Stunning Powder Room Makeovers

Your guest bathroom, or powder room, offers a great place to start with a home makeover. This small room takes less money and effort to redecorate than your larger rooms. You get a chance to develop you personal home interior design skills without committing to a huge project.

Because guests view this little space privately, they take more time to notice the interior design details. For this reason, you want to showcase great design to make a good impression. Also, hospitality shines in a well-appointed guest bath where it takes just a couple of splurges on extravagant fixtures to make a huge impact that your guests will remember. Guests may not remember your living room walls because they're focusing on the people in the space, but they will remember your powder room.

What if you don't have a powder room and guests use your children's bathroom?

Don't use juvenile-patterned wallpaper or accessories. Children appreciate being treated as adults and don't need a kiddy bathroom. Keep bathtub toys in the bathtub (in one of those plastic-coated wire baskets) and hang a ceiling to floor curtain in front of the bathtub. This curtain can be hung in front of the normal plastic liner from the ceiling. For small bathrooms, where the daylight comes in over the bathtub, use white or another light-emitting fabric. A curtain made of soft gauze or cotton does double duty; it softens the space with fabric while masking the bathtub, which is not a guest bath feature.

To finish any proper powder room, you need a great sink, faucet, and cabinet with a large mirror, plus the toilet.

* If you're working on a budget, look for sinks on sale at a warehouse store or at Habitat for Humanity's thrift store, ReStore.

* Don't buy a cheap cabinet, look for an antique dresser or buffet that spans the wall nicely.

* Stunning powder rooms highlight unusual mirrors; you may be tempted to keep the ugly wall mounted medicine cabinet, but if you truly want an impressive guest bath, try to store toothbrushes and other necessities in the cabinet below and move medicines to the kitchen, out of children's reach.

* For stubborn-stained toilets, you can use the swimming pool chemical muractic acid, with a lot of ventilation. If you need to replace the toilet, which only needs to be functional because the other details will outshine it, look for a toilet which blends in with your home's style.

Besides the fixtures, your flooring, walls, and ceiling offer the most economical home makeover opportunities.

* Because of the small area, you can use large ceramic tiles that mimic stone, marble, or even wood. Also, linoleum comes in a multitude of interesting patterns and has the benefit of being warmer to bare feet than tile.

The area that makes the greatest impact, the walls and ceiling, gives the best place to have fun with your home makeover.

* Decorative paint finishes, like subtle layering of glazes, add the designer's touch without the expense. Choose colors that harmonize with the rest of your home to reinforce your color theme. Use color psychology to make your powder room present a cooling oasis or a warming shelter.

Because people fee more comfortable in smaller bathrooms which offer privacy, a small bathroom offers the perfect place to practice your design skills.

Copyright (c) 2005 Jeanette J. Fisher
For more information on feelings in home makeovers, see http://designpsych.com/ Jeanette's business website: Joy to the Home

How does "Joy to the Home" relate to "Design Psychology?"

Since I uploaded the new Design Psychology website one day ago, I've had a few emails asking me: "How does "Joy to the Home" relate to "Design Psychology?" Also, questions why I didn't just expand Joy to the Home.com.

The Design Psychology website encompasses Design Psychology for home owners, home sellers, and real estate investors. Plus there is a section on office design and even an article for clinical psychologist offices ideas. (I get ten times the calls from psychologists than interior designers!)

Joy to the Home is the name of our business. It is also the name of the book I wrote years ago, which is at the editor's. The Joy to the Home website mainly will be for the book after publication. You can also look at our homes for sale on the properties page.

Now for the difference in the blogs. Joy to the Home blog is for homemakers. Design Psychology blog covers all areas of design for all your spaces--home and work.

I hope you enjoy all of our websites and blogs.

Jeanette

Copyright Jeanette J. Fisher
Why does this need a copyright? I have found tidbits of my writing in the strangest places. A Google search of my name in quotes brought up a bad credit mortgage company using my name and my Credit Help book as leads to them without any of my articles and website links! They have no reason to use my name except to steal my credit search clients. Also, since a blog is a place for rants, another person used my article for beginning real estate investors with his name as the author!

Colour Your World With Art

By Gail Miller

When you buy art, you may think you not consciously choosing a colour scheme so much as buying something which appeals to your eye. You may prefer certain subjects for your pictures, such as land or seascapes, but certain colours, which do appear in these types of painting do evoke inner feelings and emotions. We know that some colours are calm and restful, some are hot, fiery and emotive.

Apart from colours used in actual artworks, it is easy to change the look of a picture with the window mount or frame used for it's display. Certain colours which may be used to mat a picture with can appear to alter colours used in the execution of a painting. You will not see this unless you actually place different coloured mountboards around a painting. Then you will see how different a painting can look. By selecting the correct colour mount, you can make a good painting look fantastic!

Next time you go out to buy artwork, instead of letting the subject dominate your choice, why not work out what feeling you would like the painting to add to your room. Do you want something to liven you up when you look at it; get the blood pumping, or do you want a picture that brings a sense of calm peace to a room? You can easily use colour to serve these purposes. So, how does different colour affect the senses?

Red - An intense colour, it stimulates a faster heartbeat and breathing. It wakes you up, even agitates you....... It is also the color of love.

Pink - Is more tranquilizing. Research has suggested that this colour makes people calmer. One prison painted their cells pink and it reduced aggressive behaviour among the inmates.

Orange - The bright, happy, stimulating colour. Also associated with learning, which makes it great for a children's room.

Yellow - The colour associated with brightness and fun, although it is the most difficult color for the eye to take in, so it can be overpowering. When used in small amounts however, it produces a warm sensation.

Green - The colour which symbolizes nature. Very easy on the eye, green is used in hospitals a lot because it is believed to relax patients.

Blue - The colour of the sky and the ocean; on of the most popular colours. It is thought to cause the opposite reaction to red. Evoking tranquillity blue causes the body to produce calming chemicals. However, too much blue can be cold or depressing.

Purple - A luxurious colour, associated with royalty. Although feminine and romantic, it is a colour rarely seen in nature so can appear artificial.

Brown - The most reliable colour; the colour of earth and which is abundant in nature. The favourite colour of many men, it implies genuineness although this colour can also be sad and wistful.

Black / white - Sleek, stark black and white have to be used with care in order not to look sterile and artificial. Great for bold abstract artworks though.

So, next time you decide to buy artwork for your home or business space, have a think about what feelings or emotions you want to evoke beforehand. Don't simply pick a subject that you are 'comfortable' with such as animals, landscape or florals. Be adventurous; chose a different subject or go for evocative abstracts in colours that appeal to your senses.

Gail Miller is a professional artist whose artwork is a visual feast of colour and fun. Her fascination with bold colours and fluid, expressive shapes and line are evident in funky abstracts, sinuous nudes, vibrant still
life paintings and lively townscapes. http://www.gailmiller.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/