Friday, April 23, 2010

TEEN GIRLS HEART BEDDING

Teen Girls Bright Lime Green and Aqua Bedding Set - Hearts and Polka Dot Comforter
GO HERE TO SEE MORE!

What do you think about the bedroom in the picture with the teen girls heart bedding set? I saw a bedroom decorating question regarding this comforter set that got me thinking about how small decorative decisions can take a bedroom's design in one direction or another.

The girl who wrote in said that she loved the polka dot and heart print fabric of the comforter set and the contrasting pattern of the striped bedskirt but didn't like the "dressed up" look of the picture of the bedroom on the bedding set's packaging and wanted to know how to decorate her room in a funky fashion using the girl's heart bedding.

I think I would go for a shabby chic look using a chipped iron bed frame and I would ditch the matching curtains. Just because you buy a bed in a bag doesn't mean you have to use the window treatments. Sell them, toss them or whatever; if you don't like them don't destroy the look of your room just because you feel wasteful. Aluminum foil over the windows is better than buying drapery hardware and taking the time to hang curtains that you hate.

Getting back to the teen girls bedroom design problem, as I said, I would keep the teen girls heart bedding set and decorate the bedroom in a funky, shabby chic style. How do YOU decorate a bedroom when you are after a stylish look but don't want anything fancy?

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Five Ways to Make Your House Younger

Did you see "Hot In Cleveland" last week? We didn't either, mainly because we don't even know how to find TV Land on our TV. If you miss it, you can see the full episode here.

Anyway, the reason we mention it is because reading a LA Times review on the show we saw one funny line-- "To think we spent all that time and effort and money trying to look 10 years younger and 10 pounds lighter," says Malick, a recently unemployed soap star now being offered grandma roles, "and all we had to do was crash-land in Cleveland."

You'll have to be at that age to know what we are talking about! You know, the age where we look at younger women more than our husbands do? The age that we keep saying to ourselves, man, if I can only have my old body back with my current brain?
Which leads us to this point, do you know your house can look 10 years younger too? Most people don't realize this, but the way we decorate our house is very much like the way we dress, it literally can add or subtract a few years.

Here are five ways you can instantly update your home:

1) Use fresh and happy colors via use of wallpapers, paints and fabrics.

Wallpapers are so in now. We love, love it. Not as much to wallpaper every room like they did in the sixties, but by wallpapering just one wall or a small bathroom or dining room, you can instantly freshen things up.

Thibaut.com

2) Get rid of things that are outdated.

You know how mom's jean just add 10 years to your age and 10 lbs to your butt? Outdated things like ivy silk plants, sofa arm covers, oak furniture, shabby chic sofas (so 80s!) are the equivalent of mom's jeans. Worse yet, it screams "grandma"!

3) Update your furniture

Furniture is like fashion. It changes with time. You probably notice that furniture are not as heavy as they use to be. The heavy, ornate look for furniture (think Real Housewives of Orange County/New Jersey/Atlanta) are as out as McMansions. Rather, look for furniture that are modern and clean-lined with fresh designs. If you have upholtery pieces with good bones (say, a very comfortable sofa), consider re-upholstering it with new fabrics. The fabric choices nowadays are amazing.





4) Get small little things that count.

Sometimes things are so tough that shopping is not an option (2008-2009, anyone?). But you know how sometimes a little thing can make us feel much better, say, a tube of pretty lipstick? It's like that for the home too. We spend so much time in our home, it's ok to treat yourself a little bit. Little things like dressing your bed with really good sheets, make your bathroom like a spa etc. goes a long way. You see this with a good hotel--it's the little details that make all the difference.

So consider buying a new rug, a couple of pretty pillows--it doesn't have to be expensive. Homegoods is a good store for bargains like this. Buy lots of books secondhand. They make you look smart (and great accessories too).



Note: A good source for hotel things is American Hotel Registry. They sell actual hotel sheets, pillows and mattresses and from what we can see, the prices are pretty good and that you can buy directly from them. (We are not affiliated with this site in anyway)

5) Go contrarian.


The problem with trend is that after a while everything looks the same. Remember how Juicy Couture was all the rage just a couple of years back? What happened now to those velour tracksuits?

Home trends are like that too. After a while everyone's house look the same. Enough with the granite counter already. Enough with one paint color for each room. And please, do we need 10,000 square feet home?

The best styles are the ones that buck against the trend, stay true to the classic, and retain its integrity.

Go with your personality and your style, unless, of course, you have no style (in that case, consider hiring help).

Just remember that simpler is better, and less is more.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Villa Kadiri

So first of all, I don't post for two weeks. And then when I do, I bring to you over-the-top exotic opulence from a beautiful desert land. Something that will require you to relax, take a deep breath, empty your head of everything else to make space for some über rich interiors, put on some soul stirring Moroccon music, and maybe wear your silk robe and those harem pants. I am all about creating the right mood today.



Presenting to you, the labour of love and indulgence from Morocco - Jaouad Kadiri and Priti Paul's home...or more apt, their palace. Working along with architect Stuart Church, Jaouad has created a home straight out of the tales of Arabian nights, with a fair dose of Indian mystique. Each nook and corner is full of rich colors and antiques sourced from the souks of Morocco and the bazaars of India. While everything put together gets a bit too much for me, there are elements and ideas from each room that inspire me.



Jaouad Kadiri and Priti Paul were in news recently as they hosted the Sex and The City 2 movie's star cast at their yet to be launched hotel. Their fairy tale wedding a few years back also generated a lot of interest.

 
[All images sourced from media articles about Villa Kadiri]

Sunday, April 18, 2010

FUNKY PINK BEDDING

Funky Lime Green and Hot Pink Girls Bedding

GO HERE TO SEE MORE!


A mom I'm working with says she wants her teen girl's bedding to be pink while FUNKY PINK BEDDING is more in line with what's on her daughter's radar. I have a knack for getting in the middle of the battle of wills between teenage girls and their mothers, don't I?

lime green hot pink sheer curtains bedroom window treatments drapes pattern ideas

The problem is that moms want to hang onto their baby girls as long as possible which means they want to keep the pastel pink bedroom in tact long after the toddler stage. When tweens and preteen girls are ready to jazz things up a bit the bedroom makeover can get ugly.

My job is to reach a compromise if at all possible and my advice to parents is to let the girls have their funky pink bedding! There are so many bigger (and more important) issues that so long as the lime green and funky pink bedding is tasteful why sweat the small stuff?

How do you like these lime green and pink curtains with the lime green and hot pink bedding in the pictures? I tried all pink as well as all lime green window treatments but I believe the combination of the two colors actually works better with the teen girls bedding. What do you think?

Sunday, April 4, 2010

How to Brighten a Dark Room





The first tip I would share with anyone asking how to brighten a dark room would be to figure out whether the room actually needs lightening or brightening. I learned the hard way that they are not one and the same. You can add more light through natural sources, through adding lamps and light fixture as well as mirrors to reflect and amplify but still have a dull, lifeless bedroom that has no personality. Basically what you have is a well lit room that lacks pizzazz!

What you need to know is how to brighten a dark room without sunlight and running up the electric bill. You can buy a new comforter set choosing bright fabrics and change the wall color to something cheerful if you have the funds for a complete makeover. But if you are looking for less expensive decorating ideas look for ways to rev up the engine of the paint and bedding set that you already have in place.

Bright, energetic artwork is a cheap way to pump life into an otherwise lethargic space. Choosing art prints and accent pieces with movement and bright colors is the key to bringing your bedroom to life. Skip the dark colors, the still life pictures, landscapes and the floral arrangements. Look for prints that have twirling, spinning graphics and a bold splash of color for the best results. Even though light colors will never never brighten up a dark room. Dark colors can make the space seem small and dim.

Dancing prints work well with most teenage girls bedding bedding sets as well as sports prints. Basically, anything that is bright as well as lighthearted should do the trick.

NERD WALL ART

nerd wall art wallpaper bedroom decals sticker

Find it at scribbleoneverything.com


This decal that a client's daughter presented to me as nerd wall art that she wants as a focal point in her "nerd bedroom" (her words not mine, evidently being nerdy is very cool these days) is a painful reminder that I didn't apply myself when I was in high school. I was not the only teenage girl who memorized the periodic table of elements just long enough to pass chemistry class so I was not an odd duck.


Today nerds are the new "IN CROWD" and this young girl is perhaps the leader of the pack because she is drop dead gorgeous and not your dingy absent minded professor type either! Good looking, high achievers like her have become so trendy that they are developing their own decorating style and nerd decor like this decal and other pieces of nerd wall art are popping up all over the place!

In light of the monochromatic nature of the nerd wall art, I have to find a set of bedding and take her bedroom furniture and the headboard to her bed to be painted with flat black paint to match the periodic table wall poster and decals that she bought at scribbleoneverything.com.


Since I signed on to decorate this young lady's self-proclaimed nerd bedroom I have hopes that I get more jobs working for the intellectual set because I have my eye on some Legend of Zelda bedding that I'm dying to use teen girls bedding set in a gamer bedroom design.