Take a seat – on the right sofa

Consider the humble sofa – companion and comrade, participant in every casual Netflix binge or family reunion.  Beloved by all, the sofa is a ubiquitous home design staple, and the backbone of your living space.  No piece better represents true functionality, versatility, and endurance.  Where else would you turn for a cozy evening in with your favorite film on the TV?  Or a comfortable spot to settle in and work from home?

Suffice it to say, the importance of the sofa can’t be overstated — which means that your choice of sofa will have real impact on your space.  You want to be sure your sofa is perfect for you, your taste, and your day-to-day needs.  So in the interest of helping you figure out where you stand in the world of sofas, I thought I’d take a second today and talk sofa specs.

Choosing a well-constructed sofa involves three principle factors: the frame, the suspension, and the cushions.

The frame of the sofa is what holds the whole thing together — think of it as the skeleton, the bones that support the rest of the structure.  Because the frame does so much heavy lifting, it’s important to make sure your sofa frame is top-quality, both in terms of materials and in terms of construction.  Ideally, you want a sofa frame made of kiln-dried hardwood or engineered hardwood, which’ll ensure your sofa stands the test of time.  On top of material, the way that frame is put together is as crucial as the material itself.  A well-assembled piece — one that doesn’t just rely on screws and glue — is a piece that’ll last.  Keep in mind: a lifetime frame warranty is a sign of a good frame.  (At Woodside Home, all the sofas we’ll offer you have lifetime warranties on their frames!)

There’s also the sofa’s suspension to consider.  There are a variety of styles of seating suspension — eight-way hand tied, springs (both drop-in and pocket coil), sinuous springs, grids and webbings — each with their own unique facets.  For sofas in particular, you’re going to want eight-way hand tied suspension or any kind of spring suspension, as grids and webbings are more appropriate for things like seat backs.  Good suspension not only increases the comfort of your sofa, but also enhances its durability, especially since sofas are subject to a lot of wear-and-tear.  Sinuous spring suspensions are the most common sort you’ll find.

Of course, the part of the sofa you interact with most directly are the cushions.  Typically, cushions are either foam or down, and each option has its own benefits depending on your lifestyle and the lifestyle you expect from your sofa.  Down cushions offer a plush seat you can sink into — foam holds its shape and bounces back quickly after use.  A combination of the two — a foam cushion wrapped in down — is fairly common among manufacturers, and offers the comfort of down with the robustness of foam.

And there’s more to a cushion than the stuffing — there’s also the fabric to consider.  The color and pattern on your sofa — as well as the type of fabric — will set the tone for your living space, and can add a layer of durability to your piece.  When you opt for a custom sofa order, you might find yourself confronted with the thousands of fabric options available, each with their own style and strengths.  At Woodside Home, part of our job is optimizing your fabric options — we’ll narrow down that immense catalog to a curated selection of options for you to choose from, customized to your personal aesthetic and your day-to-day needs.

Purchasing a sofa is a big decision — it’ll change the face of your living space.  At Woodside Home, we’re here to help make that decision fun and stress-free.  After all, there’s nothing better than a fresh look for your home!  Interested in chatting about a new sofa, or a new living room entirely?  Send me an email — I’d love to hear your story, and help make your home yours.

At the end of the day, we should all be sure to show our sofas some love.  We’d be lost without them — or at least, a lot less comfortable.

Mulling over mulled cider

In Baltimore, at least, it is at last decidedly winter.  Will we get any snow?  Who’s to say – it’s been a little while since our last real blizzard.  But the air has that smack of snow to it, that certain clear crispness, so maybe we will get a flurry or two in the next few weeks.  We can hope, anyway.

It’s around now that, for me, my game night routine starts to kick into gear.  With the days getting shorter and the nights encroaching further and further into those early evening hours, this is a time of year I like to cozy up and settle in with friends for Risk, or Parcheesi, or Ticket to Ride – or whatever fascinating new game our neighbors, board game aficionados, have brought to share.  Of course, any sort of social night demands the right kind of snacks and beverages.  Usually, we rustle up some sort of charcuterie board (often courtesy of Trader Joe’s) or whip up a loaf of pumpkin bread.  And there’s no better accompaniment to those fall-winter flavors than a crockpot full of rich, aromatic mulled cider!

Today, just for fun, I thought I’d share my favorite mulled cider recipe with all of you.  It’s easy to make, and easily refreshed – perfect for game nights, dinner parties, or really any night you feel like a warm mug of the stuff.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 2 whole cinnamon sticks

• 1 tsp. whole cloves

• ½ tsp. whole allspice

• ¼ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

• 1 large orange, washed

• 1 small apple, washed

• 1 thin slice of washed lemon

• 1 slice of fresh ginger (or ½ tsp. powdered ginger)

• 8 cups (2 quarts) fresh apple cider

• 2 tbsp. brown sugar, packed

Instructions:

1. Pour the cider into the crockpot.  Add the brown sugar and stir until the sugar dissolves, then turn the crockpot to high.

2. Stud the orange with the whole cloves.

3. Add the cinnamon sticks, allspice, nutmeg, ginger, apple, lemon slice, and clove-studded orange to the crockpot.

4. Cover and cook on high for around 2 hours, to let the flavors cook through.

5. Keep the cider on low until ready to serve!

As you serve the cider, replenish the crock pot with fresh cider and turn the heat back to high for a bit to let those flavors meld again.

Here’s hoping your wintry evenings are full of firesides and friendly competition!

Thanksgiving

We’re in the thick of the holiday season – for most, no doubt family and friends are beginning to descend upon your home (in a welcome way, of course).  Thanksgiving is just a few days away, and in my house, the preparations have already begun.  It’s time to start pre-baking a pie or two, and endure the mad dash of the last-minute grocery run in pursuit of the perfect stuffing ingredients.  This time of year, while certainly hectic, is also joyful.  After the marathon sprint, there’s no lovelier reward than your Thanksgiving dinner, shared with friends and family in the spirit of the season.

This post almost writes itself, really – Thanksgiving is all about home, about taking time to express gratitude for the loved ones that populate it.  It’s a time when we draw in to our most beloved spaces, and really push our functional spaces to their limits.  Your home should always keep up with your holiday needs – it should make them easier to handle, so you can sail through dinnertime like a champ and enjoy the fruits of your labors.

And our homes are the place where we often find those things we’re most grateful for, this time of year – our families, our friends, our history, the year behind and the rest of the year to come.  It’s a reflective sort of mood we often find ourselves in, these days.  Embrace it.  Enjoy it.  There’s always something to be thankful for.

We at Woodside Home are grateful ourselves – grateful to be part of your home journey, however we can be.  When the whirlwind has calmed to a temperate breeze, shoot us an email, and let’s talk.

In the meantime, happy Thanksgiving!  That’s all from me – I have some baking to do.

Area rugs 101

A rug is a wonderfully multi-purpose piece for any room in your home – it wears many coats and fulfills a bevy of functions, all while looking stylish as can be.  A rug forms the foundation of a room, anchoring the furniture in position and setting the tone for the whole space.  It protects your floors, enhances the warmth of your room, and adds a delightful level of under-foot comfort.  On top of all that, the right rug can make that succinct, expressive design statement that tells everyone what the aesthetic of your room really is – and tells them a little more about you.  From a minimalist modern to a resplendent Persian-style, a rug can be a defining piece for your whole room, which is why it’s important to make your rug choices as informed and intentional as possible.

At Woodside Home, of course, we’ll help you with all of that, and make sure you get the perfect rug for your space.  And in the interest of helping you get to know what rug might be right for you, I thought I’d tell you a little bit about four fiber types for rugs, and what each can offer you.

Wool – Wool is one of the most common – and most durable – fibers used for rugs.  It’s resilient, while still remaining soft and comfy, which makes it perfect for high-traffic spots like living rooms or dining rooms.  Plus, wool rugs are naturally dirt- and water-repellent, and their elastic fibers help them bounce back to shape quickly.  Wool rugs are actually one of the oldest types of rugs around, dating back to antiquity!  Heirloom Persian and Oriental rugs are typically woll, as are Kilim rugs, which originated in Turkey and the Middle East.

Natural Fibers – Natural fiber rugs have a great organic feel that can add unique, earthy textures to your space.  These rugs make for perfect layering rugs underneath other rugs!  The most common natural fibers rugs are jute, sisal, and seagrass rugs.  These are classics that work with interior styles from coastal to farmhouse, and they’re great for hallway runners.

Cotton – Cotton rugs are not only soft and comfy – they’re also typically super affordable.  Cotton is a perfect rug type for places where you’ll get a lot of use and might have to replace or clean the rug more often, places like entryways, kitchens, or bathrooms.  A lot of cotton rugs are machine-washable, too!  Kitchen runner rugs and entryway runners are usually made from cotton.

Synthetic Fiber – Synthetic rugs are usually made from polyester or a blend of polyester, nylon, and other synthetic fibers.  These machine-woven rugs are affordable and plush, and made to look like their more expensive cotton or wool counterparts.  Synthetic rugs are durable and stain-resistant, so they work well in high-traffic spots like living rooms, dining rooms, and kitchens.  Wall-to-wall carpeting is usually synthetic, since that kind of carpeting needs to be tough for all seasons. Synthetic fibers have evolved into being as beautiful as heirloom rugs, while equally functional.

Your home is thoroughly unique, as are your needs, which vary from room to room.  Maybe you’ll decide on the investment of a beautiful wool rug for your living room, and a synthetic fibers rug for your kitchen table – or maybe you crave the comfort of cotton, or the texture of a natural fiber.  On top of the fiber options, rugs come in myriad shapes, styles, colors, and sizes.  There are really limitless possibilities for the kind of rugs out there, which means that no matter how crisp or eclectic your style, there’s a rug for you.

Looking to secure that perfect new area rug?  Send me an email – I’d love to talk about your space, from rugs to sofas to window treatments.  The rug is just the beginning!

A rug can say it all – let us help you find the words.

Halloween tidings

Halloween is right around the corner, kicking off the start of the back-to-back holiday season.  Myself, I’ve always been fond of Halloween.  We’re a Peanuts-loving household, and no Halloween is complete without a viewing of It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, with the ambient lighting of a jack-o’-lantern and a selection of trick-or-treat candies.  Halloween is a big holiday for me – my mom was a consummate designer of costumes and spooky decorations, and one of the great joys of my life was always helping my daughter put together her Halloween costumes.  It’s an opportunity for us all to embrace our inner creativity and showcase our wildest notions and designs – and get a little spooky, if we’re so inclined.

Since my next blog post would fall right smack on the holiday itself, I’ll be taking a day off to enjoy some homemade pumpkin cookies and some Jack-o-lantern carving.  Our neighborhood has its fair share of trick-or-treaters, and I expect our doorbell will be ringing from dusk onward.  I just wanted to drop a letter into your inbox to wish you good holiday tidings!

Part of our Halloween tradition includes decorating our home in the spirit of the season.  Your home should be versatile in that way – when it’s time to get festive, don’t be afraid to toss in some timely extra decor to match your living space to the holiday!  A few painted pumpkins, a ghost or two in the window, and your home can be tasteful and appropriately haunting.  Your home should always match your needs, even if those needs are just having a little extra space to put up your favorite Halloween candles.

And with the long holiday season upon us, there’s no better time to start considering your space more thoughtfully.  Interested in reworking your home, making it yours?  Drop me a line – I’m always here to chat.

That’s all from me, folks.  Happy Halloween!  

Windows to the soul

There is little that defines a space so readily as window treatments.  On a recent visit to a client’s new home to take some measurements and get started on their full home design plan, I saw this phenomenon in action.  They’ve just purchased a beautiful new home, perfect for their family and their lifestyle, and the previous owner had left behind their old window treatments.  The problem was, these window treatments weren’t well done – some were too short, some too long, and the fabrics were dissonant with the tone of the space.  In such a lovely house, the wrong window treatments stuck out like a very sore thumb.

It may be tempting to get shades or drapes right from the store – after all, a shade is a shade, right?  So why go custom?  Today, I want to tell you a little bit about how custom window treatments work, and just what makes them so important.

Custom window treatments doesn’t just mean well-sized blinds – it means your choice in styles and shapes of custom drapery panels (functional, or simply dressing), valances, cornices, lambrequins, Roman shades, shutters, wood and faux blinds, you name it.  Sound like a lot?  That’s okay – one of our jobs, here at Woodside, is to help you sort through those options and figure out not just what works for your space, but what it is you really want.  This bounty of options means that whatever your space is like, there’s the right fit for you and your windows.

When you get custom window treatments, the first step is the measurements – we want to make sure we get the exact specs of your window, so your treatments fit perfectly.  The second step is a conversation with you about what you’re looking for!  Based on what your space’s main use is going to be, and the style you’re most fond of, I’ll then put together a window treatment design plan that combines your needs, your style, and our best vendor offerings, so we can get your windows looking spic and span.

So, why go with custom window treatments?  Well, there are a myriad of reasons.  First off, every window in your home is different.  If you settle for mass-produced shades, you’re going to end up with a bevy of poor fits and inconsistencies that won’t do your home any favors.  Precise window measurements, afforded by custom treatments, ensure your dressings and shades are the perfect fit.

Custom treatments also come with higher quality materials and a more professional level of craftsmanship.  Custom pieces are produced in smaller, more detail-oriented workrooms – you’ll be getting draperies built to last.  Plus, we can offer you a wider range of fabrics in colors and patterns uniquely suited to your home and your design aesthetic. Top-quality window treatments, curated to the style of your home and built to last, can draw your whole space together in a beautiful, effortless way.

On top of elevating your style and enhancing your home’s beauty, custom window treatments are energy efficient!  About 30% of your home’s heating energy is lost through your windows – and when you run your AC in the summer months, 76% of the sunlight that comes through your window turns into heat, which means your appliances have to work harder and your home heats up faster.

Perfectly fit custom treatments can both help reduce your energy losses and keep your home at a more comfortable temperature.  Being able to adjust the amount of light that enters your space allows you to better regulate temperature and energy usage.  Different types of window treatments offer different benefits – horizontal or vertical shades allow you to let mixed amounts of light into the room, while curtain drapes are good for blocking out the hot sun when the weather gets toasty (like it tends to, here in Baltimore).

When you get custom window treatments through Woodside Home, we set up professional installers to get your treatments installed just right.  Your custom treatments will last longer – and be more you – than the options available off-the-shelf.

If you’re looking to get custom treatments for your home, shoot us an email!  We have extensive experience working with our custom window treatment vendors, and we can get your windows dressed to the nines in no time.

Whether it’s your living room or your whole house, choosing custom treatments is never the wrong move.  Your windows say a lot about your space and your home – make sure they’re the perfect fit for you!

Why go with custom furniture?

We live in a world of mass-market, ready-made products – it’s no surprise, of course, given how convenient it is to manufacture swiftly constructed one-size-fits-all items, and how convenient this access to products is for our day to day lives.  After all, so much is just a click away on marketplaces like Amazon, and household basics and necessities tend to get cheaper and more accessible by the day.  Sometimes the mass-market is perfect for what we need in the moment – a generic light bulb or phone charger is functional and affordable, and that’s all we’re really asking of products like that.  

But when it comes to more personal, individual products, sometimes the mass-market just doesn’t work for us.  Sometimes that mass-produced pair of jeans is too snug here and too loose there, even if it’s labeled as your usual size.  It’s to be expected, really – things as personal to us as our bodies are unique, and have, in turn, unique needs.  The same thing applies to your home furnishings.  All of our lives are different – a couch in a bachelor pad lives a different life than a couch in the home of a family with four young children – and because of this, our furniture has to be prepared to meet those needs.  Plus, there are a wide range of benefits to custom furniture!  Today, I just want to take a minute to share some of those myriad benefits with you.

First off, custom furniture is entirely unique, which means you get what you want, no holds barred.  Let’s say you’re purchasing a new coffee table for your living room.  Sure, you could go for a generic coffee table that looks alright – but maybe the color isn’t quite what you really want, or the shape doesn’t fit your space in that seamless way.  With custom furniture, you don’t have to settle.  You can get that table in just the right proportion to suit your loveseat and your rug, without cutting corners and just taking what you can get.

Speaking of colors – a custom piece really gives you flexibility in terms of color and fabric.  Are you a fan of bold jewel tones?  Or beachy prints?  Maybe you prefer velvets, or earthy browns and greens, or a certain sort of stripe.  Opting for a custom piece allows you to make those specific aesthetic choices, so your furniture is right to your taste.  And when your furniture reflects who you are, your home can do the same!

Moreover, custom furniture lasts longer, and is easier to maintain.  A custom piece is built with a greater level of detailed care and attention than an off-the-shelf item, so you can expect better construction, better finishes, and better durability.  A piece right off the internet isn’t often manufactured with the same high-quality materials as a custom item, nor is it crafted with the level of investment a custom manufacturer can provide.  Plus, custom furniture typically comes with care instructions direct from the manufacturer, so you’ll always know the right way to take care of your new pieces.

Custom furniture is also a smart investment when it comes to the value of your home.  A custom piece, taken care of and maintained, will appreciate in value over time.  It’s a one-of-a-kind, craftsman item – when you buy custom furniture, you’re also buying an heirloom piece that will sustain its value as the years go by.  Custom furniture isn’t just good for you in the moment, though of course it’s always wonderful to see your new, unique piece in your home, and get to use it day to day.  It’s also a smart choice for your future!

Here at Woodside, we’re always ready to help you get that perfect custom piece.  We’re all about making your home about you – who you are, what you do, and what you love – and there’s nothing better for that than having a house full of items that speak to you, uniquely.  

While it may seem like a more involved process than just picking an item up off the shelf, there’s nothing more worth it than custom furnishings in your home.  At Woodside, we’ll help you make that process seamless, stress-free, and fun!  If you’re ready to chat about make your space yours, shoot us an email anytime.

The bottom line is: custom furniture is worth it.  Make your home a reflection of you – we guarantee you won’t regret it.

Changes in the sweater weather

Can you feel it – that first chill in the air?  Well, here in Baltimore, maybe not.  Our hot weather tends to hold out to the bitter end, sometime in late September.  But even now, here and there, you can catch a breeze with a little bit of frost on its back.  The first intimations of winter, foretold in the subtle reddening of the oak leaves and the gentle turns in the weather.  There’s a vast expanse of ochre-yellow treetops and holiday festivities between now and those cold December months, and I say enjoy them!  There’s nothing I love more than venturing out into the autumnal afternoon for a walk in Wyman Park Dell, or the excuse to bust out a good knit scarf.  

With the days getting shorter, we’re beginning to turn back towards our indoor spaces.  There’s plenty of daylight for corn mazes and pumpkin patches, but sooner or later we always find ourselves leaning back towards our homes, ready to get comfy on the couch and watch the show of the week with a good cup of tea (and maybe some pumpkin bread).  Now that we’re heading back home, it's a good time for us to really think about how that home is curated.  Is it as comfortable and inviting as we always want our home to be?  Does it work for us?  Does it reflect who we are?

Bearing that in mind, I’d like to offer up some tips on some easy ways to make your house as cozy as can be for this fall season!

One of the things that sometimes slips under our radar is thoughtful lighting.  Once dusk gets earlier and those cloudy skies start to descend, our interior lighting starts to do a lot more heavy lifting.  Now is the time to start showing some love to your lamps – a lamp turned on in your living room, even during the day, adds a pocket of glow to soften the edges of your space.  And consider incorporating a candle or two!  A good candle contributes that perfect, gentle light – plus, depending on your candle of choice, a cinnamon or clove scent can summon up the baked goods smell of the season.

Bring some natural elements into your home decor!  Fall is rich with nature’s lovely bounty – pinecones, acorns, orange-gold leaves, evergreens, and twigs abound in your local parks and outdoor spaces.  Pick up your favorite bits and bobs and display them artfully in a table centerpiece or a good vase.  There’s no harm in bringing the outdoors indoors.  (Of course, be sure to give your pinecones a little cleaning before you let them live in your home!)

What’s better, when the weather gets chilly, than settling into your favorite armchair and wrapping a soft blanket around your shoulders?  It’s the season of throw pillows and comfy quilts, and there’s no better time to pick up some warm flannels and autumn cushions.  These elements can bring in those ochres and reds and seasonal tones, while also enhancing the coziness of your living spaces.  And don’t limit yourself to autumn additions to your sofas and seats – the right fabric for a table runner can really warm up your dining space, too.

Personally, I love to bake, and nothing says cozy to me more than something fresh out of the oven, whether it be a loaf of bread or an apple pie.  Maybe now’s the time to consider your kitchen, especially with some of our more food-centric holidays coming up on the calendar.  Pull in some new baking canisters in autumn tones, or add a little pot of mums to the end of your kitchen counter.

If you’re thinking about overhauling your living spaces – with coziness in mind – I’d love to help!  I’ll always be here to help make your home fit for fall, and for every season the year has to offer.

It’s lovely to watch the colors of the world start shifting.  This is a beautiful, restorative time of year.  Take the time to withdraw a little – rest up for the coming winter.  I hope your September brings with it warm mugs and crisp walks, and that those early dusks make way for your coziest evenings in.

Back to school – and back to fabrics

It’s the last full week of August – the tail-end of summer, with those long, slow dusks and cold drinks on the front stoop.  I’ve always been fond of this time of year.  The summer, with all that fun in the sun, is a wonderful time to express our energy and leap into the world – but it’s nice to take a breath, on the back end, and just enjoy the hum of cicadas, the little melodies of frogs and Carolina wrens, with the sky going purple behind the silhouettes of trees.  That’s what August has always been, to me.  Leaning into the humidity, just for a moment, and watching the last of the fireflies.

As a mom, this time of year has always had a second, and very special, significance: back to school.  Right around now, my daughter and I – before the start of her new school year, from elementary all the way through college – would head on over to the Target, or the Staples, to pick out binders and spiral notebooks, folders and stacks of paper, crayons and craft supplies (for those early days).  Kids can be such a joy.  Through them, we get to relive all those wonderful experiences of being little, like picking out your new pack of pencils for the start of your new year.  

When you’re designing your home with your kids in mind, you have to factor in a certain amount of youthful wear-and-tear when thinking about your furnishings – and the wear-and-tear from any beloved pets that might also be members of the family.  But this doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice fashion in the name of function!  In fact, there’s a whole line of high quality, ultra-durable, stylish fabrics, ready to meet your aesthetic – and your durability – needs.

Several of our Woodside Home vendors offer perfect solutions when it comes to adding endurance without losing good looks.  Crypton, Sunbrella, and Revolution represent the standard of excellence for livable luxury.  

Crypton fabrics are stain-repellent, odor-resistant, and highly durable, which makes their products ideal choices for kid-proof and pet-proof upholstery.  Plus, they’re GREENGUARD Gold Certified for their excellent sustainability and low chemical emissions, and help the indoor air quality of your home higher.  Crypton fabrics also include a liquid barrier to protect against both oil- and water-based stains!  

Sunbrella, originally an outdoor furniture brand, has expanded their existing range into interior spaces, and offer the same top-quality endurance as they always have.  Sunbrella fabrics are resistant to sun fading and chemical exposure, and promise long-lasting performance endurance.  And more, these fabrics are water-repellent, which makes them doubly resistant to stains.

Revolution, equally durable, is also made from recycled fibers, and offers a lower carbon footprint, keeping your home furnishing eco-friendly.  These fabrics are sun resistant, soft, strong, and easy to clean.  Because their fibers are dyed before weaving, Revolution fabrics also offer a great deal of resistance to fading, so your patterns and colors stay fresh! 

These fabrics all come in a broad range of colors and patterns – whether you want a neutral living room couch or a funky accent chair, these lines come backed with substance and style.  And, if used as slipcovers for your furniture, these fabrics can go right in the wash!  If someone spills some orange juice on your new loveseat, it’s just a matter of a spin cycle to clear that stain right up – and even without a pressing stain issue, periodic washing can keep your furniture looking as fresh as the day it came off the truck and into your home.

Outside of brand names, some fabric types – like microfibers, polys, and performance velvets – can give you the same function without losing out on looking spot-on.  Whatever your home decor needs are, there’s a fabric out there that can meet them!  If you’re ready to upgrade your decor to match your lifestyle – and the lifestyle of your kids and pets – shoot us an email so we can chat!

Even as the summer ends, something else is already beginning.  I, for one, am looking forward to getting cozied up in my favorite sweaters and sipping a mug of hot cider.  For those of you with kids headed off to school, here’s to the start of their next academic adventure!  And here’s to the autumnal horizon!  

In the meantime, though, I think I’ll bask in the tail end of summer just a little while longer.