When decorating baby rooms and children spaces there are many considerations to take into account to satisfy your need to create the "WOW" factor. There are color choices to be made, paint techniques and finishes to be decided on, the needs of the room have to be identified, safety issues addressed, window treatments selected. Of course creating a room that your child and others love is also high on your list of priorities. All of this has to be accomplished within a set budget.

One question I hear being debated frequently is, "Should I use Primary colors or Pastel colors for my baby room/child space?". Much information is available on the ability of Primary colors to stimulate cognitive processing and development. Babies can perceive bright, primary colors long before they can focus on pastel colors. That’s a fact. Parents want to provide a stimulating environment for their children. That’s also a fact. It’s part of the ‘morphing’ process that takes place within you when your child is born - you change from a somewhat egotistical individual to being totally self-sacrificing for the needs of your child - it goes with the territory of being a parent.

So instead of visualizing powder blue, or misty pink, you think about Magenta, or Tangy Tangerine or Aegean Blue. You tell yourself that even though the rest of your home is finished in Barely Beige, it’s not as if it’ll be the first room you see when you enter the house, and you can always paint it over if you really don’t like it. If it’s best for your baby or child you’ll talk yourself into anything!

Then you talk to other Moms, read some parenting magazines and chat to your friend who works in Childcare. You hear about "fussy" babies, who have trouble settling to sleep, who seem to cry all the time and grow into toddlers who need to be constantly entertained. You hear the words "over-stimulated" and you gasp! Once again you’re visualizing Powder Blue and Misty Pink as your preferred color choice for your baby room or child space.

You’ve experienced your first taste of conflicting advice on parenting outcomes and providing the best environment for your child. It’s seems whichever way you choose - Primary color or Pastel color - it appears your child may be disadvantaged.

Don’t despair, there’s a simple decorating technique used by professionals that offers a solution to your dilemma. Your baby room should contain 3 distinct spaces or areas:- a sleep area; a work area; and a play area. In the initial planning stages of your decorating project for your baby/childs room, draw the room layout on some grid paper, marking in windows, doors and closets. Next, mark in the proposed sleep area, work area and play area.

A sleep area will contain a crib or bed, a bedside table, perhaps a lamp. It is an area designed for sleep, relaxation, dreams and rejuvinating the body and mind. It should inspire a feeling of comfort and security for your child. Sleep areas are well-suited to the soothing effect of Pastel colors.

A work area will initially contain a diaper change space, diaper bucket, drawers or cupboards for clothing, storage for infant-care products, and a feeding chair which will evolve with your baby’s growth into a toddler to becoming an area where your child can develop their fine-motor skills e.g. by drawing, painting, manipulating playdoh or construction. Your feeding chair becomes a story sharing place for you and your child, a place to build magic and imagination. Work areas need to be fully washable and easy to maintain - this is the area of the room that will suffer the most "accidents"; from baby vomit, to spilled paint, to playdoh squished into the floor. Using Neutral colors in your work area, highlighted with accessories using 2 or 3 colors from the rest of the room allows you to easily identify and attend to any "spillage" accidents that may occur here.

A play area for an infant may simply be an area where you keep cuddle toys, hang mobiles and shelve books. As your baby grows into a toddler this area of their room can become the most- used high-traffic area in your home. Your child will be playing with blocks, a dollhouse, making "cubby" spaces, playing pirates or cowboys or schools in this area. Your toddler will use their hands on the walls to aid their physical stability as they play, and toys will be constantly bumped into walls as their gross motor skills develop fine tuning, so keep durability in mind when choosing a finish for the walls here. The best Play areas are inviting and stimulating, and provoke excitement and imagination. Play areas are well-suited to the invigorating effects of Primary colors.

By identifying the 3 distinct needs of your child’s room - sleep, work, play - and decorating appropriately, you’ll be giving your child the "best of both worlds" without having to choose.

Decorating and best-practice parenting choices just became a whole lot easier!

www.baby-room-projects.com

Nell Frances is author of the Step-by-Step Guide to Baby Room Projects Ebook and brings over 20 years decorating experience to her articles. She’s helped families decorate using miniscule budgets and zany ideas, to create baby rooms and child spaces that echo with squeals of delight! For all your Baby Room Decorating information and advice visit http://www.baby-room-projects.com

Apart from complimenting your newly painted walls with soft furnishings and effective flooring, home decor accessories in a room are just as equally important. Accessories ranging from flowers in a contemporary vase to art pictures hanging on your walls, all add the finishing touches to any room. Above all, accessories add personality to a room, they inject your own personal touch making your home unique to you and comfortable and inviting for you and your family.

Decorating with Art Pictures

You will be surprised at the important role that art pictures play in home decor accessories. Not only do pictures add your own personality into the room, they absorb noise and can actually help change the illusion of a rooms’ shape if placed in the right places. For example:

• horizontal landscape pictures help widen a room;
• Portrait floral pictures help give the illusion of height; and
• one large picture reflected through a mirror gives the sensation of additional broader space.

Creating Art Arrangements:-

For a maximum effect and to make interesting wall arrangements that can become a dynamic focal point of the room, try to hang smaller pictures in a cluster.

If you hang an even number of smaller prints tightly together in a cluster, this will help balance out a large space and give a window effect in a small space. Remember to hang the prints together tightly to create one unit and one focal point.

For larger pictures, place them in proportion to the furniture. For example, hang a large picture approximately six to nine inches above a sofa or at eye level. By hanging a larger print too high above any piece of furniture can leave both pieces feeling disconnected.

Tips Before Hanging Art:-

Before hanging any art on a wall, try different combinations of arrangements. Use painter’s tape and brown paper bags and keep rearranging the bits of paper on the wall until you have come up with a great picture arrangement.

Always hang prints at eye level and use your hand in between pictures as a guide to space large and medium sized pictures.

Create Illusions with Mirrors

Mirrors are great to help create the illusion of space. By cleverly placing mirrors on an adjacent wall to a picture or something which is interesting in your room, will reflect the image and add a sense of space.

For darker rooms, hang a decorative mirror near a window. The light will then bounce off the mirror into the room portraying more natural much-needed light back into the area.

To give the illusion of depth in a room paint one of your walls in a darker contrasting color to your other walls. Then hang a mirror on that darker wall. This instantly gives the additional sense of depth to the dimensions of the room.

Lighten-up with Light Fixtures

Light fittings are one of the most important elements of home decor accessories as they set the ambience of the room. By using different types of lighting you can create different moods on different areas of the room, at different times of the day.

For example:-

• accent lighting such as a spot light is used to emphasize wall paintings, ornaments or other interesting areas in a room;
• soft lighting used by small wall light fittings or table lamps, help create a gentle romantic mood;
• general lighting such as a ceiling center light, strip light or bright wall lamps are used for everyday purposes.

Tip: use a dimmer switch to create different moods with your lighting.

Adding Color with Flowers & Plants

Fresh flowers are always a wonderful accessory in a home. They are easy to blend in with any rooms accent and you can swap and change the color, type of flower and position at any time. They are such an easy and adaptable accessory to have. If you are allergic to flowers, try silk flowers instead - sometimes it is hard to distinguish between real flowers and silk ones…

By placing plants throughout your home helps add natural color, texture, and also softens the area making it more appealing to spend time there. Don’t forget to use attractive plant pots and containers for your plants - they are a home decor accessory too!

Area Rugs and Textiles

Area Rugs:-

Area rugs add warmth and texture to a room. They help soften wooden or hard floors and add contrasting colors and patterns into the room.

First you must determine what you want the rug for - is it a focal point? or do you want to group furniture on it? Secondly, you must measure what size rug you need before you go shopping.

Other Textiles:-

By using other types of textile home decor accessories, you can create additional comfort and softness in using:-

• scatter cushions made with different types of material;
• throws on your sofa or lounge chair;
• napkins, place mats and tablecloths in the dining room or kitchen;

Summary

Home decor accessories play a crucial part in your home decorating. Even if you don’t need to repaint your walls, you can still change the look of your room. By rearranging furniture and wall pictures, adding soft light fixtures, flowers arrangements and plants, the placement of an area rug and using different textiles in a room, all help create a new look to reflect you and your personality.

Claire Bowes is a successful freelance writer and owner of Online Home Improvement Ideas.

Color affects every facet of our lives. The way we react to colors is a combination of physiological, biological, psychological, social and cultural reasons. Color has the ability to soothe and also to stimulate us.

Approximately seven million different colors can be perceived by the human eye, so deciding what you want when decorating, and narrowing your choice down to one color family, still leaves you with millions of variations to choose from. So it’s important to understand the effects of the temperature of color, color components, color terminology, how light affects color and the tricks color can play on color.

A color is described as cool or warm depending on its position in the color spectrum and the hues of its nearest neighboring color.

Warm colors project the hot hues of sunlight and promote a feeling of warmth in a room. They advance space and are used to make walls appear closer. Cool colors reflect the fresh violets and blues of moonlight. They enhance the space in a room by making the walls appear further away.

Red, orange and yellow are warm colors, while violet and blue are cool colors. Green is said to be the most neutral color.

Colors are further categorized into primary, secondary and tertiary colors.

Primary colors are blue, red and yellow. These are pure colors that have no component other than themselves. Secondary colors are orange, green and purple. These are composed of the primary colors on either side of it on the color wheel. i.e. Orange = red+yellow, Green = blue+yellow, Purple = blue+red.

Tertiary colors are orange-red, orange-yellow, yellow-green, blue-green, blue-purple, and red-purple. Tertiary colors assume more of one color than the other.

Knowing the definition of words used to describe color will help you to indicate your color preference more easily, so some important terminology or jargon to keep in mind when describing color is hue, value and chroma.

Hue refers to, and is another name for, color. For example a blue-patterned carpet has a blue hue.

Value describes the darkness or lightness of a color. A color light in value has been diluted with white. For example, pink is a tint of red that has a light value, because of the white added to it. A dark value color is closer to black on the scale, because it’s had black added to it. For example burgundy is a shade of red with dark value. Chroma refers to the intensity of a color, how bright or dull it is. Scarlet and brick red are similar in value, but their intensity differs. Brick red is duller as it has a lower chroma than scarlet. Scarlet has a higher chroma so is more brilliant. Colors with low chroma have more of other colors added to them; those with high chroma are more pure.

Color complements are those colors that work well together. They are diagonally opposite each other on the color wheel. Each complement is made up of the two primary colors either side of it which balances the complement. Each warm color has a cool color as its complement.

Light affects color because in seeing color it’s actually light waves that our eyes perceive. Something has color because of the light it reflects. We all see color slightly differently depending on the perception of the light and color-sensitive receptors in our eyes. So the ability to see color is a sensation, just like smelling or tasting.

Color can play tricks on color. Just as warm colors can make a room appear smaller and cosier, cool colors have the effect of making a space seem larger, more airy.

One corner of a room painted red for example, may appear a different shade from the rest of the room. This is because colors reflect color and light, which slightly changes its appearance and the way our eyes perceive the color. Contrasting color painted on walls that meet in a corner can sometimes be changed so much that they are no longer in harmony with each other. It’s advisable to paint a test patch 12” wide on each side of the corner to view what affect your chosen colors have on each other, before painting the entire room.

Most colors are associated with certain emotions, and this differs somewhat from culture to culture. However I’ve listed some of the most popular color associations.

Red: power, passion, courage, vitality, excitement, strength, speed, love, heart and warmth.

Yellow: light, cheer, sunlight, happiness, creativity, confidence, self-esteem, intellect, innovation.

Blue: caring, devotion, trust, wisdom, peacefulness, serenity, loyalty, truth, coolness, harmony.

Green: nature, fresh, growth, abundance, life, youth, renewal, hope, fertility, peace, balance.

Orange: energy, warmth, contentment, fruitfulness, strength, security, sensuality, abundance.

White: pure light, energy, truth, perfection, serenity, harmony, loyalty, sincerity, clarity.

Black: formal, reserved, drive, dignity, reliability, authority, power, prudence, wisdom, glamour.

Take some time to consider the effects of color on the individuals who will be frequenting the environment you create when decorating. When choosing color take into account whether you are trying to soothe or stimulate, and be aware of the effects of color on the well-being of the inhabitants you are decorating for.

Nell Frances is author of the Step-by-Step Guide to Baby Room Projects Ebook and brings over 20 years decorating experience to her articles. She’s helped families decorate using miniscule budgets and zany ideas, to create baby rooms and child spaces that echo with squeals of delight! For all your Baby Room Decorating information and advice visit http://www.baby-room-projects.com

Many years ago I was told that the least expensive way to redecorate is to rearrange what you have. It was one of the best decorating suggestions I’ve ever had-not to mention the one that can be the most fun to implement. How can you beat it? A new room-practically free! You get such a feeling of satisfaction when you accomplish something spectacular using your imagination and what you already have.

Of course, like many suggestions there is a good way to do this and one that isn’t quite so satisfactory. So here’s a step by step.

1. Choose the room you want to give a new look.

2. Decide on the type of change you would like. Do you want it brighter, lighter, more sophisticated, or more casual? Do you want to give it a contemporary flavor or make it a bit exotic?

3. Take a good look at what is in the room and decide what doesn’t fit the new look/theme that you chose. What is worn out, out of place or out of proportion?

4. Assess the room: Stand in each doorway and in each corner of the room and give it a good hard look. Would the furniture look better on an angle? What is the traffic pattern? You don’t want furniture sitting in the way of how you need to move about the room. Most of us can’t afford to have a room that just sits and looks pretty. A well designed room works for you.

5. Make a list of the items you want tokeep and measure them.

6. Take a buying trip through your house and see what you can use from other rooms. One very important suggestion: double check measurements and colors of the pieces you have “bought” from other rooms. If you want to expand a little, there are frequently friends or relatives who have pieces in their homes they would like to get rid of, so if you don’t have quite what you like, check the family cast offs. Note: You might find you need to freshen your walls with a coat of paint or cover a chair or sofa with a slipcover or purchase new lampshades, but expense should be kept at a minimum, or you defeat your purpose.

7. Once you have your look and know what pieces are available to you, put it all on paper. You need to have a plan, because you could lose your ‘willing’ helpers if they have to move a sofa 6 or 7 times to get the right look because you didn’t do your homework. Pay special attention to electrical and cable outlets, heat and air vents and doors and windows. Lighting is important and unless you’re trying the hard way to keep the kids out, you want to be able to get in and out of the room easily and move around comfortably in it.

8. Clear your room. Take the unnecessary pieces and accessories away and put the pieces you want to keep together in another room.

9. It’s time to paint the walls and clean the windows and woodwork if needed. Shampoo carpets, wash floors and make sure your background is sparkling and clean.

10. If there are any small items you are going to need to purchase to complete the look, go do it while everything is drying. DO NOT go shopping without a list. You have your plan and you know what accessories you need to complete your look. The easiest way to get off budget and end up with clutter is to go without a list.

11. When the paint and floors are dry, place rugs on the floor (before you move in the furniture). It is also easier to do window treatments now while the room is empty. They can be adjusted later.

12. Gather your helpers. Move in the larger pieces of furniture. Add your smaller pieces such as tables and ottomans and then bring in the accessories.

13. Lamps are very important, so make sure they are located where they will work the best. Don’t under light your room.

14. Hang your pictures and adjust window treatments.

A note: less is more. An uncluttered room will give a more of an impression of newness then one with too much of everything.

15. Enjoy your new room. In fact throw a party and let everyone admire what you’ve accomplished. You’ll be able to afford it with the money you’ve saved.

Happy decorating!

This content for this article was provided by design consultant to ON THE GO 4 U, Suzanne Copenhaver. Suzanne has years of experience dealing with less than perfect home interiors and infrastructures. She provides in-home consultations on color, space, and design and teaches workshops on decorating for ON THE GO 4 U.

Indra A Books, author of many other lifestyle articles is also the owner and founder of ON THE GO 4 U, Personal Shoppers & Concierge Service in the Washington DC metropolitan area. The company’s creed is to provide its clients with the ultimate life management experience. In addition to its shopping and concierge services, ON THE GO 4 U also publishes a monthly e-zine and conducts workshops on wardrobe, entertaining and decorating. For more information about the author and ON THE Go 4 U, please visit http://www.onthego4u.net

© 2004 Indra A Books, ON THE GO 4 U.

How often do you use your kitchen counter at home? Do you have a Formica top, or another material that is just as solid and lasting? Most of us don’t give much thought to that cold, flat slab in the kitchen, bathroom, or laundry room. But perhaps we should, since it can serve a variety of functions that we depend on every day. Let’s talk about the kitchen counter, which lies at the hub of family life and center of frequent activity.

The kitchen counter is where dirty dishes are stacked, waiting to be loaded into the dishwasher or by hand. Crusty roasters, sticky silverware, and greasy platters bide their time on that beautiful finished surface while we take care of other things before tidying up the kitchen. The counter may be the place where you sign kids’ school forms, open the mail, or write last-minute notes to family members before heading out the door for the day. It’s where we set down bags of groceries, pet feeding dishes, an armful of dry cleaning, and a host of other items related to everyday chores. Small kitchen appliances like the toaster and blender probably enjoy their own spots for making the morning breakfast and other meals or snacks. Food preparation like grating, slicing, chopping, and mixing take place in this convenient area.

With all this activity occurring on a regular basis, your kitchen counter carries a lot of weight at times. It absorbs shocks from heavy items, accepts scratches or chips, and helps to blot stains from spilled juice or strained and drained foods. It’s a wonder the counter looks as good as it does, right? That is due in large part to the industry’s formulation of tough design and solid materials, as well as a protective finish. But keeping your counter in tip-top shape beyond the manufacturer’s reach is up to you.

Start by clearing your counter of all unnecessary items. Put away containers that take up space, cover or store unused appliances, insist that no foods, like bread wrappers or jelly jars, be left sitting on the counter for any length of time. Clearing the clutter will open more space and give the entire room a sense of airiness. The counter area will be able to accommodate more time-specific tasks instead of being a gathering place for everyone’s debris. Get a cutting board for food preparation so you don’t have to damage the counter anymore.

Then make a point of wiping your counter free of crumbs, stains, and spills after each meal, or certainly at least once a day. Use a clean cloth, not a damp one that has been sitting around for hours or days, as it will have a sour smell that can be picked up by the counter. Gently wipe under the microwave or canister set to remove all crumbs and thus avoid attracting unwanted pests.

Each week or so, inspect your countertop for deep-set stains. Wipe the counter with a damp cloth to moisten it, and then lightly sprinkle baking soda on the stained areas. Allow it to set at least fifteen minutes. Get the cleaning cloth more wet, and then rub the powder in small circles to work at the stain. Rinse the counter thoroughly when you are done. Run your hand over the surface for signs of residue grit or powder, and rinse again, if needed.

Set an attractive (but unbreakable) vase or other decorator pieces on your counter to remind family members to keep it clear when not in use. This can help everyone take better care of the counter to prolong its quality.

Let experts lend a guiding hand when you stop by to visit the Cabinet Case at The Cabinet Case

Because psychologists relate true happiness to joyous occurrences happening frequently, decorating your home to promote everyday pleasure makes sense. If you’re planning a home makeover, provide for the cumulative total of all the little pleasure moments.

When people rate their happiness, it is the ratio of pleasant to unpleasant emotions and experiences that count. These happy experiences may be simple pleasurable, everyday happenings, not always grand events.

Design Psychology, a new method for residential interior and exterior design starts with planning spaces to support emotional well-being. Homes decorated to support desired emotions create happy spaces for joyful living.

Design Psychology Ideas for Pleasure

1. A tea table in the Main Bedroom provides an intimate space for conversation or individual reflection.

2. A reading nook provides a quiet space for escape.

3. A game table provides a place for playing together.

4. A meandering pathway in the garden provides an enticement to stroll.

5. A garden bed provides the perfect place for relaxing and leisurely afternoon naps.

I mean a real bed, not a flower bed, although you need flowers too!

Let your imagination flow freely, enjoy the process, and focus on your goal of providing pleasurable daily moments at your home.

Joy to you!

(c) Copyright 2004, Jeanette J. Fisher. All rights reserved.

Jeanette Fisher, Design Psychology Professor, is the author of Joy to the Home eNewsletter. Discover innovative Interior Design Psychology and makeover your home to support happiness, productivity, and well-being. For Design Psychology information, see http://www.designpsych.com/ For more information about “Joy to the Home,” see http://www.joytothehome.com/

Oh yes, it’s the tiniest room in our home – and the one that all our guests see, eventually. It holds such potential allure and such realized dread. We want that critical bit of real estate to make a good impression, we want it to be original, we want it to be sexy even – but how? Easy! Let your imagination run free! Be wildly creative! Be daring! A fantasy faux finish is perfect for grabbing everyone’s attention and setting the tone and attitude when those special guests enter that necessary little room.

So many options, so little space! Great, do something unexpected. Faux finishes can be simple and stately, subtly underdone, just a whisper on the wall. But in a powder room, why bother with tried and true when luxurious and exotic is so much more fun? Go ahead and make a statement with the wall treatment. Make your friends and family gasp for the first time in a very long time. It’ll be fun for them and for especially for you.

Ever heard of Venetian Plasters? They are spectacularly rich polished plasters that originated in ancient Rome and migrated to the finest homes in Venice in the 15th century. Those Italians are always painting on their walls and Sistine ceilings.

The original uniquely colored and textured finishes were made with ground lime and marble powders. These days they are acrylic or latex products and are much simpler and versatile to work with for today’s artisans.

And the looks are astonishing. Most commonly, Venetian Plasters are used to produce a polished stone–like look. But with a little creativity on the part of the artist troweling on this plaster, a whole new type of look is possible. The addition of spectacular metallic waxes, plus pearl and iridescent glazes can bring an entire new dimension and surprise to the time-honored beauty of Venetian Plaster.

Did I mention colors for these lustrous plasters? Think inky black, deep chocolate, sapphire blue, blazing crimson, spiritual turquoise. Let your imagination run free — there are no limitations at all. Any color can be translated into this wondrous medium. Then watch as those metallic (such as: copper, gold, bronze, or pewter) waxes get applied and mysteriously alter the finish in a dynamic new way. The depth of color and variation will astound you and your guests!

Multi-layering of plaster colors is another way to create drama. Applications of two compatible or better still, two contrasting colors can result in something that is truly unique. A tiny dab of brilliant green and a hint of luminous pearl in the sapphire blue and suddenly you have a faux lapis lazuli on your walls.

Even if you opt for the stately single color look of these beautiful plasters without any further embellishments, you won’t go wrong. A highly polished, sealed and waxed plaster finish will stand the test of time and be a wonder to behold. And a huge practical benefit is that the durability and sturdiness of the plaster is perfect for a powder room (or a damp bathroom.)

Challenge a faux finisher to create a finish uniquely attuned to your style. Let your specially chosen artist shine while creating something fresh and new that will elicit awe and joy from everyone who sees it. Even the most staid of traditional interiors has room to a bit more flexible in furnishing that special little room our guests spend but the briefest of moments in. So be inspired and splash some color on those walls.

Jay Dorman is the owner of Greystone Artisans, a decorative painting and faux finishing company. This Houston-based company has been in business for eight years and has worked in many of the finest homes locally and in other cities in Texas. This team of talented artists is available for travel to locations outside of Texas, too!

Consultations are available upon request and are at no cost. Hundreds of samples including cabinetry finishes and wall finishes of all types can be seen at our showroom. The showroom, which houses our workroom as well, is open by appointment. Please visit us on the web at: http://www.greystoneartisans.com

Are you tired of the way your bathroom looks? Don’t feel bad, a lot of folks are in the same boat. The bathroom is one room in the home that can look drab and run down very easily. And what if you don’t have an unlimited budget to make changes in the fixtures and plumbing? Well take heart, there is lots that you can do for very little money that will totally and radically improve the decor of your bathroom.

One of the biggest problems with bathrooms is their tendency to get cluttered. You know, towels hanging all over the place, bath products on top of the vanity and on the shower floor, and things like that. So if you really want to make a 100% improvement in your bathroom clean up the clutter.

Fortunately, that is very easy to do and inexpensive. If you go to any WalMart or Target store, you will find plenty of organizer products for use in the bathroom. They are also very cheap. So get some of them and start to install them so that the most used products and items are within easy reach of wherever they would be used in the bathroom. If you make the storage spot convenient most people will continue to put it back in it’s place after they use it. If you make the storage spot even a little difficult to access, you will see those items left all around wherever someone finds a spot for it.

Next, get some extra towel racks and install them so that there is a towel holder within easy reach of almost anywhere in the bathroom. Extra towel holders mean that even used towels can have a spot to be hung up instead of just left lying over the tub or shower stall door. Another advantage decor-wise of having extra towel bars is that you can use some of them to put up fancy towels for show that will really pick up the appearance of the room and highlight the colors that you used in your bathroom design.

Another simple and easy change to the appearance of any bathroom is the flooring. If you don’t like what you see, change it. Fortunately, most bathroom floor spaces are fairly small and so not much material is needed. There are several options that you can choose from including vinyl sheets, ceramic tile, or vinyl tile squares. If you want simple and easy, stick-on vinyl tiles are probably the way to go. You can get them at a local Home Improvement store and they are usually very inexpensive too, and you can get some great looking designs that look very close to actual ceramic tile at a casual glance. Armed with a small cutter to trim the tiles when needed or shape them around an object on the bathroom floor, you are ready to go. If you make a mistake, peel up that tile, throw it away and use another one. Simple and easy!

Finally, buy some new towels for the bathroom. Get some great new colors and designs that are eye-cathcing and pleasing. Again, not much money invested for lots of return in visual appeal.

Change out the door knobs on your vanity and closet, and change the shower curtain and rings if you have one.

Just a few of these inexpensive changes in a bathroom can go a long way to changing that tired, old, cluttered, bathroom into one that makes you proud to show it off, and a pleasure to use.

Duane Jones - All About Bed And Bath provides free information, resources and tips on finding bedding, comforters, bathroom fixtures, tubs, and more for your home at the very best price.

Some decorators prefer to plan a room with long-term needs in mind, and wish to create a space for their child that will “grow” with them easily and inexpensively.

Your practical nature doesn’t need to stifle your creativity. By learning how to identify alternative functionality in furniture and accessories you can create a room that can be adapted to accommodate the needs of your child from toddler to teen. Remember, it won’t be long before your newborn is wanting a friend to stay for a sleep-over.

In your child’s nursery, all furniture choices apart from the crib can be made with growth in mind.

Accessorising the room for different ages becomes the key to maintaining your childs delight and enjoyment of their room. Accessories can be changed easily, with a minimum of fuss and expense.

You need to visualise your child as a toddler, a preschooler, at Elementary age – right up to Junior High. Think about furniture your child may enjoy and use at those ages.

Toddlers and preschoolers often use furniture as props for imaginative play, so a chair might "become" a train; a toybox may transform into a "boat". Any detailing that adds interest has the potential to spark imaginative play. The furniture of baby and children rooms needs to be both practical and functional.

A change table for example, can be any waist-high cabinet or chest of drawers fitted with a padded foam diaper mat. Look at cabinets you may see in a living room. Check for height suitability and other features that may make it appropriate, such as storage facilities. Think about how it will be used by your child as a toddler, an Elementary student, pre-teen etc. If you can see the piece adapting to your childs needs through different ages then it’s suitable.

Likewise with a nursery feeding chair. It needs to be comfortable for you, who will be using it for night-time feeding, but will it service the needs of your toddler, right through to his/her pre-teen years? Would a small sofa be better? Or a sofa-bed to accommodate having a friend stay over?

When deciding on a bed for your toddler, consider the suitability of it for an 8 year old, a pre-teen, a teenager. Your choice of bedding accessories will customise the bed to your childs age.

Furniture used as bookcases, storage cabinets and cupboards can also be found in living room and office furniture. Low T. V. units offer great storage for toys and sporting equipment and a padded cushion placed on top transforms the space into a reading area.

Tall T. V. cabinets also provide great storage and the space for the T. V. can be used to hold a doll’s house, a fish tank, or even a curtained area for puppet shows – let your imagination run wild.

Many ¾ cabinets found in the dining room section of furniture stores could be utilized in your childs room to accommodate growing needs. Dining room cabinets often have a range of smaller compartments, shelves and drawers. This storage space can be utilized to accommodate toys, books, puzzles, blocks, shoes, clothes and sporting equipment, especially in a boy’s room.

Wall cabinets used in bathrooms, either mirrored or plain, can be used in children’s room with great success. In a nursery they are great for storing diaper wipes, creams, pacifiers and baby’s hair brush. Toddlers can use them to store their “precious” things, teens can use them for personal hygiene items. Think about who will have access to the cabinet when considering it’s placement.

You should keep window treatments functional and in neutral tones, by using a blind, shutters or elegant curtains. These will age well. Accessorize with a pelmet, swag or sheer curtains, customised to suit your child’s age.

Nell Frances is author of the Step-by-Step Guide to Baby Room Projects Ebook and brings over 20 years decorating experience to her articles. She’s helped families decorate using miniscule budgets and zany ideas, to create baby rooms and child spaces that echo with squeals of delight! For all your Baby Room Decorating information and advice visit http://www.baby-room-projects.com

In our homes, as in other parts of our lives, we are happier when we live with balance and harmony. Just like the rest of our lives, balance in the rooms of our homes is sometimes hard to create. For many years, decorators and home owners tried to create this physical balance by having pairs of everything: 2 matching end tables, a matched pair of wing chairs, even sets of twin beds in the master bedroom. This certainly created a balanced room. It also created rooms that were sterile, formal and visually boring. In a formal setting or a Federal or Georgian home, this is still the way things should be to look ‘right.’ Our ancestors valued this perfect balance so highly that they created false doors in hallways so that both sides matched or doors that looked like windows so that the right and left sides of the back of a house matched perfectly. This can still be seen if you go to visit some of our historic homes. A notable example is the Hammond-Harwood House in Annapolis, Md. We, however, tend to prefer a more relaxed approach to our homes. So how do we create a feeling of balance without matched pairs of everything? You can use:

Color

Dark colors have more ‘weight’ than light colors.

Actual size

Height, depth and width of an object

Mass

A thick bulky looking object has more ‘weight’ than a fragile, delicate one. Just visualize a blown glass vase and a terracotta pot of the same size.

Number

A group of several like objects in different sizes grouped together creates ‘weight.’ Think of an assortment of silver candlesticks.

Light

A dark corner has more ‘weight’ than one filled with light.

If you want to prove this to yourself, gather together a group of assorted objects and use a tabletop/mantel and try out different scenarios. Be sure you have different sizes, colors, textures and shapes. You can put a larger framed picture against one end and a slightly smaller one in front of it. On the other end of your table put a heavy pot. Do the same thing with a matching pot at each end. Try pairing the picture group with an assortment of candles in candlesticks. Each time you create an arrangement, step back and look at it. In fact, if you have a digital camera, take a picture of it. If you do this for a while you will start to get a feel for balance. You can actually give the illusion that the tabletop is tilted slightly by throwing off the visual balance. The same effect can occur in your room arrangements. If you doubt this, close your eyes and try to ’see’ a room in which you felt physically uncomfortable or slightly disoriented even though there was no obvious reason. A room in which the heavy items are all on one side of the room, almost feels as though the floor tilts. Once you have a feel for balance you can start to create a harmonious home. Stand in the doorway of any room in your house that you feel isn’t ‘right.’ What do you see? Does the burgundy chair stick out like there is a spotlight on it? Does the entertainment center overwhelm the room? Do you have a TV and a fireplace battling for focal point? Do your easy chairs look like they were made for children next to your mammoth sofa? Does your fireplace mantel look like you are setting up for a tag sale? Your room is out of balance. Move the furniture around and try different arrangements until you have one that works. Unless you have a room that is just for show like a Victorian parlor, you need to be able to use the room comfortably. Once the practical set-up is done, look at the room from different angles. If the room is out of balance use color and accessories, plants and pictures, groups of like objects, light and volume to create an illusion of balance. Try grouping the accessories on your mantels and tabletops. Balance the entertainment center on one side of the fireplace with a tall plant or group of plants on the other. Note: avoid having the tops of everything at the same height. You might as well draw a line around your room. Repeat the color of the chair in pillows, throws, lampshades or the matting around a group of pictures. You really will be amazed at the difference it makes. We may all be born craving balance but except for the lucky few, we have to learn to achieve it. There is a myriad of books on the subject and it can help to read them and look at the pictures, but the best way to get a feel for balance is ‘hands on.’ Experiment with portable objects until you get a feel for what works and then enjoy creating your harmonious home.

Indra A Books, author of this and many other lifestyle articles is the owner and founder of ON THE GO 4 U, Personal Shoppers & Concierge Service in the Washington DC metropolitan area. The company’s creed is to provide its clients with the ultimate life management experience. In addition to its shopping and concierge services, ON THE GO 4 U also publishes a monthly e-zine and conducts workshops on wardrobe, entertaining and decorating. For more information about the author and ON THE GO 4 U, please visit http://www.onthego4u.net Content for this article was provided by Suzanne Copenhaver, Design Consultant to ON THE GO 4 U. Suzanne has years of experience decorating in less than ideal situations and always provides us with tons of insight. © 2005 Indra Books for ON THE GO 4 U