Mirrors are all too easy to overlook when it comes to furnishing a room.

The possibilities of mirrors throughout the home should never be underestimated.

There are, of course, the practical uses for mirrors – most especially in the bathroom, where virtually everyone has a mirror. Many people have a mirror on a dressing table as part of your bedroom furniture for applying makeup and a mirror in the hallway. All of these applications for mirrors could be seen as purely practical. However, when you look at them from a home decor point of view you will notice the benefits mirrors have in their given rooms, and apply that to the rest of your home.

Mirrors – simple mind control!

Mirrors and Space

Of course, you may just want to use it to look at yourself in, but the use of mirrors around the house is also a wonderful way of creating the illusion of space.

Obviously, unless you’re standing directly in front of a mirror the reflection you’re seeing is a general image of the room, and when the eye is drawn away from the mirror this image is perceived by the brain as being just another part of the room, which in turn makes your subconciuos think that the room is larger than it is.

Mirrors and Light

Another great way of using the natural properties of mirrors is to throw light into dark spaces of your home.

How many of us have at least one room in the house that has a dull corner where the natural light struggles to reach? You can’t even liven it up with a vase of flowers! I’d say most of us.

One way of reinvigorating it is to put a lamp in there. This then takes up space and you end up illuminating an area of limited use, even during the day. You also need to run mains power there if there isn’t any already. This is not only a poor solution, but it’s not very environmentally friendly either!

By far the simpler solution is to hang a mirror so that the ambient light from the rest of the room is reflected into the dreary area. The mirror will give you a more balanced feel to the room and make it look bigger at the same time.

A nifty way of softening this effect is to put a small, leafy pot plat directly in front of the mirror, making the plant seem bigger than it is whilst also shedding a little dappled shade at floor level.

These are great tricks that interior designers use all the time, and are well worth remembering if you’re selling your house.

Sideboards Are A Storage Solution for Any Room

Sideboards are one of those pieces of furniture which seem to be either loved or entirely overlooked by people. There are those who are in the know about sideboards and appreciate the value of them around a home, and then there are many people who think that they are intended specifically as dining room furniture, but they’re not.

Sideboards aren’t just dining room furniture

Sideboards are perfect in absolutely any room (except perhaps a bathroom!). There are many interior designers who use sideboards as living room furniture and bedroom furniture, as well as dining room furniture of course. This is because they’re so practical and can give a very up market feel to a home.

Sideboards in the Living Room

Sideboards are obviously storage furniture, but as living room furniture they can be used as a serving area for when visitors come over for coffee, for drinks and nibbles when your dinner party retires to the lounge, or simply displaying ornaments and pictures of loved ones whilst keeping your room clutter free and organised.

Sideboards in the Bedroom

As part of a bedroom furniture suite a sideboard will not only give you extra flexible storage options but it can provide a useful alternative to a dressing table when coupled with a swivel mirror. A bonus is that they actually make a great ‘television stand‘ for the bedroom as they are elevated enough to be seen easily when lying in a bed with a high footboard.

Sideboards In The Rest of The Home

Of course the other room a sideboard will add value to is a kitchen. Many of the fitted kitchens of today lack character, but a great way of creating the country cottage feel is to add a solid oak sideboard or even a glazed dresser. So as you can see, a sideboard is one of the most useful pieces of furniture for your home, and with the sheer amount of choice in style, size and wood type you are sure to find a sideboard to suit.

Choosing a Sideboard

Even small sideboards are large pieces of furniture that will draw the eye went one enters a room, therefore it’s important that you choose a high quality sideboard. This is not a piece of furniture that you can hide away! That’s why all of the sideboards at Oak Furniture Land are handcrafted from specially selected timbers and finished to the highest standards. Whether you are looking for a contemporary modern sideboard or a traditional rustic sideboard you can be sure that you are buying high quality furniture.

Oak is the most popular hardwood that people choose when furnishing their homes, but it’s well worth considering the more exotic options such as mahogany or mango. Whether they are given a natural finish or stained, these alternatives will provide an attractive and interesting alternative.

Finally, and this may sound obvious, but we can’t stress how important it is to measure where you want to put a sideboard before you buy one. By far the biggest mistake people make when it comes to selecting furniture is buying items which will not fit into the spaces they had in mind for them.

Buy Sideboards at Oak Furniture Land

At Oak Furniture Land we only sell the highest quality solid hardwood furniture. We have a huge selection solid mango, mahogany and oak sideboards, all with matching living room furniture, bedroom furniture and dining room furniture to suit every home.

The many pieces to a living room funiture suite

In the second half of this two part special on living room furniture we will be looking at the various pieces of furniture that go towards making up a complete living room furniture suite.

Solid Hardwood Living Room Furniture to Consider

Television Cabinets

Like it or not, in this day and age the living room is dominated by the television. Therefore a major consideration when planning your living room furniture is going to be the TV cabinet.

No matter the size of your TV or the number of cables coming from it, you will be able to find a high quality hardwood TV cabinet that will have all of the attributes you need to be the focal point of your living room furniture.

Coffee Tables

Living room furniture needs to be both practical and attractive. None more so than the main coffee table. Whilst a simple solid oak coffee table may be the obvious choice, it has recently become popular to incorporate storage into your coffee table. Drawers under the coffee table make use of an often wasted space. For more on coffee tables please click here.

Side Tables

Having a few side tables amongst your living room furniture is a great way of providing extra display space, as well as being a really useful portable landing area; there whenever you need it. For more on side tables please click here.

Nests of Tables

If space is an issue, then a neat solution is to add a nest of tables to your living room furniture suite. The stacking nature of the tables mean that when you don’t need them they will take up only minimal space.

Bookcases

A great way of adding character and warmth to your living room furniture suite is to add a bookcase. Once stacked with your favorite tomes and a few ornaments it will personalize your living room as well as being practical.

Sideboards and Dressers

Most people think of sideboards and dressers as being either dining room furniture or farmhouse kitchen furniture. However, if you have the room they are a boon to have in your living room. Many people use them as drinks cabinets, and with room for glasses they make an ideal bar for your home. You could even add a wine rack to complete your living room furniture set!

Mirrors

A nice finishing touch to your living room furniture is to include a mirror. This will give the effect of extra space and light, brightening up a dark corner.

Living Room Furniture Sets

Of course, the other way of ensuring you get living room furniture that all matches is to buy a specially selected living room furniture set.

Buy Living Room Furniture at Oak Furniture Land

At Oak Furniture Land we only sell high quality solid hardwood furniture. We have a huge selection solid hardwood living room furniture to suit all rooms and tastes.

Create the perfect environment with hardwood living room furniture

In the first half of this two part blog special on living room furniture we will be looking at what your choice of living room furniture says about you and what you need to consider when looking to buy.

It is important to create an atmosphere filled with comfort and class when choosing living room furniture. The image that your living room furniture portrays is something that you need to be happy with, as it will say a lot about you to your friends, family and any other guests. The living room is where you will be entertaining, hosting events as well as just relaxing as a family. Because of this, it is vital to have pride in its appearance. Along with your carpets and curtains, your living room furniture is what will effect the environment the most and therefore high quality living room furniture is essential.

Choosing Your Living Room Furniture

There is a wide variety of choices for living room furniture, but none can compare with high quality solid hardwood living room furniture. The only real choices you need to make are which hardwood furniture suits you best, and what style you like.

The most popular solid hardwood living room furniture is without doubt oak living room furniture. This long-established timber is available as contemporary modern furniture, classic traditional furniture and even country cottage style rustic furniture.

I’ve Considered Oak Living Room Furniture, But What Else Is There?

Solid oak living room furniture is not the only option when it comes to solid hardwood living room furniture. More exotic hardwoods include mahogany furniture, or Indian furniture crafted from mango wood - which can be naturally finished, have a dark stained finish applied, or even a stunning teak oil finish.

When choosing solid hardwood living room furniture you must always ensure that it is hand crafted using the highest quality timber throughout. This means that all doors, drawers and back panels should have the same high quality solid hardwood as the rest of the furniture. You should only ever buy living room furniture that has been manufactured using dovetail joints, as glued butt joints will fail in time. This ensures that your living room furniture is sturdy and there is no reason why (with the correct care) it shouldn’t last a lifetime.


Coming soon, in the second half of this two part special on living room furniture we will be looking into various pieces of living room furniture you will need.