Your bedroom is the place where you go to relax, and recharge.  Because only the closest family members and friends ever see the bedroom, we seldom take the time and initiative to make our bedrooms truly extravagant.  You can turn your bedroom into a wonderful retreat by adding a bit of extravagance to your bedroom.  Here are some tips you can use.   

Add Gold Trim:  You do not have to change your wall color, curtains, and bedding to make your room extravagant.  Just adding trim to your existing items will do the trick.  Pick up gold paint from your hardware store and paint the molding in your room.  Purchase gold braid trim or tassels and add them to your bedding and window treatments as well. You can also use gold paint to stencil a sophisticated design in your room, or to accent your wood furniture. 

Add layers:  The more layers your room has, the more luxurious it will appear.  You can add layers with pillows, window treatments, throws in addition to bedding, and lots of multi-sized pillows. 

Add Decorative accents:  Do not forget to accessorize your bedroom.  Hang large wall decor art with shiny gold picture frames.  Add beautiful lamps, with dangling crystals.  Do not forget to add lots of decorative candles (and use them too).   

This set of Asos Metal Wall Planters is great for adding more extravagance into your bedroom.  They are made of metal, and have a wonderful aged and gilded finish.  Add these on the wall in your room to allow you to keep fresh flowers and greenery in the room without taking up table space. 

There are numerous decorating styles from modern, to traditional, to arts and crafts, to country, to ancient.  The two most opposing of these styles would be modern and ancient.  People tend to gravitate toward one style or another, and cross over into similar styles.  It is most rare however for a person to enjoy both modern and ancient styles at the same time.   

While it is difficult, you can create your own eclectic style by combining modern and ancient elements.  When you are combining such opposing styles, you need to coordinate by tying together items that are similar in color and materials.  

Since combining opposing styles can be tricky an even jarring to the sensibilities, keeping the same color scheme throughout your decorating and accessories will bring a calming effect to your overall design.  Likewise, look for finishes that are constant in both your modern and eclectic designs. 

This Antalya Metal Wall Vase set is an item that would go well into your ancient/modern design scheme.  It is inspired by items found in the ancient cities of Antalya on the Mediterranean coast of Southwest Turkey.  It has wrought iron scrolled details on top of a molded metal box for putting your ivy, plants, and other items.   

You can coordinate these ancient type accessories with a modern metal and leather sofa in tones of black and brown.  Wood and iron modern coffee tables would coordinate well with such an item as well.  In addition to coordinating these wall vases with modern décor, it will also go well with traditional, eclectic, and country décor as well. 

While few people would actually recreate a real Turkish bath, where several people would bathe at one time, many would add decorative elements of a Turkish bath into their homes.  To add elements of a Turkish bath into your own bathroom, here are some elements you can use.   

Walls and floors should be covered with ceramic tiles.which gives many years of use and also remain beautiful for a very long time.  If you can afford to use marble instead of tile, that would be a more authentic option.   

Bathroom fixtures are light and natural in color.  White walls where tile is not possible and gold stencils on the ceiling and wherever possible will give a great decorative touch.   

Fixtures such as tubs, toilets and sinks would be old-world antique in nature.  These items should have modern functions such as Jacuzzi’s , a bidet (or bidet function  for the toilet), and have beautiful and modern faucets.  Waterfall faucets and decorative bowls are a great touch. 

When accessorizing your Turkish bathroom, look for old world Mediterranean pieces like this Efes Wooden Wall planter.  It is 17”H X 13.5W’ and is intricately carved from wood and has a brilliant, yet aged finished.  Add a single wall planter, or several of these planters to your bathroom, with the addition of plants to instantly transform your bathroom into a Turkish Bath experience.

Add a few of these architectural art pieces as well for a more authentic look.

Mediterranean design included elements from many provinces.  You will find Italian influenced art.  You will find European elements.  You will also find a touch of Spanish and Turkish extravagance.  If you like Mediterranean design, you have many choices, probably too many choices when choosing design elements for your home.  This is why focusing on one region of the Mediterranean will make your home more cohesive.   

If you were to focus on Turkish design elements, for example, you would look for items with rich but natural colors as you would find in most Turkish décor.  You will also look for ornate designs with intricate detail and gilded in gold.  Intricate textural designs are key to Turkish designs, as are deep red woven rugs. 

An example of a décor item that is truly Turkish in nature is this set of Bergama metal wall vases, which is inspired by the city of Bergama in the Izmir Province of Turkey. 

This set of wall vases has a wrought iron detail with fleur-de-lis and a diamond pattern on the base.  The color is rich, yet natural shades of brown, and it is accentuated with gold to emphasize the details.  To add to the beauty of these vases, you can add green ivy plants that flow over the sides.  These will look great in any room, such as the dining room, as an accent wall, or as a major decorative feature in your bathroom. 

Mediterranean Décor is really big right now, and the price tag is big as well.  With its inspiration in Italian Villas, Provincial Hideaways, and Turkish Palaces, you can see that these items would not be easy to come by.  Still, you can take inspiration from Mediterranean décor to spice up your home, even when on a budget.  Here are some tips you can follow. 

Color:  Mediterranean colors pick the most brilliant tones from nature.  Look for reds that mimic the color of poppies and red peppers.  Use oranges, that mimic velencia oranges and terra cotta roofs.  Look for natural gold and lemon yellows.  Olive greens, and mint are popular for green.  As for blue, pick colors like Mediterranean, Adriatic, and Aegean.  Eggplant purple, white-wash white, and glossy blacks are also colors to use in Mediterranean design.   

Texture:  Furniture and wall décor are meant to be felt as much as looked at.  In addition to textured walls, fabrics and wood should have fine details that cause you to run a finger across it in curiosity.   

Eclectic:  Mediterranean décor does not have to be matchy and balanced.  .  You wont find a three piece living room suite  in a Mediterranean home.  You will instead find pieces that coordinate well and look good together.  Also avoid setting up your home in a way that is symmetrical and it takes away from the eclecticism  of Mediterranean style.   

This Ankara Metal Wall Planter set is a good example of Mediterranean Décor Style.  The color is a rich brown of the earth. It will make a perfect base for ivy plants and the occasional bright flowers.   It has a fine details that are intricate in nature.  The pieces are of varied sizes that allows you to coordinate a room without being too predictable and symmetrical.  The wall vase pieces in this set are 18, 15, and 14 inches, and can be used to accent a single wall, a hallway, or to place around a large room. 

A  couple in Roswell GA are building a 10,000 square foot house on two acres of property.  The house will feature 10 foot ceilings, exotic hardwood floors, oversized fireplaces, and wood beams.   The home has murals, stone accents, French doors, a pools, hot tub, and out door kitchen.  My favorite part of the house would have to be the mosquito spray system around the pool area.  (AJC.COM)

Reading stories like this always makes me wonder what I would do with that kind of space.  Being a minimalist at heart 10,000 square feet is difficult to fathom in the first place, but if I had a really decorate 10,000 square feet, I think the home would be as open as humanly possible with simple but natural details and high end work areas in the kitchen, baths, and laundry.   

I would guess that I might treat my walls as if they were an art gallery hanging wall plaques, paintings, and unique pieces of art. .  I mean, if you are going to have 10,000 square feet of floor space, can you imaging how much wall space you would have.  In having that much wall space, I might experiment a bit and get a piece that I might not normally purchase.   

This Magra Rainbow Rings Contemporary Metal Wall Hanging for example, is probably the unique piece of art I have ever encountered.  It is made up from four brushed aluminum rings and an acrylic ribbon that ties the rings together. It is Height: 36" x Width: 68" x Depth, has a one year warranty, and can be displayed horizontally or vertically.  You can even display it on a diagonal if you wish.   This piece would fit well into any contemporary through eclectic home and add a burst of color to any room.  With an art piece this bold, you won’t need any other focal point in the home. 

 If you like this art piece, you will also love this one too. 

Industrial art is any art that uses common material to make extraordinary things.  Industrial art is often abstract in design and is most often found in industrial environments.  With the insurgence of warehouses being transformed into residences, industrial art has found its way into these homes.  It has also found its way into homes that are not industrial in design.   

How do you know if industrial art is right for your home?  Firstly, it is right for your home if you find yourself attracted to it.  Secondly, you would need a few furniture pieces, wall finishes, or other abstract art to balance it.  Your decorating style would have to be eclectic, modern, or contemporary in nature.   

This Main Contemporary Big Swoosh Metal Wall Art is a great piece to bring into your home whether you live in a warehouse apartment, and industrial love, or a contemporary home on a cul-de-sac.  If you bring this piece into your home, you may want to accent it with a couple more metal wall art pieces, or with metal finishes on your walls or some of your furniture.  For contrast, in texture, you may want to display it on a brick wall, or a faux finished wall that has an aged effect.

 This wall art sculpture is made of hand brushed aluminum and acrylic ribbon.  It is forged by skilled artisans and is functional with a built in light bulb to further enhance brilliant colors and textures.  The art sculpture is 3X 5 feet in size and weight 47 pounds.  It is a great item to feature in any room of the home.

• November 2007