Arms reach

How many of you have similarly felt if you’re ever going to be scared to death it’ll be when you’re yanked out of an agitated dream by the roar of your alarm clock? I’ve experienced this too many times to remember even and each time it seems my ticker is thumping like the Energizer Bunny’s bass drum foot. I’m thankful I can put a 10 min. hiatus on the cacophony with a frantic thwack.

Unless you’re going to rest the alarm on the mattress next to you, you need a nightstand and NightstandSelect.com is the place to get one for those on a budget. Trust me, you don’t want that early AM maelstrom continuing on any longer – keep that necessary yet resented timekeeper within arms reach.

Often times, those of us that are a little financially strapped have to cut corners somewhere. Here’s our advice; a dresser drawer or bachelor’s chest is going to hold your clothing and will open and close a few times a day. Your bed’s the most important piece in the room. Not to make any less of your nightstand, but it’s going to stay static for much longer periods of time with less frequent usage. If you’re going to cut a corner, cut this one.

Who needs a box-spring? A quality foam mattress on a sturdy wooden platform bed is a great sleep waiting to happen. If you’re of the same mind, you’ll need a correspondingly low-height nightstand to sit at your bedside. For good-looks, suitable durability and surprising affordability, take a look at a Nexera Nocce Nightstand. A South Shore Sereno Nightstand has the same appeal; stylishly modern with a pair of cusp drawers and inexpensive.

Anyone of Nightstand Selects Prepac Nightstands is going to give you everything you need from a basic nightstand without taking a lot of your bucks. Often times an MDF or similar composite wood nightstand is perfectly durable enough for average everyday living, and for the price you can’t go wrong.

Starting at the age of 4 or so, kids will be getting up early in the morning as well for school. They’ll need a nightstand too, and there are similarly affordable options. Once the little ones get to preschool, they might as well get accustomed to waking up early in the morning and Kid Kraft Nightstands have a perfectly playful style for your youngsters. For older students, something along the lines of a South Shore Cosmos Nightstand is a nice blend of function and durability, and they’re sure to appreciate the built-in disc rack for their CDs. A Hillsdale Universal Youth Nightstand has a teenage sensibility to it as well.

I’m hoping at least one of the many people out there that have their alarm resting on the floor next to their bed reads this. You owe it to yourself to be able to put an end to that aural trauma with a little less physical exertion. Keep it within arms reach. Trust me, it’s surprisingly worth it until you go through it again 600 seconds later.

The Snooze Bar – a godsend I tell you!

Don’t Put Your Decorating Plans on Snooze: Wake up Your Bedroom with a Few Inexpensive Tricks

It doesn’t look terrible, but maybe a little bland. Since you just bought a new Simmons queen size mattress about a year ago and the furniture is still serviceable, redecorating your bedroom is low (very low) on your list of priorities. But it doesn’t have to be. Having a sanctuary that you can retreat to after a long, busy day is important. Making one or two inexpensive changes can update your bedroom’s decor and breathe new life into the room you spend roughly a third of your life.

A can of paint can go a long way to taking the snore out of your decor. Sure, the color is okay and was certainly trendy (eight years ago), but a fresh coat of paint with a neutral or contrasting color for the ceiling, window and baseboards will give you a new perspective.

Ditto for new bedding. Matching the color of your bed linens to the color of the walls and/or the window treatments introduces a unifying theme into your bedroom. Selecting a bedding set that also includes decorative pillows is an easy way to make the bed more inviting. A pile of pillows in different shapes with varying textures will create visual interest, making the bed more of a focal point.

If your bedroom furniture is a hodgepodge of much loved hand-me-downs, there’s an easy fix. And it doesn’t have to mean purchasing a brand new bedroom suite. By replacing a couple of mismatched pieces with matching nightstands you will harmonize the room while adding functionality, especially if you select ones with drawers and/or open or enclosed shelves.

Nightstands are also a great place to put lamps. Even if your bedroom has overhead lighting, having a bedside table lamp is handy, especially if you are in the habit of reading in bed or if you not particularly fond of being the one always stuck with having to climb out and turn off the light. A floor lamp judiciously placed in an unused corner of the room can help make it brighter.

Consider replacing the unrelated dresser and chest of drawers with an armoire. Or if an armoire is not feasible (either due to budget or space restraints), perhaps putting the chest in the closet and incorporating it into a closet organizer system would be the ideal solution.

Bare floors, even hardwood ones, can either be cold or make the room appear cold. A bedside rug made of wool might be the perfect motivator to get you up and out of bed in the mornings. Even if you do have wall-to-wall carpeting, an area rug can create instant ambiance, warming up the room with a splash of accent color.

And don’t underestimate the power of accessorizing. If the budget won’t allow for new paint or one or two new pieces of furniture, consider hanging some prints on the wall, replacing just the duvet, buying a thrifty pack of accent pillows or adding economical storage options such as baskets.

For the room that’s not just a place to sleep, these design tips will help you wake up your bedroom decor, allowing you to create an ideal environment for sleeping, staying in bed on a rainy Saturday morning or just hanging out with the kids.

Keeping Them Close By

It seemed that it was just yesterday when your mother was worrying about whether you had enough to eat for lunch or if you had packed your heavy sweater when off on an overnight camping trip with girlfriends. But now the shoe is on the other foot and you’re worrying about your aging parent and the challenges they face living on their own.

Many families are choosing accessory apartments as a viable answer. An accessory apartment is a self-contained unit built in an existing or new house. One specifically designed for a relative can have several nicknames including “granny flat” or “in-law suite.” But whatever you want to call it, for many families accessory apartments are the ideal way of helping an aging parent maintain their freedom and independence while keeping them nearby.

Since an accessory apartment is a fully operational living space with separate sleeping quarters, living room, kitchen and bathroom, it is subject to local building codes and bylaw restrictions. But once it has been built and is ready to be occupied, there are some things you can do to make the space safe, comfortable and convenient for the senior who will be moving in. In many cases, the mom, father or in-law moving in will bring along their own furniture, but if you need to furnish the accessory apartment in preparation for their arrival, here are some basic guidelines to keep in mind when creating the ideal age-proofed living area.

Because many accessory apartments will be in the basement, you can off-set their tendency to be smaller in size with less natural light by choosing lighter colors for furniture. Or if the elderly parent or relative prefers darker woods or finishes, paint the walls of the unit a lighter color to make the area appear more spacious. When selecting a dining table, end tables, a coffee table or nightstands, purchase ones with rounded corners.

Many manufacturers are producing furniture pieces smaller in scale, designed specifically for apartment living. Opting for two loveseats rather than one sofa can increase the seating options of the living area while taking into account less space to work with.

To make the most out of the available floor space, choose multi-functional pieces whenever possible. A coffee table with open shelving, an end table that includes a magazine rack or an ottoman that doubles as hidden storage are just a few of the many ways you can introduce multi-functional furnishings into an accessory apartment.

Of course, the right lighting is a very important concern when decorating an accessory apartment that will be occupied by an aging parent or in-law. Select lamps, wall sconces and other fixtures that can accommodate bulbs of higher wattage and have at least two bulbs. Old age can play havoc on the eyes, and using higher wattage light bulbs will shed more light, preventing unnecessary accidents. Choosing fixtures with two or more bulbs will make allowances; if one burns out at night, the lamp will still provide some light until the bulb can be replaced in daylight hours.

Having a separate place for an aging parent or in-law to live can provide the perfect balance between maintaining the senior’s independence, and a loved one’s concern for their safety and well-being. Good design and wise furniture choices can create an accessory apartment that is comfortable, practical and inviting.

Bedroom Furniture on a Budget

Furnishing a bedroom can be a pricey adventure. It can also be time consuming; going from one retail store to another to match the pieces you want, while searching for the best price can sometimes seem like it's more trouble than it's worth. Considering that, for many of us, the bedroom is not only a place to sleep, but a sanctuary as well, you want to get it right the first time, without breaking the bank.

It might not seem like much of an issue if your nightstand doesn't match the headboard, but the mood of a room is largely determined by the color, material and style of furniture selected, and how each of these elements work together. To ensure that your bedroom will be comfortable, harmonious and inviting, maintaining the consistency of your decor is an important consideration when decorating your room.

Purchasing bedroom furniture in a set online at Cymax Stores offers a number of neat solutions. First, it eliminates the necessity of matching pieces to each other, especially if not all the items you have selected are made by the same manufacturer. Second, a bedroom set is generally cheaper than buying the pieces individually. Third, shopping online allows you to browse and compare products from trusted manufacturers all under one roof-in the comfort of your own home.

Bedroom sets are an economical way to decorate a room because they include basic bedroom furniture pieces in one convenient grouping. A bedroom set may include a number of different pieces such as the bed or a headboard, a dresser, one or two nightstands and an armoire. Most furniture manufacturers will specifically design a number of collections, in a variety of styles and configurations, so that customers can customize a particular bedroom collection to their specific needs.

But even a bedroom set isn't much of a bargain if it turns out not be exactly what you wanted or if not all of the pieces will fit into the intended space. To ensure that your bedroom set will be the perfect fit, here are some things to consider before making the purchase final.

• Take measurements - knowing the dimensions of your bedroom will give a clearer picture of just how many pieces will comfortably fit

• Set a budget - knowing exactly how much you have to spend can inspire you to come in under budget (and maybe have a little extra left over for that must-have impulse item you can't imagine living without)

• Size of the mattress - choosing the size of mattress you want to sleep on before purchasing a bedroom set is important for two reasons: mattress size determines the size of bed you will be buying and some manufacturers will offer certain collections in limited sizes, for example, only in twin and full but not queen or king

• Overall style that you want to achieve - you might fall absolutely in love with a particular bedroom collection but it's just too ultra-modern or traditional to comfortably fit with the existing decor in your home

• What is it made of? - a bedroom set made of solid hardwood will be more expensive than one constructed of engineered woods like laminated particle board or medium density fiber board (MDF)

At Cymax Stores, customers can choose from a wide range of reliable bedroom furniture manufacturers for a comfortable and personalized online shopping experience. Taking time to choose the right dresser, a pair of nightstands and a bed will be time well-spent when you come home after a busy day to the perfect place to relax and unwind.

On the Day I was Going to be Late for Work and My Furniture Helped Me

It has happened to all of us. The alarm goes off, you look at the clock, you see the time and somewhere in your semi-conscious state of half waking you make the decision to simply ignore it, roll over and drift back to sleep. You finally jerk yourself out of your slumber at that irritating point in which you are juuust too late to ever make it on time despite your best efforts, but you try anyway. In an unpleasant blur of tooth brushing and pulling on pants in the dark, you manage to scramble out of your apartment and onto the streets where a walk to the bus provides that final seam which will surely seal your lateness.

Allow me to take a moment and tell you a tale about when I was going to be late for work and my furniture helped me. Not only did I end up not being late, but I also looked extra spiffy and put together.

I normally wake up for work at 7 in the morning. If I wake up at 7 in the morning, I have 45 minutes to get ready, and maybe even enjoy the newspaper over a cup of coffee (though more than likely it will be a cartoon over a bowl of Froot Loops).

Oftentimes I see that ‘7:00’ glowing bright red on my nightstand and refuse to believe that the time has truly come for me to leave my warm cocoon of blankets and sheets and face the cold bathroom floor and the harsh buzz of my electric toothbrush. I see that bright ‘7:00’ flashing in my face and, instead of rising, I simply turn off the alarm and fall back asleep. Generally half an hour to 45 minutes later, I wrench the blankets off of my body and tear through the house like a madwoman trying to compress my 45 minute morning into five.

However, there was something different about this day; something unusual about my morning routine. You see, I had recently fully furnished my apartment with purchases from the reasonably priced and wonderfully easy to navigate online furniture retailer Cymax. I woke up late, like any other day when I wake up late; however this time, squishing my routine into five minutes was much easier than before. Instead of being sprawled on the counter or in some random location, my keys were in the top drawer of my brand new accent table which I had placed conveniently next to my front door. In addition to this, I bought a brand new kitchen cart which not only provided me with a handy place to store my Froot Loops but also a way to wheel around my bowl of cereal so that I could sneak bites while I was rushing to the bathroom from the bedroom to the kitchen and back. Finally, my coat, instead of being thrown haphazardly over a chair, was perched nicely atop a lovely mahogany coat rack, right at the door, ready for me to wear.

I couldn’t believe it, but what with all of my new purchases, my 45 minutes morning routine was easily condensed into five fast minutes! I was shocked and amazed! Especially when my brand new armoire helped me pull my pants up, or when my spanking new night table gently combed my hair while I put my contacts in.

…is that normal?

Snooze Bars and Taking Thread

Christmas past, my mother was reminiscing with my grandmother about how she used to be upset with how frequently her son was getting his face stitched up, 5 times in all to be exact. While I’m not exactly DeNiro in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, a number of high-sticks, elbows and pucks over the years of competitive hockey have meant 14 or so loops over 4 different sessions. The other time was not so macho glamorous I’m afraid.

As a youth, like many young boys, I had an early morning paper route. I was a reliable paper boy for the most part; you could rely on your paper being on your doorstep every morning, and you could rely on it being dry no matter the weather. However, you couldn’t rely on it being there with any timed consistency as some mornings I’d be out there on my metal-basketed BMX at 6 am and other days I’d only be fetching the papers out of the drop box at 6:40.

Long story short, as a result of a small and cluttered bedroom, my all-important alarm clock was most nights simply resting on the mattress next to me. All too frequently, I would simply have to aim a short slap in the direction of the annoyance to purchase another 10 minutes of slumber without having to become even slightly cognizant. 3 or 4 slaps later, my father would be in the room rousing me and rushing me out the door.

Eventually, my father came up with the idea that locating the alarm on my study desk (which paired with a dresser and bed to make up my entire room) would force me out of the bed and accordingly bring me round and get me out the door on time. It seemed logical enough.

The searing torment of the cacophony that did not cease with my frantic pounding of the mattress around me was indescribable. In a semi-conscious panic, I shot out into the darkness towards the source of the malevolence. Whether I tripped over one of the many items on my floor, or whether my groggy legs failed me, I’ll never know. The underside of my chin bounced off the edge of the desk full-force to the tune of four stitches and many disappointed subscribers.

As a result, the fibrous ridge of skin under my chin is a constant reminder how I really could’ve used a nightstand that fateful morning. A means of keeping the alarm clock just slight out of easy reach so I would have had to step out of la-la land long enough to get a grasp on exactly what I was doing. A bedside table would have taken away the need for the cross-room solution and its chaotic and bloody consequences.

Preventive measures are yours to be had at nightstandselect.com, a division of Cymax Stores Online and a recommended means of ensuring peace of mind at your bedside. They offer a wide selection of night stands for any bedroom, understanding that choosing a bedside table needs to be based on both style and function considering the value it has to the start of your day and its end.

For years I told people a skate had come up and got me under the chin.

Sans somnolence and the A.M. reclamation project

Experts say over the course of a lifetime we will spend an average of 1/3^rd of our lives asleep. Am I the only one who feels like I’ll need to develop hibernation skills to approach anywhere near that number? I still feel like I’m paying the body-clock price for burning the candle at both ends during my UVIC years and being a Madden and NFL Gameday juggernaut is little consolation when I feel like dung at 7am on a daily basis. Fact is, I’m not a morning person and that die was cast long ago – so very long ago.

I’ve poured orange juice on my cereal. I’ve started to brush my teeth with a dry toothbrush. I’ve arrived at work only to be snickered at on account of my belt passing through only two of the five loops on my khakis. You get the idea; I’m an pre-10A.M. zombie and I’m resigned to the fact that if it wasn’t for the venerable Juan Valdez and his Colombian Supremo such incidents might pale in comparison to the manifestations of incoherency I could muster up.

It was a few years back that a friend made some sort of feng shui- ish suggestion that I orient my bed northwards to “align” myself or something along those lines. Apparently it would allow me more restful and rejuvenative sleep. I was up ‘till two-thirty wondering if I was comfortable with my noggin being right below the window in a ground floor apartment. ‘Nuff said.

Lately I’ve been thinking – What if I had had an aesthetically pleasing bedroom to repose in during those late teen / early twenties formative years? Granted my financial shortcomings had much to do with it but, having recently become aware of the expanse of competitively priced, stylish and well made bedroom furniture available through Cymax Stores, I’m beginning to realize things could’ve been very different for me.

As a result, I’m here for the next generation with a most sincere plea. Don’t be like me. Don’t be in a fog from 7 to 10 each morning. Get the sleep you need under the stylish security of a sparkling new headboard – something conducive to your catching some Zs.

Perhaps your bed feels overwhelmed with the scrutiny of being the focal point of your downtime. Why not provide it with a sidekick in the form of a nightstand? Bedside tables on either side of your crash pad would surely do the trick, and adding a bedside table lamp might also be a consideration if you’re too cool to ask your parents if they still have your Smokey the Bear nightlight. Only YOU can prevent forest fires, remember that.

Still watching Jerry Springer’s choreographed white-trash gong show banished to the witching hour? Still testing the resolve of the snooze bar every morning? (Futility I assure you) You may well need a whole new spread of bedroom furniture and to that end I recommend investing in a selection of South Shore furniture. South Shore beds are a great place to start. They’re solid, reasonably priced and easy on the eyes. What about your immediate surroundings? South Shore nightstands and South Shore dressers are equally as appealing. I’d recommend a South Shore TV stand but I don’t know how helpful that would be unless it housed a personal stereo with an “ocean sounds” CD rather than a TV. Who knows – but be open to suggestion unless you want to end up as a slumber-challenged individual like me.

Lastly, if all else fails there’s the pharmacological band-aid known as Nytol, but I strongly recommend trying furniture first.

Compelled to Shrink: A Lack of Roots and Residence in the BIG City

Growing up on an island, I’d never felt overly close-quartered or impinged in my accommodations until a job and a woman (the latter being slightly more influential and infinitely more rewarding) drew me out of my idyllic surroundings and into a seething metropolis full of “opportunities.” Much to my chagrin, every month I bleed nearly twice the number of dineros for a one-bed with a view of a taxi dispatch lot, and for which “cramped” is beyond an understatement, as I did for a spacious two-bed and den pad with a huge balcony and ocean views back home.

Inevitable? Yes. Grudgingly accepted? Yes, but with a considerable dose of new-found semi-misanthropy (Just joking…I think).

Demographic trends and the dynamics of supply and demand mean that, in the big city, space = money. Like many young people, I accordingly have little of either, and the king-size Captain’s bed and sectional sofa I’ve admittedly grown attached to over the years are likely doomed to the storage unit long term. In all honesty, I should probably get over the fondness and, ideally, pawn them off on one of my many friends from high school who went into the trades and now sport a family, a mortgage and a truck to pull their lake boat…sigh…

So, in the interest of my newfound urban identity, I’m looking to acquire some less expansive home furniture. Pieces that are more lightweight and more easily disassembled in anticipation of the day I upgrade to an equally miniscule apartment, but one with a preferable view of a four-lane artery and a convenient coin-op laundromat.

For starters, I’ve been considering a platform bed, maybe even a futon, and I’ve been perusing the considerable selection offered by Cymax Stores online at MorePlatformBeds.com. Haven’t made a decision yet, but I keep going back to look at three or four that match the look I want (I’m flexible) and my budget (painfully inflexible). The convenience of shopping from home really works for me too.

I’m also considering a chest as a more upright, less width-oriented clothes storage solution than the double dresser that currently takes up nearly my entire bedroom wall. I’ve seen a few at MoreDressers.com that intrigue me and are similarly priced right. If I could find both and maybe a bare bones nightstand at once that’d be ideal, and to that end I’ve been browsing the selection at MoreBedroomSets.com, a Cymax store just like the first two. I’m not the most décor conscious guy but a matching set might be a nice touch for my meager domicile. We’ll see.

Anyways, it’s nice to know that I can affordably and practically furnish my “cave”, as I half-endearingly, half-derogatorily refer to my current pad, with Cymax Solutions and their online stores.

Furnished With Fear: A Gothic Tale of Victorian Horror

Good day to you, gentle reader! Sir Reginald Lackbottom at your service. I recently underwent a terrifying ordeal which I thought suitable to dictate into this Mechano-Aether-Transmission-Logbook for your shock and bemusement.

It recently came to my attention that my nightstand, previously known to me as harmless, was, in fact, haunted. I had been given the piece some years back from my disreputable Uncle, Lord Aleister “Red As the Night” Dunwich. This, in retrospect, should have been my first clue.

New decoration always takes some getting used to, but the nightstand was trouble from the start. Always the optimist, I considered the antique piece’s skull-festooned skirt molding to be a design feature, and I disregarded its unearthly nocturnal moans as a kind of cuckoo-clock. Peculiar but very effective: not only was I awake by sunrise, but in fact, I now barely slept at all.

On the rare occasions when I slumbered, I would awake with a start to find my nightstand shuffling about my bedroom on its wooden cabriole legs, ungainly, like some kind of horrendous wooden squid. I approached Uncle Dunwich about this. He claimed the piece was authentic “French country” furniture, to which I replied, “I suppose that explains it.”

I asked him to take the blasted thing back. I told him that if he was going to give me heritage furniture, he might at least have the decency to assure me that said heritage did not include Belial anywhere in it. In response to this, Uncle Dunwich fled my home, cackling maniacally. I have not seen him since. I still do not believe he has ever been to France, or that he even knows what it is.

The months wore on. The nightstand troubled me none-the-more. I reasoned that perhaps it had overheard the conversation between myself and my Uncle, and pledged to do no more ill. I would believe any man (except a Londoner) capable of such a change of heart; why not furniture as well? A good piece of furniture is like a person, after all: it has arms, legs and often padded seating.

Yet outside my manor, strange things had begun to happen. The streets of Twisp-By-Sea became plagued by penny-dreadful crimes committed in the night, as the news-papers indicated, by a short and silent evildoer. Initially I paid little heed, suspecting the dark deeds to be the work of leprechauns, whose Hibernian nature I have always distrusted. But I grew increasingly troubled as reports grew more detailed. Witnesses reported the knave as having curiously bowed legs and “the flattest head [one has] ever seen.”

Tennyson was thus imprisoned, but the crimes continued. Finally, the truth presented itself to me. I had awoken from uneasy dreams to find my nightstand slinking slowly back into my bedroom, reeking of absinthe and evil. At that moment I knew the nightstand’s ambulatory nature had extended into the township after all, and I was a larger fool than Tennyson not to have seen it before. I leaped out of my bed and tackled the wayward furniture to the floor.

My interrogation was brief and futile. The nightstand offered no word of explanation, nor any word at all, and thrashed around angrily until the sun came up. I pulled the drawers from the thing, but there were no clues; the nightstand was as empty as a Londoner’s prayer. There was only one solution. I sold the nightstand at a downtown antique furniture bazaar (or perhaps it was merely an ill-conceived carnival, I will never know) and washed my hands of the affair.

Thereafter, no more dark deeds troubled Twisp-By-Sea aside from the usual ones. I myself had mixed feelings. The nightstand had matched my décor so well, my room now looked empty without it. I missed the delicate rope-braid embellishments and finely wrought escutcheons exactly as much as I did not miss the nightly swarms of bats and ectoplasm.

I decided to consult my Babbage Mechano-Aether-Transmission Engine to peruse replacement furniture for my bedroom. It appears that the Cymax Mechano-Aetheric Mercantile Company has contracted with woodwrights such as Pulaski, Stanley and American Drew (imagine that! The Colonies producing goods of refined taste! What next, a horseless carriage?) which suit the refinement of my bedchamber.

I may take a chance on this oddly-named Cymax establishment. I hope to have a new nightstand forthwith, and I have been assured by their customer service lackeys that none of their furniture is possessed by dark spirits. In fact, the quality and selection of their non-supernatural furniture is the best I have seen since I attended the exorcism of William Morris’s armoire. My heart is at ease. Truly we are entering a bright new age.