Of course, home insurance can cover basic things such as structural damage as a result of unforeseen events such as fire, wind, theft, floods, etc.   However, they can also protect you and your family by covering things that you can’t live without in your home (living expenses).  And,  if you have expensive bedding, pillows, mattresses, linens, comforters, etc., this coverage could be a huge blessing.

Do you know how expensive luxury mattresses can get?  Hastens, a renowned Swedish company, makes one of the most expensive beds in the world.  It’s called “The Vividus”, which means “Full of Life” in Latin sells for approximately $60,000.   Some  that own this bed have compared it to “sleeping on a cloud.”   With the average mattress costing around $500-$800, I would prefer to check the difference in the bank.  Just having the extra $59,000 would help me sleep better by itself.  But, if you did own “The Vividus”, make sure you get home property insurance!

• Craft Scissors – to cut paper, paper, templates
• Sewing Scissors – to cut fabric, thread (invest in a quality, sharp scissor)
• Pins – metal pins to hold things in place
• Sewing Needles – sewing machine needles or hand-sewing needles (there is a difference)
• Sewing Machine – this is optional, but can save you a tremendous amount of time and effort
• Pencil, tailors chalk – to mark and indicate things
• Seam ripper – to undo any errors and make fixes
• Thread – this is relatively cheap so buy many colors and get plenty so you don’t run out

This isn’t an exhaustive list, but it’s a good start.  If there are any items that will make your task easier, invest in it.  Make sure you purchase items that are of quality as a craftsman (or woman) is only as good as their tools.

What some some common types of pillow styles?

1. Mock box pillows
2. Bolster pillows
3. Knife-edge pillows
4. Round Box-edge pillows
5. Square Box-edge pillows

But isn’t a pillow just a pillow?  Is it that complicated?  Well, it’s not that complicated, but different pillows do serve different needs.  There are pillows that you want to just hold and want it to be fluffy.  Then, there are pillows that you want around your neck and want it to be snug and fit perfectly.  Or, you may want a little pillow that’s decorative and just purely sits in front of your main pillows to accent them.  The choice is yours.

Engaging in a sewing project is all about having fun and being creative – allowing the stress to flow out of your mind and the creative juices to take over.  Just have a great time with it.  You deserve it.  After a long busy day, everyone needs some time to unwind and do something therapeutic for the soul.  So if you’re going to do something fun, why not make it practical and create some pillows or cushions for your bedroom or sofa.

Take a look at the most recent decorating magazines, high-end catalogs, and the newest designer styles in large furnishing stores.  You’ll see that what often sets these rooms apart is the designer pillows, cushions, and truffets.  They are extremely pricey in the stores, but they don’t have to be when you buy the materials from scratch and create them yourself.  All you need is some basic fabric, trim, a needle, and some thread.  Some of the designs and projects don’t even require a sewing machine as you can do the basic sewing by hand.

Whether you are looking for a fun, colorful touch to your room in your home, or create a contemporary, modern expression to your office or bedroom, or you may be going for an elegant, traditional accent to your decor, you can be creative with it.   Sewing projects are fun!

A few days ago, the latest mattress forecast from the International Sleep Products Association (or commonly known as ISPA) was issued for the latter part of the year.  The ISPA issues bedding forecasts two times every year -  in the spring and fall.  So these forecasts are typically deemed to be relatively accurate.  How are these forecasts determined?  ISPA has what they call a ‘Forecast Panel’, which includes leading mattress producers and component suppliers to do the needed research and forecasts.

So for the second part of the year, ISPA’s Forecast Panel predicts and envisions the value of bedding shipments to rise by a strong 7.5% this year, with units increasing by 4%. Earlier in the year, ISPA had forecasted a mere 5.7% dollar gain and a 3.5% unit gain for 2011.  So this is an 30& and 15% increase relatively.

For the following year, the International Sleep Products Association predicts that bedding dollars will increase by 6%, with units increasing by 3.5% similar to the first part of this year.  Now, if these forecasts prove to be accurate, what’s referred to the “bedding comeback”, will extend it’s streak to a 3-year run,  a streak that started in 2010.

The reality is though that even with both the unit and dollar gains forecasted through 2012, the bedding industry has a way to go to regain lost ground, according to ISPA.  Many believe that the housing recovery will continue to make a very slow recovery, as a record number of foreclosures and constant declining prices of homes plague much of the nation. “The housing market, however, has recovered from the lowest of lows, and 30-year conventional mortgage rates, which have a major influence on homes sales, are expected to remain low,” ISPA said.

Is everyone feeling down about the economy..?

BBB earned almost 200 million dollars in the quarter…which sounds like a huge amount to us normal non corporate types right…? but the other part of this is that earnings went down from a year before from 147 million dollars.

So clearly customers are cutting back alittle bit. I would also think that competition from everywhere is also responsible for the numbers being down. I can tell this from my own online business too. Understandable, but at the same time I think people will still be shopping for good deals and better quality in their home accessories like bed sheets, duvet covers, comforters, pillows, kids bedding and so forth.

A positive note on the BBB story here too by the way…share proces rose after trading hours were over, so I’m sure many shareholders slept abit better afterall. Rest of story here

Rodricks has already started working on his festive bed linen collection for the same brand. The designer reveals that it was Maureen Wadia (of Bombay Dyeing), who approached him to design a collection for the brand. “There’s been an encouraging response and I have already designed a festive collection for them in metallic white,” says Rodricks.

The designer isn’t too ambitious, but says if something interesting comes up, “why not?” Upcoming designer Amit GT is in talks with one of the high-end stores in Delhi to showcase his home furnishing line. “It will be called AGT Life and will be available in November,” says the young designer. For the full article, please check here.

At least there are people out there still bullish on the economy and busy creating new tiems for those of us who love bedding and home accessories! This tells me to hang in there that things will get better.

Now a days, you’ll find a crisp white and newly washed duvet cover, which means you’ll rest assured that everything on your bed that night is fresh for you. They’ve also added new Egyptian cotton Aninchini bedding collections in ivory. They feature 400 thread count sheets, pillow shams and sateen duvet covers too.

I don’t think I’d ever want to leave! The cool thing is that if you stay there, you’re guaranteed a refund if you don’t sleep as well as you would at home. They’re very serious about your comfort there I’d say.

This hotel represents what alot of moderate to luxury firms are doing these days- being obsessed with the quality of your sleep. What was once just a bed has now become a much more detailed and careful examination of what it takes to please travelers and keep them coming back regularly.

So, they’ve become experts at things like thread counts and brand names like Aninchini and Sferra, as well as duvet covers, mattress heights and even pillow top mattresses. That’s what I call traveling in style.

Buy Buy Baby, an affilate of the Bed Bath and Beyond retail chain, will be opening its first Triangle location at Park West Village. The store specializes in bedding nursery items like baby crib bedding and children’s furniture, toys and clothing.

Stone Theatres, formerly known as Consolidated Theatres, will be opening a 14-screen movie cinema with a prominant water feature at the entrance. It will be among the first new theaters opened by Consolidated Theatres founder Herman Stone.

Urban Active Fitness, a 50,000-square-foot fitness club based in Lexington, Ky., has plans to open several new locations in North Carolina, and its club at Park West Village will be among its first in the Triangle.

Casto has also signed a deal with hotel operators planning to open a 120-room business class hotel. Casto did not close identities of the hotel investors or the proposed hotel flag. For full article, please check here.

Charlie Eitel, the company CEO and Chairman said that they were extremely pleased with their performance which has been largely a result of slimming down the manufacturing and improving marketing approaches.

Simmons now offers a new line of luxury bedding called Beautyrest Black (TM) and is thrilled at how the sales of this bed linen has been even higher than expected.

Mr Eitel feels that Simmons is now in a better position than ever to achieve future growth in North America.

Simmons also appointed a new President, Gary S. Matthews, to head both the Simmons Company and its subsidiary Simmons Bedding Company. Mr Eitel notes that Gary was chosen because of his excellent 25 year track record of building and marketing brands and product lines in a variety of different industries… and adds that Gary will play a very large part in the company’s long term growth vision.

Mr. Matthews, the newly appointed President of Simmons Bedding Company, comes most recently from Sleep Innovations, Inc., a large manufacturer of foam bedding and sleep accessories.

Simmons webcast its 2006 earnings results on Monday November 13- 2006, and will have it there for replay through November 27-2006. See http://www.simmons.com for further information