featured articles:
bedroom essentials;
bedroom walls

Bedroom Decor Basics

The two most important points about bedrooms are how attractive they look and how many you have. By taking steps to make up for limited bedroom closet space, compensate for a tired carpet, or increase the perception of size of a small bedroom, you will certainly make your bedrooms more salable. The most significant improvement to the home is to create an extra bedroom. By doing so, you can broaden the market to which your home will appeal and increase the price you will receive at the time of sale. This can be particularly effective in condos, where the additional cost of buying units with three bedrooms rather than two can be considerable.

But before concentrating your efforts on luxury touches in the bedroom, make sure the basics are in order. This means focusing on the cleanliness and condition of the bedroom.

If your bedroom is too soft with wall-to-wall carpeting, a puffy comforter, lots of pillows, and an upholstered love seat, add lacquered storage boxes, a green oxidized-copper lamp, or a wicker desk or side table. A hard texture will give you a more dynamic mix and an even greater appreciation for the soft objects in the room. The next time you take down the bed hangings for cleaning, don't hang them up right away. Let your eye absorb the more simple look.

Bedroom Walls

As always, the walls and the objects on them should work to make the bedroom more attractive and reinforce the overall feeling of quality.

Bedroom wall decor sets up an overall mood of the room. Fill in hairline cracks, cover nail holes, and attend to other cosmetic flaws. Once the surface of the bedroom walls is in proper shape, you can upgrade tem in several different ways. First of all - paint. A fresh coat of paint suggests care and newness. The color of the paint should be neutral, but in the bedroom there is some basis for latitude. Blue, for instance, has a calming effect on people and can be especially appropriate in the bedroom.

You might consider choosing pastel shades and using blue as an accent color. You could also try safe colors like antique white or beige and the soft, neutral pastels; or go with monochromatic color scheme.

If you use pale yellows or a dusty rose, for example, consider highlighting molding by painting them white. This will create visual interest but won't break up wall areas. For children's bedroom, brighter colors are appropriate. Yellow, red, green, or blue can create an atmosphere of fun.

Bedroom Essentials

1. Soft lighting. Soft bedroom lighting must be restful and intimate. Create a mood lighting in the bedroom with candles. Candles provide a romantic glow, and look exquisite on the crystal candlesticks. Place two table lamps on each side of the bed. Table lamps with fabric shades diffuse the hardness of electric light.

2. Plants and Flowers. It is helpful to use a variety of plants in most areas of the home as their diverse qualities compliment each other and provide a more balanced flow of energy wherever they are situated. Round-leaved plants are soothing and they are increasing the romantic ambiance of the bedroom.

3. Bedroom Storage. Have plenty of storage and closet space in your bedroom, and keep your closes and possessions tucked away. Well organized bedroom closet contributes greatly to the ambience of the bedroom.

4. The Bed. The bed is likely to be the dominant piece of furniture in the bedroom. The right bed can also revitalize your energy, influence aspects of your everyday life. Wood is the most favorable material for the bed frame. An attractive headboard can add considerable charm to the bedroom.

6. Pillows. Indulge your bedroom by splurging on pillows, they help support your back when you are seated, they are cozy to lean against, and they're fun to us as an arm-rest. Pillows add softness wherever they land, and are excellent way to use expensive fabrics in a small doses.

7. Bed Linens. Since they are used next to your skin, it is even more important that sheets, pillowcases, blankets and duvet covers are made of pure cotton, linen, silk or wool. Cotton and linen are preferable because they "breathe" better than silk. Avoid synthetic fabrics. Quilts and duvets, likewise, should contain only natural down or cotton filling. Keep bed linen and bedcovers raised well above the floor, so that air can circulate freely under the bed.

8. Floor Covering. Floors are one third of the visual space of any room and usually a one third of decorating budget. The type of floor you choose for your bedroom should be determine by function, taste, budget and amount of upkeep required. Soft materials create a relaxing atmosphere, so a fitted carpet is ideal for the bedroom.