Five Reasons We Love SmartStuff Bedrooms

Posted by FurniturePolished in Favorite Collections and tagged with auto-close drawers, boy's room, girl's room, kids beds, kids rooms, kids storage, LED nightlights, safe kids rooms, secret compartments, smart furniture, SmartStuff, trundle storage, Universal, youth furniture May 22, 2012

SmartStuff Gabriella Room

The most recent addition to the list of Furniture We Can’t Get Enough Of: SmartStuff by Universal. It’s kid’s furniture, but it has so many cool features, we can’t help but want it for ourselves. There are floating nightstands, secret compartments, nightlights hidden in the bedposts – even exercise guides! But first, the basics:

Classics bed with underbed storage

1. Variety
There are three groups in the SmartStuff collection. Classics is your basic, timeless design made for boys and girls. You can get it in brown or white finish. Gabriella is made for the girly-girls, with white finish, florid details and extra pieces just for jewelry storage. RoughHouse is for the rough ‘n tumble kids – you know, the ones who have to jump on the bed because their brother’s laser beams will hit them if they don’t.

Classics panel bed headboard with hideaway snake light

2. Kid-Tough Quality
The quality is exactly what you’d want in the master bedroom of your dreams. Like a hand crafted, multi-step finish. Several layers of heat-, moisture- and knick-resistant finish are hand applied in every crevice of every piece of SmartStuff. This is cool because a.) it’ll last longer, b.) it looks more expensive and c.) it’s rare to find that kind of finish quality on any other youth furniture, anywhere.

RoughHouse bunk bed – See the little nightstand by the top bunk?

SmartStuff nightstands, making life easier since 2012

3. Practical Surprises
Every nightstand has a flip-top charging station, a glowing nightlight and soft-edge coasters that remind kids to “respect the wood.” Bunk beds include a removable “nightstand in the sky” for the top bunker, and a star chart for the bottom bunker. A couple of the beds have an LED snake light that hides in the headboard. All beds are available with a variety of storage drawer and trundle options.

SmartStuff Classics bed in white finish with trundle storage

4. Just-For-Fun Surprises
A secret compartment or two is included in every dresser, along with a folding board so you your kid can learn to fold clothes neatly. The desks come with world maps and ergonomics guides to teach kids how to reduce fatigue while studying. We don’t even have room to tell you about the exercise guides, pull-out hanging rods, media drawers and other surprises throughout the collection.

Classics dresser and a hidden compartment

5. Safety-First Features
Obviously, all the fun features wouldn’t mean anything if the line wasn’t little-finger safe.^[1] So naturally, you’re going to get thoughtful safety features like softened corners, heavy-duty metal bolts, anti-tip hardware and adjustable levelers. Beds feature a slat roll foundation that is stronger than ordinary slats, and all built-in lights are LED, so they never get too hot to touch.

The drawers auto-close, so all you have to do is tap one and it’ll quietly shut itself. Plus, the only way a drawer can come all the way out is if you employ a push & release latch on the underside.

Gabriella jewelry armoire, with mirrored front

Learn more about the individual pieces in the Universal SmartStuff collection over here.

[1] Meets or exceeds BIFMA, ASTM, CPSC, ISTA and California Air Resources Board standards. UL tested and approved. Anti-tip restraint hardware meets voluntary ASTM anti-tip guidelines. Lead-free finishes.

*One more thing, just because it’s exciting: During product testing, SmartStuff drawers were put through 50,000 open/close cycles without showing significant wear. That means your kid can open and close those drawers three times every day for over 45 years before they even begin to fall apart!

Fun Furniture: A Century of Style

Posted by FurniturePolished in Fun Furniture, Furniture 411 and tagged with 100 years, 1910s furniture, 1920s furniture, 1940s furniture, 1950s furniture, 1960s furniture, 1970s furniture, 1980s furniture, 1990s furniture, centennial anniversary, furniture history, interior design history May 15, 2012

Current day living room, designed by Joyceanne Bowman.

You may have found yourselves wondering how we know so much about furniture, like what makes a good rug and how to plan a patio setup you’ll actually use and how grandfather’s clocks got their name.

We know all these things because we’ve been learning for the past 100 years – at least, there were furniture makers and interior designers and repair experts before us who passed their know-how on to us.

Just for fun and in honor of our centennial year, we thought we’d take a look back at the last century of furniture styles and interior decorating. It’s been hit and miss, for sure. From fun to funky, from jaw-dropping to heart-stopping, here they are: Furniture beauties of yesteryear.

1990s. Our Vice Chairman, Mrs. T, shows off the must-have accessories of 1993. The only thing here that stood the test of time is her outfit.

1980s. For hair, clothing, graphic design and furniture, the ’80s were tumultuous years. Here are two very different ’80s living rooms.

1970s. The wallpaper in this picture is even more ’70s than the vinyl and metal chairs. (We’re willing to bet it was orange and avocado!)

1960s. Avocado green makes an early debut in this October 1962 picture in House Beautiful magazine.

All-white kitchens, glass cabinet doors and islands are in style right now, but the picture below is actually from the October 1961 issue of House Beautiful.

1950s. The American Home magazine touts this cutting-edge room with the description, “Here’s all the warmth and charm of the early American kitchen combined with down-to-earth modern utility of colorful Formica sink and counter tops.”

And this cover shot must have helped inspire the floral sofas of the ’80s.

1940s. World War II was on everybody’s minds, and advertising took a unique turn.

Two very different bedrooms advertised during the ’40s.

1920s. Interior design is nothing new! Here is a photo from Mary Northend’s book, “The Art of Home Decorating,” 1921:

1910s. Mary Joseph Quinn’s book “Planning and Furnishing the Home,” published 1914, depicts antique replicas and “modern” mission furnishings:

Of course, these are just a sampling of past styles. Just like you’ll find lots of different styles in furniture stores today, there were lots of different styles in any given era of the past.

To find even more fun images from home décor of yore, check out this helpful website.

Mirrors in Home Design*

Posted by FurniturePolished in From the Designers and tagged with brightening up a room, design tips, hanging mirrors, interior design, Karen Fletcher, light reflection, mirror dos and don'ts, mirror headboard, mirrors, reflection, vanity, windows April 27, 2012

A design tip from our very own interior designer, Karen Fletcher:

“A mirror is a great accessory that works almost anywhere. It can double the volume of other accessories placed in front if it and increase the depth of a space.

“A mirror can also increase the amount of light in a room.

“Be careful of its placement due to its reflective quality. One area to generally avoid placing a mirror is over a fireplace if there is a ceiling fan close by.”