Color Me Beautiful

Break out of the white, off-white, and beige, and let some color in your life (and on your walls)! Hit Designer Dave Bromstad, winner of HGTV Design Star and host of HGTV's new show, Color Splash, is big on color. "I think brown is a great color because it looks great in a lot of combinations: brown and yellow, brown and blue, brown and orange. It's been hot for the last five years and will continue to be hot. Whites and blues are also big, and you can make a big impact with reds and oranges," says the rising star. But he also cautions to not be too matchy-matchy. If you decide to go for red walls, there is no need for a red comforter on your bed!

Rock the Casbah

Moroccan design is welcoming, warm, inexpensive and relatively easy to pull together, all wonderful traits for those interested in Moroccan-style home decorating. "Moroccan styles are timeless," says interior designer Vanessa De Vargas. Morocco is known for its handmade works like carved doors and columns, hand-woven carpets, intricately painted tiles, lanterns, leather goods and silver tea sets. The color palette is warm yet cool. Earth tones combined with various shades of blue and pink are common, as are texture and pattern.

A modernized version of Moroccan style is popular in the U.S. because it successfully takes classic Moroccan-design motifs, materials and styles and gives them a fresh spin. Traditional Moroccan design is heavier and more ornate.

Back to Nature

Use Indoor plants to bring nature into your home!

During the 1970s, there was a new appreciation for the great outdoors. Consequently interior decorating incorporated macramé, redwood and anything in shades of oatmeal, green or brown. In keeping with the back-to-nature movement, homeowners did what they could to bring the outdoors in. Although the days of green and brown printed wallpaper are long gone (or so we hope), plants and flowering plants are still the rage in interior design.

Wallpaper is Back!

Wallpaper has been getting some really bad press in the past few years, while solid colors and wall patterns were hip and in. It seems like wallpaper is coming back, bigger and better than ever! Traditional block printed 'paper' wallpaper isn't the only option. If you are looking to add a luxurious flavor to any room, go for fabric wallpaper. Other materials include those with a metallic luster and paper that gives the appearance of silk.

According to Karen Beauchamp from Cole & Son, we are exploring new ways to use wallpaper. The following guidelines recommend how to leverage more patterns in your surrounding environment:

* Cover only one wall (its trendy, and you can be more adventurous).

* Add some color to doors and cupboards by putting wallpaper on panels. Choose the scale of the pattern carefully though: if the space is too small and the scale too large, the pattern will get lost.

* For the really adventurous, add a twist on tradition by wallpapering a ceiling. This works particularly well with high ceilings, such as those in period properties.

Everyone Feng Shui!

Take the mystical out of Feng Shui design and learn its practical uses. Decorating using these principles will help you create a simple, balanced living environment. Real Feng Shui is extraordinarily specific, and complex. The only way to do real Feng Shui is either to become a student of this art, and painstakingly learn the many principals and subtleties it requires, or to hire a professional to do an analysis and work over of your home. However, Feng Shui does teach us something that is very useful when decorating your home.

* Color: Pay attention to how colors make you feel. Color has a huge effect on our mood and energy, but is also very individual. You may be the type of person who is comfortable in dark colors, while other people may find it depressing. Colors also affect the nature of interactions, and when you enter a new space you should always pay attention to the way people behave to one another. If there is a room in your home where people tend to get into arguments, reassess the colors in that room. Bright or extreme colors can irritate people's eyes and increase their metabolism, making them more likely to fight. Painting a room in dark colors is know to create a lethargic atmosphere and encourage bad moods in people.

* Flow: In traditional Feng Shui, the goal is to maximize the flow of positive chi in an area. Think of the room as a 3 dimensional space and try to picture how people will be moving by and where objects will be placed. If you feel there is a good flow - you got positive energy right there. The flow you want to achieve is in the essence of the room. You want there to be easy access for people moving through the room, as well as in and out of it. You want objects to be able to move from their storage, into use, and back without adding to clutter. This kind of flow is a mixture of organization and design that focuses on removing blockages and allowing easy movement through every area.

Island Fantasies

Whether you make yearly pilgrimages to the white-sand beaches of the tropics or merely travel via daydreams, interiors inspired by the ocean, sand, and gentle sea breezes bring the feeling home. Simply designed rooms, filled with light and fresh air, enchant the senses and have the ability to transport you to another headspace. Think of it as an exotic take on spring cleaning.

Imperial Beds

The Four-Poster bed is a timeless piece in any bedroom design. To avoid being heavy, new four-poster beds have thin posts, and are airy enough to be considered modern. Since four-poster beds are the most romantic of beds, a romantic design, soft, comfortable, and inviting, is highly recommended to accompany this fantastic traditional bed.

Classic White

The purpose of creating a white monochrome elegant space is to feel peaceful, serene and sophisticated. In a white on white room, you have more freedom to do things differently. "Clutter is kept away, everything should be hidden," says Ammie Kim, a Beverly Hills designer. All unnecessary items or things with colors should be moved. It is a highly sophisticated yet minimal look.

Kitchen Freestyle

Because we're spending more and more time in our kitchens and baths, there is a move away from the all-or-nothing "fitted" look of continuous counters. Look for more freestanding pieces of furniture or features with furniture-like qualities. These details won't be fussy but will further the notion that the kitchen is a room to be lived in.

Country Living in the City

Do you miss the open spaces, the country roads, and the peace and quiet that comes from being away from New York for more than a week? Why not transform your city apartment and go country? Combine the best of city sophistication and country rustic, and see how much nicer it feels to eat in that dining room you never use!