IDEAS for a BLACK and WHITE BEDROOM

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Black and white rooms are catching on like crazy and while looking for ideas for a black and white bedroom that I'm working on, I spotted these pictures where the walls had been painted with funky, black and white horizontal stripes.

What a wild look this would be with a set of damask print bedding or a black and white polka dot comforter set! The instructions said that they used a laser level to keep the stripes even, but they don't indicate whether they taped them off or just penciled in the borders of the stripes. I would absolutely have to use painter's tape or I would end up with wavy, uneven stripes.

One of the visitors here suggested some ideas for a black and white bedroom awhile back that included the combination of flat white ceiling paint and black semi-gloss or eggshell wall paint. I think that using that technique to paint these stripes would look very cool!

DORM ROOM RUGS

I haven't got a problem with guys using carpet remnants as dorm room rugs. Chances are the rug will be covered in dirty laundry and sweaty socks before mom and dad have left the college campus. Isn't that a lovely picture?

But girls who care enough about the decor that they convinced mom to spend a bundle on an expensive set of girls bedding to make the college dorm room more homey tend to take better care of things and in my opinion deserve a better looking and color-coordinated area rug that works with your dorm room bedding and room decorations.

After the first rush of "meet and greets" is over and crisp, cool football weather replaces the sweltering heat of summertime, those cold tile floors make getting up and getting ready for class even less appealing.

My advice is to go in search of a couple of cheap dorm room rugs that can easily be washed because even if you're careful the throw rug will probably be pretty dirty by the end of the first semester.

WHERE TO FIND CHEAP DORM ROOM RUGS

The best plan of action would be to buy several bedside rugs at the same time you buy your dorm bedding to get a good color match. If your bed in a bag comforter set didn't have matching accessories, buzz over to Big Lots and see if you can find an area rug from a discontinued collection that will work to get a huge discount on price. My next stop would be JCPenney or (surprise, surprise) DORM ROOM RUGS.COM!

Red and Pink Bedding

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I thought I had just found the perfect set of red and pink bedding for a teenage girl's bedroom that I'm decorating. Take a good look at the pictures...do you see a red and pink comforter set? Well, at first glance I surely did only to take a second look and realize that the actual comforter and shams are white, pink and green. There may be a tiny touch of red in the center of the flowers that you can't see very well, but it may be hot pink.

The point is that the red upholstered headboard of the bed, the red dust ruffle and that funky looking wooly mirror that's hung over the head of the bed fooled me into thinking that I had found THE pink and red bedding set that would solve all my problems.

I wonder if I can convince the young lady to accept this red and pink bedding set and more importantly, convince her mom to pay for a padded red headboard.
The girl's taste in bedroom colors ranges in the warm (ya think?) side of the color wheel thus the request for a hot pink and red room design. In my opinion, the field of white with cool green stems on the flowers are what will make the girls bedding set work.

How to Brighten a Dark Room

The first tip I would share with anyone asking how to brighten a dark room would be to figure out whether the room actually needs lightening or brightening. I learned the hard way that they are not one and the same. You can add more light through natural sources, through adding lamps and light fixture as well as mirrors to reflect and amplify but still have a dull, lifeless bedroom that has no personality. Basically what you have is a well lit room that lacks pizzazz!

What you need to know is how to brighten a dark room without sunlight and running up the electric bill. You can buy a new comforter set choosing bright fabrics and change the wall color to something cheerful if you have the funds for a complete makeover. But if you are looking for less expensive decorating ideas look for ways to rev up the engine of the paint and bedding set that you already have in place.

Bright, energetic artwork is a cheap way to pump life into an otherwise lethargic space. Choosing art prints and accent pieces with movement and bright colors is the key to bringing your bedroom to life. Skip the dark colors, the still life pictures, landscapes and the floral arrangements. Look for prints that have twirling, spinning graphics and a bold splash of color for the best results. Even though light colors will never never brighten up a dark room. Dark colors can make the space seem small and dim.

Dancing prints work well with most teenage girls bedding bedding sets as well as sports prints. Basically, anything that is bright as well as lighthearted should do the trick.

NERD WALL ART

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This decal that a client's daughter presented to me as nerd wall art that she wants as a focal point in her "nerd bedroom" (her words not mine, evidently being nerdy is very cool these days) is a painful reminder that I didn't apply myself when I was in high school. I was not the only teenage girl who memorized the periodic table of elements just long enough to pass chemistry class so I was not an odd duck.


Today nerds are the new "IN CROWD" and this young girl is perhaps the leader of the pack because she is drop dead gorgeous and not your dingy absent minded professor type either! Good looking, high achievers like her have become so trendy that they are developing their own decorating style and nerd decor like this decal and other pieces of nerd wall art are popping up all over the place!

In light of the monochromatic nature of the nerd wall art, I have to find a set of bedding and take her bedroom furniture and the headboard to her bed to be painted with flat black paint to match the periodic table wall poster and decals that she bought at scribbleoneverything.com.


Since I signed on to decorate this young lady's self-proclaimed nerd bedroom I have hopes that I get more jobs working for the intellectual set because I have my eye on some Legend of Zelda bedding that I'm dying to use teen girls bedding set in a gamer bedroom design.