RED BEDDING is HOT THIS FALL

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People, let me tell you that red bedding is hot this fall! Those of you with a tendency towards cool colors may be skeptical and wondering what would make me say (read: scream) such a thing. I can answer that question in one word: catalogs.

This morning I drug my sorry self into the kitchen as usual pinning my hopes for the day on a nice, hot cup of coffee with just a pinch of cinnamon. The java came through as planned and while I was sipping and savoring the aroma that had been missing in my morning since last fall, I thumbed through a few of my favorite catalogs that had been piling up as of late.

As bleary as I was, I spotted the trend even before the caffiene had a chance to kick in. In each and every one of the catalogs I saw red bedding. There was red and black plaid bedding, striped bedding and perhaps my personal favorite was featured in the Pottery Barn catalog, red bedding that had pictures of cardinals on it, which are my favorite birds especially in winter. Their bright red feathers add color to an otherwise bleak landscape.

Zebra bedding is still one of the most popular girls bedding sets but the zebra print and hot pink color combination that was so popular last spring and summer is dressed for the season at hand with scarlet red satin, silk or taffeta fabrics and red and black damask bedding collections have a glow all their own. Yes, dear reader, to say that red bedding is hot this fall may very well be an understatement. To be so obvious that I can spot it before my second cup of coffee, you really can't doubt that it's a trend.

FANCY BEDROOMS

In the past 3 months I have not decorated any fancy bedrooms to speak of. To be clear, what I call "fancy" might be referred to as a luxury bedroom by those who prefer to maintain a level of sophistication in their vocabulary. I know the economy has taken a hit and custom made furniture and girls bedding are probably last on the list of people doing their best to make mortgage payments on those high end homes bought in the heat of the moment.

But thinking of the past, I can remember working on some luxury bedroom designs that were not any more expensive than decorating a room with IKEA style decor (modern look and sleek contemporary finish). There was one project in particular where the homeowner used a solid walnut tester bed as the centerpiece for her teen girl's bedroom that was breathtakingly beautiful. I expected the young girl to reject the antique bed as looking "old fashioned" but I was pleasantly surprised when she was on board with the decision.

It was not that she was such a fan of ornate furniture and fancy bedrooms as she liked the sense of history and place that the bedroom furniture gave to her space. She said that she enjoyed being surrounded with pieces that had been in her family for generations. Her only request was that the comforter set, curtains and wall paint color were light and bright to offset the dark finish of the elaborately carved wood.

TRENDS

In my last few projects, not only were girls leaning toward platform beds and a minimal amount of bedroom furniture, the materials were not that important. A few years ago, if the bedroom set was not real wood, nobody wanted it. And now I find that buying solid wood is not important. Several of my clients ordered custom made furniture and called a master carpenter that built the furniture based on their specifications. Needless to say that we had to wait a long time for the furniture to arrive.


Lately things have really changed; nobody has either the money or the time to hire custom woodworkers. Either they use the furniture they already have in place or buy imported furniture with a contemporary look, bright colors and maintenance-free finishes. I suppose that the time it takes to maintain great-grandma's intricately carved wooden furniture is more than busy, professional people want to deal with since money to hire cleaning help is tight.

THE APPEAL OF IMPORTED PLATFORM BEDS and FURNITURE

I'm all for buying imported furniture for first apartments, dorm rooms and kids' bedrooms. The stuff is cheap and can be easily dismantled, packed in boxes and then re-assembled with little effort. Plus, the pieces require a minimum amount of floor space giving the illusion that the bedrooms are larger than they actually are.

Ok, I get it that low maintenance furniture has its place. But I really miss decorating those fancy bedrooms with luxurious fabrics and decorations even if they were dust catchers.

Are Microfiber Sheets Comfortable

I got a phone call from a client asking me, "Are microfiber sheets comfortable?".
She wanted to know because she and her daughter were standing in the bed and bath store having a showdown over a bedding set. Mom was all for buying this girls bedding set but when she read the fabric content and saw the dreaded word "polyester" she was afraid that her daughter wouldn't like the feel of the sheets and that she would be out more money for a set of cotton sheets.

You know I hate to be put on the spot like that because each person has their own preference and to be honest, most teen girls could care less if their sheets are made of polyester or the finest Egyptian cotton. In my experience, if they think the comforter and shams look cool they're fine.

But for those who may want to know in the future are microfiber sheets comfortable or not...here's the skinny so you can make your own decisions and won't have to call me for my opinion.

THE PROS AND CONS OF MICROFIBER SHEETS


THE PROS

The positive characteristics of microfiber sheets are that they:

• resist wrinkling
• are lightweight
• machine washable
• are non-allergenic
• stain-resistant
• cheaper than fine cotton

.

Easy care is a good thing for college dorm bedding perhaps as important as being warm and comfortable in winter. Another mark in the positive column should be of interest to individuals suffering from allergies. It seems that since the microfibers are so small that common allergens like dust mites, pollen grains that cling to sheets made of natural fiber don't hang around and cause problems.

THE CONS

The negatives range from having extreme static cling coming out of the dryer to having a dull look and feeling like plastic. Some consumer reviews say the best way to wash microfiber sheets is to wash them alone. Apparently there were problems when they washed their sheets with towels and other fuzzy, lint producing laundry.

Getting back to the question, "Are Microfiber Sheets Comfortable", my opinion is that allergy sufferers would answer with a resounding, YES and everyone else should open the package and wrap the sheet around your hand and arm for a moment or two and see if they like the way the fabric feels. If you think that the fabric doesn't breathe well or if it feels smother-y on your skin I would spend a few extra dollars and get cotton; it's not that expensive and you may be happier especially in warm summer months.

PARISIAN BEDDING for GIRLS

$12 off orders over $300 at Overstock.com (electronics and media excluded)

I keep going back to Eiffel Tower bedding and bedroom decor in my search for Parisian bedding for girls over and over again. Why? Well, because if a more sophisticated style of decor exists for a teen girl's bedroom than a Parisian theme with a famous French landmark smack dab in the middle of it...well, I just haven't seen it.

For pre-teens or tweens, a splash of French poodles, rhinestones in shades of pink is PERFECT. I love pink and black in a Paris theme bedroom because this color scheme is so feminine and is quite the fashion for today's diva girl. And we all know that fashion and style is what Paris, France is all about!

So, grab a set of Eiffel tower bedding (or if you are having to work with what you have this photo room divider will take care of what your comforter set doesn't cover) your French poodle and beret and experiment with decorating your French themed bedroom with Parisian bedding for girls.

ZEBRA GIFT IDEAS

$10 off $250
for New
Customers!
(media and electronics excluded)
These pink and black zebra print floor mats are one of the cutest zebra gift ideas for a teen girl that I've found yet! Such a nice $20 gift is very hard to find and the teens that I know love cute stuff for their cars.


I know it's not close to Christmas but the early bird gets the worm and after decorating a few bedrooms with zebra print bedding (are we ever going to get tired of zebra?) in the last few months, I wanted to pick up a few gifts that would tie into the girls bedroom themes to show my sincere appreciation to my clients.

What I love about overstock.com is their CHEAP shipping prices which are the next best thing to FREE (and yeah, I signed up to get commissions so shoot me for shopping with them, too). I looked all over their site for more cool zebra gift ideas that compared to the pink and black zebra rugs (read: less than $20) but didn't come up with anything OTHER than this cool chair that plan to use in the next bedroom where the girls bedding is black and white and wants some zebra striped accents.

WIN A FREE DORM ROOM MAKEOVER

HERE'S HOW YOU CAN ENTER TO WIN A FREE DORM ROOM MAKEOVER!


First answer these easy questions:



1.Are you currently in college?
2.Are you tired of those boring, blank walls in your dorm room?
3.Would a cooler dorm room translate into more friends, dates and ever alluring possibility of becoming the most popular student on campus?


If the answer to any of the above questions was in the affirmative (that means yes... how did you manage to get into college if you didn't know that?) you can enter to win a free dorm room makeover is certainly worth the very minimal effort it would take to enter for a chance to win.

From September 8th until September 30th Blik is coming to the rescue of damsels suffering with less than stylish dorm room decor.

How you enter for a chance to win:

1.Go to the link above and tell them which wall graphic (chosen from the list on the contest page) that you like the best and why that particular graphic would work in your dorm room

2.Take a picture of your sadly unstylish dorm room and send it to giveaway "at "whatisblik.com

3.Be sure to include the name of the college you are attending and your name


Blik will select at random 10 winning students to receive their Blik wall graphic of choice to decorate the walls of their dorm room.

Act fast because the contest started on September 8th (sorry I'm late posting it!) and runs till September 30, 2010 so you have about a week to fulfill all the requirements to win a free dorm room makeover! If you win, you might convince your mom to buy you a new set of girls dorm bedding so the whole room will match! and and is open to college students in the U.S. and Canada. Students must be living in a dorm room to win. Winners will be notified by October 8th, 2010.

Status Symbols in America

I read in an article that the automobile manufacturers are worried that cars are not the Status Symbols in America that they once were. Maybe the economic crisis taught us a few things and status symbols in America have changed even thought all the teen girls that I know still want the cutest bedroom in town.

You might think that this would include a decreased amount of home decorating but I have not seen that trend whatsoever. My date book is still filled, I'm still overwhelmed with the amount of work piled up on my desk and the number of inspiration boards that I need to deliver should be pulling me away from this keyboard as we speak.

What I do see that has changed is that my clients are not afraid to ask for discounts on fabric or to tell me to shop the outlet malls, eBay auctions before jumping into pay full retail. Even the discontinued bedding sets (that I have always believed in but problems selling to style conscious teen girls) are now being considered where once they would have been categorized as "so last season".

Another trend that I see emerging in teen status symbols in America is that knowledge and education are coming to be admired rather than dissed as boring.

Observing their parents feeling a financial pinch has alerted young girls to the fact that knowing a thing or two might be a good thing AND (moms are going to love this one) they are savvy enough to see that those bad boys who skip school are NOT going to be equipped to provide for themselves or a family in the future.

I realize that has nothing to do with shopping for cool teen girls bedding sets, but then again...maybe it does because as a decorator I can tell you that geek bedrooms are in, Baby!