Emily's bedroom dilemma

I mentionned in my post on Christmas Eve that Emily was looking for some help with her bedroom but that things were too nuts at the time for me to go through my vast photo stash. Well, things are slightly less nuts now so I thought I'd finally help her out. Here's what she wrote us: "Here's my dilemma...my bedroom is set up where the best place for the bed is in front of a window. The window is about the exact width of the bed. I would really like to have a headboard on my bed and drapes on the window, but I'm having trouble figuring out the best way to do that. I need ideas!! Could you possibly post a group of shots showcasing beds with headboards in front of windows?" I found quite a few images that should help provide a bit of inspiration. Personally I think headboards are overrated, especially in the case when the bed sits in front of a window which acts as a headboard. I think hanging flowy drapes and hooking them on each side frames a bed-in-a-window quite nicely and omits the need for a headboard. But that's just me. Or do nothing but stick your bed in place. As you'll see below, that works too.

Bolig Magasinet	design*sponge
	Turquoise
House of Pictures	Kishani Perera
Michael Graydon	Michael Partenio
Erin Martin	Eric Roth
Mark Williams	Margaret Mulligan
Jodi Macklin	Domino

Lucas Allen

Angie Hranowsky

Tracey Butler

Coop

Daniel M Pafford

design*sponge

Light Locations

Sköna hem

Bookwalter Photography

design*sponge

Speaking of bedrooms, a premium memory foam mattress is a great addition that will potentially deliver real benefits across your day-to-day life.

Rylie's bedroom dilemma

Rylie wrote us the other day with a dilemma and I thought I'd post it here to see if anyone has some brilliant ideas to help her with her space. "I would like to ask you if there's any chance that you might chance upon some wonderful ideas for rooms that are narrow. Its because my bedroom is kind of narrow and long, and I have no idea what to do about it. I mean I can hardly move stuff around without blocking the way. I've attached some photos of my room, pardon the mess! I've tried moving some things before but it always looks so... cluttered to me, so space-less!"

I TOTALLY know what she's going though, as my house is 12' wide and the second bedroom is 7' wide. I have to run off to do some errands so I'll give my quick opinion and leave it to the rest of you to hopefully help her out.

I like the bed at the far end. I'd leave it there, and hang draperies all around that end of the room from floor to ceiling (even huge painters canvas tarps from Home Depot, and you can try dying them). That will give it a cocoon type feeling. I'd put the white Expedit shelving unit where the desk is to separate the sleeping area from the rest of the space. Then leave the dressers where they are and put the desk opposite them or vice versa. I think you need alot of storage bins and baskets (particularly to store all the items in the black shelving) so you can keep less of your stuff visible. And if you're allowed, paint the front part of the room something bold. :)

Paint help

Jack, a long-time co-worker of mine, and his wife Shannon are redoing their living room and Shannon is looking for paint help. She left a comment on Jo's post earlier today but I thought I'd post it seperately in the hopes there are some good suggestions out there as I am not much help. Here's her dilemma: "I am looking for a soft, silvery blue-grey (not grey-blue--I've found there's a difference) paint for my living room. I recently painted with a soft grey-blue (i.e. blue was the base colour) and it just reads as 'kid's room baby blue'. I"m looking for something like the wall colours in the fourth and fifth rows down (the living room with the portrait of the woman over the mantle and the living room with the yellow/chartreuse chair and blue rug). Does anyone have any colour suggestions???"
Here are the photos Shannon is talking about:

   

What to do with exposed brick, pre-war molding, and tin ceilings

We received an email from Stephanie the other day and thought I'd share it here to see if our reader's had some ideas for her.

"I am in the process of closing on a new apartment in Brooklyn! The apartment is completely white now, and I want to do something fun with it. The layout is very open, which isn't totally obvious from the photos, so maybe the color change from room to room shouldn't be too drastic? The middle room (with the huge closet) has no windows, so that might be important to consider. Questions: What is worse, leaving ratty-looking brick exposed, or covering it up with paint (in the kitchen)? How should I deal with the panel molding that covers the entire lower half of the living room (with the blue sofa)? It's the smallest room so I don't want it to feel too disjointed. Warning: the rooms all feel smaller than they look in the photos (damn that fish-eye lens!). Any help would be great!

P.S. The furniture in the pictures is the previous owner's, so no need to match any of that (the photos are from the original listing and taken by a company called VHT, for credit's sake).

I'm sure a lot of good ideas will come from this. That kitchen brick is really in shoddy shape in real life and I think I should paint it, but since it's irreversible I'm nervous. Anyway, the apartment is truly "cozier" than it looks through a fish eye!"

What a fantastic apartment - love the tin ceiling (!!!), the brick fireplace in the bedroom, the open floor plan. Here's my 2 cents. Leave everything white and paint out a wall in each room in an accent colour. That way the white keeps the open spaces unified and flowing into each other, but you get some colour in each space to define them (ie. the wall the bed is on). Judging by the poor condition of the brick in the photo, you should go for it and paint it out. And I'd go bold with that wall. Stephanie had sent a link to this post from Apartment Therapy, which included this photo:

That colour would be AMAZING over the brick. I'd keep the rest of the kitchen white and punch it up with accents in that colour and a bit of red. (Or do the opposite - paint the brick white and the walls/backsplash the yellow). And use a bench like the former owners did - great space saver and emphasizes the brick wall. I was going to say that you could paint the panel molding in the living room but it's right next to the brick wall in the kitchen...so painting that would depend on what you do with the kitchen. I'd maybe leave it white and paint the upper part of the walls (something coordinating with the kitchen colour...a grey maybe). Anyway, I'd love to know what our readers think so comment away everyone!

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Something creative and personal you can do with empty wall space is print some of your favourite photos large-scale. Parrot Print Canvas offers such services. I am looking to do this in my living room over my sofa. Fun!

Mariana's House

It's our last reader's makeover as guest blogger and interior designer Jason Martin helps Mariana with the finishing touches to what is an amazing Brazilian build. Mariana is is afraid that things are just a little too white and cold. It's our last chance to eavesdrop on these designer/client conversations. Jason has now helped 5 of our readers with their homes and I've been inspired by them all. Thank you so much Jason. I know how much time and creative energy goes into all of these e-consultations. You have been very generous! Now it's on to Mariana's home. Remember Mariana does the "DIY" after Jason adds the "+".

Mariana’s email: 

I´ve been inspired by Desire to Inspire since my house began to be projected. Now, in the finishing process,I feel comfortable to ask for some help.

My dad developed this project according to his dream-house: a integrated place, where all the family could spend time together in the same living, involved by a green area. In comparison to other places in Brazil, this house is placed in a chilling area (top of the hill). As my dad owns a metallurgy industry, he developed a metal roof supported by a metal tower. We always imagined a clean place, however, we think it´s everything too white and pale. We are asking for some tips and ideas of colours!

A prior need is to hide these bedroom doors. We thought about doing it with a wood panel, which should also be used to place the television (inside the tower). Wood will also be used on the floor!

Also, we don't have an idea to the external surface, as the house is jammed in green vegetation.

Jason:

Can you give me the overall dimensions for the space?

What are the top three things you want to address in the space?

Mariana's top three things:

• Colors (walls, stairs, rail, doors…) – my dad tried some pale green on the upstairs walls and it seems fine.

• How to get some privacy to both bedroom doors and what to do with the tower (TV or fireplace).

• Pieces of furniture (table, chairs, sofa …).

Jason’s Notes:

I think you have a great space to build from and would look to some of the amazing architects that are working in Brazil for inspiration. You can find beautiful spaces similar to yours by one of my favorites, Isay Weinfeld.

Without knowing what wood/finish you are using on the floor I am going to give you two different color palettes to work from.

As for the tower – I would think a fireplace is a better anchor for the room than a television.

Inspirations for cool tones

Inspiration for warm tones

Furniture Styles

Art & Accessories

Thanks again Jason! I love it. You can see all of Jason's DIY+ guest posts here.