DEAR Marc:
I want a new look for my bedroom. It doesn't look like much right now. The previous homeowner had painted it bright red with a white trim. It reminds me of Christmas every time I walk into the room. I don't have a lot of money to spend on new furniture so I am trying to work with what I have. The room has hardwood floors, a bed with no headboard, two side tables, no dressers, but ample space in the walk-in closet. Any suggestions?
-- Joyce
Dear Joyce:
Imagine walking into a room where you instantly feel peace, serenity and relief of your everyday stress. As you step into the room, your feet caress a soft surface and you are greeted by a peaceful colour scheme that reminds you of your favourite place in the world. That is what a bedroom should be. Too many adults today concentrate on designing their entire homes and leave out the most important room, the bedroom.
While designing a bedroom, the first thing to keep in mind is the colour scheme. Bedroom colour schemes are much different than any other room in a house. Many designer bedrooms will use neutral colours on the walls and punch up the design with an accent colour so that the overall space is easy on the eyes. In some cases, some homeowners will even use white as their neutral colour.
As an overpowering red colour is found on the walls of this particular space, if you choose to cover the current colour with white paint, it will require many coats. The trick to avoiding having to apply many coats of paint and still have residue of the original red paint appear through the white surface is to first paint the walls with the use of a light grey undercoat. This will neutralize and cover up the red paint, thus making your painting process easier.
As you don't have any dressers in your current bedroom, the use of your walk-in closet will be of utmost importance. I suggest using an organizational system to maximize the storage area. The key is to avoid clutter in the bedroom in order to create a designer space.
Once the colour scheme has been chosen and the walls have been painted, the accessories in the room can be chosen. When working on a tight budget, creativity in designing this space is important. The bed will be the most prominent and largest piece in the room. The eye will be instantly drawn to it; therefore the use of an accent colour on the headboard will help accentuate the piece. As the current bed doesn't have a headboard, I suggest creating your own with the use of a pencil, measuring tape, painter's tape and colourful accent paint.
-- Postmedia News
Marc Atiyolil, celebrity designer and home trend expert, is editor-in-chief of Canadian Home Trends magazine.
