Ideas for Holidays and Casual Gatherings: Your Dining Room Decor

Perhaps it’s the 4^th of July or the 40^th birthday party of one of your closest relatives. Regardless of the season or the occasion, if you’re the one hosting the next big social gathering, you’ll need the dining room furniture to accommodate it. Depending on the size of your home, and how you like to serve your meals, you may be looking at a counter-height dining table, or a more ornate 4-stool rectangular table. Since we’re savvy when it comes to everything related to decor, we want to walk you through all your design options, as we lay out some fresh ideas for your dining room furniture.

Secure a Dining Room Set, for Any Sized Space

Imagine that you’ve invited all your friends and family for the upcoming holiday party. When you gaze into your dining room, can you easily envision everyone finding a spot and eating, side by side? Before you even get into the style of your dining room, you should ensure that you have a dining room table that can handle all of your guests, any children and the occasional plus one or two.   

On more intimate occasions, like a small gathering of friends from school, we like to seat guests around circular dining room tables, be they made from clear glass or sunburst wooden veneers.

Purchase the Best and Most Versatile Dining Table

So you under or overestimated how many guests you’d be hosting or how much food there’d be on your dining room table. It happens to all of us now and then. Your best bet in the future: own a smaller or larger dining room table that you can swap out—or purchase extension dining room tables that have both aesthetic appeal and versatility to them. Plank-style tabletops can be ideal for laying out extra plates of food or doubling as the kid’s station.

Remember: you don’t always have to preserve your dining room sets. Sometimes it’s just easier to mix and match pieces.

Stylize Your Dining with a Pair of Upholstered Chairs

In the way that we encourage you to mix and match with your dining room table, we recommend the same with your dining room chairs—but only so much. As a general rule, if you’re leaning to purchasing an upholstered side chair, pair it alongside other upholstered side chairs. If half of all your dining room seating isn’t identical, you’re not likely to enjoy it, aesthetically speaking.

To simplify the whole dining room design process for yourself, visit our furniture store in the New York, NY and Bronx areas. 

Shaping the Space in Which You Work: Your Office Desk

We can all remember our first grade school desks—that wooden slab and rusted metal seat in one. In those pre-digital days, all we ever needed from a work station was space for our books, pens and pencils. Today the home office desk, like so many other pieces of office furniture and tech, has adapted to suit the needs of the 21st century. With change, the question arises: which sort of workspace do I need to be productive?

Your Ideal Work Station of the 21st Century

Of course, not everyone utilizes a desk in exactly the same way. Some of us, still more familiar with the weight and pressure of a hand-held writing utensil, prefer a spread of notebooks before us; while others surround themselves in the buzz and glow of tablets, monitors, and electronics.

If you yourself lean toward the latter, you may want a surface that can support not only a laptop, but multiple LCD displays, and even a sliding tray for your keyboard or mouse. Ultimately, you’ll be looking at what we in the business call a computer desk; namely, one that’s designed with all your cables, wires and towers in mind.

Writing Desks for Readers and Writers Alike

Perhaps you don’t necessarily want a home office desk that’s dedicated to your computer, tablet or laptop. Don’t worry—we understand! Plenty of our customers feel the same way, sparking the renaissance of the writing table. Compared to the computer desk, this piece of furniture gives all the surface area you could ever need for your binders, paperwork, books, and crafts.

Because of its enduring popularity and elegance, the writing table today takes on as many forms and shapes as any other staple of the modern home office.

Desks Of All Shapes and Sizes, for Any Space

Whether you’re searching for a desk for your personal den or your professional workplace, you’ll find our stock at Harlem Furniture perfect for any space, of any size or scale. Anticipating all our customers, we carry both computer and writing desks for corners and credenzas, from the sleek silver to rich cherry black.

Visit us at our furniture store in New York, NY to browse our inventory of beautiful and functional computer desks and writing tables!

Choosing the Right Sofa for Your Home

A sofa is an important piece of furniture to have in any home. It provides a place for family and friends to lounge, relax, and enjoy each other’s company. While most homeowners have a designated living room or family room where they can place a sofa, often times apartment dwellers have a difficult time finding a suitable space for a sofa in their home. At Harlem Furniture, we can help. Our furniture store has a large selection of sofas for sale, with products available for homes of every shape and size. Read on to learn how you can create a cozy seating area in any space, whether you live in a large house, a studio apartment, or somewhere in between.

Sofas for Dorm Rooms & Studio Apartments

Many people think that fitting a sofa in a dorm room or studio apartment is impossible, but that is simply not the case. While a dorm room may not have enough space to fit a complete sofa set, with a bit of smart shopping, you can still create a comfortable lounge area for visiting guests. When space is at a minimum and you want to avoid crowding your home with too many furniture pieces, consider purchasing a multipurpose product. Sleeper sofas and futon sofa beds are the ultimate space-savers, as they combine a sofa and a bed in one convenient piece. Our home furniture store sells sleeper sofas in Twin size, Full size, and even Queen size, making it easy to find one that is the right fit for you.

Sofas for Small Living Rooms

If your house or apartment has a designated living room, but it is not large enough to accommodate an entire sofa set, realize that you have many more options at your disposal. A standard stationary sofa seats three people, but if that is not enough for you, consider pairing your sofa with a set of accent chairs or a living room ottoman. Believe it or not, a sectional sofa can often work in a small living room as well, thanks to its distinctive design.The curves of a sectional sofa will hug the corners of a room, preventing the space from feeling crowded and cramped. The other great thing about a sectional sofa is that it comes broken up in multiple pieces, allowing you to rearrange it as necessary.

Sofa Sets for Large Livings Rooms

If you have a home with a large, spacious living room, then we encourage you to browse our collection of sofa sets. Each living room sofa set comes with a sofa and a matching loveseat, all for one great price. We sell stationary sofa sets and reclining sofa sets in a variety of attractive colors and styles, including contemporary, traditional, and everything in between. If you have additional space to spare, we also recommend that you complement your sofa set with a few occasional tables to round out your living room décor.

If you are ready to start shopping for a sofa, stop by Harlem Furniture today! You can shop with us online or at one of our two furniture showrooms serving customers in the New York, NY area. With our diverse product selection and our everyday low prices, you will be able to find the perfect sofa in no time!

How to Know When It’s Time to Buy a New Mattress

Sleep plays a significant role in your day to day life. A good night’s sleep boosts your immunity, sharpens your mind, and positively impacts your overall health. If you suddenly find yourself struggling to get the seven to eight hours of sleep that your body needs, it may be time to start looking for a new mattress. Many times, people just accept their poor sleep schedule, not even realizing that their mattress may be the underlying cause. At Harlem Furniture, we want all our customers to have a mattress that offers the support and comfort that their body needs. Read on to learn some of the top warning signs that indicate it is time to replace your current mattress.

There Are Bumps & Grooves in Your Mattress

One of the easiest ways to tell if your mattress is past its prime is simply by inspecting it. Your mattress should have a smooth and consistent surface, so any significant dents or indentations are sure to cause a problem. A bumpy mattress fails to give your body proper support, and it is likely to cause discomfort. Additionally, if you have an innerspring mattress that sags or shows deep indentations, that often serves as an indication that the mattress springs are beginning to break down and lose their bounce.  

Your Mattress is Causing You Pain

Do you suffer from aches and pains when you wake up each morning? Chances are, your mattress is the culprit. Over time, old mattresses gradually begin to break down and no longer offer the same level of relief and support that they did at the start. If you notice that new aches and pains are beginning to be a common occurrence, that is a clear sign that your mattress needs a quality replacement.

You Have Increased Allergy Symptoms

Allergy sufferers beware—if you don’t take proper care of your mattress, you could end up facing some unfortunate consequences. Over time, your mattress accumulates a variety of allergens, including dead skin cells, dust, and sometimes even mold. Mattress protectors and routine mattress cleaning can help prevent this issue; however, if you leave your mattress unprotected, you could end up with a large allergen buildup or even a dust mite infestation. If you start to notice that your allergy symptoms get worse specifically around bedtime, then it is time to shop for a new mattress. As a replacement, you may want to purchase a memory foam mattress, which features a solid foam core that helps limit allergen accumulation.

If you are ready to upgrade your current mattress, visit Harlem Furniture today! We offer an extensive selection of brand name mattresses for sale that are guaranteed to improve your quality of sleep. To shop our complete mattress collection, you can visit us in New York, NY or at either one of our New York furniture and mattress stores. We look forward to serving you!