Bedding makes the bedroom
When selecting bedding for a bedroom makeover, use pattern, color and personality to make a splash. You don't have to spend a fortune to use interior designers' ideas in a completely original bedroom. Babies can be entertained, teens can be (slightly) neater, and you can be more relaxed with "custom-designed" bedding that reflects your loves, your lifestyle and your sense of fun. Does this Spark an idea?
Play Off a Favorite Poster -- Teen
If your teen has a favorite poster, display it prominently and use it as the basis for a bedding makeover. Select one or two colors from a vivid poster, or use all the colors of a pastel poster. Purchase a few solid sheets and pillowcases in the selected colors and mix them with patterned bedding in the style of the poster--surf-themed sheets for a dedicated longboard fan, ballet-themed sheets for a pointe perfectionist. Skip the top sheets and just use a covered duvet on the bed to simplify morning bed-making. (An easy duvet cover can be run up on a sewing machine using flat sheets that complement the poster.) Use European square pillows for reading-in-bed props, and give your teen fabric-marking pens to create personal doodles or graffiti on square, white pillow shams.
The Charm of Shabby Chic
For a romantic bedroom for any age, choose a "shabby chic" look and mix old textiles and new bedding at random. Pale colors and creamy whites make this look work; pastel greens, pinks, blues and off-whites or ivories are the color palette. Mix flower patterns and stripes--if your sheets are new you can "age" them by tea staining. Experiment with different strengths of black tea and different soaking times to get the antique effect you want. Make a hodge-podge duvet cover from old tea towels picked up at flea markets or thrift stores. Just sew them together in an "envelope" a little larger than your duvet and fasten at the open end with varicolored button holes and mismatched buttons. Stitch a crocheted doily on a pillow sham and run a border of crocheted edging around another pillow sham. Scramble whites, ivories and cream-colored sheets and pillow cases and throw a pale pink or green blanket or an antique shawl over them.
Bright Baby
Babies are not boring so their rooms shouldn't be either. You can match bright, solid crib sheets to a favorite mobile, applique a giant yellow duck or green turtle on a plain crib quilt and frame it with wide red or blue rickrack, or skirt a toddler bed or crib with a line of homemade fabric pennants that spell out the child's name--one big letter per pennant. When the child is ready for a pillow, applique or fabric-paint colored circles on pillowcases and turn them into balloons by drawing strings with laundry marker pens.
Tags: duvet cover, pillow sham, your teen
