Choose a soft color palette. The peaches and delicate creams work well with the light wood furniture and mid-tone wood flooring. The overall feel is comfortable and inviting.

Add some black. The fireplace and accessories, along with the china dog in the foreground, add just enough dark tones to keep the room from becoming bland. Minor touches of black ground a room and provide a good contrast to the lighter elements.

Include puffs and ruffles. The extra fabric and padding make the room feel more comfy and encourage stretching out on the soft-looking bed. This gentle mood has support from the plush area rug, which looks particularly inviting for bare feet.

Look at lighting. The window light is diffused, indicating a covered patio or porch that’s reducing any glare from outside. Inside, candles in and above the fireplace offer light without being too bright. The almost-white walls and ceiling also reflect and carry the light.

Keep window-coverings simple. In this case drapes that match the walls provide a functional answer to light control while staying in the background. Light-toned blinds or shades would serve a similar purpose.

Take advantage of architecture. The fireplace in the corner provides a warm focal point that really suits the style of the room. Don’t hesitate to play up advantages like that to add personality to a room.

What ideas can you capture from this room to make your bedroom more charming?

Whether you prefer contemporary or more traditional rugs, a pattern on your floor is less obtrusive than patterned upholstery, but still adds interest.

Whether your primary flooring is wood, tile or carpeting, adding a patterned rug creates a focus area, brings one or more colors to a room, and serves as the foundation for the rest of your décor.

In this room, the light straw color in the rug is echoed but not repeated by the yellow-gold chair and light maple coffee table.

You don’t have to use a rug’s colors exactly. Because the material and texture is different enough, upholstery fabric can connect without a perfect color match. The simple pattern on this rug opens up a selection of options for the rest of the room. The sofa could fall in the mid-to-dark brown range, and accessories could come in as light as cream or even true black for an extra pop.

Notice the maroon throw pillow on this chair. Even with the neutral rug, there’s no reason why you can’t bring in some colors. This maroon works, and you could choose from almost any color family as long as you choose a color that suits the rug’s tones. For example, hot pink would not be a good decision, but a dusky mauve could work. Cobalt blue would be a mistake, but a soft grey-blue would bring in that brown-blue combination that’s still so popular in today’s homes.

If you’re not sure what to do with a room and want to introduce pattern, starting with an area rug can create just the right mood and inspire your decorating.

This room meets all of these goals due to some smart planning and decorating.

To begin, the architectural elements have been kept neutral. The carpeting is a very light grey. The family could go light because they chose better quality stain proof carpeting, a good idea when you’re dealing with two growing boys.

The white painted furniture matches the window casings as well as the simple pull-down window blind. To use space well, the desks and shelves are built-in and make good use of the slanted ceiling area by setting up the two desks on opposite corners along this wall. This gives both boys room to do their homework and show off their favorite things. For the older boy, trophies and awards cover the shelf, and he can keep homework organized in files set in the bottom drawer. Other desk drawers hold pens and school supplies.

Choosing the simple layout and furniture doesn’t limit the personality of the space. Each boy has his choice of bedspreads and a bulletin board with contents that are constantly changing. The light blue walls will work with almost any color.

The older chose his red chair at a thrift shop – liking the sturdy look and unusual color. Once the large basics were defined, flexibility is the order of the day with everything else. Art and accessories will come and go, but this room will continue to be functional and attractive, at least as long as the boys keep it tidy!

In this living room, the unique chair really stands out for a couple of reasons.  The single chair is placed in the center of the room, making it a focal point. The curvy lines and detailed style of the chair also contrast the more straight lines of the sofa and coffee table. The caning on the sides offers a nice antique detail that also adds texture.  The circles of the caning and the nail-head trim on the coffee table are wonderful traditional details in a more contemporary space.

The dark stain on the wood floors makes the furnishings really stand out. There is enough contrast between the deep wood of the chair and the floor that the chair isn’t lost. The chair would not stand out as much in a room with lighter wood floors like walnut or oak.

Single chairs like this are sometimes called accent chairs or occasional chairs, which implies that they are not a favorite chair that is used all the time.  We might need another name for these single chairs. The wingback that is perfect for reading or the club chair by the fire is much more used than just occasionally.

The bookshelves provide both book space and hidden storage underneath, while the images placed right in front of the books create a sense that this is both shelving and a wall.

For the children, the corner to the left, also partly in front of the shelves, provides a place for the large brick-shaped blocks that most children love to use to build forts and castles. Their light weight makes it easy to build and knock down imagined places.

The extra-soft carpeting makes the floor a great place to gather and draw or just play with the family dog. The parents were smart enough to choose a carpet that has a tone close to the dog’s fur, hiding any hair shed between vacuuming. The family’s choice of carpeting also helped to create this special space.

The love seat provides a spot for the parents to interact and enjoy their children even if they don’t feel like getting on the floor and it also provides a cozy place for reading or relaxing after the children are in bed. This one corner offers fun and comfort to every member of the family.

When you’re decorating your home, be sure to think beyond looks to functionality. If you create spaces like this one, your home will become the comfortable, livable space you dream of having.

Sweep regularly as this causes most of the dirt to be loosened and removed.  Remember you can use the brush attachment of your vacuum cleaner to do your sweeping.

Place mats or rugs at each entryway. This will help remove dirt that may be tracked across your home. Shake these rugs out often.

Ceramic tile should be damp mopped often. The manufacturer of your floor will have a list of what products are ok to use. Rinse well and wipe dry to create more shine. Textured floors may require a bit more elbow grease.

Avoid using steel wool or any other abrasive cleaners on your floor. They can scratch and dull the tiles. Do not use bleach or ammonia based cleaners as they can discolor the grout.

Clean up spills as quickly as possibly to prevent staining.

Even though ceramic tile is durable it can still crack and chip. Be sure you lift, not slide, heavy furniture over your tile. Use table leg and furniture protectors just like you would if you had hardwood floors.

Sealing grout and tile is another way to prolong the beauty of your floors.

This room was fairly easy to update for current use. The window provides much needed light and the soft sheers allow privacy while maximizing the amount of light provided.

In contrast with the window and soft white walls, the flooring’s dark wood tone helps you visualize the way this room once looked. Most of the older and antique furniture carries that theme farther. This feels more real than most “shabby chic” choices. It’s easy to imagine it as a haven, perhaps for a brother and sister away from the rest of the family.

The ultra-fluffy cream rugs feel almost like clouds against a dark wood sky. The simple furniture is not new but works well together. To the left a comfy chair and ottoman invite a reader to get cozy. On the right, one sibling might write a letter while another practices on the trombone. This just may  be that quiet place they were looking for.

As a design strategy to deal with the sloping ceiling/wall, a choice was made to bring all the furniture in and ignore the shadowed corners on two sides of the room. In this case, the choice adds interest. With the French doors opening on the scene, it almost seems more like a painting than a room.

Many people don’t have the time or the skills to decorate cakes and cookies for the holidays, but there are simple choices you can make to create treats that look as festive as your home.

Take a look at this cake. It’s a simple layer cake that can be made from a mix or purchased, yet it really shows off the season. The decorations are easy – a couple of small trees, some silver star twist and three holiday cookies. With a few minutes of time and effort, this cake is ready to serve.

Another option is decorating the plate rather than the treats. These are just frosted sugar cookies and some shortbread, easily made or purchased. By adding a sprig of holly with berries, the plate immediately looks ready for the holidays.

If you want to get a bit fancier, take a look at this cake. A chocolate bundt cake gets festive with the addition of fresh raspberries and mint, reflecting the look of holly in an edible form. Even better, the raspberries and mint are a nice flavor addition to the chocolate. Notice the gold trim on the plate itself. This adds even more of a holiday feeling.

Spend some time selecting the right decorative touches for your holiday food choices. Add some special table linens and candles and you’re ready to entertain.

The robot on the top is not the winner; he is merely surveying the destruction left by a boy with way too many toys to his name.

Holidays, birthday parties and grandparents may all have contributed to this pile. And don’t deny it – that red underwater-looking guy was your purchase!

And by the way, equal time to your little girls. Chances are the color and type of toy will be different, but the pile could easily be just as high!

Rescue is at hand. If this situation is reducing your ability to reach his drawers and replace clean clothes and you notice that certain elements are drifting down the hall to the rest of your home, now is the time to handle the situation.

How are you fixed for storage bins? You may want to get a few sizes and colors to help with your sorting. Also pick up a label-maker or at least some stickers and a sharpie.

Now, sit down with your child and start a combination of sorting and negotiating. Even though most children hate to get rid of their possessions, it’s time to use a little strategy. Offer a bounty for every toy given away – say 2 dollars for a big toy and go down to 10 cents for those plastic toy soldiers that are all one color. Let your child know that they can spend that money on whatever they want (as long as it’s already on your approved list).

When you’re finished, chances are that pile will be noticeably reduced. Even the biggest pack-rat child won’t be able to resist the lure of new stuff to pile up in his or her room. Now, don’t delay. Remove the choice objects from sight immediately and donate so that children who are not as privileged as yours can have a pile of their own. And then rejoice – you have a room under control at last. But realize that this is not a one-time project. Prepare to continue until he or she grows up and leaves home permanently.

With just a little planning, you can keep everything you need to run your business in one place and thoroughly organized.

Look for a closet or nook that isn’t really in use. Add shelves if needed. Or buy a cabinet such as this one. For a reasonable price you can find a full-size two-door cabinet in a melamine or laminate finish. Choose one that complements your décor.

Place the cabinet in a spot with hard smooth flooring such as the vinyl shown in the photo. Laminate or wood floors will also work well. Using a level and some shims, make sure the cabinet is set evenly on the floor. This will allow you to safely store heavier supplies.

You probably already have many of the supplies you need already, but perhaps not all in one place. Make a plan for you new supply cabinet. If you want, label the locations of each item on the shelves. Add a notepad on the door to keep track of low inventory and outages. That’s your list for your next trip to the store.

Look for boxes to hold small supplies such as pens or paper clips to keep them tidy. Include extra printing paper and a set of ink jet cartridges along with anything else you use on an almost daily basis.

With a day of planning, you will save yourself hours of unnecessary trips to the office supply store, and like those old in-the-office days, you will have your own supply closet for grabbing essentials quickly.