Third, business usually get easier credit for renting or leasing an equipment than for purchasing it. Because the financing company or leasing company maintains the ownership of your furniture or equipment, there is a lower need for additional forms of security. This translates to higher acceptance rates.

When you consider buying larger articles for furniture or office equipment you risk incurring payments or loans amounting to thousands of dollars. This will put a huge dent on your credit limit. With the proliferation of furniture rentals, furniture leasing, and equipment rental shops in the market and online, renting or leasing furniture and equipment is a viable and practical option.

One of the keys to running a successful small business or home office is learning to control costs. Even the smallest expenses can quickly add up and cut into profits, leaving you with a business that won’t move forward.

Many small-business owners know where their money comes from, but are not as clear on where it goes. This can have a significant impact on their businesses’ cash flow.

It’s important to review your expenses regularly – every quarter if possible – so you can accurately manage your outgoing expenditures and look for ways to save.

Demos Parneros, president of U.S. stores at Staples Inc., provides the following suggestions to save your business money.

* Buy last year’s model. Furniture, computers, PDAs – there is always something new. This also means that there is always something old. If you wait until the end of the year or for sales throughout the year, you can save on your office needs.

* Buy in bulk and buy ahead. By buying commonly used items in large quantities, you can save a lot. Replenish your supplies before you run out. Thinking ahead, and thus buying ahead, gives you a chance to comparison shop and take advantage of sales.

* Buy products that save money. Consider quality alternatives to national brands. Staples ink and toner products, for example, offer consumers quality products at a 15 percent to 20 percent cost-savings per cartridge.

* Take advantage of discounts. Professional and trade associations often offer their members discounts on insurance, travel, shipping and other common expenses. Similarly, some credit cards, like the American Express Corporate Card for Small Business, may get you discounts as well.

* Save on mail costs. Mail costs for your business can add up fast. To save money, use postcards or consolidate shipping. You also can buy or lease a postage meter or get a mail scale to eliminate overpaying.

The creative aspect involved in planning your own personal interior decorating of your home decor can be a personal and exciting adventure. There are many ideas content you can pick up all over the place, simply by reading magazines and books, or culling Internet sites for ideas. Some of the ones we found were simple, such as buying 100 yard rolls of artist canvas and having your children use finger paint to paint their own rooms on large swathes of canvas.

There are so many ideas and possibilities to render your home decor to be exactly what you want to be, all it takes is a little research and creativity, and an eye on your budget. Some of the best ideas cost little to do and are very classy or esoteric. One of the things you might want to do to make the most of your interior space while buying furniture for your new home decor is to measure the rooms involved. Draw to a scale on graph paper; used 1/4″ to 1 foot scale to represent the demarcations involved in this approach to fitting furniture into your remodeled spaces.

You can turn many pieces of furniture into new creations with such things as slipcovers for your headboard and foot or on your bed. Wood appliqus on the backs of furniture are another way to do such craft ornamentation and improvement of existing pieces in your home decor. Giving your home decor its own personality that goes with yours is the ultimate goal.

What are you one of the rustic or modern, classic or folksy, the endless choices present themselves in many different ways, but you have to find and look in order to get what you want, and the whole thing is a process of discovery. It goes without saying that you want your home to reflect how you feel and your lifestyle, and be livable for you on an everyday basis, with an emphasis on comfort and beauty.

The best things you can do for yourself is to educate yourself in interior design basics, getting a few books out of the library on the subject, or hunting down information and articles and websites online will allow you to be the consumer that you need to be why you went down the different objects of your desire for your home decor. An educated consumer has the best results, unless you want to hire someone to do so for you, finding out all about the subject and educating yourself somewhat is indispensable.

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We make our living as guerillas not the bad kind, but more of a freedom fighter. By using the term guerilla I mean EMJ (now a division of SYNNEX) fights for business against big gorillas (other distributors) in the field. Our competitors are almost 100 times our size; EMJ is a Canadian-based, $165 million per year distributor. We have made an operating profit for the past 80 consecutive quarters. So even though we are up against the big gorillas as a distributor, we must be doing something right.

If you are in a business where some of the competitors are much larger, you may be able to benefit from using guerilla tactics. The principles of running a guerrilla organization differ from running a gorilla organization. As a guerrilla, we hide from our competitor; we do not try to crush them. I even go so far as to examine what they do well and let them do it. At the same time, I look for under-serviced markets and get to these markets fast.

A gorilla takes all competitors head on, trying to crush the competition. Sometimes this takes the form of a price war. Sometimes it takes major prolonged, drawn-out investment. This works as long as you are the same size, or larger than the competition. Even then, such a long battle can sap power and ultimately profits.

Companies that die often believe they were gorillas. It is certain death for a business to fight gorillas unless they can withstand the siege. Any time we hire someone with a gorilla-company background, we watch and coach that person to make sure they are indoctrinated with the appropriate tactics. We have to make sure they understand out business model.

My 8 favourite guerilla tactics are:

1 Act fast. I use my companys size for my advantage. I can act lightning fast. In the computer business, this is a huge asset. Things change so rapidly that moving fast and being first to market is a huge advantage. Larger companies do not react quickly. Develop a reputation for being first it gets the attention of customers.

2 Welcome smaller opportunities. Gorillas tend to say no to manufacturers who dont think they can do significant volume with. But a small opportunity rejected by a gorilla can be a very profitable opportunity for a guerilla. For EMJ, a million dollar per product line is an opportunity big enough to get the attention of my first string. In your business, look for the right-sized opportunity for you. Frequently, it is the smaller opportunity that has the best promise. The gorillas will leave you alone. There is always a right-sized opportunity for a company of any size. Knowing your rightful place in the market can help you to thrive.

3 Get focussed. Higher focus means we know more, stock more, and sell more product of fewer manufacturers. The smaller our product listing, the more powerful we become. We know a lot about a little. That means we know the products we sell better than a gorilla, and we become a sales tool for the reseller, not just an order-taker. Could you become more focused and specialized in a business area by giving up on a part of your business?

4 Be more flexible. We can adapt more easily to our customers and suppliers. We try not to be ruled by policy. The bigger a company gets, the more likely they are to have policy and some of it is required. As a small distributor, we can be more flexible. Are there areas that your competition is ignoring that by being more entrepreneurial, you can capitalize on?

5 Be smarter. This sounds too simple, almost embarrassing to write. Since we are smaller, we can look at the business we do more carefully and make sure it makes good business sense. We dont pick up another manufacturer just to increase the size of our line card. Thats just not good business sense for us. Thats the way we have to think and so should you.

6 Lower your overhead. For some reason, most companies seem to choose more expensive offices and furnishings as they grow. This expectation tends to increase costs in all areas of the company that distribution, at current margin levels, can ill afford. At EMJ, we buy quality used furniture. We are on the outskirts of Guelph where the cost of land and taxes is less. Our capital base is even high enough that our cost of capital is less than some of the gorillas. Are there areas that you can be lower overhead than the gorillas in your field? Costs always add up on the bottom line.

7 Foster staff loyalty one major advantage guerillas have over gorillas is the ability to attract, motivate, and keep good people. Primarily this is because guerillas can be more flexible, easier to work for and give people more of a sense of accomplishment because what they do contributes more directly the companys bottom line. I have always found there to be great power by being smaller and treating my people with respect and not just as numbers. Gorillas can try to do this but it is tough for them to copy you.

8 Just BE a gorilla. We like to enter market areas that we can dominate and specialize in. We may not be the biggest but in certain specific niches, we dominate. As long as we are the biggest in an area, we can act the part. We can under-price and over-service the competition forever. Anyone who enters our markets learns that it is expensive and often impossible to unseat us.

9 Be personal. One thing a smaller organization can do is to be more personal. People buy from people. You can foster relationships that will help you sell. Part of the way we are personal is by showing our customers what markets and products ARE profitable. There is nothing that cements a customer relationship better than making them money, because youll be making money for them AND for you!

10 Be opportunistic to sum up guerilla strategy is simply to be opportunistic. Take advantage of opportunities that the gorillas cannot do. There are many companies that remain profitable by being opportunistic.

In summary, unless you are huge think guerilla. Appropriate guerilla tactics for your size will win any battle.

When selling a product to a customer, it is very important to find out as much as you can about your customer and their needs before you proceed with your sale.

This is commonly referred to as needs based selling.

The most effective way to find out about your customers needs, is to ask probing, open-ended questions.

An open-ended question does not allow your customer to give you a yes or no answer, it makes them explain to you what their needs are, and why they would need a particular product.

Here is an example, if you were a sales associate at a furniture store, and a customer walked in looking for a dining room set, an open-ended question you might ask would be:

Tell me about the particular type of pattern you are looking for, or simply put, tell me more about what you are looking for

This puts your customer in a situation where they cannot say yes or no, they must go into detail.

On a personal note . . .

Not to long ago, my wife and I were in a department store looking for a coat for me.

I spotted one that I like hanging on a discount rack. It was brown, with a removable liner, and a zipper that ran the length of the collar, to protect your neck.

I liked it so much, I took it from the rack and tried it on.

As I stood admiring myself in the mirror, a sales associate came over and complimented me on my appearance in this jacket.

I smiled politely and thanked her. She than proceeded to tell me that the best part about the jacket was that it smelled like real leather.

Taking her word for it, I put my nose to the sleeve, took a whiff, and sure enough, it smelled like real leather.

The only problem was . . .

I dont like the smell of leather.

Needless to say, I put the coat back on the rack, and the friendly sales person lost the sale and the commission.

The mistake the sales person made was assuming that I liked the smell of leather. It was a safe assumption on the part of the sales person, because most people like the smell of leather. This doesnt mean it should be taken for granted.

The point I am trying to make, is that it is essential that you ask probing and open-ended questions, find out as much as you possibly can about your customer before you present them with a product. Youll end up with a lot more sales. Believe me!