It Isn’t Easy Being Green…Well Actually It Is

Goods and services that inflict minimal harm on the environment are gaining the attention of consumers as they continue to find ways to conserve the earth's resources and protect the planet from further damage. Eco-friendly furniture is becoming more and more popular, but what is, and what does it mean?

While there are currently no industry standards, many companies are now making a conscious effort to do business in an environmentally friendly manner. This not only includes how the products are made, but how they operate on a day-to-day basis. Klaussner Home Furnishings is one of these companies.

Proactive in implementing practices and procedures to protect the environment, Klaussner has been making eco-friendly furniture for many years. Frames for their furniture pieces are crafted from hardwood and engineered panels from suppliers that are a part of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), a program that is committed to the perpetual growing and harvesting of trees and protecting wildlife, plants, soil and water quality.

Klaussner uses heavy gauge tempered steel springs that are made from recycled steel to create a seating system that is eco-friendly. Chairs and sofas are comfortably padded with BioComfort Foam, made from BiOH™ Polyols, which includes the renewable resource, soybean oil. They also offer a wide array of fabric selections, including several natural and organic fabrics.

Offering a range of products for the bedroom, dining room and living room, Klaussner Home Furnishings is an eco-friendly furniture company that is not only good for the environment, but good for consumers too.

Miscellaneous Musings about Backyards, Hammocks and Dads

Now that my father is in his ninth decade, my sister and I try to show a little more attentiveness (translation: respect) whenever my Dad mentions his Father’s Day hammock, but in the past, since we have heard the story so many times, we have fallen into the bad habit of rolling our eyes, scrunching up our noses or crinkling our eyes in a gentle form of silent ribbing. Our father, as he likes to remind us, has never ever not once ever lain in the hammock that we gave him one Father’s Day many years ago.

I remember when my dad assembled the infamous hammock in the back yard, perfectly centered in the shade of our tallest crabapple tree. It came with an optional frame so that it could be hung in the traditional manner between two objects or on the frame itself so that it could be moved around like a lawn chair. And afterwards I remember spending many lazy summer days of book reading or cloud shape guessing in the hammock. My sister would take tanning breaks, lying in its comforting folds, swinging gently from side to side. Even mother would take a break—albeit a quick one as though she didn’t want to be caught slacking—from hanging the wash or weeding her favorite flower bed. What I don’t remember is my dad ever taking the hammock for a spin.

I must confess though, I do find it hard to believe that after he had spent the time putting it together, that he didn’t sit in it, lie back, test it out, just once to make sure that it wouldn’t collapse in a spectacular heap when one of his precious daughters was using it. But knowing my dad, the claim that he never used the hammock could be entirely true.

There’s a good reason that I am unable to visualize our dad in the hammock. For my father, the backyard was not a place to relax; for it to be the haven it was for the rest of us, for my dad it was a place of work. When he wasn’t mowing the lawn, he was trimming trees or planting flowers or working on some current project, like the summer he repainted the patio furniture. It seemed that he was always busy doing something: potting plants in the garage at his workbench, fixing something (toasters, bikes, the family car) or painting—indoor and out. Even when we were relaxing on the patio as a family, it was dad who fired up the barbecue, dad who cooked the burgers and dad who cleaned the grill.

My sister and I have heard my father tell the story of how he received a hammock for a present one Father’s Day that he never got to use so many times that I think we missed the point. We made funny faces while he told the story because we thought he was guilt-tripping us. Now I’m not so sure. Maybe he was bragging—the beautiful place my sister and I grew up and felt safe in was the direct result of his constant planning, vigilance and effort.

There is a saying that “A woman’s work is never done.” But I don’t think a dad’s is ever done either.

Happy Father’s Day from all of us at Cymax Stores.

The Second Generation of Kitchen Therapy

I remember trying so hard to sit still and calm down in school when I knew that weekend we were having company. Both my parents have a lot of siblings who, much to my never ending joy, produced multiple children per family. As a result, I am one of dozens of cousins within a ten year span. Needless to say, I’ve had built in best friends my entire life. When one of those glorious weekends would roll around and I knew we’d be having guests, it was the happiest I could ever be. For once in my lazy childhood I’d pick up the vacuum hose and haphazardly scoot my toys into one corner of my room in preparation. My mother would be looking haggard, to be quite honest, from the never ending cooking and cleaning, and my dad would be licking his chops over a new bottle or two of scotch to share.

Those weekends would come and go so quickly. There would be harrowing tales of love unrequited or denied and, without a doubt, a squabble or two over whose turn it was in the bathroom. People camped out on sofas and floors on a makeshift bed, yet no one ever complained. And everyone would informally gather around the table in the kitchen. Sometimes in packs, sometimes in pairs - all in search of a snack and some answers. Both were always found.

Saying goodbye on the sidewalk as family after family pulled away filled our entire house with quiet. Dinner that night was leftovers – but no one ever really ate much. By Monday the feeling was completely gone and would only return once the photos were developed; sometimes that didn’t happen for weeks.

Over the years we’ve done a satisfactory job of staying in touch, but the weekends of noise and laughter have never returned like they once were. The kids who once spent hours trying on each other’s clothes have all grown up and undertaken grown up jobs; their own families now taking precedence over aunts, uncles and cousins.

But now, I get to play host. It’s on a much smaller scale – just two of my cousins, but it will be the first time I’ve ever had overnight guests over to my apartment. The food is all prepared and fresh towels are folded nicely in the cupboard, but my home is missing something.

Everyone can agree that the house revolves around the kitchen. It’s where a kitchen chair can magically transform into a therapeutic leather sofa and the never ending grazing manages to whet your appetite even more. There being just two in our home generally means we eat in front of the TV. This scenario isn’t really conducive to company, so a proper dining table must be purchased from Cymax.

It might be a bit touchy-feely of me, but I already anticipate the exchange of news and wine over a comfortable, stylish dining table that will, with any luck, house a new generation of memories. Perhaps next time there will be children of our own . . . or better yet, an extra bottle of wine.

The Top Three Greatest Bad Horror Movies That Would be a Shame to Miss on Your Home Theater System

3. Hellraiser – For some bizarre and inexplicable reason, the overweight gothic girls and the hopeless, bespectacled geeks who love them have rewarded this steaming pile of crap with a modicum of undeserving renown and acclaim. Stretching over three ghoulish hours, Hellraiser provides the average viewer with some of the most hilariously bad acting ever to grace the silver screen, coupled with the most nonsensical dialogue of all time. I recognize the fact that these kinds of horror movies are generally awful, featuring convoluted story lines and brutal one liners, but the fascinating thing about this movie is that it has a decent rating according to most respectable movie websites, as well as a slew of unfortunate people who deem it to be one of the most frightening movies of all time. Of course, I have only ever watched it on an ancient VCR chugging along feverishly, dangerously close to sputtering to its death; the whir of its mechanical bits humming at increasingly louder decibels. In other words, maybe I haven’t given this movie the proper viewing it deserves. This kind of cinematic garbage warrants the real deal; like sitting back in a luxurious Bass Ambassador Home Theater Chair, watching a massive flat screen television and enjoying only the finest Orville Redenbacher which I like to bastardize with ketchup seasoning, butter employed only as an adhesive for the deliciously and dangerously sodium filled flavoring.

Tagline: Satan’s done waitin’.

2. Sleepaway Camp – Sadly, there is not a self respecting movie theatre in the world that would soil their screens with the highly disturbing yet laughably crappy final scene of this complete cow pie of a movie. So it looks like you will have to rent it when and if it ever comes to DVD and play it on your boss home theater system. The plot of this outrageous tale revolves around a troubled young girl named Angela. She is quiet yet seemingly disturbed and suffers endless torment from the other kids at the camp. When mysterious, violent deaths begin to occur, no one would ever suspect young Angela; young Angela who is so quiet, “she could be dead!” You don’t hear that kind of subtle foreshadowing anymore which is really why this movie needs to be enjoyed on a big screen in HD, with surround sound; especially for the revolting climax. For the ending, picture The Crying Game only with phenomenally worse acting and some of the worst special effects of all time; if I had had anything to do with the she-thing creature that exposes itself at the end of this movie professionally I would probably jump off a building. It looked as though a four year old crafted this final terror with MSPaint. The head of the female lead, Angela was sloppily placed atop the neck of the body of a man with absolutely no regard for realism or authenticity. Angela’s head was simply a picture of the lead actresses face contorted into a wicked, unmoving grin, and the body which was of a completely different skin tone was also immobilized in nudity. This is the kind of garbage that needs to be enjoyed in a top of the line home theater; one to rival even Tony Soprano’s.

Tagline: The perfect place to meet young girls might just be the perfect place to die!

1. The Paperboy – This classic features the cinematic stylings of the great Alexandra Paul formerly known as Stephanie Holden from both the original Baywatch and the devastatingly lame (and thankfully short-lived) Baywatch Nights (lasting two seasons, this show featured The Hoff playing a ‘gritty’ private investigator, protecting the beach from the sands by day and the streets by night; apparently neon lights and high-waisted, pleated pants make you ‘gritty’. Who knew?). This gem of an actress plays sweet Melissa Thorpe, a divorced mother of one who moves into her elderly grandmother’s home after she mysteriously dies. Upon arrival, Melissa and her daughter are introduced to young Johnny, a paperboy whose workaholic father seems to never be around to hang out with him. Melissa feels sorry for the young boy and allows him to come over for dinner and to baby sit her daughter, but when Johnny begins to behave strangely and act out violently, Melissa tells him he is no longer welcome in her home. This is when the terror really begins. Johnny goes on a veritable killing spree, murdering all of those who keep him from who he considers his ‘real’ family, i.e. Melissa and her wee daughter. It is quite a sight to behold; watching all of these horrendous actors pretend as though they might really succumb to the wit and strength of a prepubescent, 80 pound paperboy. The kind of completely unbelievable tripe that must be witnessed on the big screen of your home theater.

Tagline: He’s bad news.

How can you possibly deny yourself the pleasure of these films? There is truly nothing more hilarious than a bad movie, so what could be better than a bad movie played in an awesome home theater? Treat yourself to some frightful gems of the late 70s to the early 90s; it’ll be a scream…

At Least Furniture Won't Pee on Your Rug

We humanoids have an important relationship with the animal kingdom. Pets have been a vital part of all cultures since prehistoric times, when Larry King kept trilobites for companionship as he shambled the lonely Paleozoic wilds. These days, many people feel their home is not complete without a pet -- trilobite or not.

But what if you can't have a pet? Maybe your significant other is allergic to cats. Maybe your landlord has a no-animals policy. Maybe you have an unreasonable phobia of dogs thanks to an Incident long ago. In any case, you long to hear the pitter-pat of little claws on the floor, but it's not an option. Well, Cymax is here to help you do the right thing: compensate by buying furniture.

Alternately, if you do have a pet, perhaps you’d like to find a piece of furniture to match. Why would you want to do this? For the same reason you dress your dog in little sweaters and take him to the spa to get his fur did, clearly. Either way, with a special focus on man’s best friend (the dog, not the awful Lance Henriksen film), our devoted team brings you the most pet-like furniture items you can buy.

Note the similarities:

And there you have it: a pet to match your furniture, or furniture to match your pet. Half of style is coordination, after all.