This article is written by Erik Braunitzer of Douglas Elliman Real Estate Company, agents for Bronx Apartments and Condos.

You’ve heard about a sustainable kitchen, and you’ve certainly read about ways in which to make your bath more “green.” But what people really aren’t discussing these days are methods for transforming your own bedroom into something that meets the standards of green design.

For starters, you can remodel your entire bedroom to meet LEED standards specific to lighting. LED and energy efficient light bulbs are sold everywhere, and although they are initially more expensive, they’ll save you energy in the long run, while eliminating waste.

Now it’s much easier to build a house from the ground up using reclaimed materials, but it’s always possible to knock down a few walls and take out some floorboards for the greater good. Reclaimed and recycled materials like hardwoods are readily available at most hardware stores, and are environmentally welcoming. Everything from your bed frame to your dressers can be made from recycled wood materials. And it doesn’t end there! There are even choices for organic latex and foam beds. Sheets, clothes and carpets can all be made from 100% organic cotton.

Pretty much anything labeled organic, recycled or reclaimed is what ideally should be used to create a more earth-friendly living space. It’s always wise to purchase windows that are recycled, and can capture a natural draft. This means positioning them on opposite sides of the room. Likewise, larger windows permit more natural light, saving you energy as well.

As we progress further into the 21st century, these green “suggestions” will soon start to become standards. Although it will take a while, if met, these standards will eventually help us create a more sustainable earth.

Is your bedroom so dull that you fall asleep each time you enter? While, of course, our bedrooms are indeed for sleeping, they are not intended to be that boring. After all, your bedroom is a major part of your home, so why not make it shine? These nine easy steps will transform your bedroom from “blah” to beautiful.

1. Renewing your bed Your bed is most likely the largest piece of furniture in your bedroom. Often this bedroom decorating transformation is as easy as changing your comforter. Considering the simply endless array of fabrics, colors, patterns and other options available, you should be able to find a new look that will fit with any mood or any bedroom style. Today’s sheets also come in various colors, styles and materials. You can find everything from fun leopard bed sheets to ones made of silky sateen. Feel free to change your bed dressing sporadically to keep your room from getting stagnant. This is one bedroom change that you can easily make without spending too much money.

2. Don’t forget painting Are your wall colors drab? If so, you may you have long forgotten how easy it is to brighten a room with a fresh paint job. Here are a few guidelines: if you have a smaller space, choose a lighter color. This will make the room look larger. If your ceilings are very high, painting them a dark color can provide the illusion that they are lower. For small and wide spaces, you can consider painting walls different colors. Additionally, opposite hues on opposing walls can make a narrow room look wider.

3. A floor is more than just something you walk on! If you are already pleased with your current flooring, consider adding a vibrant rug or carpet. These touches can help make the most out of your bedroom. If you have dark floors, sometimes just adding a nice light colored rug can really offer a classic, sophisticated look. However, if you want to completely change your flooring, this is actually easier and more affordable than it may initially look. Many companies offer gorgeous flooring for low prices.

4. Pillows and shams One particularly affordable way to dress up your bedroom is by adding pillows and shams. The decision to use matching shams and accent pieces can also serve to create a cohesive design scheme. Have you ever considered euro shams? These are oversized shams, which can truly add a dramatic element to your bedroom. Often you can get these accent pieces at the same time that you buy your bedding set.

5. Lighting is essential Adding new lighting fixtures can often greatly improve the look of your bedroom. However, it is worth your time to contemplate what lighting fixtures work the best for your particular needs. For example, for your convenience, the areas where you get dressed should have ample lighting. Of course, a softer more subtle light is better suited for closer to the bed.

6. How about a headboard? You would be surprised how many people never consider getting a headboard. However, this single element can really improve your room’s appearance. If you want to save money, you can even create your own headboard using wallpaper or upholstery. Just be sure to measure the exact width and height of your bed in advance. There types of DIY projects can often turn out looking surprisingly professional.

7. Window treatments There are a variety of options when it comes to window treatments. You can select long drapes for an elegant look. Of course, if you match these drapes to the wall color, this can give the room a very modern feel. If you prefer a traditional look, contrasting the drape color to that of the walls can be a nice touch. Also consider using valances, although keep in mind that if you don’t pair them with drapes, they won’t offer too much privacy.

8. Hardware options Another way to change up your bedroom that can actually be a lot of fun is choosing new handles and knobs. There are a variety of very modern pieces available today, and they will help to radically transform the look of old furniture and doors.

9. No one likes a cluttered bedroom Lastly, you should always aim to keep your bedroom tidy and organized. You will find that there are likely various items in your bedroom that you can just throw away or place in storage. Try to really analyze carefully what is in your room. Often simply reducing clutter can make a huge impact towards the look and feel of a bedroom. Plus, too much “stuff” can be distracting and even stressful. A non-cluttered room will always serve to help you relax at night.

About the Author Alan Riley is the author of the website www.beautifulbeddingsets.com. Whether you are looking for bedding from JoJo Design or just simple bedding sets, this website has you covered. In his own life, Alan has updated several bedrooms, whether due to his growing kids or just moving to new homes. When Alan isn’t thinking about bedrooms, he enjoys sailing and is also an active member of his local church. He currently lives with his wife and two children in Melbourne, Australia.

Any interior space is primarily composed of walls, floor and ceiling. These elements give a habitable character to the interior space.

Apart from providing protection from natural elements such as rain, snow, wind and other natural calamities, an interior space is also responsible for creating moods, depending upon the theme of the decoration.

Depending upon the functional purpose of the interior space, the quality and quantity of the furniture and other elements may change. For example a “meditation center” might not require any furniture at all, but a gymnasium on the other hand requires specially designed equipment.

For the sake of this article we are only going to concentrate on bedrooms. A bedroom is a space, which is close to our heart. This is the space where we take rest and regain the vital energy force for the next day’s work. A typical bedroom consists of a double/single bed depending upon the size and occupancy of the room, wardrobe, study table, chairs for informal gathering, dressing table, side tables adjacent to the bed for keeping items such as telephone, watch, etc..

Since a bulk of volume gets occupied with the furniture pieces, the beauty of a bedroom greatly depends upon the quality of the furniture. But that’s not all. Any interior space can be greatly enhanced using “accessories” and some great amount of detailing can be added to an existing bedroom with furniture.

1)Use of decorative curtains.

These are called as valances and are a very good means to decorate the windows and other openings. These decorative curtains have 2 purposes. a) They define a window opening b) They diffuse the incoming sunlight and help the dispersion of light evenly. Valances can be easily be prepared at home with some basic knowledge of stitching.

2)Wall Hangings
 
Wall hangings are used as an alternative for wall paintings. These have a great advantage that they can be prepared from almost any material. Some possible options for material use could be matt finished paper, handmade paper, silk cloth, bamboo sticks, jeans cloth!, wool, plastic sheets, crape papers, etc…Small square pieces of these materials along with bits of mirrors pieces can be creatively used to prepare a wall hanging.

3)Wall Paintings.

The choice of the wall paintings in this case highly depends upon the likes/dislikes of the user. Also the nature of the surface on which the painting is going to be, is also important.

4)Photographs

Most people like to use framed photographs of the family members, ancestors, or some live stills from outside world. This method has got a great advantage. The user has got perfect control over which kind of photos to choose. Photographs of real people can greatly add a human touch to an interior space.

5)Statues

These greatly add to the quality of the space. In case of bedrooms the statues which can add some interest to the overall theme can be used. Some gift articles come in the form of statues or a watch embedded in it can serve two purposes at a time. They add some grace to the design and at the same time, become a useful functional piece.

6)Shade Loving Plants.

Depending upon the size of the bedroom, lots of varieties of shade loving plants are available today. If the plant is a flowering one, then this can be very creatively used. A flowering plant can greatly add to the mood of an space because of its changing nature of foliage and color.

7)Decorative Lamp Shades.

Decorative lamp shades have a very unique quality attached to them. Because they are functional mostly at night times, the shape of the lampshade itself can be chosen in such a way, that will add some interest in the bedroom. During its functional times a lampshade which is made of semitransparent cloth covers can add some wonderful ambience in the interior space.

8)Free standing wooden partitions.

These are used in large bedroom to define certain areas of the same space into different parts. for example a wooden partition can be used to segregate a study space inside a bedroom or a decorative wooden partitions can be used to hide the direct entry to the toilet, by creating a private area.

These are some of the ideas I have come up with randomly. These can be a good starting point. You can always come up with more good and creative ideas of your own. A very creative use of these accessories can definitely sheer up an interior space.

I hope this article was informative to everyone.

Copyright Shrinivas Vaidya

Shrinivas Vaidya is the webmaster of
Bedroom-Design-And-Decorating-Ideas.com .Here you will find some great concept level design tips for all types of bedrooms

If you have read any interior design books/articles, visited a few websites on the internet, you will find the word theme used quite often.

What exactly is a theme-based design?

A theme according to me is a collection of various parameters of design of an interior space. So a theme may include a certain set colors, materials, repetition of a certain element, such as a decorative item, etc…

Primarily there are two basic themes under which a design can be categorized, 1)Oriental 2)Contemporary.

Oriental Bedroom Design Theme:

These kind of themes have a still drilled down niche design themes, such as country, rustic, vintage, elegant, etc… One of the major thing about these kind of themes is that much emphasis is given on the natural beauty of any material. These designs are close to nature or are shown to be close to nature.

These kind of design styles are very rarely found in the urban city interiors. Mostly the countryside homes adopt these kind if themes, to replicate the flora and fauna of the outside environment.

The designer tries to include the patters seen in nature, such as leaves, flowers, plants. All these natural patterns are seen on wallpaper patterns, decorative lamps, curtains, furniture upholstery, wall paintings, etc…

Homes which are build on country side such as farm houses, the scarcity of space is not an issue, but this creates another problem as far as designing interiors is concerned.

A bedroom, no matter of what size it is, requires some basic furniture elements as functional needs, such as a double bed, dressing table, wardrobes, study tables, a book shelf etc..

It is sometimes possible that because of the large spaces, the bedroom looks empty after the furniture is arranged. At such times “decoration” plays a major role. During ancient years the palaces and castles had such large built spaces, where extensive use of decoration was used in the form of paintings, heavy decorative flooring patterns, carvings, moldings as a decorative architectural elements.

So in this oriental design trend, decoration of the space using various accessories plays a major role.

Contemporary design Theme:

These kind of design themes are very new as compared to the previously mentioned oriental design theme. But how did the designers came along using these kind of designs?

During the starting years of the 20th century, the “Industrial Revolution” in Europe changed the face of our planet. It was easy to design and manufacture goods on a mass scale with amazing speed and efficiency. This created a flood of industries in and around the cities. These cities attracted large amount of people to migrate from rural areas to city centers in search of a living.

Because of this migratory effect there was a sudden need of housing requirement for the workers. This is where the concept of an “apartment” was introduced. Because of the pressure of demand, a school of thoughts emerged within the architects, who believed that “simplicity” is the need of today’s era.

They thought that, the design of the building has to be simple and easy to build, then only we can compete with the growing demand of housing needs in cities. That’s why simple designs with mostly plane and square faces with square or rectangular openings were used. These forms and masses were easy to build and still beautiful. If everything from “safety pins” to “space ships” could be built on a mass scale, why not “buildings”.

The school of thought believed that a plane rectangular form is in itself beautiful and they proved this using infinite permutations and combinations of the basic square form. That’s why decoration was given a second preference. Today we call this school of thought as “contemporary”. In contemporary design every element has an order.

That’s why in today’s modern interior design, simplicity is the key to an efficient design. Unlike the previous oriental design theme, the contemporary design theme states that any kind of architectural decoration is always dependent on the basic form of the building. The form itself is so beautiful, that the need to further decorate it is not required. Today’s modern interiors spaces are simple to understand, simple to construct, and project a kind of simplicity.

By reading the above paragraphs some of you might say that, decoration is no more needed. But this is not true. I am not trying to force some ideas here. But most people confuse the whole concept of “Interior Design” and “Interior Decoration”. Both are quite different and both have a unique value in today’s complex society.

Decoration was something the primitive man learned, looking at the nature around him. He saw plants, flowers, birds, animals and tried to copy these elements. We still use “embroidery” on our dresses. But the modern design theory says that any sort of decoration can only “enhance” the existing form, but can not be an element of design.

What does this mean?

In the above said example the “embroidery” pattern can certainly add to the beauty of the cloth, but the modern theory denies to accept the cloth to be of a cheap quality. It states that every form, texture, material, shape is in itself beautiful and must be accepted as it is. Because of this the need to further decorate it does not arise.

Thus decoration whether used in architecture or elsewhere is always dependant on the form on which it is used, but design is an independent entity which does not need any justification from the external factors.

The two design themes mentioned above are still widely used today. The user must look upon them from a point of view of what best suits his/her likes and dislikes. Only then can you give yourself and your family the best quality of living.

I hope this article was informative to everyone.

Copyright Shrinivas Vaidya
Shrinivas Vaidya is the webmaster of Bedroom-Design-And-Decorating-Ideas.com .Visit TODAY to get an in-depth knowledge of Bedroom Design, Bedroom Furniture Sets and Bedroom Decorating Ideas.

Dear friends, It is a universally accepted truth that color impacts human mind and therefore must be used wisely in an interior space.

There is a normal practice amongst interior designers, to use “color schemes” to enhance the beauty of an interior space.

A color scheme normally has more that one color. The type of color used and the type of combinations used will decide what kind of interest the space will express when it’s been painted with a color scheme.

Let’s see what are the types of colors

1)Hot Color Schemes

Primarily red and Yellow color lies in this category. These colors have an excitatory effect on human mind and hence are used in spaces where human activity is rapid and excitatory.

Such spaces are Circus Tents, Pubs, Sports Complexes, etc.. In all these spaces physical activity is the primary function and
hence a proper use of hot color scheme can greatly add to the quality of space.

2)Cool Color Schemes

Primarily Blue and Green fall under these category. These colors tend to create a soothing effect. Because its cool nature these are used where physical activity is of less importance.

Such spaces are bedrooms, hospitals, etc… You will extensive green in hospitals because of its cool nature.

3)Neutral color schemes.

Primarily White, Black and shades of these two i.e. Gray fall under this category. Black and white when use with the hot or cool color scheme can shift the effect of hotness or coolness of both predominant color schemes.

Apart from these three basic color schemes infinite combinations of all these colors is possible which can give rise to qualities such as contrast, brightness, shallowness, etc…

In spite of such enduring qualities of the color schemes in interior design, color has a certain weakness built in itself.

The kind of emotion the color will evoke in human mind is directly dependant on two major factors.

1)The quality of surface on which it is applied.
2)The quality of light which falls on the colored surface.

These two factors must never be ignored. If there is no light, there is no identification of the color itself. A red colored surface will look different in morning dim sunlight, afternoon harsh sunlight and evening sunlight. Also it will have some more exciting effect if an artificial light is projected on the surface.

A rough surface painted with a soothing color such as white will have different appearance that a plain surface painted with white. Also if sunlight falls of a rough surface, it will cast minute shadows of the details caused because of the roughness, thus limiting the smooth effect, the white color can cause.

Some designers have actually used this as a benefit to arouse interest in a space. Apart from these every material on this planet has his own color. The brick exposed walls already have their own reddish/brown color with a rough surface. The mortar joints between the bricks also have their own color and texture.

That’s why color in interior design is not something, which must be applied or not applied, but it is only a visual element which is already present in our environment. The space is more important than the color and the appropriate color scheme will greatly enhance the visual quality of the space attained by its form.

What does this mean?

We are used to live in rectangular spaces. The rooms in our home are predominantly rectangular in volume. But imagine a bedroom which is circular and also has a domical roof on top.

Here the form of the space itself is so exciting, that color plays a secondary role. Here the form of the space itself creates excitement, which could otherwise be achieved using a hot color scheme in a rectangular volume.

That’s why any color scheme in interior design is always dependant on the form of the space, quality of the surface on which it is applied and the amount of light it accepts.

For more in-depth information on choosing your very own color schemes I recommend Color Schemes Made Easy By Shelley Stewart.

I hope this article was informative to everyone.

Copyright Shrinivas Vaidya

Shrinivas Vaidya is the webmaster of Bedroom-Design-And-Decorating-Ideas.com .Visit TODAY to get an in-depth knowledge of Bedroom Design, Bedroom Furniture Sets and Bedroom Decorating Ideas.