How to Clean Your Microfiber Furniture

Microfiber makes a great fabric for furniture upholstery. Made with tightly woven fibers, it naturally repels water and stains and is super durable. However, it’s not stain-proof; if stains are allowed to soak in, they can really take a toll on the look of your furniture. Here’s a quick and easy guide on how to keep your microfiber looking fresh and clean!

Before You Start, Check the Tag!

Always read the tag on your furniture or the care manual that came with the piece. These things will guide you towards the right cleaner for your furniture. You really need to see if your particular microfiber piece should be cleaned with water, because, if it shouldn’t and you use water, you can create some pretty big stains.

If in doubt, call the furniture store or manufacturer and check. Also, before you start, test a small part of the furniture first to check results.

How to Clean Water Safe Microfiber

Step 1: Vacuum the furniture with a soft brush attachment.

Step 2: Mix a small amount of soap with cold water.

Step 3: Dip a sponge or towel into the liquid mix and wring it out.

Step 4: Gently wash the surface of the furniture without saturating it.

Step 5: Dry the furniture, using a hair dryer placed on the lowest, coolest setting.

Step 6: After the furniture dries, brush lightly with a nail brush for the right look and texture.

How to Clean Non-Water Safe Microfiber

Step 1: Vacuum the furniture with a soft brush attachment.

Step 2: Sprinkle a small amount of dry detergent over the furniture. Use something gentle, like Dreft.

Step 3: Brush the detergent gently into the fabric with a soft-bristle brush.

Step 4: Vacuum the entire area being cleaned.

Step 5: If you aren’t happy with the results, try a dry cleaning product. When performing this step, follow the manufacturer’s instructions.

DIY Photo Coasters

Customized photo coasters have been all the rage on Pinterest lately. Not only is it trendy, but it’s also a great home improvement project that involves the whole family. Every time you set down a drink or gaze at the coffee table, you’ll be reminded of your children, partner, family pet, or memorable vacation spots. Follow the seven easy steps below to make unique photo coasters that will add a personal touch to your home that everyone will love.

Item’s You’ll Need:

1. A small, clean paint brush

2. Scissors

3. Krylon acrylic clear coat

4. White tissue paper

5. Scotch tape

4. Mod Podge (Matte or Gloss works best)

5. Felt for the backing

6. Ceramic bathroom tiles (4 x 4”)

7. A selection of photographs!

Here’s how you do it:

1. To begin, choose a selection of photos you would like to print. You can easily crop them in Word to the desired 4 x 6” measurement. These will need to be printed out on white tissue paper.

2.To print on white tissue paper, cut out a piece that is 8 x 10” and secure it, using the scotch tape, to a piece of cardstock of the same measurements.

3. One the photos are printed cut them down to 4 x 4” to fit on the tiles.

4. Brush a thin coat of Mod Podge over each tile and, while centering, place the photo on the tile.  Let it dry completely.

5. One it’s dry, paint another think coat of Mod Podge over the photo’s surface and let it dry completely. Repeat this two more times to ensure the tissue paper does not rip.

6. Once the Mod Podge is dry, seal each photo onto its tile with Krylon acrylic clear coat.  Apply three coats, making sure each coat is dry before applying Krylon again.

7. To finish your coaster, simply cut out a 4 x 4” piece of felt and apply to the back.

Helpful Tips:

• Be sure to print your photos using a color laser printer, as using an inkjet printer may cause streaks of color. Make your photos black & white for a more sophisticated look.
• Craft stores like Michael’s and Hobby Lobby will often carry adhesive-backed felt that you can use for the coaster backs.
• If you have difficulty smoothing the Mod Podge, it may help to sand the surface when it dries and add a few extra layers.
• You can pick up 9 tiles from Home Depot for around $4.

If you found this project to be inspiring and fun, please write us a post on our Facebook page sharing your experience.  We would love to see pictures of the final product.

Find us here: http://www.facebook.com/belfurniture

Back-to-School Breakfast Tips

It’s that bittersweet time of the year; now that we’re firmly in August, it’s time to start getting the kids ready to head back to school. For parents, back-to-school means a whole lot of changes, both good and bad. Getting kids up, out of bed, teeth brushed, backpack on, and out the door is hard enough without trying to make a well-balance breakfast, too. Beat the early morning rush with these great pre-made meals.

Meal 1: Breakfast Burritos

These are super easy to make in bulk and even easier to freeze and reheat. Just grab some tortillas (bigger tortillas = bigger burritos), stuff to go inside, a cookie sheet, freezer bags, a marker, parchment paper, and toppings. Start out by cooking your fillings. You can go as basic or as crazy as you want, but here are some good tips to jumpstart your brain:

• Always use scrambled egg…that’s why they’re breakfast tacos!
• Add some heavy stuff; this could be meat (sausage, ground beef, bacon, ham, etc.) or roasted potatoes or even both.
• Throw some veggies in the pan and sauté! Bell peppers and onions always work well.
• Beans can be used, as well. Black and refried are good go-to picks.
• Cheese is key! Use Monterrey Jack, cheddar, the premixed shredded cheese from the grocery store, whatever  your kids like!

Once you've prepared everything, spread out your tortillas and get filling! Keep in mind, once you’ve frozen the burritos, all you’ll be doing is reheating. That means everything that needs to be cooked should be cooked before filling the burritos; in other words, no raw meat, eggs, etc.!

With everything inside, fold the left and right sides of the tortilla inward and roll the burritos tightly. Line your cookie sheet with parchment paper and flash freeze the burritos for an hour. After the hour is up, remove the burritos and wrap them in plastic wrap. Place them in a Ziploc bag in the right serving size and label with date, type, etc.

When you’re ready to get the kids on-the-go in the morning, just take the burritos out, wrap them in a damp paper towel and microwave on 50% power for 3 minutes. Add small sides of salsa or sour cream, and you’re done!

Meal 2: Egg Muffins

High in protein and great for eating at the table, walking out the door, or in the car, these egg muffins make great school morning meals. Grab a muffin tin, eggs, cheese, and any meat, veggies, or seasoning you like and get started!

Preheat the oven to 375° F and line the muffin pan with cupcake liners. Remember to spray the liners with nonstick spray before adding any ingredients. Next, line the cups with whatever meat, veggies, and cheese you want. We suggest green onions and sharp cheddar, at a minimum! Fill the cups about 2/3 of the way.

In a large bowl, beat 12 eggs together with whatever seasoning you prefer. You can also add a little milk, if you want. Pour the egg mixture into each cup until they’re about ¾ full and put them in the oven. Bake 25-35 minutes, until muffins are fluffy and lightly brown on top.

Once they’re cooked, just pop them out and either refrigerate or freeze them; they’ll keep for a little over a week just refrigerated! When you’re ready to eat them, thaw if they’ve been frozen, microwave on high for about 2 minutes, and enjoy!

Fun with Feng Shui

The ancient Chinese art of furniture placement, or feng shui, is not lost on us.  At Bel Furniture, we think you should wake up each morning feeling refreshed and renewed in a bedroom that promotes harmony and balance. You don’t have to buy in to the philosophy to see that feng shui creates an undeniably pleasing aesthetic. Below, are a few helpful tips we’ve compiled for your bedroom arrangement and design purposes.

Tip 1: Choose soothing colors for your bedroom walls. Among the best are light blues and greens.  Interestingly enough, pink tones are great for newlyweds.

Tip 2: Create symmetry in your bedroom through strategic furniture placement. It’s actually been proven that items in twos promote harmony. BEL can help you out with this tip. We have a collection of sleek nightstands—one for either side of your bed.

Tip 3: Position your bed somewhere away from the door, firmly against a wall or headboard. By doing this, you will feel safer and more secure when settling down to sleep at night. BEL’s many king and queen beds come with unique and proud headboards.

Tip 4: Feng shui experts recommend buying a bed that is made of wood, with ample breathing and storage room underneath it. BEL offers a beautiful cherry finish bed with built-in drawers and shelf space that would be perfect for this. 

Tip 5: Hang inspiring art on the walls. Artwork that reminds you of the natural world are great for creating positive energy.

Tip 6: Make sure your bedroom has lots of natural light. Try sheer curtains or stylish blinds that can be adjusted throughout the day. Lamps and overhead lights with various settings to conveniently suit your mood are also recommended.

The idea behind feng shui is that your bedroom arrangement and design should be positively touching upon all the senses. Our elegant bedroom sets at BEL Furniture certainly do all that and more. Help us help you support your overall health and invite happiness into your home.

Get the Home of Your (Childhood) Dreams

Anyone who uses Pinterest, no matter how fleetingly, has undoubtedly seen the deluge of “secret door” and “secret room” pins. Most people remember their childhood dream of a house full of hidden entryways and secret compartments. Pinterest, a digital world of aspirations and inspirations, is the perfect place to keep those dreams alive, “pinning” photos and links to how-tos for all these things and more.

Well, I think it’s time to jump from the home décor board to the home improvement store. This project is surprisingly easy (and cheap!), even for the DIY amateur, if you don’t mind doing a little work. All you need is a cheap bookshelf and some common hardware and tools, and, voilà, hidden passageway!

1.  Measure the space that you have to create the passageway. The dimensions will dictate what size bookshelf you need to use.
2. Find or cut a piece of pressed board, sometimes known as particle board, to fix to the bottom of the bookshelf. This board will function as a “skateboard,” to help the door swing and keep the weight of a full bookshelf from stressing the hinges.
3. Attach five casters (wheels with brackets for attachment), one in the center, and two on either side. The two wheels on one side should be angled to allow for the door to swing. The “skateboard” should hold the bookshelf 1/8” from the ground, to keep it from scraping the floor.
4. Attach the bookshelf by hinges to another bookshelf or anchoring device, using three hinges. An L-bracket should also be used to attach everything to the ceiling, for added stability.

And that’s it! Here is the original link for pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thereisnophoto/tags/bookcasedoor/. If you’re feeling really crafty, there are more complex ways to accomplish this project, including adding a latch activated by pulling on a book…how Sherlock Holmes!

Happy Crafting!