Jay Johnson - If you're an interior designer, one of the challenges you face is helping your client "move on." And moving on can take on several forms: move on from the furnishings you had in your college dorm room (no, it's not okay to use old orange crates and stacks of bricks for bookshelves), move on past the hideous furniture you inherited when Aunt Opal passed away last year (sometimes furniture should be buried with their owners), or move on beyond bad taste to good taste ("But it was on sale!" is not a good reason to keep anything revolting).
Sometimes replacing one key piece of furniture in a room is enough to tip the decorating scheme from dreadful to daring ... and I've selected 11 beds (actually 10 beds and 1 headboard) that could turn an ugly bedroom into a showplace, or at least inspire the rest of the room to shape up and match the new bed's high standards. The photo above and the next two photos feature beds from the hipsters at Atelier Interior Design - the Nuba bed (top), Giorgia bed (top, below), and Bridge bed (bottom, below) are all beds that could drastically change the temperature and style quotient of any bedroom.
I love how the Atelier beds would look great floating in a room. Bed design trends are moving away from the flat-against-the-wall restrictions of beds of yore; a floating position allows the Bridge bed's split headboard to adjust to different levels of recline to accommodate different reading, sleeping, or TV-watching postures. Very smart.
And consider the Antalya Queen bed from McGuire Furniture (above). Its rattan woven frame is covered in laced rawhide for a strong statement not often made in bedrooms. This would be a great choice for both contemporary and traditional bedrooms.
Jessica Ackerman - If you have high-dollar tastes on a shoestring budget, don’t fret. There are many ways that you can dress up your walls without tapping into your child’s college fund or spending a small fortune. The tips that follow will help you to dress up your walls for less, while sticking with your love of cottage style decor. Yes, decorating your walls frugally yet beautifully is possible, and here’s how.
1. Think reflectively.
Although there are definitely many expensive mirrors out there, there are an equally large number of inexpensive ones. You can also make your own mirror by having the mirror cut at a hardware store, and then frame it with whatever suits your fancy, whether that's old beads from a broken necklace, wallpaper remnants, or decorative trim.
2. Think artsy.
You can invariably decorate your walls “on the cheap” by using a stencil. Stenciling is fun and easy and you can stencil nearly any design as a border on the wall. From vines to grapes to other designs, you'll love the look of stenciling in your cottage style space. Add some grapes wall hangings near the stenciling to add a French cottage feel to the room.
3. Think functional.
It's simple to make a DIY bulletin board that encompasses most of the wall. All you need is fabric, rickrack, buttons, ribbons, and embellishments. You can then use pins to tuck in various memorabilia, photos, or other items to bring your bulletin board to life. Or use magnetic paint to create a surface in the home office or elsewhere that is perfect for displaying your child’s artwork, report cards, and more. Another way to decorate your walls while keeping functionality in mind is to store a collection right on the wall, such as a quirky hat assortment.
4. Think simple.
Use old postcards to create a collage on your wall, or frame your postcard collection for a fun look. An out-of-date calendar often provides just the needed artwork for framing and hanging on your wall.
Jessica Ackerman - Cottage furniture is beautifully rustic and typically features many warm, wooden tones or may be distressed, have a crackled finish, or a white-washed look. The furniture found in cottage style is many times repurposed for something altogether different than what the furniture was originally intended for. The ideas that follow will help you to outfit your home in cottage style while reusing items that you might otherwise discard:
- A discarded dining room chair can quickly be fashioned into a cottage style planter when you cut a hole in the seat and fashion a terra cotta pot inside.
An old armoire can be used to hold a TV, computer, or even your collection of china or other type of collection. As space permits, allow the doors of the armoire to remain open to display your collection, or better yet, use glass to replace the door inserts. - An old potting bench can be repurposed to handily become a bathroom storage unit, a hutch for the dining room, a cottage chic bedroom bench, or as a baker’s rack in your cottage style kitchen.
- An old, weathered kitchen step stool can quickly become a cottage style plant stand, or it can be used as a place to display a particular item that you are fond of.
- Create the perfect desk for your home office or teenager’s bedroom by reusing an old kitchen table. Beneath the table (or even on top of it) you can stack wicker baskets, vintage suitcases, hat boxes, and wire baskets to store various items.