Jaime September 9th, 2009
During this recession we are seeing people find creative ways to stay at home when they used to go out and shop, eat out, etc… Now movies at home with friends, knitting, board games, and other ways to entertain at home are becoming more popular instead. Almost 90% of the population is still working, but even if people have jobs there is enough instability to make almost everyone nervous and thinking about ways to save. (ABC article agrees)
This is a part of why we are seeing a spike in dining room sales. In the past, when the trend was to eat out or meet friends outside of the home, it was ok to leave the dining room area empty in large houses or have a small table. That is changing. We are finding that a larger, quality dining table is becoming more popular. Something that looks beautiful and will hold up to years of use. A quality dining table is really an investment in your family and friends. Spending $4000-6000 on a dining table that will last for over 20 years averages out to a cost of $20/month. A less expensive set will not last half that long. The chairs will start to fall apart and the finish doesn’t always stay on the table.
Saloom Furniture is made in the USA and is built to last. Very custom sizes and finish options allow you to create the look of your choice. If you are looking for a quality dining set that is functional and beautiful, my suggestion is to look for something made in North America (The USA or Canada). The ones that are imported from overseas have beautiful veneers or finishes that may scratch easily. There are some that are better quality, but that might be the exception not the rule.
Here are some pictures of options from Saloom. If you are looking for a dining set and would like some suggestions you can always contact me at
jaime@furniture-studio.com
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Jaime September 5th, 2009
If your home is anything like mine, we need a professional organizer to come in and get us organized before school starts. There really is an organization for finding professional organizers (www.napo.net), but if you aren’t ready for that level here are a few functional furniture pieces and accessories to get you thinking.
Stylish letter holders from Global Views make a statement and provide a convenient storage area for the envelopes and paper products that can easily clutter up a home or office.  
Some of my personal favorite storage pieces are made by Howard Miller and designed by TY PENNINGTON. Fully customizable, change the finish, change the arrangement.
By TY Pennington
http://www.howardmiller.com/Category/ProductListing.aspx?CategoryID=334&IsViewAll=true
This EVERYTHING CART is fully functional with makeup storage, magazine storage, and more storage! Ideal for a guest bathroom or small space.
The HOME ORGANIZER CABINET works for the mini-office. Space for a laptop, notes, mail and plug-in areas to charge cell phones and ipods.
True to it’s name, the EVERYTHING CABINET, is as the name implies. Wonderful for a small home, guest room or large bathroom. Smart features include a flip-up ironing board, towel rack, storage areas, and full-length mirror.
 
Find more functional furniture storage pieces at www.howardmiller.com.
Now, I have one more problem. I need a professional decision maker to select the most functional pieces for me. Do they have a professional decision making organization?
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Jaime August 10th, 2009
Shopping for a luxury down filled fabric and leather sectional with chaise? Or a hard to find small butcher block island in a distressed red painted finish?
I added a clearance furniture section to our Furniture Studio gallery of pictures. Items are in our Wisconsin Rapids showroom, but delivery arrangements can be made for most areas.
Clearance items are quality furniture brands such as King Hickory Furniture, Hooker Furniture, and Bradington Young. Expect to find savings of several hundred dollars, but not garage sale prices. These are one-of-a-kind items with top grain leathers and other fine furniture qualities.
Jaime June 30th, 2009
If your home is like mine, it may not be a place you are all the time, but when you are - you want it to work for you. I love to have a place to entertain friends, a place to relax, and bedrooms for my kids to enjoy. I’m busy, so the house needs to be functional, functional, functional. So functional you might almost think I’m lazy!
What’s great about design is that all elements of your home can be functional and stylish. Think about the kitchen. They make cabinets that look like decorative pieces, but really hold spice racks. They also make wooden panels for the fronts of appliances to make the appliances look like cabinets.
Lighting… same thing! Imagine your room with a new lighting fixture. The great part about cabinets and lighting is that it improves the value of your home if you are thinking about selling. Don’t think that because you have a low budget you have limited options. Our favorite is finding a great style at an amazing price!
With our 80’s ranch style home, I’m challenged to get the most out of the small kitchen and living room because in my mind I want to entertain 20+ people! Still working on it….
Jaime May 23rd, 2009
Google Hot Trends says that there are a lot of people in Wisconsin Rapids, WI searching for “Furniture Wisconsin”. Wisconsin Rapids actually links the highest in this over all the other cities in the state of Wisconsin. I am very curious. Why would furniture Wisconsin together be something people in Rapids are searching for?
So here is the test. Can I put those words on a site enough to get Google’s attention? If you are reading this blog and you have searched furniture Wisconsin, what exactly are you hoping to find? At the time that I write this blog, Steinhafels and American TV are two of the websites that come up. What if you are looking for more options? Are you finding what you are looking for?
Furniture Wisconsin is the search. Not just Furniture. Not Home Furnishings. Not Furniture Wisconsin Rapids, but “Furniture Wisconsin”. If you lived in Wisconsin Rapids, wouldn’t you type “Furniture Wisconsin Rapids” if you thought there was any chance of finding a store in Wisconsin Rapids?
I spend over $40,000 a year trying to advertise Furniture Studio and we only get a few hundred customers each year. Many of them from Nekoosa, Wisconsin Rapids or from farther away like Racine, WI or Crystal Lake IL. Most of them come from our billboards and stumble in almost by accident. We really are a unique furniture shopping experience. Our customers from out of town say “there aren’t any furniture stores like this in the Milwaukee area”. That is a huge compliment! .. but I will admit, a website is expensive and difficult to maintain, so we probably won’t be a significant player in the “Furniture Wisconsin” online market place anytime soon.
The other problem… most people seem to shop for Furniture Wisconsin on Sundays. We are closed on Sunday. I know that you are probably reading this on a Sunday so I apologize. We take one day a week off for family & religion.
Well… happy furniture hunting. If I can help you at all please email me jaime@furniture-studio.com. Or if you have facebook. Search Furniture Studio. You can become a fan of our store!
Jaime May 22nd, 2009
Borders are Passe…
Paint will refresh a room, but please do not put a new border up where the last one came down since borders are truly passé. Instead, consider a way to add texture and color with a few key wall decor pieces. Our best selling accessories and pictures at Furniture Studio come from Uttermost. They have an amazing amount of great wall art! We can’t keep it in stock!!
Looking for something more personal? Try custom ‘deco’ boxes from Susan Cour (Simple Captivating) or removable wall text from Uppercase Living.
Faux finishes on a wall are not what they used to be either. I’ve seen paint that is made to look like metal, tile, glass, brick, etc… just incredible textures you want to reach out and touch. Mave Alft is one of the most talented people I have ever met and she lives right here in Central Wisconsin! You can see her work on display at local stores like Furniture Studio or Custom Kitchens in Wisconsin Rapids.
Wallpaper is not as common, but still looks good in the right places and the right pattern. Tom’s Paint & Decorating in Wisconsin Rapids has hundreds of books to look at with the ’small town’ personal service.
Last thought… I recommend Tom’s Paint for great Porter paint or Ace Hardware for Benjamin Moore paints. We enjoy working with both of them on customer projects!
Simple. Easy. Done. (right?)
Jaime May 14th, 2009
Our United Way tour of homes fundraiser was a wonderful success. Thanks to those that worked so hard. Well… at least one was working hard! (Maybe it was hard work just trying to look good).
We had almost 200 people attend the tour to view the beautiful homes in Wisconsin Rapids, Nekoosa, & Rome, Wisconsin. Is there a better way to view furniture in Wisconsin? The guys might be able to think of better things to do on a Friday night, but ladies seemed to enjoy it. Many are planning to make it an annual event. It will always be the Friday night before Mother’s day as long as there are generous people willing to open their beautiful homes to hundreds of people.
Three beautiful ladies enjoying each others company, the furniture, and the sexy booties!
Jaime March 19th, 2009
It’s finally here again! Our 2nd Annual - Twilight Tour of Homes
This years tour should be even better than last year! We have Balance Spa giving chair massages & Tastefully Simple offering samples.
Mave Alft was the ‘hit of the tour’ last year -so we asked her to join us again this year. She graciously accepted and is excited to have one of the homes in the tour showcasing her fabulous work. Seriously. Every person that I’ve mentioned this home to has said ‘ooooooohhhhh that is the most beautiful home’ … Or something like that. I don’t think I have ever heard so many compliments about a house before.
My friend, Susan Cour, is working hard on creating our tour booklet and tickets. Hopefully, we will have them printed and ready for sale in early April. There is a lot of creativity needed for this type of tour -and that is not always my area of expertise. Designers to put all the furniture, colors & fabrics together. Designers for the web and print advertising. So far, this tour has needed SIX different DESIGNERS!!!
I’ll just stick to what I do best - making the designers lives miserable! ha.
I still need to order the booties. What I don’t understand is why they don’t have designer booties! BLUE? Is that the only die color available for booties? We can have colored everything (hair, food, carpet, etc….) but only ONE color for booties. Wish someone would make zebra print booties. Zebra print everything is the rage right now. Wouldn’t that be a great idea?
The dessert buffet afterwards at Furniture Studio is also still in the works. Doesn’t that sound yummy?
I’m hoping to have someone donate amazing desserts to the event, but haven’t made the right connections yet. I’m dreaming of something chocolate… or better yet - everything chocolate!
A sample of what to expect in this years tour!
Jaime June 28th, 2008
Take a peek at our future employees.
The Buy Local group walked in the Wisconsin Rapids Cranberry Blossom Fest Parade to encourage people to shop local first.
Embrace what makes our community unique!
