Make your Bedroom a stylish escape

Posted on April 5, 2011 by Nancy DeVries
 

How many of you can honestly say that you just love being in your bedroom because it makes you feel relaxed and cozy? I wonder if it is more than half of us. Even for my own bedroom, I feel like it is a work in progress, and so I was inspired to write this article. What would I do to make my bedroom more of a stylish room that I could escape to? 

Make your own headboard

I built my own headboard using an old door, quilting batting and a remnant of fabric from the Robert Allen showroom. Some other headboard ideas would be using stylish old doors, decorative screens, or a custom made fabric headboard.  For those of you who have had the same dark wood headboard for the past 25 years that you still like, why not consider painting it a white or cream colour to freshen up the look?

Refresh your walls

We all know that a new wall colour can transform a room and that couldn’t be more true than in your bedroom. Whether it is creating an accent wall (usually the headboard wall) or tackling the whole room, consider toned colours that will make you feel calm and serene. If you want to add pattern, chose a large patterned design wallpaper you feel you will love for a few years.

York Wallcoverings

Change your fabrics

Choices for bedding styles and colours have never been so plentiful, so why not give yourself the flexibility of changing your bedroom style just by changing your duvet cover? But remember, if you are going to purchase new bedding and you want to repaint or wallpaper your room, find your bedding first and use that as your inspiration for what to put on your walls.

Ed’s Linens

Upgrade your window dressing

Did you know that getting the proper amount of good sleep is imperative to our well-being. Room darkening shades can help get that much needed rest, and keep your room as dark as you would like, allowing your body, mind, and soul to recuperate. Some window blinds also help with sound absorption, for those of you living in highrises on busy streets. The cost of these options are a small price to pay for years of good night’s sleeping.

Hunter Douglas Duette Blackout Shades

 

Change your lighting mood

Some bedrooms do not have a ceiling mounted light fixture, but for those who do, how many  have the typical “boob” light fixture? It’s time to change that up! There are so many fabulous drop ceiling light fixtures available at very affordable prices. So get out your electrical toolkit or hire your handy brother-in-law to install a new chandelier or funky drumshade light fixture. You will just love how much that can change the light quality of your space! And don’t forget to purchase a dimmer switch so you can create a cozy mood as you create your new tranquil escape into dreamland!

Source

Posted in Bedding, Bedroom design, Colour, Lighting, Wallpaper, Window Blinds | 1 Comment

How to add low cost style to your Dining room

Posted on February 28, 2011 by Nancy DeVries

How to add low cost style to your Dining room

Even though it’s cold outside, we can pass away the time until spring’s arrival. So book a few more dinner parties with your friends and enjoy an evening in your dining room. Here are a few budget friendly suggestions to spruce up this space with style:

1) Style what’s under your feet.  An area carpet can add the right touch and add warmth your feet while you enjoy your dinner. Remember the carpet should extend 18-24” beyond your table to ensure all chair legs will be on the carpet while in use.

Vanessa DeLeon Associates

2) Colour drama. Create a dramatic space with a warm, rich colour such as Benjamin Moore’s Etruscan AF 355. Not only can it create an intimate look, but it will complement your wood furniture. Rich colours just seem to glow when accent lit by candlelight.  

Arch-Interiors Design Group Inc.

3) Dazzle with the right light fixture.  Make this focal point of your room something special. One of the latest styles is the drum shade light fixture or a pleated fabric rectangular shade over a long rectangular table. A way to update your existing chandelier is to add a mesh drum shade overtop of your fixture.  Remember the bottom of the chandelier should be 30”-34” above your table surface. Use dimmers for total mood control.

waterfall-inspired beaded chandelier

Vanessa DeLeon Associates

4) Refresh your fabrics.  It only takes a few yards of fabric to recover the dining chair seats so it’s not an expensive splurge to update. Look for remnant sales at fabric stores to save a bundle.  It’s a great way to go bold!

Source

5) Dress up your windows. There are so many low cost ways to dress up your windows.  Hang premade curtain panels from a swing arm curtain rod.  The fabric can be in a multi coloured stripe satin or silk lined panels. Drapes not only help with drafty windows, they also soften sounds in a hard wood furniture room.

Urban Aesthetics

 If you are interested in styling your dining room, contact Nancy to book your in home consultation.

Posted in Colour, Drapes, Lighting, Uncategorized, Wallpaper | Leave a comment

10 decor need to have for 2011

Posted on February 25, 2011 by Nancy DeVries

Ten Décor tips for your home in 2011

1) Use wallpaper! If you haven’t already, you need to know that it’s not your mother’s wallpaper anymore!

2) Use pattern and color. Remember to vary the size and shape of the patterns. It will give you a unique and personal style.

3) Go green with your fabrics. The selection for reprocessed pre- consumer recycled fibre fabrics is increasing almost every day. It’s not only hip & smart to use, but stylish as well.

4) Bring out your gold and brass accessories. They are the comeback metal of 2011.

gold bedroom decorating

5) Soothe yourself with the colour pink! It’s the 2011 colour of designers.

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6) Use fresh and clean colours when you are selecting paint colours.  

7) Have a statement light fixture. If nothing else is exciting in your dining room, hang a fabulous light that will dazzle your appetite!  

  John-Richard Collection Veiled Shade Chandelier

 8)  De-clutter your rooms with stylish organization.  Use decorative boxes on book shelves if you need to clean up in a hurry.

9) Bring in geometric patterns like herringbone and hexagonal in such things like your area carpet, an over scale stencil for your walls or in your kitchen tile backsplash.

10) Do make your home décor style a showcase of who you are and what’s important to you. The value of your style is not about the cost but what it means to you.

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4 ways to add Personality to your Living room

Posted on January 31, 2011 by Nancy DeVries

4 ways to add Personality to your Living rooom  Decorating styles for our homes in the past decade has been referred to as safe, beige, casual and stuck in a rut.  

 The reality is now people want to move forward and bust out of that safe zone by being more open to having fun colours and patterns on their walls and furniture.  People want more personality, more of themselves injected in to their spaces and as a decorator that is what I love to hear.  And since most of us already have our beige basics, it doesn’t have to cost a fortune to personalize a space.  Here are some ways to add a little personality to your rooms:  

 1.            Decorative Fabrics – A great way to get the most bang for your buck is to use fabrics with current colours and dramatic patterns for toss cushions or drapery panels.  Any toss cushion tufted with button finishing shows a great tailored look.  

  

2.            Wallpaper – Another way to add a dramatic touch to your space even if you only wallpaper 1 accent wall. You could have a geometric pattern in monotone colours or have a large patterned design with lots of colours.  

   

3.            Art work – It costs just as much to frame a poster as it does a piece of original artwork.  So whether you frame your child’s artwork, a floral photograph or a poster from an art show at the gallery, having it on your walls instead of nothing at all, will always add personality and style.   

Photo by Nancy DeVries

4.            Room Jewellery –This is something you can add to any room. Place that special vase you bought on your last vacation front and center on your book shelf or console table; modernize your dining room light fixture with a drum-shade pendant or something more sparkly; update your kitchen backsplash with glass tiles to add reflection and color; hang a collection of framed photos of a family trip in your hallway; roll out a new area carpet; change up the toss cushions on your sofa. These are all great ways to add some pizzazz to your home.  

 

 

Next month look in your mailbox for tips on making your dining room a space with purpose.

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5 Tips on using colour in the home

Posted on December 9, 2010 by Nancy DeVries
  1. Design your room with a colour scheme in mind.
  2. Choose your fabric or furniture first so you have a point of inspiration.
  3. Try a larger paint sample before committing to painting the whole room
  4. Colour can show up in accessories such as pillows or in your artwork.
  5. Paint your ceiling a colour to liven up your room.

Use colour and let a colour professional take your ideas and show you how to make it all work together in your home!

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