November 2008
Monthly Archive
How to Create a Personalized Headboard
Personalization of your headboard makes a statement and allows you to be creative, and can be done for your kids bedroom, or for your own. There are several easy, affordable ways to add style and character to your bedroom without a lot of investment in time. You can use the existing headboard you have, purchase a new one or even make your own. The only thing holding you back from creating a functional, good looking design is you.
One way to personalize your bedroom furniture would be to add some fabric to it. Upholstered headboards are very popular choices, but you can make your own. Just about any old one can be wrapped in batting and covered in fabric. This allows you to choose a fabric you enjoy, perhaps a favorite color or a child’s favorite cartoon character. This is perhaps the most drastic way to personalize their bedroom, but it definitely leaves an impression. For something even more unique, choose leather headboards!
Another way to personalize your bedroom furniture is to add some storage to it. Bookcase headboards are fantastic because they allow you plenty of room to store pictures, knick knacks and collections. Wood, metal or other materials can be used. Bookcases can be purchased, shelves can be added next to the bed or you can purchase one with a bookcase already built into it. Personalize it with your own individual touches.
Let’s get out there and go crazy, though. If you are planning to make your own furniture, there are many materials you can use.
Use a piece of plywood that is covered with wallpaper in your favorite theme to add character to your bed. Prints like a floral, geometric shape or even stripes will look fabulous. Use a quilted bedspread, with backing, for a country style look, especially with a patch pattern. Use wrought iron headboards available to you and dress them up. Wrap flowers throughout them, making a garden like display for your headboard.
Personalizing your bedroom furniture doesn’t mean you need to pull out the scissors and the hot glue gun. Instead, look for a ready made headboard that works with your style. Your bed design should represent you. So, if you just love the look of real wood, choose a wooden one that speaks to you, perhaps in the grain or the staining or the cut of the wood. Another option is to consider having decorative touches added to your furniture. You may want to have initials carved into the wood, perhaps even a family seal. A fine piece of furniture can be personalized like this locally.
Personalize your room in whichever way works for you. Look for inspiration in already made pieces, or purchase a simple wooden headboard and add to it when it arrives at your home. Decoupage family photos on it. Add fabric to it. There are many ways to get the image you are looking for to come through. Be as creative as you would like to. In the end, it is your style and your bedroom furniture.
Benjamin Weissman writes articles about using Contemporary Bedroom Furniture, Headboards and Daybeds to decorate a bedroom beautifully and inexpensively. Make your Bedroom a Personal Retreat.
Bar Stools in the Perfect Manhattan Penthouse Bar
admin 20 Nov 2008 | : contemporary, interior design
Welcome to New York! You’ve met your goal of becoming a Manhattan resident after landing your dream job in the Big Apple, and you should be proud of your accomplishment. At the same time, now you are faced with outfitting your new flat with furnishings and décor worthy of such a lifestyle. One of your first goals is to build a mini bar, complete with liquor, pourers, and the works. Your first goal is to find the perfect posh barstools for seating in the swag pad.
You’re living in a penthouse now, and you feel like you shouldn’t skimp on the furniture because any lack of quality will be noticeable in your new home. At the same time, you’re just starting out here and that new salary that put the dollar signs in your eyes hasn’t quite kicked in, so you don’t have a fortune to spend. It’s actually quite simple to find discount bar stools that are still high quality and look great. Look for direct buy furniture products, and assess floor models to save cash. Also, check out discount name brand manufacturers, many of which offer internet only sales to save on overhead.
When you find the right sources, your choices for décor are unlimited. What sort of person are you stylistically? Do you prefer the classic bulk and intricate designs of old English furniture, or would the sleek lines and sharp angles of contemporary bar stools be more your style? Perhaps a marriage of the two in something like a neo-classic or “new antique” design might suit your fancy. Any of these can look great in your new penthouse.
If you opt for metal bar stools, you will want to try to find one of two styles: something that looks ultramodern, shiny, and hip; or something that is reminiscent of a 1950’s soda shop. From there, you can plan out what the bar itself will look like. You can go for space age modern with the former option or oldies cute and peppy with the latter.
Wood bar stools would probably be the more posh decision for a Manhattan penthouse mini bar, but again, stylistically, all your décor and themes should represent the real you. If you prefer something else, you should go with your instincts. Be sure that you design your bar adequately for the space it will occupy. Don’t make it too big or too small - you don’t want it to overtake the space, but you want it to be visible. Your choice of style and barstools will help you with that. If it’s in the living room, consider erecting a small screen to separate the bar area while not taking it out of view. In the bedroom, choose an empty corner. If it’s part of the kitchen, leave it out in the open, but make sure it clearly contrasts the rest of the kitchen décor to create its own atmosphere. Let it speak for itself and scream to guests that you are an up and comer in the Big City!
Benjamin Weissman writes articles about using Discount Bedroom Furniture, Bar Stools and Daybeds to decorate a bedroom beautifully and inexpensively. Make your Bedroom a Personal Retreat.
Decorating Around the Basic Design of Platform Beds
admin 13 Nov 2008 | : bedroom, decor
If you are a highly creative individual who likes to show a lot of personality in your home design, you have probably thought that platform beds offer much too little intrigue and creativity to fit your lifestyle. On the contrary, these are perhaps the best beds with which to begin a decorating project because they provide a perfect, clean backdrop to start the process. While some contemporary bedroom sets limit you to specific ideas critical to maintaining the flow of the design, a group of items centered around this blank slate is the perfect setup for someone who wants their room to completely reflect his or her personality.
With a platform bed, you usually have little or no design or influence from the shape of the bed. You’ll typically find the manufacturer has approached the idea as a minimalist and left you with a canvas to paint - all hard, straight, clean lines and sharp angles. From this point you can decide if you want to dress them up with leather headboards and create a very masculine or wild-west themed bedroom or if you’d rather soften the look with lots of cushions, deep blankets, and throw pillows. Either way, it’s your decision and your design to build, starting from the basic platform.
Many other wood bedroom sets are ornately carved, given a distressed look, stained a particular shade, or otherwise “predecorated”. However, you can often find platform beds that are “naked”, meaning that the wood hasn’t been stained or painted, and the build of the bed is really no more than a plain frame. Therefore, you get to go back to the drawing board again, deciding for yourself how you want to treat the wood and what sort of creation you’ll build from the basic. Best of all, because it’s easy to design around the bed in any way you like and the build is sturdy and reliable, lasting for years, you can add versatility to the list of bonuses. You can redecorate at any time without having to change your furniture.
One of the great things about using platform beds in the bedroom is that, unlike other king wood beds, the sheer size of the platform never seems overwhelming. Most of these sit fairly low to the ground, and because of their minimalism, they are extremely unobtrusive, even in the smallest of bedrooms. By comparison to other master bedroom furniture, even of the same size, you’ll feel more comfortable and less cramped with a bed that is less ornate and imposing, especially if you are upsizing from a queen.
While creative design is not the priority on everyone’s list, there are plenty of people who feel trapped by the style of their bedroom furniture and unable to work around it to really show who they are inside. Contemporary platform beds are a completely different animal and inspire rather than subdue creative thinking. Next time you look around your bedroom and wonder where YOU are in the design, think about starting fresh with a platform bed as your blank canvas.
Benjamin Weissman writes articles about using Headboards, Metal Beds and Platform beds to decorate a bedroom beautifully and inexpensively. Make your Bedroom a Personal Retreat.
