Make Your Chairs Last Longer

As was discussed in Going Greenest, chairs and barstools need glides.  Don't settle for the default glides that come from the factory. The factory installed glides are typically small and don't do what they need to.  Go buy them at your local hardware store or furniture store.

1. Hard floor: Felt Glides
2. Carpet floor: Plastic Glides
3. Bigger is better: Get the largest glide that will fit on the bottom of the leg.

The goal is to make your chairs or stools slide across the floor as little as possible so that the joints are not stressed.  It also makes it easier on you when moving a heavy chair or stool.

Are You Prepared to Decorate?

When preparing to decorate or furnish a room, you need to be prepared.  I recommend having a small bag that you can grab at a moments notice. Here are some items to keep in your bag:

• Small sample of wood to match or contrast against, this can be a drawers from cabinets or a leaves from kitchen tables
• Paint chip or sample
• Fabric or leather swatch or an arm cover from a sofa
• Pillow from the sofa in case you need to take a nap... I mean in case you need those colors to work with
• Picture of the current room 

Many times when decorating, you may stop by a store on a whim.  Then once you arrive it's difficult to recall all the colors and tones in your home.

Update: All Four on the Floor!

Reposting as a favor to all of our friends at Chairs Quick (http://chairs-quick.com)

How many times have you heard it from mom when you're sitting at the kitchen table and you lean back in one of your chairs to have only two chair legs touching, and she says, "Four on the floor!" Well there is actually something to that old saying. Safety aside, some in the furniture industry estimate that you will lessen the life of that chair. Some estimate 50-75% of the life a chair is lost when you regularly lean back. Of course the heavier we Americans get the less likely our chairs will hold out like they did for grandma, especially when we jeopardize the structural integrity by leaning back on two legs.

Keep Those Legs Tight... Not Too Tight

I still remember putting together my first dinette as a kid. Growing up in a family business which sold dinettes, pretty much required me to learn this skill early on. Well I think it was a Ligo dinette, but my mistake was getting excited with the wrench. I overtightened the screw on one of the dinettes legs, when POP!, I split the wood. I learned the hard way that day, that you should only make it snug not super tight. Also, when you notice tables with legs that start to wobble, that means it needs a little tightening. This usually occurs during autumn when the wood begins to dry out.