Opening up your home to friends and extended family can be daunting. Making sure you have all the supplies on hand, the whole home is clean, and ensuring everyone has a comfortable seat is a lot of pressure. Thankfully, there are steps you can take to make entertaining a breeze!

1. Start with the living room because this is usually the best area to congregate guests. Before inviting people over, you should focus on seating options, and make sure you have lots of it. Sectional couches are great because they are versatile and they tend to wrap around so everyone is facing each other. You can also keep some large cushions around to use as extra seating if you are entertaining a larger crowd.
2. When designing you home, make sure it’s set up to promote traffic flow. Entryways should be clear to the best of your ability, because the last thing you would want is a guest to trip or have to squeeze through tight spaces. A clear path makes the space much more welcoming.
3. If you have hardwood floors, try using an area rug to add comfort to the room. It is not only cozy, but it can tie the room together by giving furniture a place to center around.
4. Dress up any naked walls. Even if you have furniture sitting close to the walls and outsides of the room, adding artwork or shelving will add personality to you home that you can be proud to show off to guests.
5. Open up the living room for dialogue by facing the seats toward each other, not the television. While it might make sense to arrange your furniture around the TV most days, making a few adjustments before guests arrive can help people chat with one another instead of staring at a blank TV screen.
6. A large, square coffee table is a great place to gather around for game nights or even to set out an array of snacks for your guests. It can also be a good idea to set out conversation starters like coffee table books or interesting artwork.
7. Show your guests that the home is yours. Family photos, flowers and personal trinkets are good to have out. It’s possible to give your home a lived-in look without making it cluttered. You can also make your guests even more comfortable with light music and atmospheric candles. Lighting, sound and scent will leave a lasting impression on guests that make them excited for their next visit!

We are happy to announce that Carla Farrell is the winner of our $1,000 Shopping Spree! We can’t wait to help you spend your $1,000!

As a family owned local business, its one of our greatest pleasures to be able to offer these types of awards to members in our community and watch them transform their home. Whether it’s a new furniture set, a replacement for their old appliance, or simply an all new look with flooring and accessories for the whole home, we know that you’ll love your home!

Make sure that you like our Facebook page and follow our RSS feed to get the latest offers and learn about future events.

Thanks to everyone who came to the Live Bug Cast at Ruby & Quiri with Country 99.7 & 101.1 on September 5th! We had lots of fun watching people win prizes in the Bug Country Cash Cube throughout the event! Also, special congratulations to the Cash Cube grand prize winners, Ed & Dawn Sanders. We hope you enjoy your prize!

Don’t forget to like us on Facebook to stay in touch and hear about future events held at Ruby & Quiri. There’s lots more to come the rest of the year!

Anytime you invite company into your home, your bathroom is at risk of being exposed. A dirty or cluttered bathroom can leave a sour first impression of your home. Make sure your bathroom is clean, organized and is something that you can be proud of.

Start with a deep clean. Take everything out of your bathroom and scrub everything from the shower, to the faucet, to the floors to start completely fresh.

Aside from getting rid of bacteria and dirt, it is important to cut down on clutter as well. Before you bring your toiletries, towels and other miscellaneous things back in, go through them and get rid of anything you don’t use on a regular basis.

For many, bathroom cabinet spaces are oftentimes neglected. They become a catchall for travel-size toiletries, expired teeth whitening strips, cold medicine and extra toothbrushes. It’s not necessary to get rid of all these things, but it is important to organize them. The key to organization in these areas is containers! Giving everything a specific place will make it so much easier to keep everything in order. It will also keep you from buying something you may think you are out of, but is really just buried among the clutter.

Deep cleaning your bathroom might seem like a daunting task. It’s OK to start small. Start by throwing away anything expired or any medications you might not need anymore. You can also make it a goal to clean one major thing (i.e. toilet, floor or shower) per day.

Don’t let a dirty bathroom take away from your beautiful home.

Since your bedroom is the last thing you see at night and the first thing you see in the morning, it should be a place that makes you feel calm and centered so you are rejuvenated and prepared for whatever the day may bring. And with these tips on styling the bed of your dreams, you’ll love every second you spend reading, watching TV, working, and even sleeping on your beautiful bed!

The first style tip from professionals is that your bed should always be made. Making your bed first thing in the morning pulls the room together and shows that you take pride in your belongings. And when you enter the room later in the day, your bed will be a welcoming focal point for the entire room.

Second: the sheets. Having a set of clean, quality linens will give your bed a luxurious feeling that instantly put you in a state of relaxation. When shopping around, remember that while thread count helps, it’s not the most important factor. Ensuring the sheets are made of cotton that is pure will guarantee quality sheets that will last.

Next, load up on blankets and pillows. Imagine creating a space that makes you feel like your drifting on a cloud. If you’re going to be spending one-third of your life in your bed, you want it to be the most comfortable spot in your home. At minimum you should have a comforter or quilt plus a light blanket for chilly nights, but it won’t hurt to have additional throws to add depth to the look. When layering pillows, start with the largest in back and smaller, decorative pillows toward the front. Your bed will have a polished, inviting look in no time!

The most important thing to remember about creating the bed of your dreams is to invest in a good foundation. Whatever your budget, find a mattress that gives you body the support it deserves, and remember that the lifetime of a mattress is only 8-10 years. Investing in a good mattress and box spring can make all the difference between tossing and turning or sleeping soundly all night long.

When choosing your color scheme, consider neutral tones and cool colors (like blues, greens, and purples) because they will give the room a calm, tranquil atmosphere. It’s also a good idea to use fabrics of different textures for the comforter and blankets because the contrast will add a feeling of warmth and depth to your bed. In the end, remember that your bed is your domain, and you should style it in a way that makes you look forward to going to bed and waking up to a room that you love!

When Penny Eudy, Product Manager of Upholstery at La-Z-Boy, begins her inspiration journey for the next line of textiles and trends, she doesn’t start in an office or a fabric store, she travels the world.

Penny knows that inspiration can be found anywhere: your backyard, a beautiful work of art, the clothes you see when you are people watching… If you adopt a mindset of finding unique patterns and color combinations in unexpected places, you will see how everything comes together to create beauty anywhere and everywhere.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19Iei0kDQ7Q

Spotting the latest trends in fashion and design is an exciting part of Penny’s job, but she also wants to give La-Z-Boy customers options so that they can put together rooms that express their own view of the world. In-home designers enjoy the privilege of watching ideas come together that are inspired by the lives of the people they serve. Inspiration comes from the real passions and needs of people. This is what truly drives product design and textile selection at La-Z-Boy.

What inspires your home design and decoration? Share with us in the comments (include pictures if you can!) and we will feature some of them in future blog posts!

Cleaning out the closet can seem like a daunting task. No one wants to get rid of clothes, much less try on every article of clothing they own to make sure it still fits. Here are a few tips to make the process a little less painful:

1. The initial sift-though. There is probably an unnecessary amount of sweaters in there that you just never wear. Go through and get rid of everything you haven’t touched in the past year. Having trouble deciding on a certain piece? Ask yourself this question: If my closet were a store, would I spend money on the item? If the answer is no, toss it.

2. The three-box rule. Separate the things you are getting rid of into three categories: things to throw away, donate or sell. It will be easier to get rid of certain things if you know it is actually being put to use and you aren’t just blatantly throwing everything away.

3. Clean. When you go through your belongings, remove them all from your closet. While your closet is empty, scrub everything down, dust the shelves, sweep the floor. It will feel good putting everything back into a clean place.

4. Buy some closet organizers. If everything has a place, it is so much easier for you to put things back in that place. Whether it be new hangers, shelving or canvas bins, assigning places to your things will make your life easier.