Are you the sort who sees your bedroom as nothing more than a place where you put your bed and sleep, or do you see your bedroom as your own special space? For many a bedroom is a place that is theirs alone and has to reflect their sense of who they are. They take great delight in their bedroom decor and selection of bedroom furniture and in particular the bed they choose to sleep in, and great delight in the overall feel of their bedroom as an intimate place.
If you’re one of the former then this article probably won’t appeal much. If your bedroom is a place where you sleep and get dressed, and that’s the extent of your attachment to your bedroom, then who cares what it looks or feels like?
But if you love being in your bedroom you’ll probably love decorating it, taking your time choosing your bed and your bedding, lying in in the mornings to take delight in your surroundings and generally feeling good in your own special room. This article is written for you.
Refurbishing is all the rage now, and for many refurbishing their bedroom is high on their list. So if you’re designing your bedroom new, or refurbishing, here’s a few things you might like to think about before you start buying at the store.
1. Have a plan. It’s easy to see a great bed, love it, buy it and then wonder what else you’ll put with it to make it fit in with the room. Before you buy anything for your bedroom you need to decide on a few basic things and preferably write down a decoration plan.
What theme is your bedroom to be? For a child it might be a Winnie the Pooh theme for example, for an adult it might be a color or a period. Or perhaps a certain style of furnishing. You need to decide on an overall theme for your bedroom decorations, then select your bed, bedding and general bedroom furniture to go along with that theme. Including paint color and carpet color of course. Write it all down and plan it all before you start buying.
2. Cost and budget. It’s usually not a cheap matter doing a total bedroom refurbishment, or setting up a new bedroom from scratch. You need to know how much you have to spend and how much each item costs. No point in buying that wonderful four poster bed you’ve always wanted then being unable to afford the right bedding to make it look great. As well as the bed your sheets, duvet cover, pillows and so on all need to fit in with your theme, so you need the budget to stretch to buying it all, including the right carpet and paint and general bedroom furniture as well, bedroom curtains included. Write down your budget as well as your theme, price everything before you start buying and make sure you know firstly what every item costs before you start and also that the total cost is within your budget.
3. Size. You need to know exactly what size your bedroom is. This needs to be included in your plan. It’s no good deciding on that wonderful four poster bed (that fits within your budget) and that beautiful dressing table, and oh those blanket boxes that look so good in timber, and so on, then finding that it’s such a squeeze fitting it all in that it’s almost impossible to move around your bed. Many people have been caught in the trap of buying then finding that the wonderful bedroom they planned to have is almost unusable because there is so little space left after adding the bedroom furniture.
4. Getting it all into the bedroom. For many this isn’t an issue, but for some it is. If your bedroom is up the stairs, around the corner and through a narrow door then you have to consider how you are going to get all that bedroom furniture in. For most pieces of furniture such as dressers and tables, it’s usually possible, but it’s also possible to buy large items, like that wonderful four poster bed, and finding that you just can’t get it through the door. Before you buy the four poster bed make sure you take your measurements of things like widths of your bedroom doors and any other squeeze points that will need to be negotiated to get the bed in.
Find out how it breaks down for example, or if it even does, and make sure you know exactly how it will go in before you buy that wonderful four poster.
For those who love their personal bedroom space having a well designed, well thought out, well decorated and well furnished bedroom is a delight. Make sure you do your basic homework before you start buying or you may find that your special bedroom is not such a delight. Get it right and you’ll love it.
April 19, 2011
The Basics of Bedroom Furnishing and Decorating
February 26, 2010
Home Interior Design Ideas For Children
Designing and decorating living space for children can be a very fun and exciting part of home Interior design. It’s easy to let your imagination go because children are very creative and imaginative on their own. That’s also why it’s a good idea to include children in the planning stages of your design as they can often come up with great ideas on their own that you would never think of.
Probably one of the best places to start on designing a theme for a child’s room is to start with their own favorite activity or interest. Of course, as children grow up their interests often change dramatically, so try to decorate in such a way that the accessories can be changed as a child gets older and gets more interested in other activities. But usually, children will get very excited if they know that their room will be decorated to reflect their favorite interests. Just be sure to go over it carefully with them in advance to get their input on what they really like. That way your Interior design will be sure to be a hit.
When designing and decorating for children, one of the advantages is that you can often choose color schemes and combinations that you do not often use in adult surroundings. In fact, you can often go much brighter and bolder with colors that you select for children. You can also arrange the room in a different way then you would normally with most adult rooms. For instance, a chalkboard or toy box may be the centerpiece of a child’s room, and this would be far more appropriate than making a seating arrangement the focal point instead.
The accessories that you choose for a child’s room will also be completely different than those that you choose for an adult. Toys and collectibles make great accessories for the room of a child. However, the child may want to play with these toys instead of just leave them on display. In this case, it may be advisable to buy duplicates of the toy accessories. One set can be used for display, and the other set can be used as an actual toy. It’s also not best to use collectibles that are of high value in a child’s room. Remember, children just want to have fun. And they aren’t thinking about the price or cost of a collectible item. So whatever collectibles you choose to use as decorations in your child’s room should not be so expensive that it would cause a problem if it became broken.
Another great way to spice up the appearance of a child’s room is to use one of the millions of available bed treatments as a central theme that fits in with the overall design of the room. Usually these kind of bed treatments packages come as a full set that includes matching sheets, a comforter, dust ruffle, and window coverings. Altogether, these can quickly change the overall appearance of the child’s room very fast. Once again, just make sure that you involve your child in the buying decision process to make sure that it is something that they will be happy with.
When changing the overall theme of a child’s room, just keep in mind that most changes you make should not be considered to be permanent at this stage in their life. It’s not uncommon to have to change the theme of a child’s room every couple of years or so to stay up with their changing interests. And kids are very hard on their furniture as a general rule. So there is no need to be buying expensive furniture and accessories that may only last a short while or get ruined.
Finally and most importantly, the focus of all home interior design ideas for your children can be summed up in two words, have fun!
