6 Decorating Ideas For Stylish Living In A Single Room

How do you live in one room and maintain a sense of style? Having once lived in one myself, I can give you a few ideas to get your creative juices flowing.

Jennifer’s Tips

1. Buy a few bold pieces instead of lots of little things.

Lots of tiny things may seem like the way to go, but they’ll actually make the room look smaller. Your eye won’t know what to rest on and will be buzzing around. The large, graphic artwork in this room works really well. Also, notice the careful selection of furniture. Not too much!

2. Define “rooms” with translucent fabrics and/or area rugs.

You might want a bit of privacy in the bedroom. Even if you’re alone, being able to close off the bedroom will create a cozy feeling that’s easier to sleep in. IKEA makes a great system that suspends from the ceiling.

3. A vibrant paint can define a separate space with-in-a-space.

A large block of vibrant color can visually separate a space. If you’re living in a rental, painting only one section makes it easier to return it to “Decorator White” before you move out.

4. Buy furniture that does double duty.

A dining table can be a desk. An ottoman can be a coffee table. A coffee table could also hold some storage.

5. Light colors will make the space appear larger.

If you want to go with color on the walls, remember that cool colors recede and will make the room larger. A pastel will also reflect more light and work to that effect even more.

6. Finally, mirrors are an old stand-by for tricking the eye.

One-foot square mirrors are sold at Lowe’s and Home Depot. Why not create a mirror wall? Your room will double in size in an instant.

Do you have a tip? Sharing is caring.

images: visiondecor, 200 Water St, Venturska

Design Dilemma: Rachel’s Dining Room

My friend, Rachel Perls is a color expert and writer of Hue. She wrote to me about a month ago asking for help with her dining room decoration. She’s got the color down solid – a nice complimentary scheme of orange and blue The walls are orange and she covered the chairs with a nice blend of blues. She’s planning on painting the trim a dark brown.

So, we’ve got our color scheme. Rachel needed some help with furniture placement, a buffet and some finishing touches. So here we go.

The table needs to be placed with the short end facing the entrance. As you can see, it makes a better traffic flow into the kitchen and around the table. That’s simple! The next place to go is the area rug.

The walls, table and floor have orange tones, which can look monotone. The large window and the wide doorway on the other side cut down on the saturation. Still. I felt it would be a good idea to go with a neutral carpet to cut back on the orange without clashing with the blue patterns on the chairs. The 5′ x 8′ sisal carpet ($158) is from Pottery Barn). It has a bound edge and fits nicely under both the table and chairs. Next, we need a buffet.

I’d like to see Rachel and her husband some pieces they’ll keep forever. I love this Chinese Butcher’s Table from Wisteria ($1,499). The age on the antique buffet gives the room tons of character. Plus, it can serve as a buffet table – terrific for entertaining. Since Rachel is lucky enough to live in San Fransisco, she can shop the antiques in her wonderful city for just the right thing and keep this in mind while she shops. Lucky girl!

We need some simple accessorising. Rachel already owns this tiled mirror. The color ties in perfectly with the blue chairs. I’d hang this over the buffet. She’s going to need some artwork on the other wall as well. I suggest starting an art wall with a variety of photos, art work and other elements. To see how to create this look, read my earlier post on the topic.

I’ve added a hand-painted Talavera plate from Novica as a centerpiece on the table. Two would be even better.And that’s it! A simple plan for a beautiful, colorful room.

Jennifer’s Tips

• Always start with the item that has the fewest options. Here, I would have started with the rug and then chosen fabrics for the chairs afterward.
• Neutral goes with everything! Duh. The beige sisal cuts back on the orange and creates a nice extra layer of decoration.
• Don’t freak about matchy-matchy. Please! This room will look really great with a mix of styles. The only important element is the scale. Keep all the pieces the same scale. Say no to a giant chair with a tiny table.

Okay, let’s hear your tips. How would you decorate Rachel’s dining room?

3 Golden Rules for Decorating Bedrooms for Teens & Tweens

I’m on vacation here at Sunset Beach, NC. Yay! But I’m still thinking about bedrooms – especially bedrooms for teens and tweens. I’ve written about the subject before and thought this would be a good opportunity to focus on my interior design rules for teen bedrooms.

Rule #1: Your color scheme and sense of style should end at a teenager’s bedroom door.

Teenagers are busy finding themselves – a very important thing that is too often overlooked. They often express their ever-changing sense of who they are through decoration. ¬†One day, they’re in love with the Jonas Brothers and their images cover the walls. Just as you’re learning the difference between Kevin and Joe, your daughter is rolling your eyes at you. The Jonas Brothers are so last week! ¬†Taylor Swift has taken over.

The image, above, is a good example. It looks terrific. But what will you do when your daughter decided she hates lilac next year?

If you’re a house-proud parent (and who isn’t), the best thing to do is sit on your hands, grin and bear it. Let your teens’ imaginations and identity searching run wild in the bedroom decor and, most likely, they won’t be running wild in the street. (At least I hope not!)

Rule #2: Set some ground rules and create a budget together.

When I was a teen I repainted my bedroom five times. To keep yourself from going mental and broke, set some ground rules before the arguing starts. Are black walls out or in? Can they paint the furniture? Try to think of things they can’t do, but also things they can. Write up a list together. If there’s something that’s not on the list, have them ask before they paint.

It’s a good idea, depending on the age of your teen, to give them a budget and let them do the shopping. A lesson in budgeting and planning for future change is always in style. Goodwill, Craig’s List and Freecycle are great places to find furniture and accessories at rock bottom prices. Challenge your teens to think outside the Pottery Barn box.

Rule#3: Place color on things that can be changed out easily.

Painting the walls a new color is really inexpensive – as long as he’s doing the work himself.¬† However, new furniture every other week is probably out. Remind your kids that they might not want blood red walls next year (you know they’ll roll their eyes at your total stupidity and develop amnesia next year).

Put the color and the trends on the walls and the accessories. They’re less expensive to change.

Jennifer’s Tips

• Let your teen decorate their own environment
• Set ground rules
• Create a budget – add a little extra for each year
• Use walls and accessories for trends
• Shop thrift shops for cool stuff and things that can be painted.
• If you think your teen as gone a too wild, just close the door when company comes snooping.

Need some more ideas? Here are some of my previous posts on the topic.

• Teen Rooms
• Avoiding Themes
• Design Dilemma for a Pre-Teen

images: PBTeen, Momoy, Top Home Pic

Rule #3 Exp

IKEA’s Billy Bookcase – Red all over!

IKEA is ready to ship their 2010 catalog. I got a sneak peek at it. My favorite new item is their Billy bookcase in red. There’s something about adding a touch of red in a room that makes me smile.

What makes this nifty, thrifty ($60) item even better are the glass doors you can add. It transforms Billy into a more substantial piece. They’re not on IKEA’s site yet, but stay tuned.

UPDATE: I really got this one wrong. Sorry. They’ve come out with a new, deper bookcase with a chunkier door. It’s in their print catalog, but I’m out of town without my scanner. I’ll update again next week.

5 Ways: Coordinating fabrics

Have you ever walked into a home and drooled over the way all the fabrics were pulled together perfectly? I have. Surprisingly, it’s not that difficult to do. You don’t need to be a proper interior designer to figure it out. It just takes a bit of practice and an eye for proportion.

The best place to start is with a clear idea of what overall look you’re going for. Will it be a feminine room or masculine? Here are some tips to show you how you to coordinate fabrics perfectly to create those different looks – all using the same fabric as a starting point.

Creating different looks with one fabric

I’m starting with this funky linen fabric from Jim Thompson. It’s called Night Jasmine. It comes in five colors – this one is Aquamarine. This could be used for curtains, a duvet cover, slip cover, pillows, etc…

1. Masculine

It is possible to create a masculine look with a floral – especially one like this that’s a little wild. It’s not so froo froo. To create the look, I used darker colors to coordinate by using a solid brown upholstery weight fabric from Duralee called Armand. The texture will give a sofa more depth. I chose a stripe next. Schumacher’s Seneca Cotton Stripe stripe is wide enough to stand up to the boldness of Night Jasmine. Something too thin would look skimpy. Use this in a family room, living room – even a bedroom.

2. Feminine Stripe

Here, I’ve done a bit of the reverse, creating an instantly more feminine look. This Swing Stripe, from Schumacher, picks up on the rose color as well as the brown. The Byron eyelet, from Fabricut, adds to the feminine look. Again, it’s not so dainty that it won’t hold up. Use the eyelet on windows. Team it with a solid for pillows. I’m thinking bedroom.

3. Rosie wallpaper

This is a fun option for a bedroom or even a den, or other room with some paneling mixed in. I’m envisioning Night Jasmine for side panels at the window. Next, a white cotton duck (this one from Pindler & Pindler) for roman shades with Robert Allen’s Al Fresco Ball trim at the bottom. Use solids for the furniture because we’re creating a huge WOW factor on the walls with Isabella, a large-scaled wallpaper from Graham & Brown.

4. Super-Bold Suzani

This is a little over the edge, so give me your opinion. I’m going for super-bold in a large room. Night Jasmine is on the window again becasue this huge Suzani (46″ vertical repeat) Teodolinda from Rubelli is on an over-sized sofa. I’ve shown the overall print in the corner. I’ve pulled the yellow out with this Suffolk Check from Schumacher.

5. Sophisticated Feminine

Can you use two florals in the same room? Of course! Just pay attention to location. Night Jasmine at the window and bed with Crewel Birds from Schumacher (sorry, discontinued) on a pillow nearby. It will sit on a slip-covered chair covered in white duck. Buron eyelet, from Fabricut, for shades on the window trimmed with Robert Allen’s Al Fresco Bead. This is going in a bedroom I’m working on now.

Coordinating Tips

• Let scale be your guide. A large print needs a mid to large-scaled stripe or check or floral to go with it. You can go larger or smaller. The key is to be aware of what you’re putting where. A small check on a huge print will disappear.
• Let color fix the mood. Traditionally, browns and blues are more manly, roses more girlie. Having said that, a warmer red will be more masculine than a cooler one.
• Texture is important. If you’re using a solid with a large print, a slubby or tweedy texture will be more butch than an eyelet or softly draping fabric. Again, think about the mood.
• Mix patterns up – even florals. This is a tougher thing to accomplish correctly. Just practice at the store. The easiest way to get this right is to use one print with lots of colors and the other with only two.

Do you have a tip for coordinating fabrics? Let’s get a good list going. I’m always looking for good advice – I never stop learning.