Accent Chairs

Accent Chairs are a great way to add some interest to a room, instead of doing the standard sofa, loveseat and matching chair look, we are seeing more accent chairs paired with a sofa. This is also a great idea for couples with different styles and comfort preferences. Here are a few of my personal favourites, available at Lounsbury Furniture Moncton.

Eclectic Dining Room

Matchy- Matchy dining sets are so boring - Let's mix it up a bit. Loving the mix of rustic, modern and traditional. Shop the look at Lounsbury's Moncton. 

Shop The Look

Ever look through Pinterest, HGTV, Houzz, Architectural Digest etc. and wonder "How can I re-create this look within my budget?" Wonder no more! Leave the searching up to me - Send me a picture of a look you like and I can help find the pieces to make it a reality. Shop this Look at Lounsbury's Moncton.

High/Low

Do you have expensive taste?! You don't have to spend a fortune to have great style. Here two of my favourite styles priced High & Low. Available at Lounsbury's Furniture Moncton excluding Ralph Lauren.

Leather Sofa's

After posting my last blog post- Pet Friendly Sofa's - It came to my attention that I had excluded leather from that list, and that leather is one of the most popular cover options for pet friendly furniture. The post mainly reflected requirements for a new sofa for myself, and sadly, leather is not in my budget. So I decided to write a post all about leather for the pet owners out there that prefer the leather look!  Often times when I have a client interested in a leather sofa, there seems to be a lack of knowledge on the subject of leather. It can difficult for consumers to distinguish poor quality to good quality, real or fake. So many furniture manufacturers have so many names for leather, so many grades, so many different textures and feels. So I thought I would try and simplify this for everyone! Here are a few different names for the "leather like" coverings being manufactured these days :

Vinyl
Faux Leather
Recycled Leather
Bonded Leather
Polypropylene/ Polyester / Polyurethane Blends - I have had clients mistake these blends for leather.
PVC - Polyvinyl Chloride
Vegan Leather


These are all synthetic man made materials, mostly plastics. Bonded leather/ recycled leather is pieces of real leather, grinded up and then bonded together with synthetic materials. So yes, there is real leather in there, but if you are looking for longevity, this is not the material for you. These materials tend to fade, crack & peel over time and are very inexpensive to make, hence very inexpensive to buy. As they say, you get what you pay for. A lot of people assume that you can buy a real leather sofa for $2000, and that no manufacturer would charge that much, or more for a something that is not real, and unfortunately, that's where most people are wrong. So when you see a sofa ranging from $2000-$3000, that is usually a grey area. Because we all know you will not get a real genuine leather sofa brand new for under $1000, but $2000 and up, you can. But you can also get a faux leather one in that range too. This is the price range bracket where it is pays to be informed.

So now that we know you can get real genuine leather sofa's starting at $2000, but also faux leather for the same price, we will talk about grades and quality and how to tell if it is real or not.


Sadly, some of the faux leather's look a lot like the real deal, so, when furniture shopping, ask if you can take a look at a swatch or find out the brand so you can do your research, or go see a knowledgeable sales professional. The most expensive top of the line leathers are often named "Top Grain", which means the top layer of the hide, which is the most durable. With a top grain some of the characteristics to look for are colour variations, light in some places dark in others (imagine the black and white spots of a cow) and scars and spots. These leathers can either have a waxy coating or be really thin and soft. This is the expensive stuff that will last - as long as you maintain it properly. Most manufacturers sell more than one grade of leather - they start with the top grain, then they do a few other grades below that. The grades below are best described as when you take a cow hide, you can split it in a few layers, top grain is the top layer and then the closer you get to the bottom of the hide, the lower the grade, but it is still genuine leather, but the lower the grade the durability gets lower as well. These layers can be treated to make different textures and colours, some can be grainy, some can be smooth and thin, some can have a pebble like texture, some can be waxy. The top grain sofa's that I have seen range from $5000-$20,000, it depends what other materials are used in the construction of the sofa as well as how much leather is required. But that should give you an idea of the price range to expect when you want the best.

So is leather pet friendly? Sure. It's easy to clean, it's durable. However, it is much more costly to fix/replace if you have a pet that likes to chew stuff. So, that my friends, is my take on leather. And, also why it was not on MY list for pet friendly sofa's.  :)

Shown here is one of my current favs - The Remington made by Palliser in a Top Grain with a lot of character - Available at Lounsbury's Moncton. 

Pet Friendly Sofa's

With a new year upon us, change is something we all seem to be craving these days. For me, I decided one thing that definitely needed to change was my not so white leather sofa that is now 3 years old but looking more like 10years old. When I bought this couch it was pre cat and dog, a cleaner, more simple time. The puppy and kitten stage took a toll on my sofa, with my puppy chewing a hole in the front of my beloved couch that could not be repaired because the company I bought from couldn't get me a leather swatch to match for repairs (I will not name drop, but it was a nice modern store and the couch was not cheap) and the cat decided the arms would make a nice scratching post. So needless to say, the couch has seen better days and it’s time for a new one. So this time around I want to make sure I buy a sofa that is going to last. 

So I created a must haves list for my new sofa : 

-Seat cushions that actually come off and aren't attached, with removable cover (easy to clean and I can flip them to keep them looking newer longer, and if anything were to happen I could get it replaced by the manufacturer. 

-The colour I want will be in the medium range, not too dark (shows husky and cat hair), not light (shows dirt and stains). I am leaning towards a taupe or a medium grey. 

-Tight back - My dog tends to love chewing on a pillow from time to time, and I cant have him mistaking a sofa as a pillow $$$$

-Last but not least the most important - the fabric type. Working in furniture sales I get to learn a lot about several furniture manufacturers and construction, warranties, and most importantly, fabric. There are a few fabrics on the market now that are quite impressive, here is the list :

La-Z-Boy Clean - Pre-treated stain resistant fabrics. LaZboy also backs up these fabrics with a pro rated 3 year warranty. 

Best Home Furnishing - Revolution Fabrics- Made with Nobel Prize winning, synthetic fibre “Olefin”. Olefin is made of up-cycled materials, made from polypropylene or polyethylene. It is  the most environmentally friendly fibre on the market. Olefin's advantages are its strength, colourfastness and comfort, its resistance to staining, mildew, abrasion, sunlight and its good bulk and cover. There are a lot of outdoor fabrics made from this fibre, but now more people are using it in their homes.

Decor-Rest & Superstyle - Made in Canada, these two furniture manufacturers have made the list because they have several fabric samples in store that display all of the information you need on the back of each fabric swatch such as : what the rub count is, cleaning instruction, and what the fibres are in the fabric. 

Other brands on the market have similar fabrics to offer as well, when sofa shopping, be sure to learn more about the fabric, ask what fibres are used, what the rub count is. 100% Polyester is great and is the most popular fabric used for furniture. 

Here are the sofa’s that have made my list!

Superstyle - Not my fabric choices but I love this style.  

Not my top style choice, this one is very simple, but that practicality wise, this is a great choice done in the revolution fabrics. Not my fabric choices shown in picture.

 Both of these fine sofas are from the Steven & Chris line by Decor-rest. I would take either of them as shown on their website. 

This beautiful classic style from LaZboy is so my style. I would ether do it in a taupe or grey and a fun print toss cushion. 

This is another Decor-Rest Sofa, but not from the designer collection. I would do this in different fabric choices.  

All of these and many more can be custom ordered in your own personal style from Lounsbury Furniture in Moncton, Contact me for more information :)

                                                                                                           

The Benefits of Hiring an Interior Decorator

The Benefits of Hiring an Interior Decorator 

Your Home is the biggest investment you will ever make. A large investment like this needs to insured and cared for in order to make it worth your while or to see any return on that investment in the future. Keeping this investment insured and cared for requires the help of professionals, such as plumbers, electricians, painters, carpenters, insurance companies etc. but one of the professionals involved that is often over looked is an Interior Designer/Decorator. These professional often do not get the praise that they deserve because a lot of people are trying to “Do It Themselves”, simply because they think it saves money, and hey, how hard can decorating be if you look at a few magazines and scroll through pinterest once in a while right? Well… not exactly, there is much more to it than that. So I thought I would write this blog post to educate you on what exactly these professionals do. 

Designer vs. Decorator

Knowing the difference between the two can save you money. A Designer has more education and a higher rate of pay, they are often used in larger projects (commercial design) in the beginning stages of construction and working with architects. The Decorator cost less and is less hands on with the construction process (deciding where to put walls, windows, doors and making sure that everything is to code and the lighting and windows and walls and everything are where they should be to maximize function and beauty etc. ) and focuses more on the finishes (furnishings, paint, accessories, lighting etc.) So that being said, you can decide which one is best for your project. 

What can an Interior Decorator do for you? 

A Professional accredited Interior Decorator (Has a Diploma/Degree/Certifications) Studies all the Elements & Principles of Interior Design. Colour, Space Planning, Balance & Harmony, Lighting, History of Design (including all the different styles and era’s of Interior Decorating & Design) Textiles, Furniture, Construction and Materials, Human Function etc. Because of this education, here’s why it is beneficial to hire an Interior Decorator: 

1.Functionality: You can always tell a home was planned out by a professional because of the spacing and layout and the overall feeling of perfect balance when you walk into the room. A huge part of education in interior decorating and design is studying form and the human function - we need to think of universal design that meets the needs of everyone - especially in commercial interiors. So interior decorators are very detail oriented and know how to make the best use of the space whilst having it be aesthetically pleasing. 

2. Unique ideas. A decorator is going to come up with things you wouldn't normally think of.  They know where to shop, they are creative.

3. The mix makes sense: Things can look very out of sorts if you mix a bunch of different era’s together. We all have personalities and we all like a variety of things, music, food, fashion and home decor. The same rules apply to all of these things, sometimes opposites attract and sometimes they just don't work at all. Lets say the home was built circa 1967 and is very “mid century modern” and your client loves this but also loves some rustic country style wooden furniture pieces, some victorian era style chairs with a lot of detail and fancy textiles such as silks and velvets, but then they also love a sofa that is very modern - leather, clean lines, chrome legs… How would you make this work? would you bring all the pieces home individually and see if they work together? what art, paint and accessories do you need that can tie all of these styles together? Unless you have studied all of these era’s extensively and can find ways to connect them as well as ways to  make your vision come alive, you could end up wasting a lot of time and money. 

4. You will save money! A common misconception I hear all the time is that hiring an Interior Decorator is expensive and you will save money if you just do it yourself. If you pay for a designer, here are a few things you might miss out on. Accidentally paying too much for something, when you can get the same thing for half the cost at another place, ordering the wrong size, fabric or wallpaper, wasting money on a random electrician who drops & breaks your chandelier (yes this happened to my friend!), choosing wall colors that don't give the feel you want, buying furniture that doesn't fit in the space, I could go on and on. Typically designers have experienced most of the mistakes for you and know ahead of time, the right way to go. You want experienced people working on your home so you can save money from making the wrong mistakes. Trust me, they happen! I have been the designer to come in and clean up the mess of somebody else's mistakes and they can be pretty costly. 

5. Unique ideas. A decorator is going to come up with things you wouldn't normally think of.  They know where to shop, they are creative. 

6. Increase your value. A good decorator knows where to splurge and where to save. Decorators are great for home staging and in making your space look gorgeous in pictures and can make the most out of any budget to get the most value for your home wether you just want to gain more equity or list your home for sale. 

7. Peace of mind. Check off all those things that you don't get around to doing in the home off of your list. A decorator will be the person who will get things done like frame that art that's been sitting there forever, make sure that leak gets fixed, know the right person to install or fix that light, stock up your home where guests will be delighted with what you have, and ultimately probably have your bed so well done and comfortable you'll sleep better than if you had thrown it together yourself. 

I am the biggest believer in having a home that works well is THE KEY to a happy, successful life. When your home is well organized (there’s a place for everything), the design makes sense and is a reflection of your personality, you will be happy to go home and enjoy your little sanctuary and be stress free.