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How to care for high gloss furniture

We have quite a lot of high gloss furniture in our showroom which needs to be cleaned daily in order to keep our showroom looking spick and span. Over the years of cleaning our lacquered furniture we have come up , by trial and error, with the quickest and most effective way of caring for high gloss furniture – by the way these instructions apply not just to glossy finishes but also to matt lacquered finishes also.

Less is More

When caring for lacquered furniture it is very important to never use any chemicals or furniture sprays, such as glass cleaners or furniture polish. Glass cleaners are too corrosive and will cause the lacquer to deform, and silicone based cleaners will leave a greasy film over the surface of the lacquer that is almost impossible to remove. A lacquer surface is a painted surface, so when it comes to lacquered furniture less really is more.

What Cleaning Supplies You Will Need

In our cleaning kit in the showroom we have the following items: a feather duster, a pack of soft microfibre cloths, a spray bottle filled with pure clean water and a ‘glass & polishing’ e-cloth.
For day-to-day cleaning we merrily wipe away all our lacquered furniture with a feather duster – this does the trick for removing surface dust that gathers throughout the day. However if we have a particularly busy (read: messy) day and happen to get a lot of fingerprints on our furniture we whip out our miracle cleaning device, otherwise known as an e-cloth. This little lifesaver obliterates greasy fingerprints with ease, you just need to buff away the finger prints (absolutely no cleaning chemicals needed – you can use the e-cloth on it’s own or you can spray a little clean water) and this leaves our furniture looking as good as new again.

How to Tackle Food or Drink Spills

If we happen to spill a drink onto one of our high gloss sideboards we make sure that we wipe it off straight away, so that is does not have time to dry onto the surface. For this we will use a soft,  absorbent and dry microfiber cloth – this should do the trick in most cases, but if the spill is particularly stubborn or sticky we will spray the area with a bit of water and whip out the e-cloth for a more intense clean.

We can’t stress how important it is to remove spills off your furniture as quickly as possible. This is very important, especially if you have a light coloured piece of furniture and you spill a dark coloured drink (for example, a white gloss sideboard with a red wine spill). In this scenario speed is of the essence, because if you allow that red wine spill to dry onto a white lacquered surface over night the next day you will be very disappointed to find that after you have wiped the spill off there will be a nasty pinkish-red stain on your beautiful piece of furniture – remember, lacquer is a paint so if there is anything that has the potential to dye it (i.e. red wine, coffee, tea, balsamic vinegar) wipe it off straight away!

The Finishing Touches

If , after you have cleaned your furniture, there is a bit of residual water left on your high gloss surface then get a dry, soft microfibre cloth and buff the area until it is dry – this will give your furniture a lovely high shine. Do not leave water to air dry on your lacquered furniture as this will just leave unattractive water streaks. If you do happen to have any streaky lines left by water simply buff away with the e-cloth and these should come out easily.

In a Nutshell

1. For day to day cleaning a simple wipe down with a feather duster or soft microfibre cloth.
2. Wipe away fingerprints and marks with an e-cloth (or soft microfibre cloth)
3. For a deeper clean spray your high gloss surface with water and clean with an e-cloth - then buff dry with a soft, dry cloth.
4. Wipe up liquid spills immediately, and for more sticky spills use clean water and wipe with an e-cloth.
5. Don’t leave water to air dry – instead buff dry with a dry microfibre cloth
6. Do not use any chemical based cleaners. Pure water used together with an e-cloth is all that is required for more deeper cleaning.

Colour Block: Decorating with Yellow

Yellow is quite iconic, when you think about it. Flag a cab in New York and be greeted by a canary yellow taxi-cab. Watch autumn leaves turn that ever familiar dusky-lemon tone. And the Wizard of Oz wouldn't be the same without the famous yellow brick road. In fact yellow is so ubiquitous that even the Beatles and Coldplay have written songs about it (We All Live in a Yellow Submarine and Yellow, respectively).

What colours work best with Yellow?

Decorating with yellow can be a challenge - but it is a challenge definitely worth taking when the end results can be so glamorous, fresh and modern. When working with yellow you have to make sure that it becomes the star of the show. Your best bet is mixing yellow with soft, dusky neutral tones, such as whites, beiges, mushroom, fawn or taupe shades. Yellow also looks sensational with darker brown tones, which adds extra impact.

Home-Office Chic

Yellow in this home-office space immediately transforms the look of this room, changing what would have been a safe (or boring?) design into something with immediate impact and personality. I love what the yellow has done to this room - if those sliding doors were in white then the room would have looked washed out - in grey the room would have looked cold and heartless. This beautiful mustard tone really 'pops' and adds life and soul to a very modern, minimal space. Keeping the walls and floor bright white really allows the yellow to sing, and gives a fresh, clean look. The carefully selected storage boxes and files in black and white are also a nice touch. However this use of yellow is quite dramatic, and is only recommended for those who want to make a bold statement.

Colour Co-ordinating with Yellow

Accessorising with Yellow

If you love yellow but don't want to commit to a large statement piece in such a bold colour choice then it is a lot safer and easier to introduce yellow with some carefully considered accessories. This fawn suede sofa is paired with a deep brown rug, which nicely compliment the white floor and walls. However what really ties together the whole look of this room are the small yellow clock and hour glass - these small, subtle accessories add a zesty punch of mustard yellow, livening up what could have been a quite bland and insipid room.

Splashes of Yellow

Another way to subtly bring yellow into your home is to incorporate it within your furniture, but in small flashes of colour rather than large blocks of yellow. This sideboard is mainly a dark oak finish on the exterior area, but exciting splashes of yellow are added to the open sections adding drama, personality and warmth. Again, the neutral tones of the floors and walls really allow the sideboard to take centre stage creating a harmonious, contemporary look.

The harmonious coupling of the mink brown with mustard yellow really is a treat to the eye. This colour combination feels warm, inviting and definitely makes a statement. Again, the yellow offset with white walls and white accessories inside the shelves. I particularly like the bold splash of canary yellow on the adjacent wall - this could have been overkill but somehow it works in the context of this room. Adding a yellow feature wall in your home is also a relatively easy and low risk way of adding yellow into your interior scheme with interesting results to be had.

So to recap, yellow can be stunning so long as it becomes the main point of focus within a colour scheme. If you are choosing to decorate with yellow then compliment it with whites, taupes, and various shades of brown. Don't be afraid to experiment with cushions, rugs, vases, clocks and other ornaments in shades of yellow, and if you're feeling brave choose an eye-catching statement piece (such as an armchair or TV unit) in a beautiful mustard shade to really add an individual and unique look to your interior.

New Dolce Bedroom Collection

We are very excited to introduce our new Dolce bedroom collection - part of our new 2013 furniture collections. Inspired by the effortless chic of modern apartments in Milan, the Dolce bedroom collection is cool, airy, elegant and incredibly stylish. In our photoshoot for the Dolce collection we chose a theme of warm taupes and natural shades set upon a clean white walled bedroom to showcase the simple beauty of this collection.

Olympic Village Furniture to be Sold Off to the Public After the Games

Many of us would like to be involved with the London 2012 Olympic games or at least take back a memento of this event, and now it seems that this may be a possibility for some. Before many of the athletes have even arrived into their accommodation a company responsible for fitting out and furnishing the Olympics village has begun pre-selling the furniture and fixings that are to be used throughout the Olympic games – yes, the very pieces that famous Olympic sports stars such as Usain Bolt and Jessica Ennis may be in contact with.

The organisers of the sale have had previous experience with the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, Athens 2004 Olympic Games and the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games. In setting up this furniture flash-sale the organisers hope to bring in revenue and provide new homes for the furnishings once the games are over in order to cut out any wastage. There are thousands of furniture pieces available for sale, which will be ready for delivery after the Paralympics closing ceremony and a dedicated website - remainsofthegames.co.uk – has been set up by the company who handles the furnishings of the Olympics games.

Items range from brightly coloured bean bags at a very affordable £15, to beds, bedside tables and lamps from the athletes bedrooms, to lockers where the sporting stars will be storing their belongings. Some more dubious items for sale include single mattresses - which we can only assume will be used - to some plastic coat hangers (sold by the pack of 10 for 50p). But our favourite by far is the 2.5 meter judges diving high chair.

Something Different in Bed Design