How many times have you visited a landfill site and seen a small cupboard or chest of drawers discarded on the pile? In the UK alone 10 million items of furniture are thrown away every year, 3 million of which could be easily repaired and renewed.*

You may think that you need to spend lots of money repairing old furniture, but in reality, a few tweaks here and there could be all it needs! Taking a chest of drawers for example, a quick sand down and a lick of paint could make an old, tatty piece of furniture into something quite respectable again. But why stop at respectable? Give old furniture some personality with beautifully colourful ceramic knobs from Thomas Jonathan.

Reinvent old kitchen cupboards with a fun striped design or choose a crackle effect to give your bedside drawers a shabby chic effect. Below are just a snapshot of the designs that you could use to jazz up your furniture…

So, before you decide to throw away your old furniture, consider how you could ‘make do and mend’! A lick of paint and a quick visit to www.thomasjohnson.co.uk could be all you need to make old, dull furniture full of life once again!

*Landfill Statistics sourced from Bulky Waste Collection Services

The great benefit about re-upholstery over loose covers is that furniture with special features such as wooden panels or button backs are able to maintain these as the new fabric won’t obscure these features.  The re-upholsterer works to keep these unique features on your furniture.

To ensure your furniture is returned to its former glory, choose a trusted reupholsterer like those at Plumbs.  Plumbs offer a unique in-home service with free advise and quotation, from consultants who are local to you.  A nationwide service, Plumbs are currently working on raising awareness of their local services in towns across the UK.  They have recently produced several websites detailing information about Re-upholstery in Oxford, Re-upholstery in Bristol and Re-upholstery in Birmingham.  Throughout the year more websites for local re-upholstery and loose cover services from Plumbs will be emerging.  So watch this space…

This Spring why not bring the outdoors in with classic floral fabrics and pastel palettes?! Plumbs have a stunning range of traditional and contemporary floral designs for your loose covers.  But if feminine chic isn’t to your taste, you can always freshen up for Spring with a new clean colour scheme.  Plain white loose covers will go with anything and look great on any style of furniture!  Plus, loose covers are removable, and mostly washable, so you needn’t let the pale colour put you off! Plain fabrics are bound to suit your home at any time of year. Check out Bemz New Urban Collection for more inspiration!

So, however you decide to breath new life into your home this Spring, remember not to neglect your furniture!  Choosing loose furniture covers could completely transform your room with very little effort!

The quickest and easiest way to change the look of your bedroom is to adorn your bed with cushions. Then it is so easy to swap and change your cushion covers to give completely different looks.

For a hotel luxury feel for example, mix and match different textures such as cottons, faux fur and silks. Deep, warm colours such as rich purples and midnight blues will look great against metallic golds and silvers here.

If you prefer a more feminine chic look, plain pastels and floral patterns work perfectly together. You could even add a few fluffier cushion covers to soften the look.

Monochrome, geometric patterns can often reflect a more modern vibe. Choose blacks, whites and greys as the base of your cushion covers here. If desired, add in a few pops of accent colour to make a statement. Lime greens or striking reds work particularly well.

The ability to swap and change your cushion covers is an ideal and simple way to make a change to your room. Remember, this doesn’t have to be confined to your bedroom. Changing your cushion covers in the rest of your home will also help in altering the look and feel of your lounge, kitchen or even conservatory. Be bold, be creative and enjoy creating your new looks!

With popular do-it-yourself styles guides, television programmes and interior design celebrity tips, you would think that decorating your home would be a breeze. But when it comes down to planning your new look, where do you start?

These 5 steps should get your creative juices flowing and start you in the right direction to Interior Design genius:

1) Distinguish the purpose

The first port of call when decorating any room is to decide the purpose of that room. Will it be a living room, a snug, a dining and living room combined? Who will it be used by? Some design ideas are suited best for adult-only rooms and for rooms with children and pets, various other design techniques can be considered.

2) Choose a theme

Themes can be great in any room. More popular themes include nautical or seaside bathrooms, ancient library studies and country lodge living rooms. A theme can bring unity to a room, and will determine colours and accessories for you straight away.

3) Gain inspiration

Search through style blogs and home interest magazines to find the perfect look for you. Good examples can often be found in furniture suppliers’ brochures. Pull out anything that inspires you or that reflects the mood and feel that you want your room to induce. Once collated you should have a more distinct idea of how you would like your room to look.

4) Be consistent

Think about the other rooms in your house. You want there to be some flow from room to room to keep a sense of consistency throughout your home.

5) Decide your colour scheme

If you have gone for a themed approach, your colour scheme may already be decided for you. If not it could be a good start to think about what feelings you would like to evoke and choose a colour scheme to reflect that. If you are interested in the benefits of Feng Shui, turn to it’s rules on colour schemes for inspiration.

With our sofas often being the hub of our home lives, it’s no wonder that from time to time they may get a little grubby. We’ve all been there at that heart stopping moment when your piece of spaghetti falls in slow motion toward your seat covers, for example.  If this is an all too common occurrence in your household then loose sofa covers could be the answer you’re looking for!

The beauty of loose sofa covers is that they are so easy to remove, wash and re-fit. Those pesky dinner stains are no longer a hassle when you can simply whisk your covers off, pop them in the wash and re-fit them, as if nothing had ever happened.

The best thing for me is that if you’re poor sofa, like mine, has previously been victim to a permanent attack (red wine in my case) then masking this with a new set of loose sofa covers is the perfect solution!

So, to ensure your sofa can live peacefully, without the fear of stains, you could opt for loose sofa covers and nobody would be any the wiser!

Dining Chair Covers are the perfect accessory to any dinner party or candlelit dinner. A beautiful set of matching covers can transform your dining room from a dull and dreary unused space to a sophisticated gourmet restaurant. They can be effective used sparingly to create a sense of occasion. Christmas is a great time to bring out your special chair covers for example. Alternatively, they can stay a permanent feature in your dining room, emanating elegance throughout the year.

Not only do they look great but dining chair covers can hide a multitude of sins! Your chairs may have tired legs, worn backs or stained seat pads. Rather than throwing them out and buying new, loose dining chair covers are a sound option that can save you money! There are often great offers to be found on dining chair covers. Plumbs, for example, will cover a set of 6 chairs for just £199. You could expect to pay double on a new set of chairs. Click here to find out more.

Similarly, your loose covers can be used to protect and preserve your fine furniture. If you’re having a dinner party, you may wish to cover special furniture with equally beautiful covers to ensure no spillages affect your chairs. Many dining chair covers are fully machine washable and can be cleaned easily time after time.

Click here to see Plumbs range of dining chair covers.