When you first consider the thought of painting your bedroom green, you instantly worry about the colour’s relationship to sickness and “feeling green” – don’t let that put you off using this wonderful colour though.

Here are eight decorating ideas that will show how green can be used sensibly with other colours and furnishings to brighten up your bedroom this Spring and all year round.
photo © Viscusi Elson, houzz.com

#1 Mix Your Greens

Using various shades of green for different parts of the room allows you to create a visual balance. Generally a paler green, like asparagus/ pistachio for the walls, with darker tones used as accents on bed cushions works nicely.

#2 Furnish in White

To dilute the sometimes harsh visual impact of a green wall, white furniture is often used to complement it.

Ivory and floral whites are great colours to furnish a green bedroom with because they help the eye determine visual space when light enters the room – perfect on a sunny Spring day.
photo © Karen Evars + Anderson, houzz.com

#3 Peppermint With Light Ceilings

Avoid creating a dark environment with a light shade of green, like peppermint, which works very well with a light or neutral ceiling to give the bedroom a spacious appearance.
photo © Karen Joy, houzz.com

#4 White Walls, Green Ceiling

Traditionally, ceilings are painted with neutral colours to help add visual height, even though the ceiling is fixed.

By swapping the norm and painting the ceiling green you run the risk of visually lowering the ceiling, however, the white walls could visually stretch the horizontal perspective of the bedroom – almost like living in a widescreen bedroom.

photo © Chr DAUER, houzz.com

#5 Add Some Pink for Girls

If the green bedroom you wish to create is for a girl, adding a touch of pink will go down a treat and add some eclectic style to the otherwise nature-inspired interior.
photo © Creative Decor by Mandi, houzz.com

#6 Contrasting Dark Floors

Hardwood floors are a beautiful addition for any bedroom but with one that has green walls there is a natural association made between greenery and wood – ideal for springtime decor.

photo © Cardea Building Co., houzz.com

#7 Complementary Natural Finishes

Letting wood speak for itself in a green bedroom has the same natural beauty as wooden floors do. With wooden furniture to complement the green the occupant of a bedroom like this will feel like they’re sleeping in the woods.
photo © Lowe’s Home Improvement, houzz.com

#8 Just a Touch of Green

Rather than dominating the walls with green you could keep it simple and feature a splash of it in your bedroom in the form of a decal, paint or any other imaginative way you can conjure up.

photo © Lucas Fox Barcelona, houzz.com

Time to Decorate

We hope that you’ve been inspired by this display of green bedrooms that we like. If on the other hand you’ve recently used green in your bedroom, let us know how you used this refreshing colour in the comments area below.

MAY 2013 ISSUE!

If you’ve already got your copy of this month’s Kitchens, Bedrooms & Bathrooms magazine, you’ll have noticed that our very own Traven chairs have been featured!

Showcased within an editorial on the luxuriously modern interior of a sleek London pad, the Traven dining chairs are the perfect purchase; a luxury item, without the luxury price tag.

Available in four different fabric colours (green, purple, red and black), you can mix and match to not only brighten up your home, but create a real statement too.

If that wasn’t enough to tempt you, the Traven dining chairs currently have 20% off: and are now only £87.20 each.

Be sure to grab yours soon!

View the Article Here!

Looking for contemporary Traven Coloured Dining Chairs?

Visit our product page:

http://www.franceshunt.co.uk/dine/dining-chairs-benches/traven-coloured-dining-chair.html

MAY 2013 ISSUE!

Here at Frances Hunt, we are delighted to announce that once again one of our beautifully-crafted pieces has been featured in the ever-popular interior design magazine, Style at Home.

Selected as a bedroom ‘key buy,’ the Torino daybed has sophistication and elegance in abundance. Boasting sleek black metal rails and intricate finials, this daybed yearns to be draped in sumptuous cushions and fabrics.

Every month, Style at Home choose their favourite products to feature in a fabulous prize give-away, and this month one of our very own Torino daybeds has been selected!

So for your chance to win, be sure to pick up a copy of Style at Home before the closing date of 15th May 2013. Good Luck and Happy Shopping!

View the Article Here!

Looking for a chic Torino Black Metal Day Bed?

Visit our product page:

http://www.franceshunt.co.uk/sleep/beds/day-beds/torino-metal-black-day-bed.html

Also available in Torino Off-White Metal Day Bed!

Visit our product page:

http://www.franceshunt.co.uk/sleep/beds/day-beds/torino-metal-off-white-day-bed.html

 
I swept the thought of it away and was adamant that my first-level floor would be saturated in black tiles complete with underfloor heating until events unfolded between that discussion and the time of me writing this article.

So here are 3 theoretical problems I have found with having black flooring at home!
 

Problem 1 – Animal Fur On Black Carpet

 
I have a dog at home and I’m not looking to get rid of him when I move to my new house. The problem that I would have, on the other hand, is with him malting all over my dream flooring because he has ginger hair which would be highlighted by the darkness of the black tiles.

The situation that highlighted this first problem to me was when I visited a friend whose white short-haired Staffy resided in their black carpeted living room. The owners of this flat only vacuumed the carpet that morning and it already had plenty of white dog hairs scattered around the floor by midday.

One funny resolution to choosing flooring that suits your animals, which was apparently tried and tested, was taking a sample of your cat, dog, etc hair and bringing it to the carpet or flooring shop with you. This way you wouldn’t have to clean as regularly as you would if you had black flooring.
 

Problem 2 – Dust On Black Electrical Appliances

 
I’m not a great fan of dust, in fact I don’t think any homeowner is that keen on it. That’s why when I saw how much dust had collected on my black PC Monitor compared to the rest of my home office desk, it made me realise how obvious dust was on my darker home appliances.

With this 2nd problem present in my current home on smaller items I owned, I began to wonder if this would be a much larger problem on the bigger surface area of my future flooring. Additionally, there are factors to consider such as draughts or passing winds that could carry the dust further in the large downstairs I envision.
 

Problem 3 – The Stain On My Black Fabric Trousers

 
A recent meal with friends ended up on the leg of my black trousers and I wasn’t happy but I knew that I could throw them in the laundry when I got home.

At the time I decided to add a bit of water to stop the stain from soaking into the fabric, however, after we’d eaten I did notice the stain throughout the evening, which might have been less obvious if the material was slightly lighter like denim – this is where theoretical problem 3 was born.

In the case of having black tiles for flooring I don’t think the stain issue will be a problem, however, for homeowners with black carpet I can imagine that light coloured stains stick out like a sore thumb. Like most carpet stains though they are treatable using the right solutions.
 

Conclusion

 
The three theoretical problems with black flooring I have conjured up based on my experiences are slightly swaying my decision away from black tiling, however, it is always more valuable to hear it from owners with black floors themselves.

So let us know if you currently have or have had a black floor at home and whether or not the problems I’ve outlined have happened to you.

A common problem for bed owners with hardwood floors in their bedroom is the curse of sliding whenever you get in, roll out, or move in the night.

Unfortunately a sliding bed can lead to scratched floors which can be very time-consuming to replace, in addition to chipped or scratched away paintwork if your headboard is in close contact with the bedroom wall.

Lightweight bed frames are usually the culprit of the damage but rather than discouraging you from buying them, we’ve got some nifty and stylish ways that you can happily own one and stop it from sliding around your bedroom.

1. Place a Rug Between the Bed and the Floor

Opting for the use of a rug is the most stylish of our tips but you need to make sure it is a large, thick piled rug – best suited for rooms with large floorspace.

The thick pile will allow the bed legs to create impressions in the rug, keeping it firmly set in the grooves. Also, you will benefit from a rug that is much larger than the perimeter of the bed frame because the larger the surface area covered by the rug combined with the weight of the bed, the less likely the rug is to move.

Using a rug for this purpose will also keep your toes warm when you first step out of bed during the winter, which is great if you prefer not to wear slippers.

2. Wrap the Bottoms of the Frame with Rubber

This suggestion is best suited for U-shaped bed legs and was raised in several forums as a thrifty way to keep your bed in place. You will need a cutting tool and a pair of old bicycle tyres with little to no tread left to make this work.

Simply cut the tyres to the length of the leg surfaces that are in contact with your floor and wrap them so that the outside of the tyre creates friction with the floor and the inside of the tyre has the bed leg inside of it.

It might not look great on close inspection but remember, these types of legs are under your bed and rarely in view so you won’t need to worry about the appearance of it too much unless you spend a lot of time under the bed.

3. Apply Rubber Feet to the Feet of the Bed

This solution can be either permanent or temporary, depending on whether or not you want to drill a screw into the bottom of your bed’s legs.

Rubber feet for your bed are easy to find and come either with adhesive on one side so that you can stick them to the frame’s legs or with screws built in so you can make the rubber permanently fixed to the frame.

This solution is far more subtle and can hide perfectly under the points of the bed that are in contact with the floor.

4. Permanently Attach the Bed Frame to the Wall

If you have a solid wall in your bedroom that can handle a bed frame being attached to it then it might be a good idea, if all else fails, to drill through the head of the frame to the wall behind it.

Using a set of wall plugs, some relatively long screws, and a drill, you will be able to attach the bed to the wall. This will, however, mean making around 3 small holes in your wall so before rushing into this decision you might want to try our other suggestions first.

Make sure you place your bed exactly where you want it and trial living with that configuration for a short while before finally fixing it to the wall. If you prefer re-configuring your room on a regular basis then this option may not be ideal for you.

5. Apply Velcro Pads to Bed Feet

Another suggestion from the online communities was velcro padding which has an adhesive on the non-velcro side so one pad is attached to the frame whilst the other is stuck to the floor.

This technique would make the bed frame sit flatter with the floor, as velcro is less bulky than a rubber stopper, however, it does mean applying an adhesive to your hardwood floor which could potentially stain it if the bed is replaced at a later date.

Note: All of the suggestions in this article are based on other peoples’ experiences and suggestions from online communities. Please take care when considering to use these methods to stop your bed from sliding around your hardwood floor.

Image taken by worak, shared under creative commons license

Springtime in the UK is a season that begins towards the end of March, which often motivates homeowners to Spring Clean their house as they say goodbye to Winter’s cold and welcome the more heated months that follow.

A good Spring Clean often involves the rigorous cleaning of your house from top to bottom and is usually done only once a year during the start of Springtime. That’s not to say that your house should remain dirty for the majority of the year but rather that it should be cleaned to an acceptable level for you. During this particular period of cleaning, however, every nook and cranny is cleared of its dirt, dust, and grime!

To help you with your spring cleaning we’ve decided to share five natural ways to clean your living room that have been widely accepted as eco-friendly alternatives to cleaning products containing unnatural chemicals, which in many cases are also believed to save you money whilst cleaning your home to the same standard.

Note: these recommendations have not been trialed by ourselves but have been suggested by several reputable figures in the natural cleaning community. If you have doubts concering these natural spring cleaning tips, we suggest you test them on an inconspicuous part of your living room furniture first.

Refreshing Your Carpet

An old, dirty carpet can contain odours and begin to look tired as it ages. This tip will show you how you can remove the smells from your carpet using a popular rising agent for baking – bicarbonate of soda (also known as baking soda).

Cleaning Your Mirror

Mirrors can be cleaned using a simple mixture of 2 tablespoons of lemon juice with half a gallon of water.

Polishing Hardwood Furniture

There are two home-made mixtures that can be used to polish hardwood surfaces – the contents of hich are likely to be sitting in your kitchen cupboards.

Mixture 1 (suggested by Erin Huffstetler)

Mixture 2 (suggested by Friends of the Earth)

Cleaning Your Windows

The following video created by Videojug shows how you can make a natural window cleaner out of lemons, white wine vinegar, and water:

Dusting the TV Stand

One cleaning tool that is very popular amongst dust-haters is the microfiber cloth. This useful cloth allows you to clean most dusty surfaces without the need for a cleaning solution – perfect for cleaning your television stand.

Before cleaning your television stand you should turn off the power supply of all connected devices for safety purposes. The surfaces can be cleaned using a dry microfiber cloth, however, you will need to wring it under warm water to remove the dust collected.

To clean the dust more effectively you can use a damp microfiber cloth that will allow the dust to be collected rather than passed around in the air. You will need a second, dry cloth to dry the surfaces once they’ve been wiped.

A Brief History of Spring Cleaning

The origins of Spring Cleaning appear to have many proposed beginnings that encompass religious and foreign cultural reasons, however, one humourous biological reason is that the long winter months force our bodies to produce higher levels of melatonin – a hormone that increases sleepiness in humans (caused by the lack of sunlight).

Once Spring arrives with its increase in daylight we produce much less of this hormone and feel more awake. TLC proposes that we therefore have a Spring Clean merely because this is the month that we begin to “wake up” from a melatonin-induced laziness when we are more bothered to carry out such cleaning duties whereas during winter we lack the energy to clean as thoroughly.

Image taken by Daveybot, shared under creative commons license

Reading deeper into the results of this study it appears that 7% of adults are said to have less than five hours of sleep per night whereas 7% are reported as having the opposite of between 8 and 9 hours.

Those of us who do get the recommended 8 hours of sleep (38%) said that they slept very well most nights, which adds to the argument that 8 hours of sleep are good for you (41% of Britons said they felt positive after a good night’s sleep).

How Sleep Affects Us

Our bodies work hard during the day to keep us awake, alert, and productive so like most things in nature they need a period of rest to restore our energy for the following day’s activity.

“With continued lack of sufficient sleep, the part of the brain that controls language, memory, planning and sense of time is severely affected, practically shutting down. In fact, 17 hours of sustained wakefulness leads to a decrease in performance equivalent to a blood alcohol level of 0.05% (two glasses of wine)” (BBC Science).

How to Get a Better Night’s Sleep

There are several recommendations on how you can get a better night’s sleep from the NHS, scientific research, and bed experts. Here are just 5 of the recommendations we agree with:

1. Set a regular time that you go to sleep and wake up at every day (also known as setting your body clock) and stick to it, even on the weekends. Be sure that it allows you to get between 7 and 8 hours of sleep.

2. Clear your bedroom of digital clutter such as a televisions, computer devices, and stereo systems because their displays and operation lights emit light at a time of the day that is normally dark, tricking your body into thinking that it needs to wake up.

3. Purchase a new bed if yours is more than 7 years old (The Sleep Council recommends replacing your bed every 7 years). More than 1 in 10 Britons revealed that their bed was to blame for their rough nights of sleep. The study also revealed that the divan bed was the most popular owned bed in the UK.

4. Try having a bath or hot shower before settling into bed as it relaxes your body’s muscles. If you are able to regulate the temperature of your bed to make it warmer rather than colder then this could also help with making you relax into a sleep.

5. Drink a glass of warm milk before going to bed because it contains an amino acid called tryptophan that has been known to encourage sleep.

More advice on how you can improve your sleep can be found here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/sleep/articles/advicetips.shtml

http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/MentalHealthSelfCare/Anxiety-Sleep

National Bed Month

The research published by The Sleep Council was perfectly timed for release during the UK’s National Bed Month (March) – an annual awareness event hosted by The Sleep Council that aims to educate people on the importance of sleep and how we can improve our health through different lifestyle decisions connected with sleep.

To celebrate the month, we at Frances Hunt encourage you to get the recommended hours of sleep into your bedtime by following the advice in this article and by checking out our range of bedroom furniture that can help give you the comfort you need to visit the land of nod.

Happy Sleeping!

Image credit: Lady T 220

To help you in your home improvement efforts we’ve provided you with a brief guide that should see you through to bare walls so pop the kettle on for a moment and read through our how-to on stripping wallpaper.

Assess the Type of Wall You Have

When removing wallpaper there is a level of moisture involved to coerce the wallpaper from staying on the wall so you need to find out what the wall you are working on is made out of. Solid walls that have been plastered can withstand a fair amount of soaking whereas plasterboard can be affected if exposed to large quantities of water.

You will know if your wall is made of plasterboard by knocking on it with your hand. If it sounds hollow in the most part of it then it is most likely plasterboard. The parts where it will sound solid will be the studs that the wall is attached to.

Image credit:opacity

On the other hand, if you have a plasterboard wall that has been properly skimmed then you won’t have as many problems. The only thing to be wary of is digging into the plasterboard when scoring or removing the paper, as damage to plasterboard walls can sometimes lead to more work that require the need of a plasterer or complete replacement of a plasterboard panel.

Switch Off the Power

Just to be safe, we recommend shutting off the power in the room that you are working in because you will be working with water and have exposed power cabling when you unscrew electrical fittings to remove the old wallpaper hiding behind them.

To do this simply locate your power box and switch the supply to that part of the house off.

Score the Papered Walls

So by now you should know the type of wall you are working on and have an empty room with the power off and electrical fittings unscrewed from the walls. Time to get scoring.

Before you begin slashing at the walls you might benefit from testing a corner of paper and seeing how easily it comes of first because if it simply peels off in sheets with minimum debris being left behind you could save yourself some time. Do be aware though that backing paper is usually underneath easy-to-strip wallpaper so make sure you cut right back into the skimmed plaster.

Many sources recommend using a Stanley knife to score the walls so that when you soak them in the next process the water will penetrate through the layers of paper. This is effective yet time consuming which is why we’d recommend creating your own wallpaper scorer using a thick block of wood and some long masonry nails to speed up the process a bit.

How to Make a Homemade Paper Scorer

1. To make your own wallpaper scorer take a small block of wood, big enough to grip in your palm, and secure it to a work bench.
2. Gather a dozen masonry nails of the same length and hammer them through the block of wood with even spaces so one side looks like a spiked metal brush. You can add more nails if you wish but note that this could create many tiny pieces of wallpaper rather than larger chunks that come off as whole pieces.
3. Applying firm pressure, run your new paper scraper over the walls to make many score lines in the old wallpaper.

Soak the Walls

Once you’ve successfully scored your walls you need to make a solution of warm water and washing up liquid. The warmer the water the more it will help with breaking down the adhesive that holds the old wallpaper up so crack out the marigolds if you want to keep your hands looking young.

You can use a sponge or other applicator that will apply a good amount of water to the wallpaper so that it soaks through all of the layers. Some walls have multiple layers of wallpaper so be patient when carrying this out as it can take a great deal of time.

Scrape Off the Old Paper

To remove the paper you will need a wallpaper scraper, which you can get from almost any DIY store. When scraping try to angle your scraper so that you are travelling along the wall and underneath the paper rather than digging directly into the wall. The last thing you want to do is dig out the plaster or plasterboard.

After giving the wallpaper about 10 minutes to soak begin removing at a place where there is a break between wallpaper sheets and get your scraper into the gap and under the paper. If it comes off easily then you should be in for a quick and simple removal process.

Tough Wallpaper Removal

If the wallpaper is difficult to remove then you will need to revisit it with the soaking process before trying to remove it again. This can be a long and repetitive process but stick with it if you are removing a good amount on each attempt.

If you really struggle with removing the wallpaper then you might need the aid of a wallpaper stripper that applies steam deep into the layers of the paper or a wallpaper stripping solution to help break down the adhesive further. Just be sure not to hold it on one area for longer than needed because you could end up penetrating through to plasterboard if that is what your walls are made out of – potentially creating more problems.

The Finish

Image credit: Snap Man

Once you’ve removed all of the wallpaper you should be left with bare walls coated in plaster. If you find that you’ve made some slight dinks in the wall or there are minor bits of plaster missing then you can try to fill these gaps with a number of different fillers and plaster mixes.

On the other hand if you have large areas of plaster missing or you are not confident in plastering yourself then we recommend contacting a professional plasterer as they will know exactly what you need.

It is important that your walls are completely flat before applying new wallpaper so make sure you hire a qualified and recommended plasterer.

Enjoy Improving Your Home

Now that we’ve explained how simple it is to remove your old wallpaper you should be confident in going forth and having a good weekend of scoring, soaking and scraping. If you’ve got any handy tips for our readers regarding the removal of wallpaper feel free to leave them in our comments section below.

To help you decide on what you should make, we’ve gathered a few DIY tutorials for home gifts that your Valentine can use on this occasion or all year round if its suits their interior decor enough. It’s time to roll your sleeves up and get creating if you want to present it in time!

Heart-Shaped Wind Chime

This beautiful wind chime is so simple to make and can be customised to any shape and size of heart you wish. Alternatively you could make the heart shape anything you want as long as you follow the principles provided in this tutorial by leftfootleashed: http://www.instructables.com/id/Wooden-Heart-Wind-Chime/.

The Illusionists Heart

Originally intended as a small pocket gift, this intricate piece of craftsmanship is scalable so you could create a much larger version of it for the home if you wish.

Even if you attempt to create the exact replica of this it could score you brownie points on Valentine’s Day strictly because of the amount of work that goes into creating something so small. This DIY tutorial was created by bartolo: http://www.instructables.com/id/Customized-wooden-heart/.

Heart-in-heart Picture Frame

House a memory you’ve shared with your loved one and create this beautiful picture frame out of oak using Wood Chuck’s step-by-step tutorial: http://www.instructables.com/id/Heart-in-Heart-Picture-Frame/. Plenty of the stages can be done at home providing you have some of the tools at your disposal.

No-sew Pillow

Made by re.Create Design, this no-sew pillow requires minimal craft skill and allows you to upcycle an old or existing pillow into something more attractive for Valentine’s Day. It takes about 15 minutes to recreate and requires no stitching skills: http://www.instructables.com/id/Quick-Easy-DIY-for-Valentines-Day/.

Valentine Candle Holder

If you’ve got an old mason jar or any other type of large jar lying around the house then it could be a good idea to clean it up and re-use it as a personalised candle holder. This tutorial by craftknowitall shows just how easy it is to make: http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-a-Valentine-Candle-Holder/.

Time to DIY

We hope at least one of these DIY home gifts gave you some inspiration for a last-minute gift. If not, you can always be guarantee that chocolate works so here’s a quick tutorial on how you can make your own little chocolate treats: http://www.instructables.com/id/Chocolate-Valentines/.

Whatever it is you decide to do for Valentine’s Day we hope you have a good one!

Kitchen tables are built perfectly for these smaller dining spaces where a full-sized dining set won’t fit and provide a perfect furniture solution to houses with a kitchen diner. The only disadvantage is that they usually seat up to 4 people so if you have a large family but limited dining space, you might want to consider a re-fit of the rooms if mealtimes are important to you so that you can manage a bigger dining set.

If you’re thinking of buying a new kitchen table we’ve chosen 6 of our best looking kitchen table sets from our range of kitchen tables to give you an idea of the different styles you can choose from.

Maya Breakfast Table

This curvatious breakfast table provides a touch of traditional class with the added beauty of French grey colour, making the natural beech table surface glow.

Wichita Compact Table Set

For dining areas that need space and less clutter, the hideaway chairs of the Wichita round breakfast table make it a perfect choice.

Salvador Glass Set

The retro style of this set is very unique and fitting for contemporary and retro themed interiors.

Weald Breakfast Table

Made of specially selected timbers, the Weald kitchen table has beautiful traditional style and is a wonderful part of our buttermilk collection.

Theo High Gloss

Inject some luxury looking contemporary style into your kitchen diner with this shiny, black, high gloss kitchen table set.

Shoreditch White Set

The Shoreditch round table set is very fitting in white and suits most light interior styles to add visual space but can also contrast with deeper colour schemes.