Interior Decorating Ideas

The great thing about slate coffee table, apart from how sturdy and reliable they are, is the fact that they require less maintenance on a regular basis than their wooden counterparts. Whereas a wooden coffee table or a glass-topped coffee table requires regular dusting, the dust does not collect quite so obviously or as quickly on a slate coffee table. If you want to buy a slate coffe table there are some outstanding examples available below.

When discussing how you should go about cleaning and caring for your slate coffee table we are actually talking about how slate should be treated. The other materials of the coffee table, whether it’s wood or iron or another material, can be cleaned as with any other common material. Slate is a natural material and is meant to look rough a weathered to a certain extent so it will do better if it is a little neglected when it comes to cleaning.

Where it will have to be attended to is the usual cleaning of dust, crumbs and other small bits of dirt that tends to accumulate on any hard flat surface. This will involve a simple wipe down with a damp rag or cleaning cloth. You may decide to then wipe the slate down with a clean, dry rag or simply allow the slate to air dry.

A lot of slate coffee tables are actually slate tiles that have been fitted into recessed housing to form the table top. If this is the case then there is going to be an inevitable build up of dirt, dust and other matter in the cracks between the slate tiles and the table frame. The best way to deal with this is to remove the tiles and give them a thorough clean with a disinfectant solution paying particular attention to the edges of the slate. The table frame should also be cleaned with disinfectant and then thoroughly dried before replacing the slate.

Although slate is a stone product it has been sliced into thin “leaves” and this means that it is susceptible to being chipped around the edges or even cracked through the middle if given a sharp knock. Make sure that when the slate tiles have been removed from the coffee table for cleaning or transporting are supported by being laid flat on the ground. When transporting them they should be completely wrapped separately in newspaper or cloth to ensure the surface is not damaged.

A slate coffee table is a beautiful piece of furniture and should last you many years, if not a lifetime. The care and cleaning required is minimal compared to other pieces of furniture and really comes down to common sense. If you practice a little bit of caution when handling the slate you will be able to enjoy the look and feel for many years to come.

There are many wonderful and unique pieces of furniture that would look absolutely stunning in any bedroom today. One of those is the serpentine chest of drawers. It is thought that these types of drawers came from the reign of Queen Anne onwards. These curved fronted chests of drawers are elegant pieces of furniture that sweep from one end to the other.

When you look for an antique serpentine chest of drawers you should be trying to find one made from mahogany. The timber used to make these pieces was cut away in curving shapes that were then veneered to hide the exposed end grain. This kind of technique was made possible because the wood used was mahogany which did not split as easily as a more coarsely grained wood.

There are many beautiful types of serpentine chests of drawers for sale. Take a look at the following and select one if you need more information.

Chest of Drawers Bombe Commode Serpentine Front with Fine Marquetry & Gilt Metal    US $1,382.06

CHIPPENDALE Tiger MAPLE Oxbow CHEST of Drawers Dresser Serpentine Curly CLASSIC    US $2,895.00

18TH CENTURY ANTIQUE SERPENTINE CHEST OF DRAWERS    US $7,818.53

Fine American Chippendale Reverse Serpentine Front Chest of Drawers c. 1760-80    US $10,000.00

Antique French Serpentine Mahogany Chest of Drawers    US $4,635.00

FRENCH PAINTED SERPENTINE CHEST OF DRAWERS #1711    US $361.25

Vintage Serpentine Red Chest of Drawers or Dresser    US $385.00

FRENCH SERPENTINE CHEST OF DRAWERS BY JOHN WIDDICOMB    US $573.75

SERPENTINE CHERRY CHEST OF DRAWERS MADE BY CASSARD    US $575.00

18th Century French Serpentine Style Chest of Drawers    US $1,388.00

French Antique Burl Walnut Serpentine Chest of Drawers    US $4,560.00

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Up until the time the serpentine chest of drawers was brought out, chests of drawers were fairly plain boxes designed simply to keep belongings neatly. As functional pieces the more decorative versions were used by the wealthier classes. You can find versions of these types of drawers with some eye-catching carved aprons with equally well made feet.

There are some construction pointers that you can look at to confirm that the chest of drawers you are looking at is authentic. From the way the joints have been constructed and then concealed to the way the drawers have been built with their graduating drawer depths.

More recent copies of the serpentine chest of drawers are also available although these come from the 19th century. Whatever type of chest of drawers you are looking for they can be found in a few areas although they’re not in plentiful supply.

When one comes on the market it is advised that you move quickly, make sure it’s the type of chest of drawers it is claimed that it is. On-line would be one of the best ways that you will get yourself one with plenty of opportunities for new listings to be snapped up. Putting a serpentine chest of drawers in your room would be a wonderful way to dress up an otherwise boring bedroom.

One of the simplest ways to pick up some storage space that you never knew you had is to make use of the attic. In order to get into the attic, as well as get the things you’re going to be storing in there easily, you will have to install an attic ladder. Pull down attic ladders are possibly the simplest and most convenient of the types of attic ladders available.

A pull down attic ladder disappears into the ceiling of the house when it’s not in use, leaving you with what looks like a standard manhole into the ceiling. By pulling down the trapdoor a complete set of stairs forms to make it a simple matter of gaining access to the attic. These stairs can be as simple or as robust as you are prepared to pay for and they can be made in wood, steel or aluminum depending on your preference.

Take a look at the selection of attic ladders displayed below.

Attic Ladder Holders    US $49.99

Sarah's Attic Wooden Ladder    US $25.99

Werner Easy Access Attic Ladder Model S2208    US $100.00

Louisville Ladder S224P Wooden Attic Ladder 250-Pound    US $117.88

Werner AA10 250LB Duty Rating Televator Universal Telescoping Attic Ladder 10-Ft    US $60.99

WHOLESALE LOT PALLET ATTIC LADDER 5 DRAWER TOOL CABINET    US $29.99

ATTIC LADDER - WOODEN 8'9" x 25" Stairway    US $75.00

Werner Attic Ladder Telescoping Televator Aluminum Small Crawl Space Closet AA10    US $179.99

Louisville Ladder 250-Pound Wooden Attic Ladder Fits 7-Foot 8 ' and 9 ' openings    US $259.00

250 Pound Duty Rating Wooden Attic Access Ladder Stairs    US $132.99

11ft/3.35m Concertina Loft/Attic Ladder - Next Day Del!    US $292.18

Werner WH3010 Wooden Attic Ladders 10'x30"x54" - 350 Lb Rated    US $220.00

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To pull the attic ladder down you may either employ a rope or you may use a long handled hook that catches a latch and swings effortlessly down. A more expensive, but more impressive, variation is an electronic pull down attic ladder that operates at the press of a button.

When you buy your pull down attic ladder you will have to decide on the weight capacity that you need. You may notice when you browse through the various options available to you that the attic ladders are displayed in different load capacities. Naturally the more use your ladder is going to get the more robust it is going to have to be. If you are planning on carrying heavy objects up into the attic you will have to be mindful of the load capacity of the attic ladder you buy.

A good pull down attic ladder will operate quietly when it is lowered into place. The steps should be ridged to ensure the footing, the ladder itself should be relatively light and the ladder itself should be big enough to allow you to climb without fear of falling.

There are some fine attic ladder companies in the market today and each of them carries a strong range of products. Werner is an extremely reliable company, just to give you an example of one of the big names in the industry. They will all give you a choice of the kinds of materials the ladders are made in, choosing size and load capacity will be up to you and, possibly, your attic.

There are a number of ways to effectively use a window treatment to add softness and accents to a room. One of the simple ways to achieve this is to use what are known as sheers. Sheers can be defined as soft window treatments in that they are light and give an airy feeling to a room. Lace or voile curtains are examples of sheers and they allow a certain level of light into the room while still giving you the privacy you need.

Sheers may be hung singly or they may be layered in combination with a printed fabric or another type of sheer to create a more complex look. The purpose of layered sheers is to give you a best of both worlds scenario where you achieve the ability to allow some light into the room yet still maintaining the ability to increase the privacy by drawing the more substantial curtains.

A nice combination is eyelet curtains with layered sheers because the ease with which the eyelet curtains may be drawn and opened makes for a trouble free process of revealing the sheers when needed. The hanging process of eyelet curtains combine with layered sheers is very simple as well.

You can find sheers made of fabrics such as lace, silk, cotton or voile. It is also possible to buy sheers that are made from heavier fabrics. These are known as semi-sheers and may consist of a patterned lace. A semi-sheer might be required by someone who wants a sheer curtain but is uncomfortable with the level of privacy a full sheer will give them.

By understanding that hanging layered sheers is an extremely simple matter it may save you some expense when you decide that the single sheers are not providing you with the necessary privacy or light blocking ability. Simple hanging layered sheers can be bought at very little expense and can be added to the existing window treatment.

As mentioned at the start of this piece, sheers add a certain lightness and airiness to the room. The flowing fabric will catch the slightest hint of a breeze providing gentle movement in the room. Some find that movement very soothing. Should it become too windy the heavier layer can be used to cover them over.

A constant problem that many people have in their homes is a lack of storage space but there are options available that you can use to give yourself a lot of new space. One of these options is to make use of the attic by converting the unused area into a space that can provide usable storage that is clean, enclosed and easy to reach.

The last qualifier, the easy to reach part, can be achieved with the installation of an attic ladder. Although at first glance attic ladders may appear to be a very large operation, they are actually quite simple to install and reasonably priced. By getting the help of a qualified attic ladder installation professional, all of the more problematic parts such as cutting through attic beams and dust and dirt can be handled properly.

There are a number of different options when looking at attic ladders and the one you go for will depend on factors such as the size of the ceiling hole you wish to create, the steepness of the ladder ascent and how elaborate the system you want to put in will be. You will also be facing the choice of material with which your attic ladder will be made from. The options are wood, aluminum and steel and, again, the choice may well come down to a matter of personal taste, although the price changes depending on the material used.

A simple type of attic ladder is an aluminum telescopic attic ladder that pulls down and looks exactly like a ladder with the climb at the same angle as how you would set up a stand alone ladder. Something a little more elaborate is a pull down attic ladder with the ladder assembly hidden inside the ceiling and when it is pulled down it comes down and resembles a staircase with a rudimentary handrail and perhaps wooden steps. This type of attic ladder will be set at an angle that is not as steep as the aluminum ladder so it will be easier to get into the ladder.

The pull down ladder should be easy to lower with the use of either a cord or a stick with a hook attached to it. Either way, when shopping around for your preferred option you should consider the size of the treads. How well they are reinforced, the operation of the lowering mechanism and the hardware used such as the hinges and springs are all important considerations to take into hand.

Cost may also be an important consideration and you should be able to buy a reasonable aluminum attic ladder for around $200. The more elaborate you get the more it is going to cost, but your options may be limited by the space you have to work with. Not only are we talking about space in the ceiling but also the space available in the room below that will be capable of taking a large or small set of folding stairs.

Once you have decided to install an attic ladder and you have done the necessary preparation, you should talk to an attic professional. They will have to look at your attic to confirm that it is appropriate for a ladder to be installed. Be warned that it may not be possible to install the ladder in the exact spot you believe is perfect.