Decorating

Decorating a bedroom can be a chore. For many of us, it is overwhelming. What color should the walls be? Do the window fixtures match the bedding? It can be complicated. The most important thing is to make the decision in a a holistic way. Here are some basic hints to help you out:

1) The 1st thing to consider is the color of your floor because it is the most difficult and expensive parts of your bedroom to change. For example, you can switch your bedding or drapes for less than $100, but switching carpet for hardwood floors will run many thousands of dollars.

2) After deciding how your floor is going to look, it's time to move along to the walls. White or off-white are the classic bedroom wall colors, but bolder colors like burgundy or forest green are gaining favor. I like off-white walls because of the versatility. If I desire a change after a few years, I can just swap out the bedding and drapes without worrying about repainting.

3) Next, pick the bedding, pillows, and window treatments. If you chose white of off-white walls, then any bedding will work-- your only challenge is to match the bedding and the drapes or blinds. If your walls are colored, you *must* match the drapes to the walls and, consequently, the bedding to the drapes. Remember, "match" does not mean "exactly similar." For example, sepia blinds work well with saffron walls. In that case, I recommend using sepia or other brown shades of bedding. One way to help with the matching is to select a quality bed in a bag set.

4) Select your accents. This is the fun part. There are really no right or wrong answers here. Let your personality shine through!

One of the most common questions I get is "How do I match colors?" For this, you should become familiar with the color wheel. Complimentary colors(across from each other) are traditional choices. Colors adjacent to complimentary colors are known as "clashing." This isn't always a problem, but be aware of it. Several consequential colors can work well, too. Just be aware of the options and experiment with different combination of color wheel positions and intensities.