Why Choose a Platform Bed?

Platform beds are being more and more popular in recent years – especially in condos and loft spaces that complement its modern style.

The main reason people choose platform beds over traditional ones is to avoid needing a bedspring. Bedsprings can become inconvenient over time –they start to creak after a while, they can break and on top of that, for a new bed, it’s an added cost and an added hassle to get it into the bedroom. Plus, platform beds often have storage drawers underneath, giving you extra space for your items.

That’s why platform beds were invented: to remove the need for a bed spring.
Platform beds are designed so there’s a slight indent in them where the mattress goes. The whole bed is slightly higher than a normal bed, so it makes up for the height a bedspring would normally add. There are a variety of styles, finishes and brands offered, such as South Shore and Modus platform beds.

If you are looking to avoid the additional expense of a boxpring and have more storage space, a platform bed is a great option to consider.

-MA

Contemporary Beds for the Contemporary Bedroom

With the appearance of thinking outside the box, contemporary beds are often on the cutting edge of design. Contemporary bedroom furniture is well-known for smooth lines, sleek profiles and the creative use of construction and decorative materials. Beautiful and practical, a contemporary bed breathes new life into the space and in turn, revitalizes you.

Contemporary Wood Beds

A contemporary style wood bed is ideal for those who want their bedroom to posses a clean, uncluttered look, but still include elements that lend the room a warm, comfortable and relaxed look. Contemporary beds with lighter finishes such as birch, pine or maple can make a bedroom appear lighter. But wood bed with a dark rich finish like the Modus Maui Wave Birchwood Panel Bed that incorporates texture will definitely create visual interest.

Contemporary Metal Beds

Contemporary metal beds possess a unique and timeless elegance that is conducive to a tranquil bedroom environment. Metal beds a generally strong and long lasting. Typically the frame of a metal bed will be made of iron. But it's what a designer can do with the metal that makes metal contemporary beds so interesting. When going for a trendy look, choose a contemporary bed like the Hillsdale Neopolitan Metal Bed with its individual bowed design and sleek nickel finish.

Platform Beds

An essential element of the contemporary bedroom is the platform bed. As far as contemporary beds go, there is just something inviting about its low-profile design that literally breathes new life into a room's décor. Platform beds with underbed or built-in storage drawers are ideal for a contemporary bedroom, especially one that doesn't have much storage space to begin with. Maybe because they are closer to the floor or they commonly don't have a footboard, the appeal of a platform bed is its casual air of relaxation.


- E.L.

"Right" Reasons for a Queen Storage Bed

If you are looking for a queen platform bed, there are several reasons why it is the “right” choice for almost any bedroom décor, including the fact that you’ll never have to vacuum underneath the bed! The platform bed continues to gain in popularity simply because of its versatile design. Add functional storage and features like a bookcase headboard into the mix, and you have an ideal bed for any room, from the master bedroom to a second bedroom reserved for guests.

Probably the best reason for considering purchasing a queen platform bed is that it is economical. Because the design of a platform bed includes its own mattress support system, it does not need a box spring. And due to their simpler designs, queen platform beds tend to be less expensive than other types of standard beds such as a sleigh or poster bed.

At first glance, a queen platform bed might not appear like a multi-functional piece of furniture. But in small spaces like a studio apartment or a smaller-sized bedroom, a storage platform bed can actually eliminate the need for a dresser. And since, no matter where we live or the size of the room, we never seem to have enough storage, a platform bed adds maximum functionality to your living environment.
Use a queen platform bed to create the illusion of a bigger room. It often will make a room appear larger because of its low-profile design, which places the bed closer to the floor, revealing more of the wall, emphasizing the distance between the bed and the ceiling. Platform beds have smooth, clean lines that give them a distinctly modern appeal. Because a platform bed typically doesn’t have a footboard, this kind of bed can even open up the room, making it feel less cramped or cluttered.

-RL

Apartment Style Design

Apartment Style Design

If you’ve been looking to furnish your apartment space with style, yet function, don’t worry about your limitations. Look at it this way – less space to decorate means less time or money spent on the project!

Of course, creating a floor plan for an apartment or condo can be a challenge. How do you create a living space that flows well without cramping or overcrowding? Check out these key pieces from Online Furniture Stores that are stylish and suitable for small spaces:

When it comes to seating, an armless option like the Distinction Leather Kingsport Armless Chair will take up less space in a living area.

You can select something like the Modloft Park Low-Profile Coffee Table – because it’s so low to the ground, it’s less visible, therefore not taking up a lot of room in your sitting area.

Now what about bedroom furniture?

The best option for a bedroom is a low-profile platform bed set, like the South Shore Furniture Sereno Low Profile Queen Platform Bed 3 Piece Bedroom Set. Buying in sets is always an ideal money-saving option because everything matches and you don’t need to go

out and buy separate pieces. A cool option to bring more light into a room and more storage at the same time is the nexxt by Linea Cameron Floating Wall Mirror.

The slimly-designed mirror reflects light in a room, giving the illusion of more space, and has a clever storage cabinet behind it.

If you don’t have a lot of floor space, you should find pieces that take up space vertically.

The Athena/Apollo Corner Computer Desk Tower can be used in a corner, and features vertical shelving space for your printer, fax machine, books, or home décor. There’s also the BDI Icon LCD Plasma Glass TV Stand – it can also fit in the corner, and stacks upwards, instead of width-wise.

Bringing light into your apartment will give it a fresher, lighter appearance. Why not mix storage space, vertical construction, and lighting into one with the Adesso Wright Tall Floor Lamp? It fits well into any corner, gives off a warm glow, and has three shelves to offer more storage opportunities.

How else can you open up an apartment and make it seem less crammed? Get rid of any dark wall colours! Light, neutral paint colours on the wall make a room seem airy and bright, as opposed to dark shades that cozy up a room and can leave it looking smaller.

Platform Beds

Spotlight: Black Platform Beds

Nothing can make your bedroom look as sleek and sophisticated as a black-finished platform bed. Since black is such a bold shade, it makes a statement in your bedroom.

Plus, black is a neutral tone, so it’s guaranteed to match any colour scheme you may have going on. Take a look at the following examples of chic black platform beds:


The Prepac Sonoma Black King Platform Storage Bed is ideal for anyone who is desperate for more storage space. It features six pull-out drawers to store extra clothes, shoes, or anything that needs putting away. Plus, it has a minimal (yet stylish) appeal – it’ll match with almost any design style.

The Fashion Bed Group Kyoto Modern Platform Bed in Black Finish clearly channels the Japanese “less is more” mantra. It features a distinctive Japanese screen styled headboard, and is very low to the ground – another Japanese influence.

Homelegance’s Lennox Black Leather Platform Bed is a perfect blend of modern and contemporary style. It even boasts a bit of vintage charm with its tufted leather head and footboard. Black leather is definitely one of the most luxurios material choices for a bed, so why not treat yourself and update your bedroom with one?

Have you been wanting to update your bedroom but don’t have the budget for a new bed? Why not paint your current one jet black platform bed? It will instantly give your bedroom a new look – and a new focal point!

The Fine Art of Arranging Bedroom Furniture

One of the cable stations in my area offers a triple flicks movie night. I park myself in front of my entertainment center armed with munchies, an afghan and a hot or cold beverage (depending on how chilly the day’s been) and don’t move until I need something, and then I only get up in the commercials. At the risk of being politically incorrect, it’s chick flick heaven and it’s my own delicious secret Saturday night guilty pleasure. I’ve never shared this secret with anyone before, until one day after work I took the elevator down to the lobby with a co-worker who made a reference to one of the triple flicks that had aired the previous weekend.

I only admitted to watching the triple flicks movie night on a regular basis because there was no one else in the elevator. When I mentioned that I occasionally would do minor household chores in the commercials, my co-worker reacted vehemently to such a sacrilege. She then confessed to rearranging her bedroom furniture to accommodate her movie night picnic with watching television (for a six hour stretch) in ultimate comfort and without having (literally) to move a muscle.

She put her extra television on a corner TV stand, places the phone on her nightstand and loads up an accent table (brought into the bedroom from the living room for this express purpose) with provisions until it’s time to pick up the phone to order take-out (for delivery, of course). Unlike me, she doesn’t attempt to assuage her guilt with the occasional bout of housework. Her platform bed has been suitably plied with pillows. And there she sits, propped up for a three-movie marathon, in decadent repose.

To my co-worker, I expressed my deep admiration of her skill and expertise. Silently, I officially declared myself as a triple flicks movie watcher amateur. I resolve to do better by buying (immediately) a TV armoire, a cordless phone and extra, extra pillows.

Home Furnishings as Comforting as Food

Fall officially arrived in the third week of September. But it wasn’t until one day last week, when the temperature dipped and the wind picked up enough to blow most of the leaves off the trees, I made a beeline for the kitchen and my mother’s stew with dumplings recipe. This past weekend, I shopped for a big boned roast, so I could make soup. Yes, with the first little hint of what winter will bring, I’m reaching for those comfort foods that I know will keep the chills away.

But what if furniture from Cymax Stores could do the same thing as a hearty bowl of homemade soup or your favorite casserole?

While we’re waiting for dinner to cook, let’s sip a nice glass of full-bodied wine. Ornately appointed and sumptuous, the American Drew Bordeaux Upholstered Back Arm Chair is unabashedly traditional. Carved arms, classic decorative motifs and a medium dark wood finish make this occasional chair worth tasting.

Bordeaux not to your liking? Let me pour you a glass of Cabernet 2-Piece Armoire by Accent Furniture instead. Featuring door fronts with recessed oval panels and classic bail hardware, this armoire has plenty of room for everything you need to safely store away. Transitional, but with traditional decorative elements like crown molding, this armoire has plenty of style, too.

For the main course, there is Beef Tenderloin in a Grand Marnier Sauce or a Stanley Furniture Louis Louis Marble Top Cherry Night Stand in Grande Marnier Finish. Full bodied and versatile, the textured marble top creates visual interest. The roomy drawers provide convenient storage solutions.

No meal is complete without dessert. The South Shore Furniture Back Bay Dark Chocolate Platform Bed is rich and delectable with its smooth, yummy finish. The lines are soothing and have a distinctly modern appeal.

Let’s finish off the evening meal with the Alphaville Redondo Arm Chair in Espresso. The sensuous lines of the back and arms lend this club-style chair a comfortable and inviting appearance. A great place to relax while sipping a cup of coffee, it would look great parked in front of a fire. That would certainly be the perfect remedy to a cold winter day.

Post Modern

Back in the good old days, before standardized bed sizes like twin, double or king, the bed was a sign of wealth and prestige. The larger and more ornate the bed, the more prominent its owner was considered to be. It makes perfect sense, then, that the bed of kings was the four poster bed.

In the evolution of the bed, it might be surprising to note that the canopy or tester appeared first and was not associated with the four poster bed until roughly two centuries later. The canopy, from which curtains were hung, was originally suspended above the bed by cords from the beams of the ceiling. When the poster bed finally caught up with the canopy, it was certainly worth the wait. The simple bedstead of yore now boasted panels of wood, an elaborate canopy frame stretching the full length of the bed and richly colored and embroidered fabrics. Silk sheets, of course, were used. Depending on the nobleman or monarch, these impressive structures for sleeping were often embellished with gold bars, silver accents, precious jewels and gold thread.

Still popular today, perhaps because it makes its occupant feel like royalty, the poster bed is the bed of choice when wanting to make a statement. But, for most of us, what immediately spring to mind are the elaborately carved posts, bun feet, crown molding and intricately detailed motifs of a traditional style bed. However, today's manufacturers of bedroom furniture offer modern and contemporary versions that are just as impressive in their own right as their ancestors.

The Lifestyle Solutions Wilshire Canopy Four Poster Platform Bed is a perfect example. Pairing the low-profile type of bed with tall, tapering posts creates the illusion of grand scale, without sacrificing precious space. Very contemporary, the clean lines are emphasized by the dark finish for a look that is distinctive yet restful.

Mixing materials (like precious stones embedded in wood) is nothing new, but the Homelegance Levanto Maple Poster Bed does so in a chicly modern way. The simple curves and clean straight lines of the wood are offset by the tapered spire bedposts with sleek nickel finials and accents. This poster bed would blend with a number of contemporary styles, including transitional.

The same can be said for the American Drew Sterling Pointe Poster Bed. Its design is distinctly modern, but it does display classic structural accents that create visual interest. The gentle arch of the headboard is given definition by decorative molding. The lines of the square tapered posts are bold and unique.

These three poster beds have one thing in common: they are a tasteful fusion of traditional and contemporary elements. If you have always wanted a poster bed, but have thought of them as being too traditional, it's time reconsider. Many manufacturers offer urban chic poster beds designed for today's modern lifestyle.

Lines in the Water

One of the things I genuinely miss about my childhood home is the ability to be off-shore on excellent fishing grounds within 30 minutes of leaving my front door, and 15 of those were spent paddling away from Spring Bay beach into the tail end of the Georgia Strait.

I’m somewhat shocked to realize it was 20 years ago that my dad and I bought our 20$ tickets for the big Victoria Rotary Club’s Annual South Island Fishing Derby for the fourth consecutive year. The years previous, you could almost sense the derision from the power-boat anglers with downriggers, sonar scanners and multiple lines in the water as they puttered past our lowly canoe while we strip-cast or jigged buzz-bombs or stingzildas.

While we always boated fish, we could never match the weight of the lunkers the trollers would pull in and accordingly were nowhere near the leader board. This was of little matter to us, as it was all about another day on the water, raising money for charity and hoping just hoping for the seemingly impossible “big one.” Another day of casting my line over and over yet going home with nothing more than a well-defined farmer’s tan.

There’s always a chance.

It was late afternoon, near 4pm I would guess, and if my memory serves me correctly I had stuffed my rod for the day and was munching on a PB&J sandwich while pops carried on. I didn’t see the hit or his rod arch violently in the span of a second, but his “Whoa oh oh!!” turned my head around in time to hear the reel drag begin to scream with that high-pitched “zzzzzz!” every fishermen loves to hear. This was no skip-jack or seasonal pink..

It took a good 20-25 minutes to get the big spring into the canoe, during which time dad frantically and sometimes expletively yelled instructions at me to paddle the boat to more favorable play angles as the chinook recklessly raced around the depths. Naturally, I had to net it and my 13-year old arms had one heck of a time heaving it out of the sea. The feeling of elation on our faces would have been priceless to catch on film.

Weighing in at 30 point-something pounds, our haul was good enough to take home third place in the derby and a $300 gift voucher from Island Line & Tackle.

I loved how he held it up extra long so the hot-shot power boaters could get a long look at it.

That’s the beauty of fishing to know they’re there and no matter how technically proficient you are, sometimes it’s all luck and right place, right time. All it takes is the initiative to get out there and a line in the water.

Similarly, if you’re one of the hundreds of people who’ve taken advantage of the exceptional deals to be had on home furnishings and products at Cymax Stores recently, you can put a “line in the water” yourself by submitting an online review of your purchase on any product page at http://www.cymax.com. With no risk of the aforementioned farmer’s tan, seagull bombs or annoying dogfish, you can know that you have a chance of pulling in a $1000 PRIZE FOR ANY PRODUCT REVIEW SUBMITTED TO CYMAX! While it will be difficult to suspend it by the gills for a dockside-victory photo, you won’t need to gut, fillet and wash this nice cash bonus generously offered by Cymax as token of their appreciation for your customer feedback.

Feel free to rave, or not, about the space-friendly design and easy assembly of your South Shore Back Bay Chocolate Platform Bed and how it’s the perfect match for your room. While you’re at it, take a moment to think how wise you’re being in taking only a few minutes of your time that could, if the big one swims your way, land you a cool grand.

Espouse the value of your Home Star Mission Hills Bench Table as a fitting addition to your foyer, how you can’t beat the combination of price, appearance and function, and how it’s the ideal spot to sit and shed your hip-waders after a day combing the lake.

Go on at length how your Tecno Seating Executive Hi-Back Massage Chair makes going to work on Monday all the more bearable after portaging from one land-locked lake to the next over the weekend, and how you’re thrilled how quickly it was received after placing your order.

Put your line in the water at cymaxstores.com somebody’s gonna land the big fish!

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.