Choosing the Right Seating for a Stylish Home

Lately, the economy has forced people who want to redecorate their apartments or homes to rethink about their dilemma. "Should I just postpone the purchase of new furnishings?" or " Maybe this sofa that I found in a basement years ago doesn't look so bad after all?" are questions that are sure to pop up these days, even if one has the money to spend on a chair or two. If you are not talking yourself out off re-decorating, your friends or family surely will.

Some might even try to talk you into accepting their hand me down furniture (thus enabling free space in their own home) as a design choice! Hmm...that was clever!

Not surprisingly, a bad economy is exactly the best time to shop for high end furnishings or luxury items. Especially when you have prolonged your redecorating needs for so long now. Whether you want get some really nice furniture or some nice designer clothes. Look around, and you will see Sale signs on every store window...and if there is none hanging on the store, walk in and feel free to talk business. No serious offer is rejected. These are the days of "Let's make a Deal" - real life of course. And so get that measuring tape out and head for the chic furniture stores all over this great city.

Now back to your dilemma about those ugly chairs crowding your living room. If indeed you have decided to dump them or (give them to your newly arrived co-ed nephew)...do it! Go shopping or at least window shopping right now. Get some ideas from the stores (ask for photos with measurements) and review your space when you come back home. Look look and look again. Versatility and longevity are the magic words. If the budget is right, and the furniture fits - time to redecorate!

At Greene Street Interiors, a gorgeous antique store in Soho (50 Greene Street, NYC) you have tons of options. You can choose between Art Deco arm chairs or bergeres (club chairs for those you not familiar with the term) ; Biedermeier period chairs or some mid century Danish Modern arm chairs which will absolutely remind of you some slick 60s movie. These period furnishings are all easy to mix and match and go very well with any else that is going on in your home.

Try a pair of blonde wood (birch or bleached walnut) chairs if your room is light deprived. If the room gets lots of light or if your floors are light - have the restorers put on a darker finish. Recover them with your own fabric (that is a must since that is called personalizing) and you have a pair of the most gorgeous seating you have ever imagined in your home. If the room is crowded, go for dining arm chairs and recover them with plush fabrics. If you have a bit more space, splurge on a pair of rounded back bergeres that will take you back to the 20s jazz age in a wink.

Now the price tag: arm chairs that were $2000 to $5000 a piece are selling in NYC for about half of that. Antique chairs always retain their value and beauty so go for it if the budget fits...it is the best way to change the look of your living room without costing an arm and a leg (of chair of course!)..