How to Design Your Bedroom Like a First-Class Hotel Room

Before You Start

When designing a guest room, hotels develop a color palette and scheme that fits with the hotel's theme or location (such as the desert or beach). Similarly, you will want to develop a plan for your private sanctuary that speaks to your inner self. The bedroom is typically a refuge or "decompression point" in the home. And unlike a hotel room that must please many people, your bedroom is the one place that is truly yours and can be a reflection of your taste and design style.

Have some fun and play with paint chips and patterns to come up with a scheme and color decision. Then follow these tips to make the space as luxurious and multi-functional as a first-class hotel room:

• Space
  In a hotel room, we take a small space and create a flexible haven for the guest for multiple activities. Do the same with your bedroom…You can create areas for sleeping (the bed), reading (seats), F&B (a coffee niche or mini refrigerator), working (desk) and grooming (the bath and closet). You can design this environment with any size room. First step is to decide which activities you want to perform (aside from sleeping!) and plan space accordingly.
• The Not-So-Obvious Keys to Comfort
  Review the room’s acoustics, ventilation and system controls. If possible, add extra insulation between walls, install upgraded carpet pad, add fabric walls with padded upholstered wall panels or on the headboard. These steps help increase comfort. In addition, room should be ventilated correctly - common mistakes are air vents blowing over the bed. Place your bed away from air vents and make sure you have access to fresh air. Add concealed speakers at key areas for a sound system and if possible, a fireplace is always a nice feature on a cold snowy night along with a heated towel rack in your bathroom. Install a bedside three-way switching control that is located above the nightstand for easy access.
• Light it Up!
  In first-class hotel rooms, the following techniques are often utilized:
  • Three-way switch at entry for bedside lamp
  • Closet light that turns on automatically when door is opened
  • Reading lights at bed that are individually controlled
  • Ample lighting in bathroom - lighted makeup mirror, wall sconces and overhead lighting at vanity, lighting in tub area and lighting under vanity for night light
  • Dimmer controls on everything!
• Late Night Snacks
  Incorporate a station for coffee, beverages and snacks. If you want to really get snazzy, add a mini bar or wine cooler, and a sink (can be located near bathroom entry). What better way to relax than not having to go the kitchen for a cool beverage!
• Incorporate Flexibility
  Think "multi-use." Incorporate a pivoting desk so you can watch television (or the sunset) while working on those expense reports. If there is room for additional seating, rather than a standard chair, use either a chaise lounge, built in seating or two upholstered chairs with leather ottomans. Ottoman can be used to rest tired feet, as a surface for a board game or as a dining surface. Also, add a mirror above the desk so you can use it as a make-up vanity if your better half has control of the bathroom!
• Natural Light
  Ensure drapery treatments stack past windows to maximize views. Include sun control such as Mecco Shades. Ensure that drapery panels overlap at least 4" at center draws so that a "blackout" environment can be maintained when you want to snooze. Plus, line the drapery panels with a top-notch liner! And as an over-the-top idea, motorize window treatments with open/close switches at entry and bedside.
• The Bed
  
  • Step 1: Buy the best bed you can. This will be the best investment you have ever made for your peace of mind. Consider a pillow top.
  • Step 2: Do away with the bedspread. Use a dust skirt and making the bed becomes a breeze, believe me - making up beds is our forte!!!
  • Step 3: We purchase top quality bedding, including 300 thread count sheets and duvets. You should do the same as it is worth it.
  • Step 4: Add throw pillows for color and pizzazz and include a throw blanket at the end of bed to protect that duvet and provide a cozy cover-up while reading a book in your favorite chair!
• Lastly: Make it Personal and Unique
  Many hotel rooms feature regional art and local interest magazines so a guest feels a connection with the city they are visiting. For your own room, remember--Whether it is a favorite painting, family photographs, a book shelf with your favorite books, don't be afraid to include those special items in your decorating scheme so you feel connected and at peace.

Tips for Buying Bed Skirts

Bed skirts are designed to hide a bed's box spring or foundation. An additional benefit is that a bed skirt on a bed allows you to use the space under the bed to store things out of sight but easily accessible.

For home decor, a bedskirt offers a way to add style, pattern, and color to the bedroom.

A bedskirt can be tailored with pleats or a flat panel, gathered into ruffles, or combining several layers of coordinating fabrics.

When you're planning to buy a bed skirt for your bed, there are several things to consider.

• Size
  Don't just guess that your queen size bed is 60" wide and 80" long. Mattresses, box springs and foundations can vary slightly in size. It's important to get the right size of bedskirt so thatit will hang properly on your bed.

• Drop
  When speaking of the drop of a bed skirt (or a table cloth), we're referring to the measurement from the top of the foundatino to teh floor. A standard measurement for ready-made bed skirts is 15", but they do vary. If your "drop" measurement is 16", the standard bed skirt will not go all the way to the floor. If your "drop" measurement is 14" the bed skirt will drag on the floor.

• Color
  A solid color bed skirt is a versatile choice for a bed skirt. If you select a light color such as white, pink, yellow, or other pastel, be sure that the bed skirt is lined or made of a heavy fabric so that light does not show through from under the bed.

• Pattern
  A bedskirt is a great place to use an interesting pattern, stripe, plaid, check, or texture. This can either complement or contrast with other fabrics in the room.

• Texture
  A bed skirt made with heavy-textured fabric will keep its shape and stand fresh for a number of years. You'll only need to take it off for cleaning. Fabrics like chenille, velvet, faux suede, and matelasse work well.

• Ready-Made Bed Skirts
  When you're buying sheets or a comforter, you will often find a matching bed skirt. But beware! Most of these pieces are made out of inexpensive fabrics and will not give a good look when placed on the bed. And often, the pattern may be the same or similar but the fabric may be of an inferior quality and the piece will not hold up. Be sure that you can return any piece that is not correct.

• Finishing Touches for Bed Skirts
  A plain bed skirt can be embellished to look custom-made with the addition of a trim of lace, an overlay of eyelet or sheer fabric, ribbon trim, or beaded trims. Experiment for a custom look, then buy the materials you'll need.

• Don't Settle Until the Bed Skirt is Perfect
  Once you've decided on the right size, good color, interesting fabric, and finishing touches, take a few minutes to press the bed skirt. It will hang off the side of the bed better when you eliminate unsightly wrinkles and look much more professional.

Tips for Decorating a Beautiful Bedroom

A bedroom should be a personal getaway, a sanctuary, which expresses your favorite colors, feelings, and collections. Learn the main rules to remember when decorating your bedroom.

* Choose Subtle Color

Instead of bold primary colors, choose soothing shades and a restful palate of monochromatic tones. Remember color theory: gentle hues of blue, lavender, or green are considered calm and serene. Rich jewel-toned hues help set the mood of coziness and comfort. These might include toasty browns, deep pomegranate, or topaz. Use toned-down versions of your favorite colors in the bedroom." That might mean choosing mauve instead of eggplant, or pumpkin instead of tangerine.

* Don't Overlook the Ceiling

The ceiling is a fifth wall in a room. When you lie in bed, do you see a bland, blank surface? Add a subtle pattern or soft color. Paint the ceiling a slightly lighter version of the wall color. This will help to visually lower the ceiling and give the space a feeling of comfort and intimacy.

Other solutions would be to stencil or wallpaper the ceiling, add architectural elements in the form of beams or moldings or use a decorative paint treatment. For ultimate luxury, silver-leafed bedroom ceilings, a canopy or tented bed with dressing that hangs from the ceiling can envelope you in sensuality and warmth while adding texture, design, and color to the ceiling. Add a molded medallion and chandelier of crystal or delicate shades bringing color, pattern and texture to the "fifth wall" above you.

* Keep the Bedroom Simple

A bedroom should look cozy and simple, sophisticated, and elegant, regardless of what style of decorating you choose. For ease of movement, leave a minimum of three feet between the bed and side walls or large pieces of furniture and at least two feet between the bed and low furniture like tables and dressers. If you have to walk around the bed to get from the closet to the bathroom, think how you can move the bed.

Furnish your bedroom with only what you need. A bed, a bedside table or two, a dresser, and chair are necessities. Anything else is clutter. If you have room, place a chest of drawers in the closet.

Accessories should be kept at a minimum. Choose a beautiful piece of artwork, arrange some family photos, add flowers and candles, and leave it alone.

* Choose the Right Size Furniture

When you're ready to buy bedroom furniture, start out with a floor plan and a measured drawing of the space. Furniture should fit the room it lives and this is particularly true for bedroom furniture. Don't choose a heavy, large bed and dresser for a small bedroom. If the ceiling is high, a tall headboard will help to visibly bring it down to size.

If your bedroom is large, choose furniture that fits it, too. Add a chair and ottoman or place a piece of furniture at the end of the bed. Furniture and accessories that are too small will look lost in a large room.

* Have Plenty of Storage

To add to the serene feeling of a bedroom, store things out of sight. The room will appear more calm and roomy.
o Choose a roomy bedside table with drawers or doors behind which you can hide books, lotion, and reading glasses within reach but out of sight. For more storage, choose a skirted table or a small dresser with drawers.
o Use a trunk or a storage bench at the foot of the bed to store extra sheets, blankets, and pillows.
o For easily-reachable books and accessories, use a headboard with built-in shelves or sliding panels.
o A custom-designed organization system can make maximum use of closet space.
o Place shallow boxes underneath the bed hiding them with a beautiful bed skirt.

* Include a Private Nook

Give yourself a special gift with a quiet place to sit and read. Create an intimate reading or lounging area with a comfortable chair and foot stool at the end of your bed or in a corner.

If you have room, build a window seat under the bedroom window. Enjoy the view and the natural light.


* Indulge in Luxurious Linens

Outfit your bedroom with beautiful and luxurious fabrics. There's nothing that adds comfort to a bedroom like beautiful linens. Don't buy sheets that are less than 100 percent cotton or linen with high thread counts of 350 or more. For sheets that feel like they came from a 5-star hotel, send them to the dry cleaner for professional washing and pressing, which doesn't cost much, but creates a crisp smoothness worthy of the Ritz.

Add other sensual feeling fabrics through the bedroom with a soft mohair or cashmere throw on the arm of a reading chair, cover the walls with silk or textured wall coverings, hang silk draperies or a silk bed canopy, or add plush floor coverings.

* Cover the Windows

A beautifully dressed window will help to frame the window and the view and provide other ways to add color, pattern, texture, and softness to a bedroom. If you love soft sheer curtains that filter light, combine opaque roller blinds that can be pulled down to maintain privacy at night and to block morning light.

For all draperies, include opaque blinds or drapery lining to keep out the sun when you want to sleep late.

* Include Several Lighting Options

In a bedroom, it's good to "layer" your lighting throughout the room. Ambient lighting light the whole room, small lamps can focus light for reading and other activities, and accent light helps to wash the walls in soft illumination.

To focus reading light where you need it, use a bedside lamp with a movable arm. Each light should be adjustable with a dimmer. Install a separate on/off switch for each light so that you can be selective and light only the area you want.

* Let Your Bedroom Be a Real Getaway

Try to discipline yourself to keep your cell phone, computer, television, exercise machine, or blackberry out of the bedroom. Create a cherished place to relax and renew. You'll love having a room dedicated to reading, sleeping and romance.

Small Kitchen, Big Ideas

Is there any hope for a tiny kitchen? Try these eight big ideas for boosting your space.

Boost Your Space

Renee and Lewis Baltzell's 9 x 9-foot kitchen suffered from the small-space blues, and adding on to their 1,100-square-foot bungalow in Kansas City, Missouri, wasn't an option. Kitchen designer Sue Shinneman, however, knew that small packages can yield good things.

"Bigger isn't always better," she says. "Sometimes a kitchen can get too big. Then you're always running from spot to spot to keep up."

Kitchen space is visually amplified with rearranged components, a smaller scale, more light, and custom storage.

Thinking Big

Without adding an inch, Shinneman helped the Baltzells create a new kitchen that rivals large ones in looks and function. Here are eight "think big" tips for your size-challenged space.

1. Rearrange the components. "When I saw the layout, it seemed tight," Shinneman says. "The refrigerator was right up next to the doorway, and it stuck out." The small counter beside the refrigerator was blocked by the large appliance, and there was work space on only one side of the range. Shinneman switched the refrigerator and range locations to create as much counter space as possible and to make the room easier to navigate.

2. Select slender appliances. While appliance shopping, Lewis fell in love with a professional-grade range. Fortunately, the four-burner range is just 30 inches wide. The stainless-steel refrigerator with a bottom-mount freezer is also 30 inches wide and a slim 24 inches deep -- narrower and shallower than the old unit.

3. Set priorities. The remodeling project began when Lewis and Renee hoped to remove the microwave oven from the counter. "We first decided to get rid of the microwave and get a unit that mounted over the stove...[but] everything was crooked and it wouldn't fit right," Lewis says. Finally, they decided to gut the space. The irony of the microwave oven? "Now it's banished from the kitchen!" Renee says. "After we got the range, we asked, 'What do we even use that thing for? Why waste the space?'"

4. Amplify with reflective surfaces. "We used stainless-steel door inserts in the top cabinets that have a reflective quality," Shinneman says. "All the stainless steel helps magnify the space a bit." The stainless-steel counters have a brushed pattern that minimizes the appearance of scratches.

5. Create custom storage. Shinneman designed the cabinets to reach the ceiling to maximize storage. "We put the cabinets up higher off the counter so that there is more space to work," she says. "The old top cabinets were 15 inches deep, and now the new ones are 12 inches deep. This way you can see the countertops." Pullout shelves improved access to items stored in the back of cabinets. Two narrow upper cabinets, handy for storing spices and oils, flank the range hood.

6. Invite the light. Renee and Lewis enjoy the view through a new, taller, double-hung window that abuts the countertop, letting in more light. Undercabinet halogen lights, recessed can lights, an overhead fan light, and two cobalt-blue pendants above the sink keep the room bright.

7. Play with color. Bright dashes of color add fun to tight quarters. Renee chose handmade ceramic tiles in aquamarine, peacock, and deep sea blue for the backsplash. "Everything was so slick that I needed some texture. I like the roughness of the tiles," she says.

8. Don't hesitate to decorate. The pottery spice jars, pitchers, and serving pieces that Renee makes in her basement workshop add whimsical appeal. Decorative hardware and details stylishly finish the space. Triangular pulls with square cutouts, black metal square knobs, and black-laminate-backed cutouts in the upper cabinets echo the Craftsman style of the house.

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Must-Have Kitchen Features

Must-Have Kitchen Features

Double Ovens

Double ovens not only look cool in your kitchen, they provide a main oven you can use without bending over and a secondary oven for plate warming and additional baking. Separating the ovens from the burners also lets you install a cool cooktop in a kitchen island or elsewhere, opening up new floor-plan possibilities.

Dishwasher in a Drawer

Use dishwasher drawers in place of a regular dishwasher or in addition to a full-size dishwasher. These handy appliances offer efficient cleaning for a few dishes. Consider installing one in a butler's pantry, basement game room, or near a prep center. This cherry-paneled dishwasher has the look of a regular drawer, then pulls out for easy sink-side cleanup.

Island Cooktop

With ovens located elsewhere, a kitchen cooktop provides countertop burners. When it's built into a large island, you also get generous work surfaces and room for amenities below, such as the warming drawer used here. A downdraft exhaust system eliminates the need for a view-blocking range hood above the island. Long cabinet pulls double as towel bars.

Commercial-Style Range

Commercial-style ranges for the home cook are widely available and a common feature in an expensive kitchen upgrade. Expect a range with three to four times the BTU output of an ordinary home model. Many simply prefer the rugged good looks of a commercial-style range. This is a cool kitchen feature that's hot.

Pot Filler

Why limit faucet style and placement to the conventional look and places? Here's an unexpected kitchen feature that can go wherever you can run a cold water line. The faucet is mounted high enough on the kitchen backsplash to provide a flow of water to a big pot of pasta or soup. What a cool idea!

Coffee Bar

A ship-shape alcove houses a mini kitchen complete with a small refrigerator below the countertop, a microwave oven above, and espresso machine in the middle. There's even room for storing coffee cups and condiments. An area like this provides dedicated functionality out of the way of the main cooking area.

On-Counter Garage

An on-counter appliance garage is like a garage for cars: It houses a machine you often use but don't always want in plain sight. Here, an appliance garage with a roll-up aluminum door closes to hide the mixer, leaving counter space in front for other uses.

Corner Storage

There never seems to be enough room in the kitchen, so it pays to make every inch count. It's especially useful to find a way to use space that would otherwise be wasted, such as with this corner lazy Susan. It turns potential dead space into usable storage. The unit's two-tiered carousel shelving allows easy access to stowed items.

Deep Drawers

It makes a lot of sense to place a deep drawer right beside the kitchen range for easy access to large cooking pots and pans. Drawers may be limited in their size by the cabinet that houses them, but drawers that probe the depths have marvelous utility. Consider this arrangement when planning your next kitchen upgrade.

Full Extension Drawers

Hardware that allows drawers to slide open all the way makes it much easier to get objects in and out. Look for full extension drawer hardware when you're shopping for new cabinetry or upgrading what you have. Drawers with high sides and backs can keep stacks of items neat and orderly.

Divided Storage

Internal drawer dividers give you a template for organizing your kitchen utensils -- it's not optional, you must get organized! Built-in dividers also give a more finished look to the space than organizers purchased separately and placed in the drawer.

Pot Rack/Stainless Backsplash

If you like nice, shiny surfaces, you'll probably like the look of stainless steel and bright metal pots and pans. But that doesn't mean you have to cover your whole kitchen in stainless steel. The backsplash shown here, and the bright pot rack above, brings a sunshiny brightness to the space without overwhelming it.

Utensil Racks

For an inexpensive touch that personalizes your kitchen, install a utensil rack under a cabinet or along a wall. Hang an assortment of often-used tools within easy reach. It's a fun look that's easy to create any way you like.

Tray Storage Cabinet

It's a fabulous space-saver to store racks, cookie sheets, pizza pans, and cutting boards within vertical dividers. This cabinet's roll-out drawer is another great feature that lets you see everything at once.

Home Office/TV

Carve out a nook of space for a handy home office and media center. You can use a computer to look up recipes online or help the kids do their homework. A television lets you keep up on the news while you cook.

Built-In Refrigerator

Built-ins keep the look smooth and integrated. This model has glowing stainless doors and is positioned next to double wall ovens. On the far wall, a stainless ventilation hood offers a sleek look over the cooktop.

Warming Drawer

Great for parties as well as busy households, warming drawer add lots of functionality in very little space. You'll need to plan ahead however, since the drawers are heavy and require a reinforced cabinet with available power.

Bar Sink

A secondary sink can be a functional addition to a large kitchen or in an adjacent pantry area. Consider a bar sink for a second prep station, a butler's pantry, home theater, or basement rec room.

High-Style Faucet

Kitchen faucets are made in dozens of finishes in a myriad of styles and sizes. This style is a "bridge" version in shiny chrome.

Trash and Recycling

Make life easier by planning a handy trash and recycling area. Whether you choose to put it under the sink, in a pantry, or in a handy pull-out drawer like this one, this is one feature you will use every day, so convenience is paramount.