Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Life

Category: Interior Design

  • Best ways to cozy up your family room or den

    One of the best ways to ensure your family life doesn’t turn into a “ships passing in the night scenario” is to create a space in your home for the entire family to congregate spontaneously. Choosing the right family room decor is the best way to cozy up your family room or den. As the days get shorter and less time is spent outdoors, it’s important to create a family room to retreat to.

    Comfortable Seating is Key

    Comfortable seating for the entire family and then some is key to a successful family room setup. Whether you place the couch against a wall or float it in a larger, open-plan house, think not about enough seating for the family and a few guests, but about enough lounging area for everyone. Even if you don’t own a pair of sweatpants, the family room is a place to sprawl, not the place to worry about your posture.

    Sectionals are great for letting family members do just that. They also have the advantage of separating off a portion of a room. The DIY alternative to this is built-ins along the walls with corner seating. Add some oversized, comfy lounge chairs and several ottomans and you’ll have flexible seating for you, your children, and their friends.

    Invest in furniture that comes with washable slipcovers or that’s made from easy-to-clean surfaces like leather or vinyl. If you must use white or off-white in your family room, washable, stain guarded slipcovers for upholstered surfaces are a must.

    Rugs up the Cozy Factor

    The other big family room investment you should make is in a rug that’s both easy to clean and plush. When the playoffs are on and it’s game night, you may have more guests than you can seat and the overflow will have to make do with throw cushions and the floor.

    Go overboard on the cushion and throw front. We tend to use our family rooms at the end of the day and at the end of the week when we’re already tired and want to relax without exerting a lot of energy. Stretching out with a comfy pillow at your back and a cozy throw to keep you warm (even if the movie turns out to be a two-and-a-half-hour marathon) might just be the best leisure activity you participate in all week.

    Traffic Flow Matters

    Pay particular attention to traffic flow and conversational (or viewing) seating areas when planning your family room decor. Floating a couch several feet from the wall that contains the room’s entryway means people can enter and exit the room from other areas without having to pause the movie to let newcomers squeeze by.

    Basement Family Rooms

    If your family room is in the basement, you may have to work a little harder to get a cozy vibe. Invest in some really comfy seating and try to keep things low (including any wall art). In a room with low ceilings, hanging pictures at seated eye level is crucial.

    Alternatively, perhaps instead of artwork or photos, create a curated wall that has texture: old skis and snowshoes painted white and mounted on the wall above the couch; a collection of straw hats or baskets; or a net full of shells you’ve collected on your beach vacations.

    If you have exposed pipes or beams, don’t feel obliged to close in the ceiling. You can go one of two ways with a basement den ceiling: paint it the same color as the room, or use a contrasting shade that accentuates the obvious.

    Family Room Storage is Essential

    Make sure you build in storage space for toys, games, devices, and books. You’re probably going to want a TV and a surround sound system. Now is the time to think about how various family members are going to want to use the space.

    If you don’t mind your kids listening to music while they do their homework, you might want to consider creating not only a family game area but also a study area. Your young scholars may feel less like they’re being punished when doing their homework if they’re also hanging out with the rest of the family. Even if you don’t want to create a study area in the den, you’ll need a table of some sort for cards and board games.

    Don’t forget there will be snacks, whether they’re s’mores or popcorn. While you won’t necessarily want to create a formal dining area in your family room, a dedicated table or buffet where you can put out all the snacks and guests can help themselves is a good idea, while a small bar fridge can save you trips back and forth to the kitchen with chip dip and drinks. Other ideas: a play area for younger kids and a billiards, pool, or ping pong table or dartboard for the adults. If you invest the time in planning the best ways to cozy up your family room or den, it will become not your home’s centerpiece, but rather its heart.

  • How to Decorate a Master Bedroom – Creating a Peaceful Oasis

    It’s possible one of the reasons you’re not sleeping as much as you should is that you haven’t invested enough time or thought in how to furnish or style your bedroom. Here are some tips on how to decorate a master bedroom to create a peaceful oasis you can retreat to at the end of the day.

    Paint the master bedroom a color you find soothing

    When choosing a color, remember that it’s not going to be seen in natural light very often. That may mean going a shade or two lighter if you’ve picked a darker color. Think about your bed linens and the color range they’re in. While black and white high-contrast subway tiles work well in bathrooms and kitchens, try to choose a color palette for the master bedroom that incorporates different shades of the same color and save the accents and “pops” of color for throw pillows, decorative objects, artwork, and plants.

    Digitally declutter

    While we all unwind in different ways, there seems to be consensus that digital devices hinder the process. Consider performing a digital declutter of your bedroom, removing everything from televisions to digital clock radios. You may still need to set an alarm to wake up, but if you use your cell phone’s alarm with the ringer turned off, you won’t really need another alarm clock. Try to ban computers from the master bedroom entirely. If you really want to watch TV in bed, invest in an armoire with doors that close so you don’t have to look at it when it’s not in use.

    Consider investing in a four-poster bed or an upholstered headboard

    Regardless of your decorating style, there are four-poster beds that can work in both modern and traditional bedrooms. Whether you choose to add curtains or not, a four-poster gives you a visual sense of isolation that makes the bed seem like a sanctuary.

    If you read in bed, an upholstered headboard can make a world of difference to your comfort, too.

    Follow the rule of threes

    Keep decorative items to a minimum in your master bedroom and follow the rule of threes. Dresser and nightstand tops can easily become very cluttered. If you love pottery or glassware, collect three different pieces and arrange them on a dresser. Bonus points if the decorative items are also functional—small jars in which you can stash earrings, tie pins, or loose change, seagrass baskets that can hold scarves, or boxes of different materials and materials.

    Green it up

    Plants (and water) are what makes a room an oasis. While you’re not likely to be able to keep a date palm alive in a master bedroom, adding a big plant gives you not only visual interest and a huge shot of green, but the oxygen plants produce at night can help you sleep better. Since you’re probably going to have the curtains or blinds closed most of the time in your master bedroom, consider plants that thrive in low or diffused light, like peace lilies.

    Add a seating area

    Depending on how big your master bedroom is, you may be able to create a seating area with a couple of chairs and a small table, or build a window seat (with storage for extra blankets and pillows, out-of-season clothes, or board games) so you can watch the world go by on rainy days or read a book. If your room isn’t big enough, a blanket box or sturdy storage ottoman at the foot of the bed will work, as will an armless slipper chair in a corner.

    Invest in window coverings that work for you

    You may want to consider investing in both curtains and blinds or heavy lined drapes to keep light out. That goes for natural light and the sun’s tendency to poke through eastern exposures long before you actually want to wake up, as well as street lights whose glare might make getting to sleep harder.

    Splurge on your bed linens

    Good sheets may be the best investment you can make when decorating a master bedroom. Quality cotton sheets won’t pill and they start to feel like silk after multiple washings. Rather than choosing sheets with busy patterns, consider buying only plain colors, sheets with satin stripes, or very small patterns, and save the patterns and textures for your throw pillows, which are meant to be decorative.

    Ultimately, how you choose to decorate a master bedroom is up to you. Now that you’re an adult and “go to your room!” is no longer a punishment, your master bedroom décor should reflect that while ensuring you get the kind of rest you need.

  • Laundry Room Renovation Tips

    The average lifespan of washers and dryers is less than 15 years these days, although your mileage may vary. While no one jumps for joy at the expense and inconvenience involved in replacing major appliances, replacing your washer and dryer is a great incentive to do a laundry room remodel.

    The good news is that by choosing the right new appliances and renovating your laundry room, you can create a space that maps to your workflow. Whether you do laundry on a daily basis or have family laundry marathons once a week, designing a layout that works for you and your family will make this chore less onerous. You’ll also be able to invest in energy-efficient appliances that will save you money over time and may also save you major wear and tear on your clothes.

    Here are some laundry room renovation tips to think about before starting your remodel.

    Upgrade your lighting

    No matter where your laundry room is located, good lighting is almost as important in this area of the home as it is in the kitchen. You can’t pretreat a stain you can’t actually see. This is especially important in basement laundry areas without a lot of natural light.

    With so many lighting options out there, get rid of any fluorescent tubes and harsh lighting that can create shadows and glare. Invest in some ceiling pot lights and make sure you’ve got good lighting over your laundry sink and washer area, since that’s where you really need to see stains that need to be treated before hot water and hot air cause them to set permanently.

    Get some storage systems

    Depending on how you organize family chores, doing laundry may be a centralized or a decentralized chore. Does each member of your family converge on the laundry room with their individual baskets of dirty clothes to do their own laundry? If so, you probably won’t need as much storage space as a family that’s delegated the task to a single person. If dirty clothes are stored in the laundry room before being washed, you’ll need more storage space and some pre-sorting bins to speed up the actual process. Pull-out bins in lower cabinets will help.

    If you have the space, a hanging rack for clothes that may not need much (or any) ironing will let you get on with the necessary folding without letting wrinkles set in freshly washed clothes, creating more work for yourself later on. A drying rack for clothes that can survive machine washing but will shrink in the dryer is a great idea too.

    And of course, an area set aside for ironing in the laundry room is a necessity unless you iron somewhere else. There are lots of space-efficient ironing board over-door systems available now with racks to hold both the board and the iron.

    If you don’t have any cabinets in your laundry room to hide bottles or boxes of laundry detergent, bleach, stain treatments, and dryer sheets and you’re replacing your appliances anyway, invest in under-appliance drawers to store these items. They need to be accessible, but they don’t need to be on display.

    Create the counter space you need

    Front-loading washers are game-changers in many ways. They use less energy and less water, and the fact that they spin rather than agitate means less wear and tear, and therefore longer life, for your clothes. But they are also amazing space savers. If you have enough space to install your washer and dryer side by side rather than stacking them, a two- or three-sided countertop that fits over your washer and dryer gives you a flat surface for folding.

    If space is at a premium and you have to stack your laundry appliances, you can install a folding table that doesn’t take up space or get in the way as you try to get to the washer and dryer.

    Make it pretty

    For those who consider laundry a thankless task, an undecorated, poorly designed space just makes it worse. And for those who actually like doing laundry, why spend time in an ugly room with no redeeming features? Invest in some bold paint or wallpaper or a piece of art that isn’t going to be adversely affected by heat and humidity and give it pride of place on the wall above your appliances or the one you’ll be facing while folding or ironing. Small quilts, handmade rugs and wall hangings that bring you joy are perfect.

    You don’t need to paint or wallpaper the whole room. Think of the area behind your appliances as a feature wall. It’s a small, low-traffic area that can be transformed with a pint of paint and no more than two rolls of wallpaper. And once you’ve finished your laundry room remodel, you may find you don’t hate doing laundry anymore.

  • Creating reading nooks or libraries

    Curling up with a good book can be as relaxing as meditating. Creating reading nooks throughout your home or dedicating a room as a library is one way to ensure you design a few quiet moments for yourself every day. Getting lost in a book can happen within a single paragraph.

    Consider some of these ideas when designating reading areas and creating reading nooks for your family of readers.

    kid inside a reading tent

    Kids’ reading corners

    From teepees to tents, forts, and caves, kids love to explore secret, exotic spaces and they’re very partial to anything kid-accessible and kid-sized.

    For a two or three-year-old, you can make a nifty A-frame fort out of a cardboard box, re-engineered and trimmed with colorful masking tape. A thick blanket folded becomes the carpet, while washable throw pillows give it that cozy setting that can easily turn skimming a picture book into a little nap.

    You can even create a reading nook for a child in your home office. Mount two tension rods between two tall filing cabinets, curtain the space front and back, add a soft cotton rug, a body pillow, some cushions and a throw, and you have an instant, comfy cave where your child can read and you can tackle emails, Facebook and Instagram.

    If you’ve got the space, create pirate ship reading nooks for at least two children from a single old boat cut in half. Lined with blankets and cushions, it’s the perfect space for a small person to crawl into and set sail for lost planets and imaginary worlds.

    Teepees, pod chairs, even a series of milk crates in a corner with cushions on top (bonus: you can store books in the crates) set aside space for reading and quiet time in your children’s lives.

    Grown-up reading corner ideas

    If you’ve got a dormer or a bay window, you may be able to build in a classic window seat with shelving at the ends and drawers underneath, a bench cushion, some pillows and a throw. Natural light is always best for reading, and you often see window seats like this on stairwell landings in stately mansions with deep window wells.

    Don’t despair if you don’t have a suitable space for a window seat. Any low-traffic corner can become a reading, meditation, or contemplative nook in your home. Try setting aside a corner on the front porch and designating it a phone and sound-free zone. A Papasan or birdcage chair or even a hammock, a large potted plant for privacy and a very small table or shelf just large enough to hold a book are all you need.

    Designate a corner in your living room, furnish it with your most comfortable chair and an ottoman or pouf, add a screen that hides you and you’ve got an instant retreat in plain sight. Depending on how much and what kind of use your living room gets, you may want to put your headphones on and listen to music while you read.

    Or you might be able to open up the area under your stairs and create a nook very similar to a window seat in style and furnishings. You won’t have the advantage of natural light, but you can make the space both quieter and more private by hanging heavy velvet curtains and installing shelving.

    An attic reading nook is a wonderful retreat. If you’re planning some renovations anyway, invest in a large, unusually shaped window for the front or back of the attic to take advantage of as much natural light as possible. A large triangular window follows the shape of a peaked-roof wall and if you invest in triple glazing it won’t let too much heat in. A wicker emperor chair, a small Oriental rug, some oversized leafy tropical plants and a vintage-styled chaise longue could work here. Or you could go modern, with a contemporary leather chaise, color block rug and some angular snake plants or large cacti. One way or the other, you’ll have created a comfortable reading nook and gained a discreet bird’s eye view of the neighborhood. If the rest of the attic is used for storage and spoils the getaway mood, invest in a screen so you can you really get it out of sight and therefore mind. One final thought: silent book clubs are gaining in popularity these days. Instead of sitting with a group of friends in a cafe reading, why not create a DIY version of the silent book club by making reading space in your home. The entire family can spend half an hour once a week reading together quietly and companionably, sipping on hot chocolate and escaping into other worlds and lives.

  • Clever Ways to Change Decor Seasonally

    The last postcards of summer landed in your mailbox a few weeks ago and the kids are scuffling through sidewalks full of leaves on their way to school. It’s time to change out the beach glass and shells in favor of autumnal decor. Here are a few unique decorating ideas that will help you apply a little seasonal love to your home.

    Borrow from Nature

    Oddly shaped colored squashes, clusters of changing leaves and bundles of dried wheat stalks will add a seasonal touch to your living space.

    You can simply add seasonally suggestive colors in overlooked but highly visible places in your home: a seasonal centerpiece instantly enhances the dining room. Plants on kitchen counters and cabinets refer you to the season in which they flourish. Windows cry out for a bit of the natural world they allow you to look out upon. You can capitalize on this by changing curtain colors and the cozies you put on your sills. 

    Elsewhere around the house, when the weather is crisp, a nubby white throw blanket adds a cup full of cozy to any living room. In spring, pussy willows, sky blues and fresh fruit like lemons or berries enliven a kitchen, just as clusters of fresh cut garden flowers enliven a screened in porch when the fireflies are lighting up summer evenings and there’s a paddle posed against the front door.

    Try putting some seasonal fruit in the kitchen. Indian corn left on a kitchen countertop brings the fall harvest inside with you. In addition, edible seasonal fruit makes an elegant decoration, especially if accompanied by branches, leaves, pinecones, and puffballs.

    Accessorize to Match the Season

    Seasonal pillows can give your furniture a sharp new look. Buy pillow covers in colors that suggest a season to you and change out the old for the new in five minutes’ time.

    Accessorizing is a great way to redecorate quickly and cheaply. You can add a seasonal wreath to your front door woven out of branches of turning leaves interspersed with dried mushrooms, corn husks, and strands of straw. Closer to Thanksgiving, you’ll want to trade this for an evergreen wreath or something holiday-inspired. Take mental notes on colors and plants as the seasons change. Be crafty, and trust your own instincts when it comes to what the season means to you.

    Seasonal Sleeping Quarters

    You can also switch out your linens to boost your desire to sleep each night by way of a seasonally inviting bedspread. In warmer months, airy sheets in cool bright hues like turquoise or butter lemon spice up the night, and when the weather starts to cool, exchange your bedding for a  weighty comforter in dark, warm shades. In colder climates, the switch from cotton to flannel sheets signals the start of both winter and the festive season.

    A new area rug can pull a room together. These floor coverings are so portable, inexpensive, and useful they can transform any space through any seasonal change.

    Use Distinct Seasonal Themes

    For fall, welcome the cool weather with bouquets of changing leaves. Then create a unique centerpiece for your table, and decorate above your kitchen cabinets with colored squashes and leaves of different sizes.

    In winter, keep up the cozy theme you started for fall. Use plaid patterns that bring to mind cabins and wool blankets. You can also rely on shades of brown, red, and green. When the snow flies, incorporate icy blues and moonlit silvers in your interior decor scheme.

    In spring, lavish flowers and fresh scents in every room always help create a clean, fresh, and airy feel. A large vase of flowers reminds everyone of the then very welcome seasonal change, as do items connoting warmer weather, like small decorative bicycles and red wagons on the porch or just inside the front door.

    In summer, seashells and driftwood make perfect decorating elements for your mantel or hearth. Sheer white curtains billow to announce the season in front of open windows that blow the freshness of summer warmth throughout your home.

    Seasonal Decor by Holiday

    Holidays are often decorated for, and so doing can summon the aura of entire seasons themselves. Here are some basics of the upcoming festivities.

    • Halloween: Use classic jack-o-lanterns on your porch and candy corn in decorative bowls to decorate for Halloween. Try some of the less-usual pumpkin shapes and colors to keep things classy and fresh.
    • Thanksgiving: Place a cornucopia centerpiece on the family table.
    • Christmas: Plenty of lights, of course, and holly berries or poinsettias bring a natural vibe to the most wonderful time of the year.
    • Valentine’s Day: Use hearts and doilies in colors of red, pink, and white throughout the home.
    • St. Patrick’s Day: Classic green shamrocks look splendid adorning your mantel or front door.
    • Easter: Pastel-colored eggs make the perfect accent in a clear vase, surrounded by fresh sprigs of lilac.
    • Fourth of July: Use red, white and blue accents where you can.

    Let your imagination be your guide as the seasons change, and you’ll find inspiration in nature for your unique decorating ideas.

  • How to Create a Craft or Sewing Room

    Making and enjoying crafts requires space to spread out and be creative and to quickly store your masterpiece-in-progress whenever you’re interrupted or called away. In addition, you’ll need even more space to store the materials and tools you use in an organized and productive way.

    You can start small with a corner desk in a spare room, or double up so your home office allows you to do personal work. Or you can find space in your basement, addition, or heated garage. Before you create a room of your own, think about craft room decor at the start and you’ll end up with a room that’s not only functional, but one you want to spend time in..

    Lighting, a good, big working surface, storage, and easy access to tools are four of the most important aspects to creating room for your crafts. A devoted crafter needs a large working table, a storage cabinet, an easily organized and accessible grab-’n-go tool rack, and a sink or rough equivalent to get started.

    Lighting

    LED panels are cheap and quick to install. Go to a Home Depot or Lowe’s to find easy-to-install, plug-in lighting panels that will illuminate even the darkest space. 1000 lumens is more than enough light for the average-size room. A new 1000 lumen LED panel should cost you less than $60.

    Work Table

    Most kitchen counters are 31 inches above the floor. Using that as a guideline, a 31-inch surface  provides you with an easily accessible working platform that doesn’t require stretching or stooping.

    If you don’t have a folding table already, check online used shopping sites in your area for cheap or free tables. If you want or need to make a solid table, go to a local Habitat for Humanity ReStore and purchase an old hollow core door as a table surface. In larger cities, you could try your local Ikea and purchase a table or desk surface for less in the discount room, where the components of broken furnishings are unpacked and sold cheaply.

    Online shopping is useful not only for cheap, ready-made table surfaces, but also for free, broken tables. If you find one with functioning legs, detach its broken surface and reuse the legs for your hollow core door or Ikea desk surface. The advantage of screw-in legs is that they’re not bulky, so you can store other material you will need for your crafts right there at hand. Anything from fabrics to colored or wrapping paper can fit, and larger tools like hair dryers or paints might also be accommodated, depending on their size.

    Once the table is assembled, attach rulers or measuring tapes to two adjoining sides of your surface to help you measure your crafts quickly and easily. You can also use a yardstick to draw a square grid on the table surface with a pencil, then make these marks permanent with an indelible marker or chalk paint. You can attach magnetic strips to hold tools you will use for your crafts on the wall above the table.

    Storage Cabinet

    A lot of material goes into making crafts. You need to organize them or you’ll get buried in an avalanche of paper, ribbons, and fabric. When it comes to getting organized, you can store hangers for school-sized colored paper rolls on the back of your craft room’s door. It’s a little extra space bonus.

    Then,  find an old filing cabinet, a kitchen hutch, or a library card catalog in any one of your favorite thrift spots. Repaint your treasure so that it’s fresh (you could even color-code the partitions), then position it against an easily accessible wall and attach a light on a spring arm so you can root around in the various cubbies looking for that gorgeous spool of thread or ball of wool.

    Alternatively, find an old desk with many drawers. Remove the desktop and replace it with a thick sheet of glass. Now you have a second working surface that enables you to look into the storage drawers to locate things as they come to mind. On top of the repurposed desk, you could put a modular bookcase to store more material and tools.

    Grab-and-Go Tool Rack

    Do you sew, knit, or do paper crafts? You will need special tools for each craft. Organize your pencils and markers and your needles and scissors by color and size, and deposit them in visible and easily accessible mason or pickle jars. If you are short on jars, you may be able to find some at your local recycling center.

    If not, you can chop equal lengths (five to seven inches) of PVC piping with a hacksaw blade and glue them together with plumber’s adhesive. If you’re storing paint brushes, stuff strips of corrugated board into the open necks of the PVC containers to separate different colored brushes.

    Happy crafting!

  • How to Arrange Flowers Like a Pro

    Flower arrangement is an art that has had a recent resurgence of interest that includes workshops and a wealth of Instagram features. Millennials feel the draw to craft a personal treasure rather than picking something up at the supermarket. You can use flowers from the shop or your garden to create the perfect arrangement. Go from basic bouquets to masterpieces with these tips. 

    Explore various shapes and sizes

    Arranging flowers depends on the size and shape of the vase, as well as the blooms you plan to use. Keep in mind that a flared opening helps stems lean naturally. Mason jars are a staple in most DIY projects and available in a variety of sizes. They are especially suited for boho-style wildflowers. With a wide mouth and narrow neck, a vintage-style milk bottle is ideal for lush looks or simple arrangements of at least three statement blooms. Bowl and square containers can be a bit tricky at first, but the results are worth it. For a bowl vase, use Gerbera daisies or orchids. Cut stems at an angle to match the height of the vase. With a square vase, consider creating a grid using duct tape spanning the wide mouth and keeping heavier flowers in the center of the arrangement for balance. For a glam style, pedestal vessels are superb. Use floral foam to maintain hydration and placement. If you’re in a rush or prefer minimal work, a bud vase is a solid option. Use a single bloom or choose up to three, combining different shapes and sizes for an impactful arrangement. 

    Selecting flowers and leaves

    Every season has a few star blooms that dazzle any arrangement. Spring offers sweet peas, calla lilies and cherry blossoms. Fall is represented by carnations, begonias and petunias. Winters persevere with the help of primrose and sweet pea. Summer delights with dahlias, freesia and chrysanthemums. Filler flowers, such as baby’s breath and daisies, add unique visual texture to an arrangement. Leaves include Italian Ruscus, known for its narrow, tear-shaped fronds and ivy for romantic or vintage touches. Leatherleaf ferns offer a dramatic backdrop for bolder flowers and moss delights modern or whimsical arrangements. For gorgeous looks, select five types of flowers and two types of leaves. 

    Placing blooms and fronds

    Gather scissors, a vase, water and plant food. Remove extra leaves for clean stems. Hold the flowers up to your vase and trim to between one and one-and-a-half times the height of the vase. Cut the stems diagonally. Fill half the vase with water and add a scoop of plant food. Some people also use chicken wire as a base. Place statement flowers in the center and work secondary blooms around them. Adjust as needed. 

    From centerpieces and accents to mantel décor, a flower arrangement brightens up any space and invites compliments.

  • Chic and Classy Ways to Keep Your Dining Room a Comfortable Yet Beautiful Gathering Place

    The dining room as a family gathering place has been challenged in recent years as we lead busier lives. Sunday dinners featuring a roast shared with extended family are mostly long gone/nostalgic. Projects like Harvard’s The Family Dinner Project emphasize the need for families and communities to schedule regular times to share meals.

    If your dining room is the most underutilized space in your home, you may need some dining room inspiration to help you reclaim it. Whether you have dinner together as a family seven nights a week or can only manage a regular Sunday brunch, scheduling time to break bread with family and friends is important. Discover five decorating ideas to ensure your communal meals are held in a place that’s not only comfortable but beautiful.

    Dining room with mismatched chairs
    Dining room with mismatched chairs

    1. Mismatched dining chairs

    One of the biggest trends in home decor is dining chairs that don’t match. Introducing an eclectic component to your decorating scheme can have many benefits, including heightening the sense of individuality and belonging in what is often the most formal room in a home.

    Additionally, if different chairs really don’t appeal to you, modify the concept by painting identical wooden chairs different colors (just like color-coding family toothbrushes). Or, you can choose a series of complementary fabrics in colors that match your decorating scheme to reupholster the seats. It’s the same idea as throw pillows: not too focused on matching, but with a unifying color theme.

    Dining room with modern LED Lighting fixture
    Dining room with modern LED Lighting fixture

    2. New lighting

    There are so many beautiful and energy-efficient lighting fixtures available today that there’s no excuse to settle for something you don’t love. Changing an overhead light and installing a dimmer switch is one of the easiest and cheapest home renovations you can make. Good, adjustable lighting will dramatically increase your comfort.

    Lighting trends for 2019 include wicker and other natural fibers to add texture, asymmetry and even avant-garde shapes. If you’ve got a long, narrow dining room and rectangular furniture, add some curves with a few pendant lights that spotlight the head and foot of the table.

    Pages: 1 2

  • Create More Space and Freshen Up Dated Bathrooms with Remodels

    Since bathrooms are usually among the smallest rooms in the house, unless you’re doing a complete tear out and replace, a simple bath restoration can usually be accomplished in a weekend. That’s great news for folks looking to create more space and freshen up dated bathrooms with a remodel.

    Here are some suggestions for bath restorations that don’t cost an arm and a leg.

    Frame Your Mirror

    Wall-mounted, flat mirrors are great for reflecting light and making a small room look bigger. However, by framing the mirror, either with tiles or traditional wooden framing materials, you can make the ordinary look extraordinary. Since mirrors are a large feature of most bathrooms, this is probably the biggest bang you’ll get for your buck.

    Create a Bathroom Gallery

    Whether it’s a series of three whimsical prints identically framed or a larger collection of small art carefully arranged on a single wall, art in the bathroom is something you and your guests will both appreciate. There’s never been a rule that bathroom art has to be tacky, or that bathrooms have to be solely functional.

    Toilet bowl in modern bathroom interior

    Paint

    Try painting a wall or two in wide neutral stripes (two shades of the same color, for instance, on two walls that meet at a corner). Neutrals, soothing blues, greens, and grays work well, but the color you choose will have to work with your existing (or new) linens. Better to let your linens provide a pop of color than your walls. Also, try to avoid dark and shouty colors. Bubble gum pink is rarely a good idea in a bathroom.

    If you like your wall color, perhaps you could paint your vanity. With all the humidity in bathrooms (even if the fan is used religiously before, during, and after every shower), many wood vanities start to look shabby while they’re still perfectly functional. Pick an accent color that works with your linens and any other furniture you may have in the room. That includes shelving, ottomans, or small linen closets.

    Pages: 1 2

  • Creative Ways to Make the Most of Small Areas in Your Home

    As house prices and overall costs of living increase, space is at a premium. This may be for a variety of reasons, including because our families are growing or we’ve downsized. We all need to find creative ways to make the most of small areas in our homes so we can stay organized. Here are some great storage ideas for keeping things neat and tidy in tight quarters.

    Install Incremental Shelving

    Make use of odd spaces in various rooms to install floating shelves. This works particularly well in kitchens and bathrooms, where there tend to be many nooks and crannies. Small, floating shelves in a kitchen can hold cookbooks, decorative serving platters, cookware or baskets of linens.

    In a bathroom, floating shelves can hold cotton balls and Q-tips so they’re within easy reach but not cluttering up premium counter space. One shelf can hold guest towels. With all the racks and helpful storage devices available, look for ways to create a place for everything.

    Use purpose-made hooks on the inside of bathroom cupboard doors to hang curling irons, hair dryers and ceramic straighteners. Buy some decorative baskets and use them to store towels or toilet paper under a pedestal sink, if you’ve got one.

    Glass shelving is always a good option if you’re concerned shelving will make a room appear smaller.

    Take Advantage of Wasted Space

    Space under stairwells is almost always wasted space, and it’s infinitely customizable. Installing either open shelving or closing it off by adding cupboard doors means you can choose the size and shape of the shelves to hide the things you don’t want to get rid of but don’t need to access very often.

    If your kitchen’s small and there’s no way to install a pantry, you could create one under the basement stairs, or even under the stairs to the second floor.

    The area above the sink in most kitchens is almost always wasted space. If you hang a pot rack above the sink, there’ll be no time lag in getting clean pots put away. This way, they’ll always be accessible, and you’ll open up a lot more cupboard space.

    Other small areas in your home that aren’t being used, including hallways, are perfect spots to station a small storage ottoman or a bench with storage under the seat. If you have a coat rack in your hallway, consider buying a second one and mount it a foot and a half above floor level to use as a shoe rack.

    There’s also usually lots of potential storage space on the back of closet and cupboard doors. Shoe racks and spice holders can be easily mounted there.

    Installing drawers under beds is another great way to keep your closets from exploding and use otherwise wasted space. You may not be able to fit all your out-of-season clothes under the bed, but if you can store even half of them, you’re ahead of the game.

    If you want to take your storage and space solutions to the next level, a loft bed is the answer, especially in a child’s room. The area under the bed becomes a whole new play area. Just don’t forget to buy toy boxes and install some shelving underneath so you can maximize the space gain.

    Hide it in Plain Sight

    Consider mounting storage devices in plain sight. A holder for aluminum foil, waxed paper and cling wrap can easily be installed on the outside edge of your cupboards, and it will make them easier to find when you’re storing leftovers or making lunches.

    Small crates or shelving units don’t have to take up floor space—they can be mounted on walls. If you don’t want to display the things you need to store, invest in some baskets so task-related items stay together.

    If your entryway is big enough for a small table, it’s also big enough for a small dresser, which will provide all kinds of storage for messy but necessary items like hats, scarves, mittens and gloves, while still providing the flat surface you need for items you need to grab as you go out the door, whether that’s your keys,  library books that need to be returned, or dry cleaning that needs to be taken in.

    Since coffee tables tend to be magnets for clutter, think about replacing yours with one that has a little built-in storage for things you don’t want on display when guests are over, but that you still want to be able to find with ease (like the remote controls). A single drawer in a coffee table can help with that. Or you can use a blanket box as a coffee table and provide a home for all your family’s board games. The good news is that while your personal space may be shrinking, there are always great new storage ideas for small spaces.  If you invest in some of them, you’ll be able to get to “a place for everything and everything in its place” in next to no time.