1. It looks great

2. It eats up ink, indigo from blue jeans, and especially fluorescent dyes from kids crazy markers or highliters

How to solve:

1. Catch it very fast

2. Use a baby wipe

3. Apply leather cream after

Very few people get to do all 3, but good luck and thanks,

Mark

We are in our 8th year of selling both leather and fabric sofas and corner sofas – so I thought I would share my experience so far.

Every day we see young parents come through the door, trying to solve the problem of how to keep their living room looking respectable when they have 3 crazy little ones hell-bent on destruction. Naturally, their first instinct is to opt for leather. Most leathers are more hard-wearing than most fabrics.

However, over the 8 years of business, we have seen the gap in hard-wearingness ( I know – probably not a word) has narrowed. Also there are 2 other drawbacks to leather – comfort and price. It is difficult to get around the fact that on a cold February evening, when the wind is blowing and the sleet is falling, that a leather sofa is going to be a bit cold. And price, we have found that in order to get an equivalent quality leather sofa to a fabric sofa will cost approx x1 & 1/2 to x2 the price.

Those are just a few thoughts – and if you came away thinking I am a fan of fabric – you would be right.

Would love to hear your feedback.

Thanks

Mark

In particular, there are hammocks http://www.fatboy-ireland.ie/index.php/Fatboy-Hammock/View-all-products.html and outdoor fatboys or buggle-ups http://www.fatboy-ireland.ie/index.php/Outdoor-Fatboy-Beanbags/View-all-products.html which are proving really popular this season.

I am 6’2 and weigh over 15 stone and the Hammock is perfectly strong enough for me.

Have a look and see what you think.

Thanks

Mark

So I may be overreaching here a little bit, but I am going to talk a little about interior design.

I am really not qualified at all but have watched the best work: Eoin Lyons, Ruth Kennelly, Sinead Kelly & many more.

The first thing to remember is that there is no right answer. You have to trust your gut. You have to spend a good amount of time searching magazines for looks that work for you. The test here is does the arrangement ‘move’ you.

Do you have an emotional reaction to the arrangement, rug, picture, cushion? If so you are on the right track.

The best amateurs I have seen are not afraid to get it wrong and have picked out some fabric or colour that really moves them.

So you have your cushion in hand, then experiment.

Don’t agonise over the difference between 2 choices too much, go with your gut.

And last enjoy yourself.

I hope I have helped a little.

Thanks

Mark

Standard Irish mattress sizes:

3′ x 6’3 (90 x 190cm)

4’6 x 6’3 (135 x 190cm)

5′ x 6’6 (150 x 200cm)

6′ x 6’6 (180 x 200cm)

People call these an assortment of names: double, queen, king, superking, full – we think that just confuses. These are the mattress measurements and all standard Irish beds are based off these (these are also UK standard sizes )

Continental (160 x 200cm) mattresses and beds can be got in most ranges, as can US, Canadian and Australian. Let us know the measurement and we will let you know if we can.

Cheers

Mark

There are 2 different standard seat heights: 65cm or 80cm.

If you leave 20cm for your legs then the underside measurements of the counter are 85cm and 100cm respectively.

Hope this helps.

Mark

And if you get to sit with someone from the furniture industry, buy them a beer and loosen their tongues and ask – is it worth it? You will get a host of answers from: Yes, best since sliced bread, to No, it’s a rip-off.

My straight answer is it definitely helps.

A customer of ours bought a beautiful cream fabric sofa from us, the Hayley. The sofa was delivered last September with our fabric protection applied. Then, in January, they came in to us to buy the extra footstool/ottoman that goes with it.

They related to us how happy they were to have added the fabric protection to their purchase.

The husband had left a glass of red wine on the arm of the sofa at Christmas, and during the night the glass of wine fell on the sofa, and was left. So, in the morning, they were greeted by a glass of red wine on a cream sofa that had probably been left there for 6-8 hours to dry.

Honestly, I would have thought they were goosed.

Not so. They wiped and applied Vanish and within 10 minutes the stain was gone. Really gone.

I was delighted they came back and shared this – nothing like real stories from the field. If you have any more to share please do.

Cheers,

Mark

There are many, many ways to make a mattress. The list of products that have been used through history to make them is a long one. However, nowadays, mattress manufacturers have focussed around a few (winning?) technologies.

The first bit to understand is the springing system. In this area there are 2 major categories: sprung (also known as open coil, regular sprung and lots of other names) and pocket sprung.

A sprung mattress consists of a lattice of springs tied together with wire – the kind of thing you see rusting in a land fill or on top of skip. This a simple and less expensive structure. Life span of between 3-7 years.

A pocket sprung mattress has each spring wrapped in a pocket of fabric. This gives a slower,  softer bounce and also extends the life of the springs. Usually a pocket sprung mattress will last between 7-12 years. Every so often we get a couple coming into the shop with  stories of great lifetimes on their mattresses – the longest I ever heard was 23 years.

So that’s the major spring categories.

After that it is just a question of what padding is layered over this spring mechanism.

From more traditional cotton and horse hair, to memory foam and latex.

Memory foam maintains its popularity – and as the name suggests it holds the shape of your body. There are different layers of memory thickness and density that are applied – so when comparing make sure you are comparing like with like.

Latex is a rubber that we at Montana really like on mattresses. It is a little more expensive, but, from personal experience, it does the trick for this 15 stone lump.

Remember, though, from the previous post, the ‘best mattress’ is the one that lets you have a comfortable, good night’s sleep – and that really is different for every one of us. Let me know if you have any questions, always available here to help.

Cheers

Mark

You have probably heard the one:  Choose mattresses and shoes wisely, because if you are not on one, you are on the other.

Well, there is quite a bit of truth in this. As a furniture retailer, I will avoid talking about buying shoes, and try to share whatever wisdom I have regarding mattresses.

The temptation now is to launch into a detailed explanation of the specification on each type of mattress (I will get to all that stuff later) However, that is the kind of the mistake I constantly see with folks coming into our shop.

The most important thing about a mattress is that it supports you comfortably for a good night’s sleep. So I will lead with that.

And if you think about it, sleeping is all about your body’s comfort. And every body is different. So everyone’s favourite mattress will be different. That is really important. So it is practically impossible to select a mattress without lying on it.

So spend time (we recommend about 30 minutes) lying on your mattress before you choose it.

Technical discussion of mattress specifications to follow.