Hillsdale Augusta Daybed in White

Oftentimes the guest room is the last room in the home to be decorated. But don’t your guests deserve that little bit extra of effort? Spring is a good time to think about paying attention to this often neglected room before the busy summer season ahead. Now is the time to tackle this project.

Hillsdale Chloe Daybed in Black Nickel

The first thing you need to figure out is the bed. A daybed is the perfect choice for your guest room or any small space. It does double duty. In the day, load it up with pillows to create a comfortable seating area. At night, easily convert it to a bed by pulling back the covers. A daybed is usually more comfortable than a pull-out sofa since it uses a real mattress or futon mattress.

Lifestyle Solutions Barbados Full Daybed in Cappuccino with Storage Drawers

Daybeds are available in a wide variety of styles. Fortunately with so much choice on the market today, it’s super simple to choose one that goes with the décor of your home. Go for the traditional look of wrought iron or keep things light and airy with clean white. Try a modern approach with a black metal daybed with linear details or choose the urban look of an espresso leather finish. Looking for extra storage or more sleeping space? Choose a model with a trundle bed or under the bed storage drawers.

Hillsdale Marcella Daybed with Roll Out Trundle in Brown Leather

After you’ve selected a daybed and purchased new bedding, it’s a snap to figure out the rest of your space. Try incorporating art or a rug in similar colors as the bedding. Purchase a new nightstand to coordinate with your bed and add a new lamp to brighten everything up. Your guests are sure to be impressed and you will rest well knowing you have crossed this project off of your to-do list.

Start with a few basic questions. Are you interested in contemporary black bedroom furniture for modern minimalist interiors? Is white bedroom furniture more your taste? Do more traditional carved wood bedroom sets catch your eye?

Will you want multiple dressers for maximum storage? Is limited floor space an issue? Should you consider bedrooms sets with storage beds?

Depending on the room you’re redecorating, you may want to choose your size up front. Does your summer home have the space for a king size bed? Or should you start by browsing full size bedroom sets for a smaller guest room?

Discount bedroom sets and regularly priced cheap bedroom furniture sets are a great choice for if you’re shopping on a budget, or simply wish to restrain your investment for a bedroom not used full time.

To kick start your search, here are our Top 10 picks for bed sets for sale at Bedroom Furniture N More:

Sitcom Hida 4 Piece Bedroom Set

Prepac Sonoma Black 6 Piece Bedroom Set

South Shore Back Bay Queen 3 Piece Bedroom Set

South Shore Sand Castle 5 Piece Bedroom Set

Standard Seville Old Fashioned 5 Piece Bedroom Set

Standard Diana White Wash 5 Piece Bedroom Set

Lifestyle Solutions Wilshire Modern 5 Piece Bedroom Set

Somerton Enchantment 3 Piece Bedroom Set

Hillsdale Brookland 5 Piece Bedroom Set

Modus Nevis Riva Modern 4 Piece Bedroom Set

Leather bar stools are one more element you can add to your home bar that makes it feel closer to the real thing. For a wide variety of décor themes, adding leather bar stools could be the finishing touch that takes your space from average to extraordinary.

If you love leather and you love to entertain at home, this seating option is a great choice for any bar area, be it a cocktail bar in your living room or a breakfast bar off your kitchen. Browse with the design style and height specifications you prefer to narrow your search.

Unlike a shed, a greenhouse adds warmth and brightness to your yard. Powered by solar energy, they are an energy-efficient alternative to indoor hydroponics and herb gardens.

Solexx Garden Master 8′ x 8′ Twin Walled Greenhouse

Solexx Lit’l Propagator Twin Walled Greenhouse

Even if you haven’t got a large outdoor living space, there are smaller products like the Solexx Lit’l Propagator Twin Walled Greenhouse (shown above) which can tuck into the back yards of townhomes and ground-level condominiums.

Solexx Deluxe Cold Frame at Cymax

Having a greenhouse in your back yard is handy whether you enjoy creating flower beds, honing your landscaping, or giving your vegetable garden a head start.
Serious gardeners will save money in the long run, cultivating seedlings at home, as opposed to purchasing seedlings from a garden store. The capacity to hand-craft seedlings also means that your selection of flowers, fruits, vegetables, and shrubs will increase dramatically.

Solexx material in particular is ideal for greenhouses, creating light-filled spaces that retain just the right amount of heat. Here’s a short video that describes how their siding is used:

Landmann USA Black Dog 42XT Charcoal Grill with Offset Firebox in Black

Landmann USA Round Rock 36 Inch Charcoal Grill with Rotisserie in Black

RV enthusiasts and campers may prefer the portability of smaller grills, as well as the rich flavor of charcoal. Enjoy barbecued meals your way, even while you travel.

Fire Sense HotSpot Notebook Charcoal Portable Grill

ItalModern Camy Classic Dining Side Chair in Matte Aluminum

Regal Rochester Metal Patio Arm Chair

ItalModern Hillary Stacking Polished Indoor or Outdoor Arm Chair

ItalModern Preston Stacking Side Chair

For many home décor aficionados, that room is the dining room. What better opportunity to showcase your interpretation of elegance, sophistication, and comfort. Does that sound like you? Well then, blog about it!

If you’ve got a blog, design-related or otherwise, tell us about your dream dining room and link to diningfurniture.com for your chance to win $100 gift certificate from Cymax Stores.

What’s your personal design style? Is it all about the dining set or will you focus equally on your walls and floors? Tell us what the dining room of your dreams will look like.

Opulent & Traditional Dining Room?

Modern & Minimalist Dining Set?

Retro-Inspired Table & Chairs ?

Blog about the dining room of your dreams and comment here with a link to your blog post. It’s a simple as that. Tweet about it to your heart’s content for more bonus entries.

• Write a blog post that mentions diningfurniture.com. Share the link to your post in a comment here on Furniture and Design Ideas
  = 2 entries
• Tweet a link to your post using the hashtag #diningfurniture
  = 1 entry per tweet

We’ll be selecting a winner on April 30th, 2011. The winning blog entry will be announced here on Furniture and Design Ideas. So blog soon and tweet often!

Games Room Location and Purpose

When considering what type of lighting would be best for your games room, take into account its location and purpose. A basement games room will most likely need more light fixtures than one in the corner of a family room. If your new pool table has pride of place in the middle of the room, then you’re sure to want a game table light centered directly above it.

The Different Types of Lighting

Because the games room will be used for a variety of activities, the light fixtures you choose should accommodate these different lighting needs. A multipurpose room like a games room should include two or more of the different kinds of light fixtures available.

Task lighting is generally bright and used to put the spotlight on your game table, pool, poker or otherwise. It is also a great way to light your home bar. Track lighting is a type of task lighting that popular in games room.

General or ambient lighting is some type of overhead light, like a flush mounted fixture centered in the rooms ceiling. It fills the space with a medium to bright light that softens shadows and creates a warm and welcoming atmosphere.

Tiffany pendant lighting is particularly popular for a traditional style games room that features a pool or billiards table.

Recessed lighting with a dimmer switch would be ideal for a games room that has a video gaming or home theater area.

Customizing your lighting needs to the various activities in your games room, is not only practical but it adds warmth and appeal to room’s décor.

Divide and Conquer

Divide your game room design project into stages. Trying to do it all at once can be overwhelming especially if it’s going to be used for more than one kind of game. Assign priorities. When assigning priorities, a good decorating rule to keep in mind is what is important to you? The dart board and home bar might be the first thing you work on. Then again if you want friends over to test out your new pool table to see if it works, setting it up to your satisfaction will your main concern.

Accessorizing Your Games Room

If the room is designed to house a regulation-size pool table, then two or three billiards-theme spectator height bar stools would fit right in. Or if it’s setup for gamers, don’t forget to include a couple of high-tech game chairs. Select game room accessories, such as lamps, neon clocks, signs or framed posters that reflect your décor theme, if you have chosen one.

Popular game room accessories can include:

• Juke box
• Neon clocks
• Neon signs
• Framed posters
• Themed floor and ceiling lights
• Popcorn machine
• Gum ball machine
• Vintage coke machine
• Pool cue racks

Other Things to Consider when Decorating a Games Room

Do a reconnaissance of the room’s power sources. These will come in handy if your home bar has a fridge, you want all the gadgets in your video games area to work and any other electronic games like arcade and pinball games.

If your dartboard is of the standard variety, place it in a cabinet. This will protect your walls and save you from have to repair and repaint them on a regular basis. Keep in mind, however, that it will take up more room than just hanging the dart board by itself.

Add a magnetic white board as an easy way to keep score, leave messages, etc.

Carpet is ideal for absorbing sound but if you’re concerned about potential spills maybe tile or hardwood’s better.

Especially if you will not be including a home bar, consider what appliances, if any, you would like in the games room. A bar fridge or mini fridge, coffee maker, water cooler or microwave will save you and your guests a few trips to the kitchen.

Come back next Friday for the last part of this series, “Designing a Games Room”.

Step 1 – Purpose

Decide what the main purpose of the room is going to be. Is the room going to be used for one type of game, such as pool, foosball, shuffleboard or poker? Or do you want a space that, while the billiards table will be the centerpiece of the room, you would like to include a darts board and someplace to play chess for those that don’t?

Step 2 – Space & Location

Roughly determine how much space you will need and where the games room is to be located. A pool table or billiards table is going to take up more room than an arcade cabinet. It’s not just size and dimensions you have to worry about; don’t forget to make allowances for people playing the games and moving around the room. Before ordering the pool table of your dreams (and any other large pieces of furniture you plan buying for your game room), make sure that it will fit through doorways and be able to maneuver down or up stairs.

Step 3 – Game Room Furniture

Would you like to include a home bar, someplace for spectators to sit while they watch the players or a video games area complete with game chairs and an entertainment center? Make a list of all the furniture pieces you would like in the room. Some popular game room furniture pieces are:

• Pool table
• Arcade games
• Dart board
• Foosball table
• Poker table
• Home bar – including a pub table, bar stools and/or spectator stools

Step 4 – It’s all about the Money

Make a budget. Knowing how much you have and/or are prepared to spend will help you focus on priorities. It doesn’t mean that you can’t have everything on your games room furniture list, but it might inspire you to look for bargains in order to tailor what you want to what you have to spend.

Step 5 – Should You or Shouldn’t You?

DIY or should you hire someone to do the work for you? If you want the trendy pendant ceiling light with stained glass shade to be perfectly centered over your pool table but you’re not quite sure how to do that, then it’s best to plan on hiring someone who does. Ditto for plumbing your home bar sink or mounting your flat screen TV complete with sound system. Do the walls have to be insulated or the floor reinforced to bear the weight of the pool table? Include the expense of a contractor or trades person in your budget.

A games room is a multifunctional space that will prove hours of fun and quality time, if it is designed with a little something for everyone in mind. Come back next Friday for Designing a Games Room pt. 2.