Archive for the ‘Bedroom’ Category
Bedroom Sets: Beauty And The Beast
August 28th, 2010 | 
Author: Choosing a new bedroom set can be difficult, especially when you start focusing on how important your bedroom really is! The door to the bedroom is usually the first to be shut when company is over and the bedroom itself is the last to be shown to trusted friends and family. Some people take years agonizing over which bedroom set to purchase, while others do a few moments of browsing and come up with the perfect style for them. So how do you choose what type of bedroom set to purchase?
Here are a couple of criteria you can use for choosing the perfect bed. You may have other factors that you use, but let’s try to find the perfect marriage between form and function, comfort and beauty, aesthetically pleasing and a great place to get a good night’s sleep.
Functionality
There is one big question you need to ask yourself about getting a new bedroom set: do you want functionality or beauty? A functional bedroom set would include pieces that allow you to move around easily. They’re not fussy or overly ornate and generally use straight lines. Some wood bedroom sets are made for functionality over beauty. One classic type of bedroom set that is seen more for functionality than for beauty is the missionary style bedroom set. These sets are known for straight lines and clean looks.
Missionary bedroom sets are reminiscent of a time when people had very little. Some families had very little on purpose, others were struggling just to get by. When you see the missionary style bedroom sets, the first thing you may think of is the Amish. These bedroom sets are truly like something that you would find in a devout Amish person’s home. In all likelihood, the set in an Amish home was handcrafted by their ancestor. Missionary pieces are built for functionality, but are beautiful too, in their own clean-lined way.
Beauty
Some bedroom sets are made more for beauty than for functionality. After all, how functional is a canopy bed? Do you really need to have cloth stretched out over you in a perfectly dry room? Of course not! A canopy bed is, however, extremely beautiful. Most bedroom sets that are created for beauty have curving, fluid lines. They are often ornate pieces that took hours, or even days to create, and are always a focus piece in any bedroom.
A four poster canopy bed is one example of an ornate piece of bedroom furniture. The large posters stretch up, almost to the ceiling, and a flimsy canopy decorates the top. Some people choose to put silk scarves through the winding canopy top instead of the traditional canopy, creating a sensual and mysterious air in the room.
If you’re lucky, you can make functionality and beauty meet. Bedroom furniture that is functional as well as beautiful is priceless and can swiftly become a family heirloom. Some metal beds and metal day beds are the perfect blend of function and style. They have fluid curves, yet don’t call too much attention to themselves, instead being happy to sit on the sidelines, ready to do the job they were designed for.
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50s Style Home Decorating
The world has fallen in love with the style of decorating that was popular in the early and mid nineteen fifties.
We’ve all got to admit that part of the charm of the 50s style home decorating is most likely that we’re longing for a bit of a simpler time.
Life in the fifties was a great deal like what we see on shows like Leave it To Beaver, where June wore the apron, the floors sparkled with wax and the kitchen was the heart of the home, filled with charm and pleasantries.
While we can’t supply the charm and dated appeal to your home, we can advise you in ways and things to use to help your kitchen and the rest of your home sparkle with that 50s style home decorating flash. The fifties were a time when things were a bit simpler. Gas was the method of choice for cook tops, stoves had these marvelous legs, kitchen floors were quite often multicolored tiles or linoleum and dishes were decent glass ware or china.
Chunky kitchen lamps, bright colors, incredible textures and outrageous styles made up part of the fifties, with a dose of movie star glamour reminiscent of Lucille Ball in “I Love Lucy,” and a little elegance on the side.
The d?cor of the fifties really had it all. The remarkable resurgence in that style of decorating isn’t surprising then is it, because there were so many methods of decorating and so many different things that could fit in well and be useful besides.
A few things that you might seek out and add to your 50s style home decorating will be some that were common fixtures in the homes of the period.
Some of the older pedal cars or the tin toys will serve well for additions to the living room or a child’s room
For that kitchen which is going to reflect your 50’s style home decorating skills, you’re going to need small toasters in the chrome variety, a waffle iron sitting on the counter, a few of those lovely reproduction enamel ware items such as the canister sets, a bread box and a soap dish, not to mention some vintage or reproduced metal signs such as coke, or the various items for sale in the mid fifties.
If you really want to go for broke in your 50’s style home decorating, then take a walk around the internet and find the fabrics and styles that were in play at that time. Reproductions of the stoves of the era, complete with all the modern conveniences of today can be found to outfit your kitchen in just the right style. Expect to pay a bit more for them than the normal modern appliance, however the look that you get, the bold colors and bright gleaming chromes will be well worth your time and money.
Color Counts With Bedroom Furniture, Walls, and Linens
When it comes to home decorating, what could be more important than creating the perfect bedroom? When you think about it, the bedroom is more than just a place to sleep; it’s a personal haven of solace and relaxation. It’s the room where we go to rejuvenate and retreat. It is therefore crucial that we decorate that room to maximize our comfort there. One way we do this is through use of color. Carefully coordinating bedroom furniture, wall color, and linens can change the entire tone of our bedrooms.
Because the bedroom is a place of rest and relaxation, it is recommended that we choose neutral colors. One common way to achieve neutrality is by contrasting light colored walls with dark bedroom furniture. Avoid going with entirely white walls, as the sterility of stark white can often create a sense of unease. Cream colored walls, for example, work well with cherry finished bedroom furniture. This is especially the case if the space has ample natural lighting. A variety of linen shades work with this color scheme as well.
If you’re interested in creating a darker space, perhaps more suitable to slumber, you might consider decorating with earth tones. Beiges, browns, and tans work particularly well with rustic bedroom furniture. These colors are neutrally noncommittal, and yet for some they create a cozier feel than the lighter, off-white color schemes.
Beyond bedroom furniture and wall colors, another hugely important aspect of decorating your bedroom is finding the right lighting. In fact, this should be taken into consideration as you select bedroom furniture and color schemes. Consider how much natural lighting your bedroom has, and what needs to be supplemented. Consider the type of light fixtures you have in the room, and how much light they produce. Colors schemes work hand in hand with the lighting of your room.
If you are thinking of redecorating your bedroom, always plan ahead of time. Think about what effect color and lighting will have on your ability to rest well, and plan accordingly. You will always be able to find bedroom furniture and linens that work with the colors you select to maximize your relaxation in your bedroom.
A Futon Mattress Comes With a Lot of History
Although you may not have known it, the modern futon is actually derived from the commonly used Japanese futon. The Japanese version is substantially different from the western or American version in several ways, which will be discussed. The primary difference, however, lies in the mobility of the futon.
Historically the Japanese have used to the futon as a space saving version of a mattress. The Japanese version has two parts to it. The first is the shikibuton, or the bottom mattress, and the second is the kakebuton, or the thick quilted bedcover. This is in contrast to the western version which is generally one piece with a cover that can be changed out to alter the style and/or color. The Japanese futon is also different in that the blankets and pillows come with it, generally speaking.
Futon mattress sets are sold at stores called futonya. The sets generally include the skikibuton, the kakebuton, sometimes a mofu (blanket), a taoruketto (a summer blanket similar to a towel), and one or more makura (pillows). This could be compared to the western-style futons, but each of the pieces is slightly different. The makura, or pillow is typically made of plastic beads, buckwheat chaff, or beans altering the feel as compared to the feather pillow in the western style.
The western version of the futon mattress is different in one main quality, it has a frame. The purpose of the futon in the Japanese culture is to have a bed that can be easily folded up and put away so that the room can be used for a different purpose during the day. The western futon is placed on a wood, metal, or composite frame which hinges in the center of the futon, allowing it to fold down flat similar to a bed. The frame enables the futon to double as a couch by day and a bed by night, or vice versa if you have a nocturnal schedule. This is the major dichotomizing point between the historical Japanese futon and the modern western futon.
The Japanese futon is function identical to the western style futon in that they both provide a sleeping area. The primary difference between the two is that the Japanese futon is meant to be put away in a closet or another compartment during the day to provide a multipurpose space, whereas the western style futon is generally held within a frame and folds up into a couch-like position. For this reason, the Japanese version is more accurately referred to as a futon mattress, while the western version is described as a futon couch.
Bedroom Furniture – Create Your Bedroom Retreat
The bedroom is a unique space in your home that can take on an entirely different look from the rest of your house’s theme. It really should be your own personal escape from the rest of the world. When you are designing your bedroom keep that in mind. It’s meant to be a getaway. It could be an exotic getaway, with a jungle theme or a tropical beach feel, or you could think of your bedroom as a place to escape into the pages of a romance novel, with a sexy boudoir feel complete with canopy bed. You may also like the idea of your bedroom being a way to escape the modern world, and choose the theme of an old-time country retreat. None of these are wrong answers. Your bedroom should be whatever makes you feel like you have found your perfect escape. It’s a place of rest and rejuvenation. You can create that feeling through bedroom furniture.
The trick is to hammer down a central theme so the bedroom furniture items are of the same style or complement each other. You can start with one piece of bedroom furniture you are in love with and can’t bare to do without, and then build around it. But also keep in mind that you may want to mix things up down the road and make sure the bedroom furniture pieces will do that for you. For example, if you want a beach getaway now, the main bedroom furniture items you should choose may be things that can fit that theme, but also translate to any tropical style you may want to switch too in years to come, without too much hassle. In this case a bamboo dresser would do, but one with flip-flops as feet will be hard to use in any other themed setting.
You also want to make sure the bedroom furniture pieces you choose now are going to be ones you want to use for years to come. The larger bedroom furniture pieces you will buy for your room are going to set you back a bit of money, so you want to know you are making the right decision. One place you do not want to scrimp is on the bed frame. A bed frame that is squeaky or does not support your mattress properly is going to get on your nerves and be a piece of bedroom furniture where you focus your anger instead of a place to relax.
Next, while there is great looking bedroom furniture out there, make sure it will suit your needs. Make sure the dresser or armoire you choose has enough space for all of your things. If you have wide walls in the room you can look at traditional dressers, but if you have a smaller room, you may need to look into the highboy category of bedroom furniture to find one with the space you need.
Now it’s time to decorate. Enjoy looking for the cute and kitschy things that will complete your environment and make your room the perfect retreat.
