Category Archives: My Blog

You might have noticed the abundance of the orange/blue color combo in movie posters recently, and it’s no accident. While orange blue represents Hollywood action movies very nicely, it can also turn your home into a soothing and cheerful place to be. That’s not to suggest that you paint your walls bright orange and paint all of your furniture blues (though please send us a picture if you do!), but the simple math says that if the Hollywood marketing juggernaut is using it, there’s a safe bet that there’s something to it.

Bright oranges, especially, are not something many people consider when decorating their homes. Hollywood follows the “more is always better” approach when it comes to aesthetics, but you can dial it down a good deal and end up with a fantastic-looking living room, bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, or nursery.

How do you bathe yourself in soothing blues and cheerful oranges without overdoing it? Simple: accents and wall art. Most decorators choose one main color for the room, a color which the walls, bedsheets, and accessories will closely adhere to. We suggest that you use blue for this color, as it’s easy to become overpowered with orange. Put this together with some simple orange accents, such as festive framed prints (or even solid color wall hangings), books with orange covers, or curtains with simple orange patterns and you’ll achieve this color combination without overdoing it.

A soft orange can also work for a room’s primary color, especially when balanced out with a deeper blue. This can give a room that warm, hazy look that recalls decades past but still looks modern and classy. Walls, sheets, and curtains are fairly easy to choose, and picking them out can be a mundane task, so we recommend putting the real effort into choosing the prints that will adorn them.

For a blue-centric room, look into prints of sunsets, prints of great autumn weather, fall landscapes, bright abstract paintings, and earth-toned prints of outdoor life. For orange-centric rooms, look into nautical prints (ships at sea, ocean life, beaches, etc.), outdoor photos focusing on blue skies and cool colors, and matching floral prints. The sky is the limit with what you choose, and it’s an absolute blast comparing photos, paintings, and prints with your blue or orange-centric rooms to see what works best and fits your sense of style.

In the end, it’s very easy to feel overpowered by an orange and blue room, but it’s worth putting the extra effort into choosing colors and home décor framed art. If good results are achieved, you’ll be swimming in a room that’s both calming and cheerful, thanks to tasteful color combinations and framed artwork for the bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, nursery, and beyond.

After ruining several great pictures (yard sale buys, of course) and a salvaged piece of carpeting from another room (it did look good in its earlier life), I decided recently that my girls’ room needed a decorating overhaul.

Since I decorate about as well as I cook, a trip to the library was a necessity, where I thumbed through home magazines and decorating books. There I found lots of great ideas for children’s rooms, some expensive, some not.

A few things to remember when decorating your child’s room:

*Use basic, neutral colors for the floor and walls. You can change the accessories occasionally as your child grows and his/her favorite color changes.

*Try to decorate in something that will grow with the child. While a baby rattle stencil may look charming when your child is firstborn, it will soon grow dated.

*Adhesive wall borders are perfect for children because they can be changed in a matter of minutes.

*Always select washable paint and machine-washable fabrics for a child’s room.

*Buy used furniture, when available. Don’t worry, after two weeks in a child’s room, ALL furniture will look used.

You can often use items already located in your child’s room to decorate or use inexpensive items (such as paint) to change the appearance.

*Does your son like baseball? Use part of his baseball cap collection as a valance for the window.

*Develop a decorating theme. Does your daughter have a doll collection? Decorate with dolls. Does your son like cars? Use his cars as the theme for the decoration in his room.

*Use paint to draw clouds or stars on the walls or ceilings. There are stencils available to those of us who are artistically challenged. Craft paint is inexpensive and can be used to stencil an entire room.

*Make a chalkboard using chalkboard paint or include a large chalkboard or bulletin board somewhere in the room. Kids can write notes or hang papers to give their room a more personal effect.

*Place a shelf around the entire room about 18 inches from the ceiling. It can be used to display stuffed animals or toys that are not used often.

*Hang sports jerseys or shirts in a boy’s room as “pictures.”

*Most importantly, use your imagination.

The term ‘recessionista’ began turning up in popular media last fall and since then, it spread out and has become well-known and fashionable to live a way of life that represents high elegance without paying a high cost. Here are some ideas for your home to give it a recession-style improvement.

You can reupholster the cushions of your sofa or dining room chairs by checking the clearance section at your neighborhood fabric shop. This can definitely save you tons of money.

Combine the color format of your placemats and pillows. It can truly give your room a new make-over by bringing it up-to-date based on the season. Popular spring colors consist of yellow, blue, green, and apricots.

Reorganize or reframe your photos. Prior to purchasing brand-new picture frames, it is best to visit your local Salvation Army or Goodwill store for various fashionable, antique frames. Do not be scared to varnish or paint them again.

Look for some vacant walls in your house. These will be your blank canvases, so take a shot. Be unique and artistic.

Buy some new rugs or throw towels for your bathroom. Also, include a shower curtain. This small improvement can have a huge effect.

If you have nothing to do during the weekend, you can paint your room to give it a spectacular and pleasing effect.

Scan a particular room to see if each stuff is attractive, valuable, and of use. If you think an item is not worth it, throw it in the trash can. You can remove unnecessary things and make space for new items altogether.

When cleaning, improving, and shopping around, make sure that the tone of the room stays constant. Decorate with things that suit the room’s overall character and rearrange or throw those things that do not match.

Change your present lampshades for brand-new ones. If you are in the mood to be crafty, then you can decorate it with various ribbons or add-ons to fit the room’s colors and theme.

Create an ambiance of a spa in your bathroom. You can utilize a liquor bottle to layer decorated bath salts on the counter. Furthermore, utilize serving trays or silver plates around the tub as resting spots for bath soaps and other accessories.

Rearrange your furniture to give your living room a fresh look. You can try and bring some positive energy into your house by following the Feng Shui methodology.

You can upgrade plastic flowers in your house with real ones. This will surely brighten your day and can be a tiny and inexpensive treat for yourself every week. To add some colors to your old vases, you can place nice-looking stones or pebbles at the bottom of them. In case you are allergic to flowers, put candles as opposed to them, but use the same stones or pebbles concept.