Be Our Guest!

With the cooling weather and holidays approaching, your college student will be paying a visit, as well as your in-laws. But where will they sleep? The couch may be fit for someone who's lived in a dorm for five months, but not for the folks who need a comfortable mattress to sleep on. This is where a guest room comes in handy. Below are tips to welcome your guest into your home without having to rearrange your whole household:

1. Theme- Every good guest room needs a theme. This is where you get to be creative and have the room you've always wanted but wasn't brave enough to do. Maybe you'd like an Asian oasis, or a Parisian escape. With the right furniture and accents, you can create any environment you want to welcome your guests. The following ways will help you create your perfect theme.
2. Paint- If your walls are still the same bare white when you moved in, it's time to add color and give them a spruce. Color can do wonders to a room. Cool tones (such as blue, purple, and green) create a more calming atmosphere, while warm tones (red, orange, and yellow) invite more energy. Paint is the most inexpensive way to transform a room, so if you do nothing else, atleast give those walls some color.
3. Bedding- Don't let your guests freeze to death when they visit you. It's always good to provide clean sheets, a nice comforter, and a duvet (in the colder months). They can always take the blankets off if it's too much, but they will feel more cozy if they have something nice to cuddle under. Also provide comfortable pillows, and decorative pillows are a great way to accent your room.
4. Window Treatment- Keep the bright sunshine out of your guest's face in the morning with the right curtains. If your window is only covered with blinds, drapery can be a great way to accent your walls with sophistication.
5. Lighting- Get rid of that old lamp you've been storing around and freshen up your room with up-to-date lighting. There's plenty of new lighting solutions out there if you shop around. Make sure that the room can be bright enough at night and in the morning, so your guest doesn't end up with mismatched socks. It's also nice to provide a booklight for bedtime reading and candles for atmosphere.
6. Accents- The best way to complete your design is in the little things. Artwork is the best way to spice up your space and add color, and who wants to look at an empty wall anyway? As stated before, decorative pillows on the bed are a great way to cozy up your room. Other items you can add are plants, framed photos, clocks, statues, and other accessories that play up your theme. For instance, seashells are great for a beach-themed room.
7. Other things to remember- Provide a basket full of necessities, such as an extra toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo and conditioner. It's also nice to provide a tissue box, room spray, and fresh towels. Lastly, don't let your guest bedroom be the storage place for all your junk. If there's nowhere else to store it, atleast place it in a fashionable trunk at the foot of the bed, or find an ottoman that acts as a container for extra blankets and such. If you have extra clothes in the closet, keep them in a zippered bag, and keep empty hangers for your guests to hang their own clothes.

With these tips in mind, your guests are sure to feel welcome and comfortable in your home. If you need help arranging your ideas, a designer is only a phone call away!

Skeletons in Your Hall Closet?

With winter approaching, it's time to pull your coats out of the bags and keep them accessible in the hall closet. If your yearlong collection of junk is tumbling on top of you when you open the door, it's high time to revamp your storage space.

Before you even think about organizing your closet, you need to purge through that heap of mess you've been hording. How many mismatched gloves do you need, and do you really think that old dress is going to come back in style? Toss it, honey, because it's only taking up precious space. And if you can't find an umbrella on a rainy day, it's probably because it's hidden under the crap you threw in when the in-laws came over.

Now that you've emptied out half your closet, let's talk about what goes back in. If you're like some people, your hall closet has become a storage system for a myriad of items, even your cleaning supplies. Brooms and vacuums should be kept in the utility area, so your closet can be dedicated to seasonal items, unless you want to make it a utility closet (read further).

The best way to keep things from getting disorganized in your tiny space is to find the right storage units. Plastic containers not only protect your items from a flood, but they keep them contained

in their own space. Labeling the outside of the containers also helps when you're trying to find your winter boots from last year. And also, keep like items together: shoes with shoes, blankets with blankets, and all clothing items hanging neatly on the rod, all facing the same direction.

Some other ideas for hall closets are creating a hobby center. If you're a tennis player or discus thrower, you might want to create racks and hanging rods for your toys. Or add more shelves and create a utility closet for your cleaning supplies.

Maybe your tiny little hall closet doesn't do justice for you. If you're thinking about expanding your space, contact your local interior designer and see if you can knock down some walls and change the space. Another thing to think about is lighting. If you're having a hard time seeing everything in that dark space, maybe it's time to get some extra lights installed, or attach tough light to the door frame. There's no reason to have to get a flashlight every time you need something from your closet.

Studying Can Be Fun (Yes, it Can!)

I've never personally been a parent, but I've been a student, and I know how hard it can be to get your child to sit down and study when they get home. With all the entertainment options we have today, it is much harder to have a steady attention span long enough to do even one hour of homework after eight hours of sitting at a desk at school.

But studying doesn't have to be a chore if you have the right space for the task. Some kids just need a little color, inspiration, or personalization to their study space to sit down and crack open that book. With tha

t said, here are some necessities for any study space

for your grade school child:

1. Consistent study space- Having a consistent study space is the key for concentration. Find a place in the house that is away from all distractions. This may be a corner in a bedroom, den, or family room, or maybe you're lucky enough to have a study built into your house. Regardless of where, be sure to keep away from all noisy distractions, such as a TV.
2. Comfortable chair- No one wants to sit on a hard surface for any amount of time, especially to do something not-so-fun as homework. So add a fun cushion to a hard-surfaced chair, or buy a unique desk chair that adds a colorful element to the room and is fun to sit in for a couple of hours at a time.
3. Correct lighting- It's hard to read in a dimly lit room, and it can become a strain on your eyes. Make sure you have a desk lamp, or add a touch light on the bottom of your desk hutch to keep it out of the way. To add a little fun to your study area,get stringed lights in crazy shapes, and any kid wouldn't mind sitting there for awhile to do homework if they have something fun to look at.
4. Organization- With papers scattered all over the desk and books laying haphazardly on the desk, it gets hard to concentrate when everything is a mess. Plus, how can anyone find a pen when it's never in the same spot. Create a place for everything: a bin for 'Homework To Do' and 'Homework Done' makes it easy to organize papers. Keep a tack board for other loose papers, like notes to sign and syllabi. Also, keep all materials, such as pens and markers in their own separate space, and label them so your little student knows exactly where everything is at any given time.
5. Materials- Scissors and rulers and pens, oh my! Have all the materials you need at your desk, so you don't have to get up and get it somewhere else. It's easier to get homework done when you already have all the materials right where you're sitting.
6. Personalization- What kid doesn't like their name tagged on everything they own? Make their space their own. Add a touch of Bobby's interests and personality with posters of his favorite band or sport team; or add pictures of Susie's friends and favorite celebrities. Once they own their study space, they are more apt to use it.
7. Color- Complete any study space with their favorite color or something that invites calmness, like a blue tone. Who ever said studying had to be boring?

If you have any other suggestions on how to create a great study space, we would love to hear them. Also, if there are any topics you would like to read about on this site, use the contact tab and send us an email. We welcome your thoughts. Now go hit those books and make the grade!

Finding Your Nest a Little Empty?

Now that Junior's out of the house, it's time to start thinking about what to do with all that extra space. After speaking with several empty nesters, I compiled a list of suggestions on how they managed their own empty nesters' syndrome.

1. Downsizing- Sometimes cutting your living space in half is just the ticket to filling that empty space. Maybe it's time to put that hunker back on the market and start looking into the cozy little cottage or the posh condo you've had your eye on. Not only will you have less to clean, but you'll have more time to do what you love and more money to do it with. It may even help pay for Junior's tuition!
2. Craft room- So maybe you like where you live and have no plans to move whatsoever. But now what to do with that empty bedroom. Remember that hobby you gave up when the kids came along? Now is the perfect time to get back into that sport or craft you always loved, and now you have a whole room in which to do it. Maybe you're a scrapbooker and need room for all your ribbons and knick knacks. With desks and drawers and the correct lighting, you can have the perfect room for your requirements. Don't feel guilty for getting Junior's stuff out of the room. This is your space now to do what you like with it. And it can be great therapy to get your mind off of your empty nest.
3. Guest room- Well maybe you're not a crafty person and would like family to visit every once in awhile, but don't want the room to reflect the pig sty it was when your kids lived there. Maybe you have some antique furniture in storage that you've been dying to pull out, or maybe you just want to splurge and buy some new odds and ends. It's time to spruce up the old cave and make it inhabitable for civilized beings. Make it an oasis for any visitor, and if you like having company, they'll never want to leave!
4. Office/Den- If you find yourself working at home, you might want to consider having your own office. Now you can take your tiny desk out of the corner of your living or dining room and invest in a full-blown executive office set, complete with filing cabinets and bookshelves to help organize your work. Add a couch with a pull-out bed and convert your office into a guest room so the kiddos can still visit from college and have a decent place to sleep.
5. Vanity/Dressing Room- If you're lucky enough to have a spare bedroom next to your master suite, it only takes a few contract workers and a designer to knock down a wall and create your glamorous celebrity-style dressing room, complete with 360 degree mirrors, vanity lighting, and chandeliers. Why not pamper yourself with a little glitz and glam? After all, you deserve it after taking care of others for so long.

Hopefully these suggestions have eased up the tension of your empty nest, and now you can start focusing your energies on a new project. Remember to contact your local interior decorator who can transform any design nightmare into your stylish oasis. Feel free to leave us comments or questions, and don't forget to subscribe to our blog with the links to the right. Happy decorating!