5 Brilliant Small Bathroom Layouts That Work in Any Home
CalFinder Blog
“It goes without saying: a bathroom is an important place in the house. The bathroom provides a huge percentage of your home’s functionality—and has to look great for when guests are over. But remodeling a small bathroom can be especially tough. You want a shower-with-vanity set-up, but limited space doesn’t seem to allow for that without feeling cramped. Well. Here are some bathroom ideas that make everything work, and with great style.”

Top Before and Afters of 2011
Hooked on Houses
Yes, we know — we’re 5 weeks past the New Year. But still, these are some great-looking projects. Too good to not share.

Imperfections Make It Perfect
Remodeling Guy
“But the thing that really made me stare for awhile was the authenticity of this look. It’s not easy for most people to pull-off. I’ll give you the secret… Mess Up On Purpose! I’ve built rooms like this and one of the biggest challenges, yet most important requirements, is to get the carpenters to go against their training.”

8 Colors for South-Facing Rooms
Houzz.com
“In many homes, the south-facing room is the sunniest spot in the house because windows that face south receive the most direct sunlight throughout the year. These sun-drenched spaces are warm and well-lit during the day which can be a blessing in the winter, but it can also be too much of good thing. South-facing rooms sometimes benefit from a drop in visual temperature. The best way to accomplish this is by using cool colors.”

Don’t get caught in the trap of thinking bold colors and strong contrasts are the only way your interior decor can look sophisticated or make a statement. That’s the lesson learned after reading a post by the Centsational Girl in which she shares the detail of her recent dining room makeover.

She explains:

My dining space has always been tricky to decorate because it stands in the middle of a major freeway between the garage, family room, and kitchen.  We don’t have a formal dining room – there is simply no need for our laid back family of five to have anything other than a casual dining space for evening meals.  We nibble in the kitchen most of the time, don’t you?

However, I do like the idea of our dining space being dolled up for holidays or special guests.  After all, it has a beautiful set of French doors and a view that leads to the rear yard.  So a few weeks ago I decided to upgrade by adding some new window panels and a bench for additional seating.  I’m returning to the peaceful calm of white because I find it so fresh and uplifting.  Also, cream and white are such a nice contrast to rich dark wood, so I kept a purposeful neutral palette in our dining space.

She’s not the only one signing the praises of neutral settings. A quick search of the photo-sharing site Flickr turns up neutral-color design inspiration ranging from soft and simple to sleek and modern to unique and stylish. Interior-decorating blogger Teri Larsen writes:

Varying tones of gray and white will be the hot neutrals during the coming year. These grays vary from warm putty to cool steel gray. However, gray is not used alone; instead it is paired with warm, buttery yellow or deep taupe to add spark to the palette.

Speaking of gray, this writer, though speaking more about Web design than interior design, opines on the versatility and usefulness of the neutral hue’s varying shades. And DoItYourself.com has some tips on choosing a neutral color scheme for your home.

Whether you stay true to a purely neutral theme or use neutrals as a foundation for making accent colors truly pop, it’s certainly true that well-applied neutral colors are far from bland.

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Have you ever imagined how a certain color scheme will look in your home and decided to go forward with it only to end up having your home looking entirely different than you originally imagined? 

Never again. These great tips we found on this Home Decor site will help you prepare better next time you decide to paint. 

First, consider a color scheme. Here are three common ones:

• Monochromatic: Uses only one color throughout. Variety is introduced by using various tints, tones, values and shades of that key color and different textures.
• Complementary: Uses two colors placed opposite each other on the color wheel (e.g. yellow and violet). This scheme is quite bold and lends a dramatic touch. 
• Triadic: Uses three hues placed consecutively or at equal distances from each other (e.g. red, yellow and blue).

The article also offers helpful, easy steps that a novice can take in deciding color schemes. For example, you can use your favorite pattern as the guide for your color palette:

1. The lightest color in the pattern can be used for the background, such as wall paint color.
2. The medium color can be used as your guide for picking large furniture pieces, windows, doors, closets and cabinets.
3. The darkest color can be used for selecting accessories.

Also, consider the role your room and its size will play: 

1. White and pale colors reflect light more and make the room appear larger.
2. Dark colors make rooms appear cozier and smaller.

Photo courtesy of Team Dalog via Flickr