Large, spacious rooms are what many homeowners desire, but they can often appear cold and unwelcoming.  It’s wonderful to have plenty of room so that everyone can relax and guests don’t feel crowded, but you want to provide an atmosphere of warmth and welcoming spaces.  This article offers several tips for bringing those expansive rooms down to size a bit, creating spaces that are appealing to the eye and offer a sense of intimacy.

One thing to remember, you want to avoid adding lots of small accents and trinkets to fill up the room; this will only make it appear cluttered and messy.

Use Multiple Furniture Groupings
Consider dividing the room up in to several groupings that can be used for specific purposes.  Have an area designated for watching television, one for playing games and another for entertaining guests.  This will help fill up the room with larger pieces that are in scale with the space, and will make the area seem more inviting.  In the kitchen, consider a lounging area in addition to the actual cooking area and dining set.

If you work from home, consider placing your home office in a corner of the living room to further break up a wide open space.

Keep Accessories in Scale with the Room
Colorful accessories will add depth and dimension to the room, but keep them in scale.  Plants, whether real or artificial, should be good sized.  Use large prints and tapestries on the walls that complement the shades of your décor.  Dinky floral arrangements won’t work in a large room; use large, richly colored vases filled with dramatic flowers and greenery.

Color Plays a Crucial Role
Vast spaces can be made visually smaller by using rich, deep colors on the walls, ceiling, and floor as well as in furniture patterns.  If you have a high ceiling, consider painting it a darker hue that blends with the room.  Taupe, autumn colors, burgundy, blue and deep greens are rich colors that will add visual appeal and interest.

If you decide to use wallpaper, make sure to stick with bold patterns in large prints.  Avoid small patterns with intricate details, and stick to rich choices that complement or contrast with the other colors of the room.

Other things that can be done to bring an expansive room down to size are moving the furniture away from the walls and using large area rugs in order to arrange a furniture grouping in a specific area.  You may also want to consider built-in furniture; something like an entertainment center or book shelves in a corner of the room or flanking a fireplace help use up space while encouraging a cozier feel.  These provide use as well as taking up additional wall space making the room appear smaller.

Spacious rooms are wonderful, especially if you have a large family or do a lot of entertaining, but they tend to look somewhat blank.  Put a few of these ideas to use, and you will soon have rooms that are welcoming, warm and cozy – beautiful rooms that invite guests to relax and stay a while.

Many homes have living rooms that are small, where it feels like there’s hardly even enough room to walk between the furniture. Unless you like a cluttered look, it’s hard to know what to do with a room no larger than 200 square feet. Fortunately, you have plenty of options.

Use vibrant colors and patterns to dress up a living or family room that feels claustrophobic. It’s a common mistake to try to lighten up the area a little too much. What often results is a boring sea of white, with white walls and furniture, with very little hanging on the walls. The fear of adding to the cluttered look can, in the end, make the room too sterile.

Decades ago, the presiding recommendation was that you “open up” small spaces with super-light colors such as white and linen. But now things have changed. These days, people want a living room that bursts with color and vibrancy. You can not only make the room look airy and spacious, but also extremely inviting. The key is to use colors and patterns that work. Consider the following tips to help you transform your small boring living room into a beautiful room bursting with personality.

1. Paint the room a light shade, but not white. To start, find a swatch of fabric you’re going to use that contains the shade of paint you desire. Consider a celery green or a vibrant peach-two colors that lend a botanical feel to the room. Paint both the ceiling and walls a lighter shade of whatever color you choose. Then you can paint any doors in the room, baseboards, and other trim a darker complementary color.
2. Jazz up any bare, boring walls with botanical prints. You should be able to find some in old books or magazines. Find a shade for the mat that complements the picture as well as the paint color you’ve chosen for the room. You might even group several together on one wall, creating a focal point splashed with color.
3. Use sheer silky curtains to add a light, airy feel to the décor. Place your curtain rod up close to the ceiling, allowing the sheer curtains to touch the floor. Not only will this give an expansive look to the window, but it will make the ceiling appear higher.
4. Find furniture that’s sturdy, but stay away from anything overstuffed or bulky. You want your patterns to include colors that contrast and complement your walls, curtains, and overall décor. You want to use bold, contrasting patterns in this type of a setting. Often bold stripes make the perfect touch to the décor. By creating a lively look, the smallness of the room gets lost in the inviting, vibrant atmosphere.

You might also add a unique and interesting touch to the décor by recovering the seat cushions of a solid-toned couch in a colorful, fun pattern. End tables or oak coffee tables that fold up or a narrow profile oak tv stand also work well in this type of space. This way, when your guest leave you can store them away and open up the floor area.

This is just the beginning of the many ways you can open up those tight spaces in your home. These are just a few suggestions to help get your creativity flowing. Remember to not only use your imagination, but to have fun with it!

When it comes to decorating the family room, people often have trouble with arranging the furniture to maximize the potential of the room. When the furniture is arranged properly, the room will seem stylish, but also natural and comfortable. Here are 5 suggestions for making the most out of your room’s potential when arranging your furnishings.

1. Consider the Location of the Doorways
There is only one doorway in some family rooms, while others may have two. Keep the locations of these doorways in mind when arranging your furniture, as this will ensure that the room has a good flow. For a family room with two doorways, try to place the furniture so that people don’t cross the “conversational area,” as they walk across the room. A major consideration for those rooms with one doorway is to be sure people can easily access the furniture without have to navigate through the whole room in order to sit down.

2. Take into Consideration the Walls
If you have a long wall in the family room, that is a great area to place your big sofa or other major piece of furniture like a mission tv  stand. That wall can also be made into a focal point for the room by placing something like an entertainment center there. The other furniture in the room can then be arranged around this wall.

3. Leave Plenty of Space between the Furniture Pieces
When arranging the family room furniture, you need to make sure that you leave plenty of walking space in between each piece. You want people to have adequate space in which to walk around the room but still have things close enough so the space is intimate. If you’re able to strike a balance, then people will have a comfortable amount of space to walk, but when seated, they won’t be so far away that the space isn’t intimate anymore. No one wants to be bumping into furniture right and left when walking around. But on the other hand, you also don’t want people to have to shout in order to talk to one another.

4. Make Sure the Furniture Balances Properly
One common mistake is to put all the large pieces of furniture on the same side of the room, leaving the space looking completely off balance. For instance, don’t place a large sofa next to a large recliner, and then put a small chair and oak end table across the room. Try your best to achieve both horizontal and vertical balance in the room by mixing up your larger and smaller pieces.

5. The Furniture Arrangement Should Be Functional
When arranging the furniture in the family room, you need to be sure to keep it functional. You want to make sure the family room serves its purpose as a more casual, sort of hangout room. Thus, if you’ve designated this space as a place for your family to watch movies together, then you need to be sure that enough of the seating faces the television screen so that everyone is comfortable. It doesn’t matter how stylish the family room is. If it’s not functional, the space will be completely wasted.

Arranging the family room furnishing should go much more smoothly when you follow these simple tips. What will result is a family room that’s stylish, yet also comfortable and functional.

If you have a large living room in your house, sometimes it can be challenging to properly decorate that massive space. Large spaces present their own decorating troubles, just as small spaces do. Here are some tips to keep in mind if you’re having trouble decorating your large living room.

Use Dark Colors to Decorate
Typically, using dark colors when decorating makes a space appear smaller. You can get the room to appear smaller by simply painting the walls a few shades darker than you normally would.

If you’re not looking for the entire room to appear smaller, you can give it less of a large feeling by using darker colors to accessorize. By using dark-colored furniture or even carpet in your large living room, you’ll make the room feel slightly smaller and not so big and open.

Use the Space in the Living Room Accordingly
Depending on how large your living room is, you’re going to want to plan out the space accordingly. Among other things, this means that all the seating shouldn’t be right on top of each other.

The furniture should be spaced out so that it looks evenly distributed across the room. There should also be an adequate amount of space left between the couch and the coffee table so that people are able to walk in between the two. With the proper utilization of space, you can prevent a large room from looking too cold and open, instead making it feel more comfortable and quaint.

Use Large Pieces of Art to Decorate the Walls
Before you choose a piece of art for your wall, you need to consider the area of blank space you are working with. For instance, you don’t want to hang a 5×7 picture on a very large blank wall. Rather, hang a portrait or some other piece that will take up most of the upper half of the wall. If a larger piece of art is out of your price range, you might try making a pattern or collage on the wall with several pieces of smaller artwork. Remember, though, that the artwork needs to be spaced out so that it covers the majority of the wall.

Buy a Large Piece of Furniture
If you don’t already have one, you may want to consider purchasing a large piece of furniture for your living room. You might look for an entertainment center a bookcase, a large couch, or even something like a piano or pool table.

By placing a large furnishing in the room, the large room will appear smaller and everything will seem more in proportion. You can also use this oversized furnishing as a focal point and decorate the rest of the room around it.

When it comes to decorating a large living room, you need to focus on properly utilizing the space in the room. By only using a small area of the room, the room will then look massive and not very appealing. Instead, if you use the space, including the walls, as much as possible, your large living room will be very appealing, with perhaps even a quaint and comfortable feel to it.

If you’re fortunate enough to have an extra room in your home, turning it into a guest bedroom is a great way to help your house guests feel right at home. Guest bedrooms are usually kept simple, but you can still choose to add some of your personal style to the room. By balancing simplicity with style, you’ll be able to make the room appealing to any guest who may stay in your home. If you are unsure on how to go about decorating your guest bedroom, then here are some simple tips you can follow.

Keep the Colors Neutral
In a guest bedroom, you should mostly stick to neutral colors, although it’s okay to add a pop of color here and there. By sticking to neutral colors, you can make the room more appealing to guests and also more comfortable for them. With a neutral base, then you can add style and a little bit of color with different décor items such as paintings, flowers, and pillows. You can have a stylish guest bedroom, but keep it on the neutral side so that your guests aren’t waking in the middle of the night frightened and stimulated by the bright red walls.

Provide a Comfortable Sleeping Area
Some people choose to furnish the guest bedroom with their old furniture and an oak bed. Do be sure that the bed is still safe and stable, though. However, you might want to buy a new mattress. It is courteous to provide a comfortable sleeping area instead of your 20-year-old mattress. You can also easily stain or paint your old bed another color to match the décor of the room. Another option is to find an inexpensive and simple bed that will not break your budget.

When you look for bedding for the guest bedroom, you don’t want to buy the cheapest sheets you can find. Rather, try to find something in the middle, so that it will be comfortable but will still fit into your budget. You should be fine going with a basic cotton sheet set, along with a comforter or blanket. You might even inject some style and color into the room through the sheet set, although you want to be sure that it’s not too obnoxious.

Provide Storage Space
You want to provide any guests who stay in your guest bedroom with some storage and closet space. If you use that closet space to store your own items, you might want to think about moving them elsewhere for the time being in order to give your guests that space. Of course, this all depends on who the guest is and how long he or she might be staying. For example, if you’re hosting a family member for a day or two, then storage space may not matter. On the other hand, if you have an out-of-town guest who’s staying for a week or longer, you’ll want to provide them with ample storage space.

Decorating a guest bedroom can be fun. But when planning your décor, you need to keep in mind that even though the room is in your home, it’s other people who will be using it. Thus, it’s always best to keep it on the simple side, adding your stylish touches here and there.

When decorating a room in your home, you want it to be stylish with lots of character, but you also want it to be functional. The furniture takes up the bulk of the space in most rooms, whether it’s in your bedroom or the living room. This is why when you go to decorate your home, it’s important to properly plan where you want to place the furnishings.

Typically, the way you arrange your furniture depends on several different factors. Of course, the type of room you are decorating will be a factor, but so will what furniture you are working with and what style you are going for in your décor. Each room is going to be different when it comes to arranging furniture. However, here are some basic tips to follow when decorating your home.

Choose the Focal Point of the Room
You’re not going to be able to arrange your furniture until you’ve decided where the focal point is going to be in your room. The room might have a natural focal point, such as a bay window or fireplace, or you might choose one of the furnishings you have and build the room around that.

To choose your focal point, pay attention to where your eyes are drawn when you first walk into the room. Wherever that is, you want to focus on that part of the room. Once you’ve determined the focal point, you can now rearrange the furniture in order to emphasize that place in the room.

Plan Your Design
It’s not uncommon for homeowners to play around with a room’s design before they get it the way they like. It’s best to start by arranging the largest pieces of furniture first.

If you’ve already chosen one of your larger pieces of furniture to be the focal point, then that will be easy to place. The largest pieces need to be arranged first since they are going to take up the most space and be more dominant than the smaller pieces in the room. In a bedroom, this might mean figuring out where your bed goes first. In a family room, it may mean planning where the sofa will go.

Your furniture should be placed in relation to the focal point you’ve chosen. Not everything needs to be facing the focal point, but the furnishings should be arranged so that they show off the importance of the focal point. You need to also be sure that you are not putting all the larger pieces together, as it will throw off the balance of the room. After you’ve place the larger pieces, then move on to the smaller ones, such as side tables and chairs.

Consider the Purpose of the Room
You need to consider the purpose of the room when arranging the furniture. In your dining room, for example, you need to pay attention as to whether there’s enough space for people to comfortably pass bytable when others are seated there. In your living room, on the other hand, you want to be sure the seating is close enough together so that people aren’t shouting in order to hear one another. Functionality and purpose are key things to keep in mind when arranging the furniture in any room.

The great thing about arranging furniture in your home is that it’s not set in stone. Once you get the furniture in place, you can always leave it there for a couple of weeks to see how it works out. If in the end you don’t like it or it’s not working, you can always start over again and come up with a different arrangement for the room.

The Barn Furniture (1945) on Sepulveda Blvd. one block south of Victory Blvd.

This picture was taken in 1945 soon after the Tubermans bought the business from an unfinished and patio furniture shop owner for $8,000 inclusive of land and inventory. Phil Tuberman brought his experience in the bicycle business and Millie Tuberman brought her love for design to The Barn Furniture and the two made an unstoppable team.

In the early years, redwood patio furniture was a significant portion of the business due to its durability and rot-resistant properties. However, because cutting redwood was not ecologically safe and considerably expensive, The Barn drifted away from this west coast wood. Fortunately, The Barn Furniture has recently found that east coast red cedar provides the same rot-resistant properties that the redwood provided without the same shortage.

Does your dining room seem dull and boring to you? If so, then perhaps it’s time to decorate it with more style. Besides buying new dining furniture there are many ways to liven up your dining room, making it more stylish and put together. Following are some great style tips that can be used in any dining room.

1. Add an area rug to pull together the colors of the room
The area rug should be large enough to fit under the table and chairs when the chairs are pulled out. Don’t get too big a rug, though. Some flooring should show between the area rug and the walls. When measuring for an area rug, measure the length and width of the table and then add another four feet in all directions. If you’re looking for a whole new look in your dining room, then find a rug that fits that style and redecorate the rest of the room around it.

2. Add a centerpiece to your dining room table
A flower arrangement is a simple and effective way to add color to any dining room. Try decorative candles to bring some light into the room. A glass bowl or vase with fruit will add more of an earthy touch. Centerpieces provide a great venue for you to get really creative. Centerpieces can be changed frequently, depending on the season or just the mood you’re in.

3. Add some style to the room with a piece of artwork or a set of shelves
Look around your dining room—do you have anything on the walls? A bigger piece of artwork can be a great way to create a focal point for the room. Or perhaps consider adding two or three pieces to the walls that will tie the room together. Another great option is to hang one or two shelves on a wall. Then you can put pictures, candles, or other décor items there to add some decoration to the room.

4. Set the dining room table for a finished look
By setting out a nice set of china along with placemats or an elegant tablecloth, you are adding a finished look to your dining room. This will help the room to appear more welcoming, rather than cold and uninviting, to guests. By changing the place settings according to the different seasons and holidays, in addition to your main setting, you ensure that you’ll never grow tired of what your dining room looks like.

5. Incorporate some style with a new light fixture
Lighting can certainly add some style to a dining room. You might go with a chandelier, which always looks great above a wood dining table, or some tall standing lamps in the corners. The chandelier should go with the style of the rest of the room. Chandeliers can be adjusted to the perfect height that will give the room the right amount of light.

There are so many more ways to add more style to your dining room. Just remember to be creative and envision what your ideal dining room would look like. Then get to work and make it happen!

Once you’ve bought your young son some rugged wood bedroom furniture like an oak bed or wood night stand then you have to decide on decorating them that will keep them happy and entertained. There are so many great and unique decorating themes for any boy’s room. Remember when selecting your theme to be sure it’s something that can grow with him through the next several years. Any of the following themes can easily be adapted for any boy ranging from age two to age ten. Any of these unique decorating ideas will help get you started on creating a fun and engaging décor for any little boy’s room.

The Firehouse Bedroom
If your little boy is enamored with firefighters, then a firehouse theme would be perfect for his room. You should have no problem finding a firefighter wallpaper border to hang on the walls. Or for those who can draw or paint, any number of firefighter scenes might grace the walls. Aside from fire truck bedding, there are plenty of other accessories you can add to the room to increase the fun, including a fireman’s hat, a hose hanging on the wall, or a fireman’s pole. You might even consider putting a siren in the room—if you dare!

The Bedroom from Outer Space
An outer space theme is the perfect choice for any little boy interested in aliens or the night sky. Walls can be decorate using outer-space and star wallpaper borders and even star and planet decals. If you’re able to, you should be able to find spaceship or planet templates that you can trace and paint on the walls.

For a striking addition to the room, try painting the ceiling black and then using glow-in-the-dark paint to add stars and planets to the ceiling. Throw in a couple Martian stuffed animals, and your little boy will be sleeping in outer space.

Pirate Themes for Bedrooms
If your little boy is partial to pirates, you can use movies such as Peter Pan and Pirates of the Caribbean as a reference, depending on how old he is. Start by painting the walls blue for the ocean. A pirate ship painted on one of the walls would be an awesome addition, or perhaps an island with an overflowing treasure chest on the shore. Complete the look by adding accessories such as nets, portholes, treasure boxes with booty, and pirate hats.

A Favorite Animal Theme
What’s your little boy’s favorite animal? Is it monkeys or lizards? Consider decorating his room with his favorite animals. This is a broad theme that can be customized to fit your little boy’s preferences. For instance, if your boy has a pet, you can always build the theme around that, complete with a special place for the pet to live. Just be sure that if your little boy is old enough, you take his interests into consideration and not just choose any animal theme for his room.

Other Decorating Themes
Some other decorating ideas for a little boy’s room that are both unique and fun include:

· cowboys

· dinosaurs

· race cars

· military

· jungle

· sports

· construction

· licensed characters and cartoons

· haunted house

· bugs

· the wild outdoors

To find the perfect decorating theme for your little boy, involve him in the process, not only of choosing the theme, but of picking out what he wants in the room and helping set it all up.

For those who like to keep current with the styles and designs of today, a contemporary style might be the perfect décor choice for your home. Nowadays, contemporary styles have shifted and are no longer as cold and unwelcoming as they once were. Contemporary styles nowadays tend to be comfortable, lighter, and very welcoming.

So what exactly is needed to create that contemporary look? The basic components of this design style are simplicity, clean lines, and sophistication. Focusing on shape, size, and color is the key to any contemporary style. What will result is a fresh, sleek look that will fit just about any room in the home. If a contemporary style seems like the décor choice for you, here are some other important features to consider.

Contemporary Color Choices for Your Room
Contemporary styles tend to incorporate mostly neutral colors, although modern variants are adding more colors such as blues and greens into the mix. Traditionally, black is often the color used to ground the décor, creating a base for the look. Choose neutral tones such as light gray, white, or light tan for your walls.

One new trend in contemporary styles revolves around monochromatic themes. This means you choose one or two complementary colors, such as green and blue, and then you work only with those colors, adding a neutral color such as black or white here and there. Thus, for instance, you may coordinate white pillows with a modern light-blue chair.

Accentuate the Lines and Geometry of the Room
Essential to contemporary style is distinct lines in the design. To create definite lines in your décor, you might look to including some geometric shapes or keeping the windows bare in the room. Don’t overcrowd the space. You need each and every piece to stand on its own and not get shuffled in with everything else.

Choose Sleek and Modern Furniture
For contemporary furnishings, look for sleek and modern pieces that have geometric patterns. Rather than a big plush, comfy sofa, you might go with a sleek wrap-around sofa with exposed peg legs for that contemporary look. Choose furniture that’s upholstered in neutral tones such as white, black, tan, and gray. You can also consider purchasing contemporary wood furniture. Avoid furniture with frilly accents or pillows, or pieces with skirts or trim on the bottom.

Contemporary Décor That’s Basic, Bold, and Functional
Remember, with contemporary style, less is more. In other words, you need to eliminate the small, cute, little things and focus on larger objects. Avoid any floral or paisley prints, as well as fringes and ruffles.

When it comes to contemporary décor, go basic, bold, and functional. For instance, a simple large candle on a dish may be all that’s needed on a shelf or table. Another contemporary accent might be a glass vase with colored balls or marbles. However, limit those accents to one per surface area. Some surfaces, such as side tables, don’t need anything on them.

Contemporary style can create a great look for practically any room in your home and can be achieved with something as simple as new  living room or bedroom furniture accents. However, do be sure this is the style you want, as it is hard to incorporate contemporary pieces into other decorating themes.