The bedroom is the place we spend most of our time, yet also tends to be the most neglected when it comes to decorating. Nowadays, money may be a significant factor! Here are some great tips for brightening up your space with no money at all!

1.Rearrange! A new fresh arrangement always makes a room feel new. Don’t be afraid to try new angles for your furniture…place your bed on a diagonal, or even right in the middle of the room!

2. Search your drawers for scarves, tablecloths, or even pillowcases that compliment your color scheme. You can use things you already own to soften a dresser top or the edge of your nightstand, or perhaps lay a pretty shawl over the foot of the bed. If you already have throw pillows on your bed (if you don’t, it’s time to steal them from another room!) you can also wrap these fabrics around the pillows for a new look, and just safety pin it in back.

3. Add a plant to your room. Look around your house to see if one of your existing plants would be happier in your bedroom, then move it there! If you can’t find a plant ready for relocation, make one! Many plants can be grown from cuttings, either your existing houseplants, one a friend may let you cut, or even some outdoor plants. Ivy and many shade groundcovers are very good houseplants. You can even relive your childhood a bit and grow a cut potato, pineapple, or carrot tops in a pinch! For containers, look into your kitchen cupboards. Old teapots and cups, glass bowls, even baking dishes can make unique containers.

4. Add memorabilia to your room. I keep a photo of each one of my children when they were small next to my bedside, and it always makes me smile. How about hanging your wedding veil from the headboard, or framing your wedding invitation or old love letters?

5.Add scent. If you don’t have any potpourri or incense in the house, cut up some orange peels and allow to dry, then mix with whatever sweet spices you have in your cupboard. (It only takes a pinch, try cinnamon, ginger, or allspice.) Place your potpourri in an open bowl in your room to freshen and inspire! Later in the summer, make sure to include flowers in your room, if you don’t have roses or other scented flowers in your yard, roadside daisies can smell great too!

6. Get the right equipment before you start. You need to use the best DIY equipment, and this can be expensive - try buying online at : DIY Store …. the prices are cheap even for the top brand equipment.

Just a few small changes, no money involved, and a better, more positive place for you to start and end each day!

As a San Francisco based artist and creator of beautiful things, I strive to design the details of my life so that my experience of beauty is enhanced to the maximum. It’s what I call Artful Living. One of my inspirations is beautiful fabric. What’s yours?

My business is sewing for custom interiors and I get great pleasure from working with exquisite fabrics. Flowing silks, crisp linens and the bright flowers of a waxy cotton chintz are a delight to the senses. My featured fabric from the house of Fortuny is one of my favorites.

What I love about my work is collaborating closely with clients to create the houses they want to live in and feel great about. Making everything from bedding, window treatments and pillows, I create something exquisite every day. I have extended the rich sensual experience of my work into my philosophy of Artful Living.

Artful Living can encompass the materials, the texture, the color and the form of the everyday items with which you surround yourself. Life is a feast and you can take every opportunity to enjoy it’s pleasures by enriching your daily experience with beauty. Live Artfully by:

Have Your Special Signature Piece - Take an everyday item like your handbag, your tote or a scarf and make it your special signature piece.

A unique expression reflective of you! For instance, one day in a great hurry, Babe Paley socialite and trend setter in the 50’s and 60’s, tied her Hermes scarf to the handle of her handbag thereby creating a fashion craze. Everyone who was anyone immediately did the same.

Uplift and Enrich Yourself in Small Details - It isn’t what you possess but how you make the most of it by presenting and arranging it. Consciously design your life as an antidote to the pervasive stress of the 21st century. Choose the details of your surroundings to uplift and enrich your life. Perhaps it is something that was made especially for you, or something that reminds you of a joyful time. Whenever I look at the small Florentine paper picture frame which sits on my bookcase, I am instantly transported to that magical shop under the Ponte Vecchio and the soft, warm light of a spring evening. What small item takes you to a favorite corner of the world?

Be Environmentally Friendly - Your artifacts can be fashioned from salvaged, recycled, reused or renewable materials. You might think that this does not sound sexy but you can have beauty and be kind to the planet at the same time. I reuse vintage Japanese kimonos to make beautiful pillows and totes. My clients love them because they are extremely limited pieces, made especially for them from high-quality fabrics with prints that are no longer loomed. It’s a real thrill to have your own custom pillow, tote or accessory in a fabric that will never be made again.

Be a Pebble in the Pond - As the ripples spread out from one small pebble dropped into a pond, you can give others the gift of Artful Living by simply embodying it yourself. Others will perceive and enjoy your increased sense of vivaciousness as you unselfconsciously go about sporting your signature piece. Just think of how good you feel when someone compliments you on your good taste and style. You can also artfully maintain the details of your work environment. I often benefit with improved mood and vitality by keeping a fresh cut flower (a red, orange or yellow Gerber Daisy is my favorite) in a small elegant Japanese ceramic vase. I keep it next to my computer and a couple of times a day or so, the color and fragrance affords me a wonderful contemplative get-away into beauty. It lets me refocus on my work with a renewed sense of vigor. You can experience the same benefits with your own personal artful design. By expressing the radiance that is your true nature, you will enhance your own life and the lives of others in surprising ways!
Get ready for an abundance of fresh ideas, energy and new beautiful items to enhance your living!