How to Decorate your Bedroom with Wallpaper
May 28, 2011
A wallpaper treatment is often used to create an environment in the bedroom. It’s a great way to change the look of the room with relatively little cost and time. Wallpapering is an easy do-it-yourself project, even if you’ve never done it before. Another option is to wallpaper the ceiling as well, but this isn’t a job for the novice. When looking through sample books, you’ll find that many wallpaper designs offer matching fabric. If you can make your own curtains, pillow covers, duvet and bed skirt, this is a good way to save money and personalize your room. Many pattern companies such as Collins and Son, Osborne and Little and Designers Guild offer patterns for making a complete bedroom ensemble.
Choose a wallpaper pattern in a color and design that you love. You don’t have to be limited by one design. An overall floral pattern, for example, might have a matching border design to use around the top of the room. Take home the sample book and keep it around for a while to see if, after a few days, you still love the pattern you chose. Sometimes finding a wallpaper pattern that appeal to you can dictate a design direction. If you’re in a quandary over what to do, go to a wall covering store and browse through a few sample books for inspiration. Almost every pattern comes in several different colors. Wallpaper also varies in price range and quality. Get familiar with the products before making a final selection. Measure your room and bring the measurements to the store and the staff will figure out how many rolls you’ll need.
If you’re planning to do the wallpapering yourself, use pre-pasted paper. You simply wet the back to apply it directly to the wall. No paste is needed. Avoid striped patterns as they are more difficult to match from strip to strip, and if your walls are not perfectly straight it’s hard to do a perfect job. A small, repeating overall pattern is the easiest to work with, or one that is quite large. All the wallpapering equipment you’ll need is available at a home center. The materials are few and inexpensive. For a quick and easy wallpaper treatment, rolls of self-stick borders are now available in a wide variety of patterns and styles. Another decorating idea for your bedroom could be wall stickers.
Space-Stretching Techniques for Your Bathrooms
May 9, 2011
Most of us complain that we don’t have enough space in the bathroom. The first thing you want to do is make the room seem streamlined. This means simple decorating.
1. Walls: White paint makes any room look larger and brighter. Mirror tiles on one wall are practical and room enlarging.
2. Windows: Fabric shades, such as the Duettes from Hunter Douglas, or miniblinds will give the window a sleek look. Wood shutters or louvered shutters achieve the same effect and offer flexibility for adjusting light and air circulation.
3. Find an area above the toilet or above the window where you can hang a deep shelf to hold towels.
4. Use a small wire cart with shelves (available in home centers) for holding bathroom essentials.
5. Roll towels into a basket and place it under the sink. Use a basket on the tub ledge to hold shampoo and body lotions. Or hang flat-back letter baskets or bicycle baskets on the wall to hold things.
6. A narrow ledge around the tub area can be used to hold bath supplies as well as small plants.
7. Mount a swing-arm lamp on each side of the sink if you need more lighting.
8. Use the back of the toilet to hold a basket filled with pretty soaps. If you add a shelf over the toilet be sure there is ample room to remove the water tank if necessary.
9. If there’s room for a small piece of furniture, such as a little bureau, end table or plant stand, such an item adds character and convenience.
10. I use wooden dowels that I stained and mounted with brass holders along two wall expanses for hanging towels.
11. Look for interesting shelving units or cabinets at yard sales for hanging in small wall areas. They can add storage and look good.
12. Add a strip of Shaker pegs (they come unfinished in different lengths at home centers) along a wall for hanging bathrobes and towels. Large brass or porcelain hooks mounted to the wall will do the same. Look for space on a narrow wall that might be found between the shower and door frame, for example. Hang a large hook to hold a bathrobe or towel.
13. I installed a shelf between two walls above the baseboard next to the toilet. There was just enough space to accommodate an 8-inch-deep board, and it holds a basket of magazines and several ceramic containers of hand cream, shampoo and other toiletries.
14. A friend of mine uses a scrubbed pine armoire for holding towels and bathroom essentials. She doesn’t have a medicine cabinet or any other storage unit, but the armoire, which is tall but shallow in depth, fits between the tub and the wall and holds it all. If you don’t have room for a large piece of furniture, narrow bookshelves might do the trick.
15. Freestanding towel holders or quilt racks are excellent for holding different-size towels and washcloths in a bathroom where there is limited wall space for hanging adequate towel racks.
16. A small washstand is perfect for holding towels on the shelf below, as well as containers for makeup, brushes and a free-standing magnifying mirror. If possible, mount a towel bar or ring on one side.
17. It’s easy to be creative with containers. I use a silver baby cup to hold cotton swabs, a votive candle holder for makeup brushes, a pretty sugar bowl for odds and ends, a small basket for brush and comb, and a ceramic crock to hold the hair dryer. Look around for unusual vases, terra-cotta planters or mugs that can be used to organize and assemble bathroom essentials right where you need them.
Decorating Your Child’s Room
May 6, 2011
If you’re decorating a room to be used as a nursery, keep in mind that babies grow quickly into toddlers, who grow into preschoolers, who grow into school age children, and all along the way the room must change to meet their growing needs. While it’s tempting to decorate the perfect nursery, aside from the crib, think about furniture that can grow with the child.
Your child will be in a crib for as long as you can possibly keep him or her there. This means he or she will either climb out around age two and you will know that it’s time for a bed, or will graduate to a bed with a side guard because the crib is needed for a new sibling. So you have a short time to enjoy a frilly nursery, but the goal should be to design a room that’s flexible. As children grow beyond the infant stage, their bedrooms become more than a place to sleep. This is where they play, read and possibly fingerpaint. Nothing in this room should be untouchable or unwashable. Everything should be safe, carefree and sturdy. You’ll also need to plan for good storage of clothing as well as the abundance of paraphernalia that will ultimately accumulate.
A Working Plan
Good storage space is the most important thing for making a baby’s room function well. There has to be a place for clothes, toys and equipment. The basic furniture includes a crib, later to be replaced with a bed, a changing table and a dresser. Shelving units that can be added to and moved up and down are essential. When my daughter had her first baby she purchased a modular storage unit with equal-size open cubes that could be arranged in many different ways and could also be added to. In this way she could build a unit as high and as wide as she wanted. When her son was four, she arranged one row of cubes on top of another along one wall. Her preschooler uses the cubbies for his toys, and the top surfaces are just the right height on which to play with his cars. These cubes are available through discount stores and mail-order catalogs.
Safety First
Safety is your primary concern. New cribs have safety standards, so don’t accept your old crib from your parents for sentimental reasons, even if it’s in perfect condition. It was probably painted before lead testing and the slats undoubtedly are further apart than today’s required standard.
Furniture should not tip over easily and everything should be rounded rather than made with sharp edges. Functional furniture made from easy-to-clean materials like laminates are practical choices.
Spring Has Sprung
May 5, 2011
It feels to me like spring has just about arrived. After a wobbly start with frost and fog threatening the crocuses as they peeped out of the soil, it looks like things are finally warming up. Easter is around the corner and the clocks are about to change too – all things bouncy are on the mind, like new lambs, bunny rabbits and on another track, springs themselves…
I am talking about the springs in our mattresses! With the change of season and a spot of spring cleaning going on at home, thoughts have turned to revamping the sleeping arrangements. With comfort in mind I am attempting to make sense of all the options out there, and I really am spoilt for choice, and as mattress is an expensive investment I really want to make the right choice.
When it comes to springs then the main options are pocket spring or open spring designs, the primary difference being that in a pocket sprung mattress the springs work separately responding to body weight and the result is more luxurious. Then you’ve got latex or memory foam to consider, an entirely different approach where the material moulds to your body. And don’t even get me started on mattress toppers!
It seems to be that the recommendations for a good nights sleep include avoiding fluctuating body temperature as well as focussing in on comfort; and if you share your bed then size and type of mattress will effect whether you disturb each other or not – it’s a minefield!
While you’re at it – don’t forget about your guest beds as they may need new mattresses too. Apparently we are supposed to change our mattresses every 5 to 7 years, so think on – exactly how old is the one your Mum gave you when you left for University?! Time for an update methinks.
Fitted Carpet, Rugs or Wood Flooring?
May 4, 2011
Way back in the mists of time when the fitted carpet first appeared on the scene, anyone caught with a rug and – oh the shame – their floorboards exposed was seriously out of touch with the decorating trends of the day.
Nowadays it is all about ripping up the shag-pile and crossing your fingers that the original floorboards have got what it takes to be sanded and waxed to perfection. And if you happen to live in a recently built property without a traditional wooden floor, well then get yourself a reclaimed one and put that down instead.
You can achieve a fantastic illusion of even more space in a long narrow room with boards running lengthways, and there are endless designs when it comes to colour, size and finish. Experiment with parquet flooring laid at a diagonal or in a traditional wishbone design for a really classic look.
Bedrooms are an interesting area when it comes to the carpet v wood floor debate: I myself am not a fan of a wood or laminate floor in the bedroom as I like to pad about barefoot and don’t want to get cold. Unfortunately for our visitors however, I have allowed style to overcome practicality and our guest beds sit proudly on some rather lovely dark stained oak. Nobody has ever complained!
A wood floor doesn’t always work in a smaller room somehow either, and the single beds in our children’s rooms are sunk deep into some lovely tufted pure wool – in a sensible mark-disguising shade of course. No chilly extremities for them either! Thinking about it, maybe I need to re-think the spare room, be kinder to guests and at least provide a well placed ‘feature’ rug at the side of the bed as a nod in the direction of warm toes. I’d best get shopping…
Tips for Painting Your Living Room
May 2, 2011
If you don’t like the colour of the walls in your new home, you have several choices. You can paint, wallpaper, faux finish or panel them. If you love the colour that’s on your walls, work with it. If you want to start with a fresh new colour scheme, painting the room is the easiest and least expensive way to transform it.
Paint
Colour is a matter of personal taste. There are certain colour combinations such as black and white or mono¬chromes that have proven to be classic because they have endured. However, today more than ever, you have a choice of so many different shades of colour that it might be hard to know where to begin.
You can’t isolate colour. When you choose a colour for your main living space, the other rooms will be affected. The colours from one room to the next should live in har¬mony. If a bright or unusual colour appeals to you, for example, perhaps you should use it in a smaller room as an accent, or in the fabrics on accent pieces such as throw pillows.
Using Colour for Effect
Colour can also be used to alleviate problems in a room. As a rule of thumb, light colours will make small rooms seem larger, dark colours make large rooms seem cosier, and vivid colours brighten a dull room. Colour can be used to make ceilings seem higher or lower. Brilliant colour can create a focal point, while deep, vibrant colour cre¬ates drama. Whatever colour palette you choose, it can have a powerful effect on your rooms.
When in Doubt
Since this is your first home, you may be unsure about colour. Don’t agonize over it. Paint every room a shade of white and get on with the decorating process. Linen white is soft and warm, but I prefer a slightly rosy white. Mixing this colour is like making a good martini. The pink is only a trace and the trick is to mix in just that little smidgen of colour needed to cut the hospital starkness. Everyone and everything in the room will have a slight glow that is barely perceptible. It’s very flattering.
Natural Colours
Many of today’s top designers are decorating with colours drawn from nature. It is a colour scheme that’s rest¬ful, sophisticated and elegant. Colours like sandy beige; shell pink, taupe, mossy green and terra-cotta are easy to mix in the form of painted walls and textured fab¬rics. Bring the outdoors in with the use of the colours in your environment. In this way your indoors and out¬doors will coexist and interplay. If you can’t bring your¬self to go with the white walls I recommended, the next best thing is the palest shade of a natural colour like sand or taupe or gray.
In southern climates, the colours used for interior de¬sign are often brighter and more vivid, hibiscus pink or orchid purple, for example, to combat the bright sun¬shine that tends to subdue colours. Pastels such as soft coral, pale lavender and celery green all look great in southern rooms.
Styling Your Home
May 2, 2011
Don’t be in a hurry and don’t be embarrassed if your house or apartment is filled with empty space for a while. Take your time. I know this is hard for many people who are used to being organized and getting to end results quickly in other areas of their lives. But if you take the time to get necessary information, you’ll be able to figure out what you need and like. In this way you’ll be a lot more successful in creating the look and feel that will please you, especially if you don’t yet know what that is. You’ll save a lot of money, too.
Style is a combination of the way you live and the way you furnish your home. Bringing the two into accord is the trick and, when done well, will result in a home that is a pleasure to look at and live in. What you end up with is an environment that makes you feel good.
I’m often asked, “What’s the current, most popular, decorating style?” Following decorating trends can be dangerous. Styles go in and out of fashion, but what you should strive for is a home that has a timeless look. One shouldn’t be able to tell if your home was decorated in the 1930s or the 1990s. Homes furnished with an eclectic mix of carefully selected things are usually the most interesting.
I spoke to several of my friends who are editors at decorating magazines about the future of interior design. All agree that style comes from the ability to combine old and new, traditional and modern, and cost is never a factor. One can be as proud of great farmhouse kitchen chairs found at a yard sale and repainted as of a wonderful Italian chair bought at a New York City auction house. In fact, a careful shopper can always spot a well-designed item at a discount outlet and know how to use it. In the end, what something costs is less important than how great it looks with everything else in the room. What matters is the overall effect.
Whimsy is always appreciated and a sense of humor should be displayed somewhere. The element of surprise gives a room interest. For example, using something in an unexpected way, or hanging a picture where you wouldn’t expect it, is one way to introduce this aspect into your home.
When deciding what to buy, you’ll be asking yourself if it will add pleasure to your life. If you think it will just collect dust and won’t make you happy to look at it, don’t buy it. The main theme of decorating for today is carefree, elegant and a little spare. Clutter isn’t conducive to today’s style of living.