What color should I make my room?


When decorating your bedroom and the sky is the limit as far as paint color, you have a difficult decision ahead of you. Which direction should you take? Although paint is the easiest thing to change in a room, it's also the most time consuming to change. If you really dislike what you've done, you may have to live with your results until you have time to change it again.

Narrow your choices by taking a look at your existing furniture.  Do you have natural wood furniture, black, white, or dark wood? What color is your carpet?

Do you have a large enough room to handle a dark, strong color? Small rooms look even smaller with dark colors on the walls.  Add purple or burnt orange to a room with one tiny  window and you have created a dungeon for yourself as opposed to a comfy new room.

Do not be deterred from a color simply due to your furniture or rug.  If you have a white carpet, for example, and you are painting your room dark orange with a brown accent at the top of the ceiling, you can cover most of your white rug with a large area rug.  A burnt orange contemporary area rug would cover your white carpet beautifully. A great thing about area rugs is that you can choose your colors to accent your room.  You don't have to work  around a certain color of carpet if you don't want to.

Choosing a color for your room may be daunting, but when you narrow your options down and take some time to make your decision, you will be happy with the results.  Happy painting!

How do I make my bathroom feel like a spa?

The soothing sensation of tranquil water dripping, new age music playing softly, and a large jug of water with lemon slices:  You are instantly transported to your favorite spa, but you could experience the same sensations in your own bathroom with the right decor. 

When trying to emulate a spa, your towels and shower curtain need to be white.  Find the thickest, most luxurious towels that you can budget for, and buy several.  Several home stores sell luxury shower curtains in white, so look around for the best deal. 

Now that you have spa towels, you need to keep them warm and ready for use with a heated towel rod.  If you have the budget to spend, a heated towel drawer keeps your towels toasty and ready to use after a warm shower.

The feeling of rainfall can be found via a rainfall shower head.  Attached to the ceiling of your shower, you get the sensation of a soothing cascade of rain right in your shower.  You can purchase different taps for your bath that will provide you with a cascade of water similar to a waterfall.  Lean back and rinse your hair underneath a new tap, the tingling sensation on your scalp is well worth the cost.

Luxury starts at the tip of your toes when you indulge in a plush area rug for the floor of your bathroom.  An Ivory Bamboo Shag area rug will give you a spot to dip your toes into after your shower or bath. 

For that little bit of extra pizazz, add some bowls of rocks, scented candles, reading material, and perhaps a fountain trickling in the corner.  Pipe in some of your favorite soothing music, and you will feel as though you are in your own spa.  Enjoy!

If you have a small room what can you do to make it look bigger?

How should I decorate a living room with pink walls and a burgundy carpet?

There is really nothing more frustrating than moving into a new home and not being able to alter the space to suit your tastes.  I've heard horror stories of bright green carpets with neon yellow walls, and painting was not an option.  If you find yourself stuck in a home that you can't alter, you need to try to live with the space as is.

With pink walls, your options as to color of couch and your accessories are limited.  Stay away from very neutral colors such as beige or tan.  They will wash out in a pink room.  Try to go with white, black, or deep browns for your best effect. 

When faced with a burgundy rug, your only option is to cover up as much of it as possible.  Purchase several large area rugs in bright, light colors such as the ivory swirl modern area rug. 
The very basic modern white area rug in ivory would also be beautiful in an overpowering pink room.

When adding accessories to your couch and walls, avoid colors that I like to call 'Easter tones' such as pastels of yellow, blue, and light green. 

It can be overwhelming to decorate over someone's idea of style, especially when faced with a brightly colored carpet.  The best tip of all is not to overdecorate, as such a brightly colored room does not need much to liven it up. 

Any advice on decorating an old Plantation home?

If you have the opportunity to decorate an old Plantation home, you have years of tradition to look back on. Historic homes were alive with color and wall paper.  Yellows, blues, and turquoise were common paint colors.  Heavy red damask wall paper was favored, as well as solid wood paneling in the study.   Southern homes favored large rooms, including a dining room, study, parlor, kitchen, and breakfast nook.

When arranging furniture in a old Plantation home, try to keep your seating intimate.  Southern decorating favored clustering furniture together for intimate conversations.  A small couch, Queen Anne chairs, and tables with lighting were placed in the center of the room.  Pianos and sideboards were placed along the walls, as were hutches that held antiques and special keepsakes. 

As the houses generally had hardwood flooring, rooms were covered in large area rugs.  Oriental area rugs were favored,  in styles similar to Ancient Garden Champagne or Ancient Garden Ruby.  They were placed underneath the couches and near fireplaces. 

Enjoy bringing the past back to life.  There is nothing quite like the creature comforts of the south and the beautiful elegance of a Plantation home.

Parent and baby shared room decorating ideas?

It's becoming more common: parents sharing their master bedroom with their newborn baby, sometimes for months at a time.  If you are like me, you don't want to have a crib just sitting at the end of your bed.  You need to have all the bells and whistles that you can find in a nursery, but still maintain your own bedroom space. 

The key to sharing your bedroom with your new baby is color and separation.  Color, because you can coordinate what you already have

Just moved in to my first apartment that is completely mine, what are some good, cheap decorating ideas?

Bedroom decorating advice!?

I'm decorating my bedroom this summer! I want it to be Gold & Black!


Although beautiful separately, gold and black can be difficult colors to decorate a bedroom with.  Rather than simply focus on gold and black, I'd add a neutral color such as cream and keep the gold for smaller accents.

Gold and black are modern, contemporary colors.  If you focus on these in a bedroom, you should seek out furniture with clean lines and try to keep an uncluttered appearance to the room.

Add some flair to your floor with a cream, gold, and black area rug such as the Mystique nude.  It has a neutral cream base, but still adds your favorite colors of gold and black. 

Decorating ideas for small rooms?

My son is 4 and we are redecorating his room. What are some ways to decorate for a rain forest?

I love decorating kid's rooms, if only for the reason that they really appreciate the completed project.  You can only imagine what a themed room will do for a child at the age of 4, when their imaginations are just starting to develop and every part of their room provides them with different opportunities to play and create.

Start with your walls.  If you aren't interested in doing a full mural, why not try stencils or a projector for tracing.  Hook your computer up to a projector and screen a large image on your walls.  The image could be a tree, fern fronds, leaves, or animals.  Trace the images on the walls, and then paint freehand. 

Choose a focal point for your room that really works with your theme, then accessorize accordingly.  A great focal point for a rain forest room would be the Mini-Jungle area rug.  Kids area rugs really have the ability to catch your eye and creates new opportunities for you to add detail to your room.

A great kids room is all in the way you accessorize.  Add a water feature to the corner of the room. Not only will you be adding a rain forest 'feel' to the room, the soothing trickle of water can calm even the most riled up 4 year old before bedtime.   Plants are another great accessory for a jungle theme room, so include bamboo shoots and ferns in corners and on dressers.