Page 23 - Kerry Mann

For some, the holidays are all about the presents and the parties. Yet as technology progresses, fewer people are fully present for the precious time with important people in their lives. One of my goals for 2015 was to be more present with the people in my life, and it has been more satisfying than I imagined. Here are some things that worked for me:

Stay positive. Stress can take a serious toll on your perspective, especially around the holidays. Keeping a positive attitude goes a long way to reducing stress, and being a more pleasant person to others. If you know that a certain person rubs you the wrong way with their negativity, keep interactions to a minimum. Or, if you must, take a deep breath and count to five – then move on. Life is far too short to let others impact your joy.

Do more things that make you happy. For me, I always enjoy spending quiet time with my family. When we’re all together, watching a favorite holiday movie, playing a board game or just talking, it means so

Just as clothing styles evolve over time, home furnishings continue to improve and change with home décor trends.

TVLiftCabinet is introducing a new cabinet this year, Azura, which features a 360-degree electric swivel TV Lift. The clean design is crafted in the USA out of American hard maple. Hard maple is the state tree of Wisconsin, Vermont, New York and West Virginia and has been a favorite of American furniture makers since the early Colonial days. It’s simply stunning.

The cabinet is fitted with a heavy-duty electric swivel lift that you can operate with a remote (or with manual controls hidden inside the cabinet). You can also control the lift by a built-in ethernet port or third-party controls.

The Azura TV Lift Console can be placed at the foot of the bed, against a wall or free standing because it is finished identically on all four sides. Since it has 360-degree movement, you will be able to view your television wherever you are in the room at any time. Plus – the unit ships

Family Room - Too much Furniture!

As the winter months draw closer, and the daylight savings time ticks down, it’s a good time to take a look and make sure your home is ready for the longer nights to come. One of the things on my list this year is to replace a very old, very heavy, entertainment center and television set that doesn’t appreciate all the new technologies we try to hook into it.

Since we tend to keep our televisions for a couple of decades (seriously, we have one downstairs that allows you to pick 13 channels), I want to make sure we make a wise investment, so the first place I went was Consumer Reports and PC News.

My head is spinning. I had no idea how much the TV market has changed in the past few years. Apparently there are new kinds of screens with organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) panels. Ultra-high definition (UHD or 4K) resolutions are also making waves. And that 50-inch TV that used to cost thousands of dollars is now less than $500. Experts say: time to get

A few weeks ago I vacationed at a beautiful resort that featured some wonderful amenities that made me feel especially pampered. Cushy furnishings. Amazingly soft duvet. And believe it or not – a lovely mirrored television in the en-suite bathroom. I honestly never thought I’d want to have a television in the bathroom, but after experiencing it firsthand, I definitely see the benefits.

TV in a Mirror...perfect for any room in the house!

The thing that made it awesome was that it didn’t look like a television – it was a stunning mirror. I’m not a fan of big televisions becoming the focal point of any room, especially the bathroom. But when you disguise the television as a mirror, it feels right. And when I put on my favorite movie and relaxed in a hot tub, I
became a fan.

So where to find a TV mirror? TVLiftCabinet has several TV mirror options (with or without frames) – and sizes from 32 inches to 65 inches. Want to see them in a home setting? Check out this video.

Still have questions?

My husband would love to have everything in our home attached to his remote control. Getting up

Nick Ferry's Finished Cabinet

and messing with the television controls just isn’t necessary in a world with automatic cars. Right?

Well, the jury is still out on the auto cars, but if there’s a way to make television viewing easier, I’m all for it (because it makes MY life easier, too). So, if you have a flat screen television and a beautiful entertainment cabinet, you can easily add an electronic lift function to your cabinet with a TV Lift mechanism from TVLiftCabinet.

The company provides uplift motorized TV lift series for furniture companies and individuals who want to convert their cabinets into TVLiftCabinets. The mechanisms are easy to set up. You television snaps into the lift mechanism with two bolts. Check out how woodworker Nick Ferry built his own TV Lift Cabinet using one of these lifts!

Safety is key to the lift mechanisms. Built-in pressure sensors immediately stops movement

I checked my Facebook feed this morning and everyone is sending best wishes for a beautiful fall. Ironically, the ads on Facebook are starting to look a lot like Christmas, and the 2016 holiday extravaganzas to come. So much for fall. But – the realities of the family gatherings to come in the next few months is hitting home, so I started looking around my home to see if there are things I need to do to get ready for guests.

The first place I check every year is my family room. Is it ready for prime time? After all, I consider our family room the heart of my home. The comfort zone. I found a great checklist to help me get it ready for guests: The Organized Home. Here are a few quick tips that really helped me get organized.

• Take everything down off the walls, take down curtains etc. Wash, vacuum or dry clean as needed.
• Sweep ceiling corners and other nooks in the room - tops of doorways, windows, arches, bookcases, etc.
• Wash inside of windows and sills. Polish and touch-up stain on wood

Dormitory rooms at colleges and universities usually average about 12-by-19 feet. That means students entering their freshman year at universities across the country have, on average, 228 square feet of living space. Talk about tiny living!

You can help your student get creative to maximize every inch so they have a welcoming space to live and study. And the best way to do that is to think vertical – space that is. Here are a few tips:

• A 32” TV Mirror gives you the best of both worlds. A great mirror and a flatscreen television, perfect for any dorm room.
  TV in a Mirror!
• Stack those beds to create more floor space. Don’t forget to use the space under the beds for convenient storage.
• Baskets and containers can help keep things organized in your small closet.
• Hanging shelves can also add more storage, especially for those items you use every day, like hair dryers, shoes, etc.
• Floating shelves can go a long way toward making items accessible where and when you need them.
• Add a few plants to

When we moved into our home 15 years ago, I just had one rule: No television in the bedroom. To be fair, we didn’t have options for hiding the television, like the TVLiftCabinets available today or the TV Smart Mirrors that actually add style and function. Back then we just had gigantic televisions that took up a ton of space. So I wondered: is it possible to get the rest you need and still have the option of a television for those great, old-time, late-night movies?

Several people have posed the question and the answers hit the full spectrum. So, I thought I’d share some pros and cons for adding a television to your bedroom sanctuary.

The Cons 
1) Removing the television from your bedroom results in more, and better, sleep, so you’ll be more productive the next day.

2) What you think about first, makes a difference in how you approach the day. Having a television creates a mood, setting the stage for the rest of your day. What you think about last also matters in how restful your sleep

Many people will be looking at updating their homes in 2016. Some are getting homes ready to sell, as they need to downsize or upsize. Others are simply trying to make their living space more comfortable, and as the economy improves, HGTV reports that people are looking at ways to invest in their homes to get the most value for their dollars. For some people, it means major remodel projects, like new bathrooms, kitchens or bonus rooms.

For others, it means adding great impact with very little effort (and minimal investment). This is especially true if people are planning to move in the next couple of years. HGTV pointed out that making your décor work harder is a smart way to add square footage and impact to your rooms. One thing they noted was to shift furniture away from walls to make living rooms feel larger and more contemporary.

They suggest creating a seating area around a feature you want buyers to notice, like a dramatic fireplace or piece of furniture. One item that can add drama

Are you getting a good night’s sleep? Every night? Estimates from the National Sleep Foundation suggest that at least one in three Americans are not getting enough quality sleep, which is having a huge impact on their quality of life. And while many people claim they get between 7-8 hours a night, 35 percent of Americans report their sleep quality as “poor” or “only fair,” and 20 percent say they don’t wake up feeling refreshed on any of the past seven days.

While some of the reasons may be health related (and people should certainly check in with their doctors for ongoing issues), other reasons include making a few changes in your home to create sleep conditions for uninterrupted sleep.

First, ensure you have the perfect temperature – not too cold or too hot. Research suggests that keeping your head nice and cool is conducive to good sleep. Some say 65 degrees is the perfect temperature for sleeping.

Next, be sure to make your bedroom as sound-free as possible. Some people try white noise