4 Different Uses for a Bookcase

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Bookcases are very versatile furniture. Like the name implies, bookcases are primarily used to hold and/or display books. Many homeowners also use bookcases to store DVDs, CDs, and Vinyl Records as well as a way to show off decorative items. However a bookcase can be used for more than just media storage. With some creative thinking and a DIY attitude, a bookcase can be reconfigured in many different ways. Here are four different ways you can use a bookcase.

Cover Up
A bookcase is the perfect object to cover up a wall that is a little worse for wear. Perhaps you live in an apartment that has a “no paint” policy, but one of the walls has some discoloration. Or perhaps there is a small dent in the wall or even a hole left over from a light fixture that used to be installed there. Rather than spending money on repairing and repainting the wall, you can use a bookcase to cover up the spot. Bookcases come in all shapes and sizes, so you are bound to find one that is tall or wide enough to cover up the mark on the wall.  The benefit here is that this quick fix isn’t permanent. You can always move and re-purpose the unit if you decide to repaint the whole room.

Closet Organizer
You can use a bookcase as a way to organize a walk in closet. You can add wicker or fabric baskets to the shelves to hold shoes or small items such as socks, scarves, and gloves. Or you can fold sweaters and sweatshirts and stack them neatly on the shelves. A solid wood unit is even sturdy enough to hold multiple pairs of jeans. Is there a room in your home that has a small alcove you don’t know what to do with? Turn it into a makeshift closet! You can stack items on the shelf, and install a few small hooks for items that need to be hung.

Desk
A pair of small bookcases can double as a fantastic desk. You can take two or three shelf bookcases and lay a board across the top to create a workspace.  The bookcases play two roles here. They act as the “legs” of the desk, but also double as storage. You can keep office supplies, software, and printer paper neatly organized on the shelves. Plus with the open shelve design of the bookcases; you can keep an eye on when you are running low on items.

Room Divider
A bookcase can also double as a room divider. Large open spaces are easily broken up into separate “sections” by placing a bookcase perpendicular to a wall. When using a bookcase as a room divider, you will have to take one extra step to make sure you have a finished back for the unit. A bookcase room divider is ideal for studio apartment owners who want to break up the large room into smaller sections, and add a little bit more privacy. It is also ideal for large family rooms that want to set up a separate area to watch televisions from the area where the kids play.

Why Choose Solid Wood Furniture?

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Furnishing your home these days is relatively easy. You can find furniture at most general merchandisers, department stores, big box furniture stores, specialty retailers, and (one of the easiest options) the internet. With so many choices, it’s hard to decide what type of furniture you are going to bring into your home. Before you make your final purchasing decision, make sure that you check out furniture that is crafted out of solid wood. Solid wood furniture has many benefits, and here are just a few of them.

Durable

Buying a bed, night stand, or bookcase from a major discount chain or one of those big box discount furniture stores may seem like a good idea due to the lower priced items. However with cheap furniture, you also get cheap materials. The majority of these types of furniture are constructed out of particleboard, which is basically tiny bits of wood glued together in board form, and then covered in a laminate finish to give it a unified look.

Particle board falls apart very easily, and over time the laminate can start to chip off exposing the wood panel underneath. Sometimes, joints become separated or drawers fall out because of repeated use. Particle board furniture is not meant to last long. If you are in the market for furnishing that are going to last you a while, solid wood is the route you’ll want to take.

Some Assembly Not Required

Most of the time when you order solid wood furniture, it comes preassembled. Gone are the days of lugging home multiple cardboard boxes, deciphering instructions that sometimes aren’t even in plain English, and using super glue and extra nails because you couldn’t get the parts to fit just right. Instead, a solid wood desk, bookcase, or dresser can be brought into your home, already built, with factory approved joints that are guaranteed not to fall apart.

Changeable Finishes

When you purchase a solid wood furniture piece, you are making an investment that will last you a long time. Five or ten years after your purchase your furniture, it will be in great shape. However, you may have outgrown the color scheme or want to go in a different direction style-wise. With solid wood furniture, you can easily have the unit refinished and repainted to match your home’s décor. You can even get new drawer pulls and accessories to change the look of the piece entirely. Don’t buy brand new furniture, when you can add a few new touches to give your older furniture a whole new look.

3 Advantages of a Loft Bed

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Unlike a bunk bed which features one bed over another, a loft bed is a bunk bed that only has the top bunk, which leaves a wide open space underneath. A loft bed is ideal for small spaces or for rooms that sleep more than one person. In fact, a lot of college dorms offer lofted beds to provide extra storage underneath which maximizes the space in the tiny rooms. Here are 3 advantages to having a loft bed in your own home.

Ideal for Shared Kids Rooms

Loft beds are great for children’s bedrooms that have double (or even triple) occupancy. With the bed lofted up top, the space underneath becomes an oasis for the bed owner. The floor can be lined with pillows and blankets to create a special area for reading or playing with toys. For a girl’s room, you can drape fabrics to create a “princess” area where your daughter can play with her dolls and stuffed animals as well as invite friends over to play in the “palace.”

For a boy’s room, you can turn the area into a place to make buildings with building blocks or racetracks for Matchbox cars. Or you can hang fabric and other decorative items to turn the space into a “pirate ship.” The opportunities are endless. The best part about the lofted beds is that it creates a designated area specifically for one child. This is very important in cases where the bedroom is shared with other siblings. With a loft bed, a child has a sense that their toys and belongings are safe in their space.

Frees Up Space

Instead of transforming the space underneath the bed into a play area, you can utilize the area for storage. Dressers and chests of drawers fit neatly underneath a loft bed and so can bookcases as well as vanities or toy boxes. Moving these items underneath the bed frees up more space in the room which can then be used as an open play area, or to host multiple sleeping bags during slumber parties. Or you can put a futon or daybed underneath which can be used as a sitting area, and then double as a guest bed.

Transitions As Your Children Get Older

If you invest in a loft bed, you can relax knowing that as your child grows, the bed can transition with them. Teens can create a study area underneath the bed. Placing a bookcase or two underneath the bed along with a desk and a computer can transform the bed into a study nook. The best part about having the bed lofted is it discourages studying or doing homework in bed, which can actually disrupt sleep patterns. With a loft bed, your child can separate their work space from their sleep space.

On the other hand, if your child wants a bigger bed in their room, you can keep the loft bed and place a larger bed underneath the loft. This way your child has a spare bed to host guests, that doesn’t take up a lot of space as it is lofted above.

These are just a few of the many advantages of owning a loft bed. To view our selection of loft beds, visit us online at http://www.gothiccabinetcraft.com/.

Furniture and Toy Storage

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Children love their toys. They also love to leave them all over the place no matter how hard parents try to contain them! In a household with kids, you’ll probably be able to find toys in bedrooms, living rooms, the kitchen, and even the hallway. More than a few parents have gone on a last-minute hunt for a missing stuffed animal before bedtime. With better toy storage solutions urban families might be better able to keep the toys organized and accounted for. Here are a few different ideas of how certain furniture pieces can double as a toy storage unit:

Storage Chests
A storage chest is a perfect solution for storing toys. The extra deep chests allow you to store toys, games, puzzles, stuffed animals, and even arts and craft items out of sight. A storage chest in a child’s bedroom can also double as a window seat or workbench. You can center the chest in front of a window and place a cushion on top which provides a nice place for kids to sit and read.Alderwood Hope Storage Chest

You can also consider getting a solid wood storage chest for the living room. You can utilize the top of the chest as extra sitting, or it can double as a nice coffee table. This way you can have a place to put beverages, television remotes, and even magazines. If you are expecting company, simply open the chest, put away any toys left in the living room, and you’ll have a “grown-up” living room for the evening.

Bookcases
A bookcase can double as a place to store toys that your children play with on a regular basis. Plush animals, remote control cars, and games and puzzles can be stored on the shelves so they are easily accessible, but off of the floor. You can opt for shorter bookcases (three shelves for instance) that are more “kid sized” so they can easily get to their favorite toys. There are even bookcases with doors that can be used to keep the toys out of sight. The nice thing about using bookcases for toy storage is they can be modified as your children get older. Bookcases can hold video games, movies on DVD, and of course books. If your child decides that he or she doesn’t want the bookcase in their room anymore, you can move it to another room and use it to store your own books and other decorative items.

Storage Cubes
A storage cube is a minimalist style storage solution. Storage cubes consist of fully interchangeable, stacked components that can be combined in many different ways to create a storage unit that fits your specific needs. The cubbies are an ideal place to store toys and games. Like a bookcase, storage cubes help keep toys off of the floor but are still easily accessible. The cubbies in storage cubes are very deep so you can store a lot of items in a confined space. Plus, all storage cubes can be painted in different colors to add a little fun to the room.

Later down the road, you can reuse these cubes to hold vinyl records, books, photos, and other items. The shorter storage cubes can also double as coffee tables or end tables with built-in storage. You can also hang the cubes on the wall to create more shelving or be used in a mudroom to store shoes, boots, and other outdoor items.

Storage Beds
A captain’s bed or a storage bed both offer drawers underneath the mattress to store clothes, sheets, and other items. In a child’s bedroom, these drawers are a great place to store toys. These drawers are on floor level which provides easy access for your child’s toys, and make cleaning up the room a breeze. Gothic’s storage beds also come with an option of doors that run the depth of the bed, which provides a storage space for larger items such as kids ski’s, skateboards, and baseball bats.  You can also opt for a bookcase headboard that besides holding books, can provide a home for stuffed animals, security blankets, and other comfort items for sleep.

The Advantages of Owning a Storage Bed

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Storage beds are typically a platform bed with built in storage underneath. They come with different options including a set of drawers, doors, or even a bookcase headboard. A storage bed is a great investment for any home and provides extra storage space to keep items out of sight (and hopefully off the bedroom floor). Here are a few advantages for owning a storage bed.

Utilizing Forgotten Storage Space

The space underneath your bed can be used for a variety of purposes. Items can be stored underneath or the family cat or dog may claim it as a sleeping spot; but usually what ends up happening is that under the bed becomes a cave of lost items and dust bunnies. If you are storing items underneath the bed, you most likely have to get on your hands and knees, or lie on your stomach to reach everything you have hiding under there. Storage beds eliminate this problem. They have drawers which allow you to easily access items, and because the base is closed off, you don’t have to worry about dust and dirt building up underneath.

Optimizing Small Spaces

Not all bedrooms are built equally. Especially if you are living in a major metropolitan area like New York City, the room you sleep in may in fact be what others consider a “walk in closet.” Some bedrooms have just enough room for a bed, a night stand, and maybe a dresser, and that’s it. A storage bed is an ideal piece of furniture for this type of room. A storage bed with up to twelve drawers can double as a dresser, which can free up extra space in the room. Instead of where you would normally put a chest of drawers, you can have a vanity or a desk as your clothes are neatly stored away below your mattress.

Great for Kids Rooms

Around the age of 12 or 13, your child may have outgrown their childhood bed. As much fun as it was sleeping in a either a race car or a princess bed, your child may want to change up his or her entire bedroom to reflect their age and style. Storage beds are a great choice for older kids and teenagers as they provide ample storage for clothes and toys. If you are redoing the entire bedroom you can buy a storage bed with matching nightstand, dresser, and sometimes even a bookcase headboard. A bookcase headboard is great for storing not only books, but sentimental items and an alarm clock as well.

Guest Room Double Duty

Do you have a guest room? Why not set up your guest sleeping room with a storage bed. The drawers underneath can be used to store extra sheets and towels that your guests can easily access. Or you can store seasonal items here and store your sweaters in the summer and your swimwear in the winter here so you have more room in your closets and dressers for items you are currently using. A storage bed is also an economical choice for a guest room as most storage beds are platform beds, and don’t require having to purchase a box spring to support the mattress.

How To Protect Your Home (and Furniture) from Bed Bugs

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In recent years bed bug infestations have been on the rise, especially in large metropolitan areas such as New York City. Outside of affecting apartments and hotels, bed bugs have been found in movie theaters and even clothing stores! As a local business serving the New York City area specializing in home furnishings, it is Gothic Cabinet Craft’s commitment to ensure that we provide our customers with the best products possible. This is why we have provided a few steps to protect your home and it’s furnishings from these pesky little critters.

Bed bugs, What To Look For

Bed bugs are small insects whose diets consist mostly of human blood. Young, newly hatched bed bugs are slightly transparent whereas adult bed bugs are flat and have red, oval shaped bodies. Before you go on a bed bug fumigation spree, it is important to note that they can be confused with other household insects such as carpet and spider beetles.

Signifiers of bed bugs include blood stains, bed bug droppings, and eggs. These are prevalent on mattress seams, sheets, pillow cases, headboards, and upholstered furniture. Bed bugs also like to hide out in crevices and cracks in furniture as well as along baseboards. They especially like to congregate around mattresses, bed frames, and headboards as their human food sources spend a decent amount of time in bed, sleeping.

What To Do If You Have Bed Bugs

Wash all items that show bed bug stains in hot water and dry on high for at least 20 minutes. Run a hair dryer over the mattress. Holding the hairdryer on a spot for 30 seconds is enough to kill bed bugs. Once you have blow-dried the mattress, vacuum the mattress thoroughly. You should also vacuum carpets and floors, as well as bed frames, furniture, and cracks and crevices. Be sure to dispose of the vacuum bag or empty the canister outside of the house.  Once you have cleaned the infected mattress, enclose in a plastic cover specifically for bed bugs and keep the mattress wrapped for at least a year.

How To Prevent Bed Bugs

Buying new furniture is a good way to reduce the chances of buying furniture infested with bed bugs over used or thrift store furniture. Also, purchasing furniture that is made in the US is another good way to avoid pests as foreign production policies are not as stringent as domestic policies. Plus domestically produced furniture has more oversight during the manufacturing process, to ensure quality control.

There are steps you can take to prevent bed bugs from entering your home. Simple steps such as thoroughly washing clothing after traveling and regularly washing and changing bed sheets can help keep bed bugs away. You can also purchase a Bed Bug Protection Kit in our stores. These kits include a mattress encasement that is bed bug entry and escape proof on all six sides, and also bite proof on the top. Another thing to note is that furniture made out of solid wood is less susceptible to bed bugs as solid wood furnishings have few cracks and spaces (compared to plywood and particle board items) where bed bugs like to hide.

These suggestions are good ways to keep your home free of bed bugs. However, in some cases it may be necessary to call in the experts. If you are experiencing an out of control bed bug situation, contact a pest control specialist.

Gothic Cabinet Craft teams up with NYC Housing Authority to help Sandy victims.

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Gothic Cabinet Craft teams up with NYC Housing Authority to help Sandy victims.

New York, NY - The NYC Housing Authority has organized a relief effort to help displaced people with temporary housing in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. In their efforts to restore a sense of home and stability for many people, the NYC Housing Authority contacted Gothic Cabinet Craft to lend a hand. Without hesitation, Gothic Cabinet Craft donated beds, mattresses, cribs, mirrors, and other various pieces of furniture to assist in the furnishing of these temporary homes.
This is not the first time Gothic and the NYC Housing Authority have worked together. Currently, Gothic is a vendor for a program operated by the NYC Housing Authority called the “Wizard’s Corner”. The program provides New York City children with a home office comprised of a desk and chair set. The desk set is sourced from Gothic Cabinet Craft. The program’s goal is to provide children with a home work space to help stimulate learning.

“Gothic Cabinet Craft was born in NYC. This is our home and we are greatly saddened by the loss our fellow citizens have suffered. The least we can do is donate some furniture. We are proud that the NYC Housing authority contacted us to help and for making us their partner in the Wizard’s program” says president of Gothic Cabinet Craft, Aristidis Zaharopoulos.

When it’s time to rebuild, rebuild within and think local.

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We, at Gothic Cabinet Craft, would like to express our deepest concerns for the many families affected by Hurricane Sandy. The devastation may seem daunting, but it’s nothing that we as a city can’t get through together. New Yorkers are pretty resilient, and that’s why it’s going to take more than a hurricane to keep us from closing our doors.
We make furniture locally. That’s what we do.We’re very lucky that production wasn’t totally affected by the storm. Our factory is stocked with beds and mattresses for immediate delivery to the five boroughs. We want to help the way we know best, and that’s by providing quality furniture immediately and at affordable prices to New Yorkers in need.

 

When it’s time to rebuild what was lost, think local, think Gothic Cabinet Craft.

 

 

 

Turn Your Living Room into a Sports Bar!

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Maybe not as permanent change, but wouldn’t it be great if you could make your living room the go-to-destination for the next big sports night with your buddies? Believe it or not, turning your living room into a sports bar isn’t all that hard provided you have the right furniture (and some very understanding roommates for the night). If you are looking to host a party the next time a big game is on, make sure your living room is ready to handle the crowds!

1. Add a bar.
What would a sports bar be without an actual bar! A classic solid wood bar is perfect for entertaining guests. A great bar stores bottles, glasses and serving ware (pitchers, platters, etc) of just about any size so you’ll always have what you need close at hand. If you need help selling the idea of adding a bar to you roommates or significant other, just point out what a great help it will be during your next dinner party (a perfect buffet top!) and how extra much storage it provides.

If you really want to show your team spirit, you can buy an unfinished wood bar and paint it in your team’s colors or paint the logo right on the front of your bar! You’ll be the biggest super fan in the neighborhood.

2. Get comfy with the couches.
Since you probably don’t have room for a big leather booth in the middle of your living room, make do with the next best option and opt for a big, comfy couch. Dark leather is obviously the traditional choice for sports bar seating, but a dark microfiber sofa is just as comfy and luxurious, but really easy to clean in case your guests start celebrating the game winning homerun or touchdown and snacks and beer go flying.

3. Make your TV the focal point.
Let’s be honest, even without a bar a sports bar would still be a sports bar provided it had a dozen flat screen TVs carefully positioned around the room. To really make your living room feel like a sports bar you’ve got to make your TV the center of attention. If you can’t hang your TV on the wall, a tall entertainment center is just the thing to make sure everyone can watch the game. You can keep your sound system, stereo equipment, HD receiver and other sports bar essentials hidden in the entertainment center as well.

The best part of a living room sports bar is that all three of these furniture pieces can work with your everyday life! You may not have an extra room or basement that you can turn into your sports den, but that doesn’t mean you can’t bring a little stadium feel to your living room.

4 First Apartment Furniture Must Haves

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Moving into your first apartment? While the possibilities may seem endless, there are a few furniture bases you need to make sure are covered before moving day. Before you start deciding where the tiki bar is going to fit, make sure you have these four first apartment furniture must haves ready to go. Everything else can come in the second moving truck!

1. Sleeper sofa
Is it a sofa? Is it a bed? It’s the best of both worlds! A sleeper sofa (aka pull out bed) is a great choice for your first apartment’s couch. Obviously if you ever plan on having guests over, (or even just want to watch TV comfortably by yourself!) a good couch for your living room is a must have. What makes a sleeper sofa so great is that you don’t have to worry about where your guests (friends, family or otherwise) are going to spend the night. It’s double duty furniture! Sleeper sofas are also great if your first apartment happens to be a studio, which means that you living and sleeping area in one and the same.

2. Drop leaf table
Drop leaf tables are versatile and great for smaller spaces and eat-in kitchens. They can be pretty compact, making them a great choice for narrow kitchens so common in first apartments, but if you ever want to have a few friends over for dinner they open right up and provide plenty of additional table space! You could even pull your drop leaf table into your living room to give everyone a little bit more elbow room. Drop leaf tables also work great under windows or in hallways.

3. Ottomans
An ottoman may not be high on the top of most first apartment furniture lists, but it should be! Ottomans really are the jack of all trades in the furniture kingdom. Not only do they work great as coffee tables, they can also provide a little extra storage! Ottomans are a great place to store extra blankets, pillows or other non-essentials. Ottomans can also be turned into a seating option when necessary, meaning you can invite even more people over for dinner!

4. Bookshelf
Even if you don’t have a lot of books, a good bookshelf is a first apartment essential. Store your DVDs and CDs, magazines, photo albums and framed pictures, paperwork, decorative trinkets and more! You can even get a bookshelf that is deep enough to hold several cardboard boxes as everyone first apartment owner needs more storage space!

How big your first apartment is will have a dramatic impact on the kind of furniture you get to buy. Make sure you have everything you need, and that it all fits, before you start buying the fun pieces.