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diy: 1 room, 3 looks

For a lot of people, they can’t live with a home or a room that looks the same forever. Let’s face it: it’s boring. But how do we change the look of a room without spending a lot? Like what stylists in the fashion industry would say, play around with accessories! This tip is not only applicable in transforming your outfits. It does the same wonders for your spaces by introducing different sets of colors, patterns and texture.

Here’s an easy example: one bedroom with three different looks. By just changing the accent pillows and the prints inside the picture frames, the white-and-gray bedroom takes on three different looks to suit three different moods.

Above is a cheerful medley of pink, brown, and lime green.

Below is a cool combination of blues and lavender.

At the bottom, black, white and beige creates a clean, crisp setting. -ardel

spacelift: major bedroom makeover (part 2)

As I have mentioned in the previous post, an important part of Nina’s bedroom makeover is the conversion of the adjacent bedroom into an integrated walk-in closet (WIC). This allowed her to get rid of the existing closets in her bedroom and make room for a desk (which she did not have before) and an occasional chair.

The room beside Nina’s bedroom used to be her brother’s. When he got married and moved out of the house, the room became the household’s informal space for storage.

Her game plan was simple: work with the existing space, maximize the area for storage, and create provisions that will make it relatively easy for her to maintain the order of the room.

Open cabinets were built onto the four walls. They were constructed above the floor to preserve the existing wood planks and to save on materials (plywood). This strategy also made the room look less cramped in spite of the additional cabinets.

There were 7 types of cabinet spaces in the WIC: 1) adjustable cubicles for folded shirts, 2) spaces for tops (blouses and jackets) on hangers, 2) spaces for bottoms (pants and skirts) on hangers, 3) a space for dresses, 4) adjustable shelves for bags, 5) racks for shoes, 6) drawers for undergarments, accessories and other small items, and 7) shelves for magazines and books. A cushioned seat and full length mirror were also provided to complete the space.

To showcase her collection of designer bags, Nina made them as the focal point of the room and placed them at the side fronting the sliding door. Because she wanted the rooms to feel like a personal boutique, 3W LED directional lamps were installed, instead of the typical recessed CFLs, to highlight the clothes, shoes, and bags. And similar to what many boutiques do, the clothes were sorted according to type and then according to color to make the room visually organized.

See the rest of the photos of Nina’s walk-in closet in the photo gallery below!

Previous: Nina’s bedroom makeover (part 1)

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spacelift: major bedroom makeover (part 1)

“Busy” is not enough to describe this week. At least for me, it’s more of a hell week! Unfortunately, my room is also keeping up with the hell week theme with books, magazines and brown envelopes piled on my desk. Talk about stress!

Unlike me, our friend Nina, is already enjoying a more relaxed after-work life following the recent renovation of her bedroom. From a disorganized (nina, sorry for the description!) pink-and-purple girl’s space (top), her bedroom now sports a fresh and clean image with a dreamy white ensemble.

Her bedroom’s main problem is the lack of storage space to accommodate all of her clothes, shoes, and bags. So, key to finding order in her room is the conversion of the adjacent vacant bedroom into an integrated walk-in closet. She also wanted to update the character of her space into something that’s still fresh, youthful, and feminine but a bit more grown-up.

The existing wall-to-wall built-in closets in both bedrooms (above) were removed and a sliding door was made to provide a direct access from the bedroom to the walk-in closet. What used to be the space occupied by cabinets is now the area for a desk/dresser and an occasional armchair (below).

As for the colors and furnishings, Nina wanted a white room with some gray and lime green accents. To get the look, everything was simplified. The walls (except for the warm grey accent wall) and the ceiling, including the mouldings, were painted in white. The wood flooring was just re-varnished. All furniture pieces, a combination of traditional and contemporary silhouettes, and soft furnishings like the curtains and bed linens, were also in white. Apart from the accent wall, warm and cool grays were introduced through the cotton pillow cases and microfiber blanket, silver wall frames, chrome bedside lamp, and glass table lamp with pleated shades. Lime green and pink were added sparingly through the accents pillows and lime green photos.

See all the photos of the bedroom in the gallery below!

This is just the first part of Nina’s bedroom transformation. On Monday, watch out for the second half of this makeover! {Thanks Nina!}

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objects of design: headboard wall decals

In a bedroom, the headboard easily turns the bed as the focal point of the space. Designed by Mina Javid, these headboard wall decals from Blik will give you no excuse for not having a posh sleeping space.

Now, you can give your room an instant makeover, no carpentry skills required!

*Photos via Blik

diy tips: how to create a five-star-hotel bed

I never liked matchy-matchy bedding sets, with the sheets, pillowcases and duvet all in one color and print. They look too “department store-ish” if you ask me. So, in order to create a more sophisticated look for the bedroom while keeping things very simple, I apply my penchant for whites when I style beds. For me, a comfortable bed should look clean, soft, and relaxing. And white bed linens are my best friends when I want to achieve just that.

White does great wonders. Take a cue from luxury hotels. Most, if not all, dress their beds in an all-white ensemble. It’s a foolproof way in creating an inviting sleeping space. If plain white sheets are too boring for you, consider the patterned ones like the striped beddings above.

Remember, the higher the thread count, the better. When I shop for my clients, I usually go for 100% cotton with a 300 thread count. It feels soft and luxurious enough without going over the budget. But for situations when the budget is really tight, my lowest limit is a 210-220 thread count.

In spite of our warm weather, some like to snuggle under a comforter and turn-up the air-con. Just be sure to use a duvet cover, the comforter’s “pillowcase”, for easier maintenance. For those who want to be more practical without sacrificing the snug feel, a micro-fiber blanket is a better option. For both the comforter and the micro-fiber blanket, you can go monochromatic and match it with the rest of the sheets, or go darker and opt for beige or grey.

To make it more personal, add in one or two of your favorite colors to the palette. You can also layer in some coordinating prints through your pillowcases and accent/throw pillows to vary the visual texture.