Many people like industrial lofts as living spaces for their openness and often spacious living interiors, as well as their often urban locale. Often, the only enclosed space in a loft will be the bathroom and lofts can be difficult to decorate because of the need to separate at least the sleeping area from the rest of the space.

The three most important necessities for a loft space are, in no particular order:

A futon or sleeper sofa. You can separate your own sleeping space but what if you have guests who need to spend the night due to foul weather, one drink too many, or some other reason? You have to have a place to put them and you don’t particularly want to sleep next to all of your friends or even family members for that matter!

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Many people have difficulty when decorating an oversized room. When that room is the family room, the opinions can vary widely about what should be done to make it a welcoming room. You want the family room to be a welcoming place because after all, it is where your family will spend the most time together. Here, we discuss a few tips and tricks for decorating an oversized family room.

One great thing about an oversized room is that you can paint the walls in darker colors because the room’s size will allow it without feeling claustrophobic. In this case, we’ll choose a sage green for the walls and we’ll utilize a large contemporary rug in sage and cream colors. An ocean or coral pattern will look nice in this example. The next step is adding furniture. Try placing a long and “blocky” brown sofa with a wooden end table at one end with a matching chair turned to face the opposite end of the couch. Then place another table and chair that match at the other end of the couch. This group should make a “U” shape. You can place lamps on both end tables and a wooden coffee table to complete this group. In another part of the room, a chaise lounger with a furniture throw, between a floor lamp and a bookshelf will complete another group. Leave one end of the room available for playing board games, doing homework, etc. A table with chairs on another contemporary rug, perhaps in a solid color that matches the large one in the first furniture group is a good choice here. Use the same color or an opposite color under the chaise lounger on the opposite end of the room to help add warmth.

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Creating a contemporary look in your home is more a matter of the colors you use in your décor than which style furniture and accessories you use. Traditional or old-fashioned shapes in furniture can be quite elegant and modern if they are upholstered in a more contemporary color. When creating a contemporary feel, clean and straight lines look great as well as chunky and square furniture pieces, if done in a dark color like black or rich brown.

Consider a red contemporary rug to update your home. Red comes in many shades from beautiful primary red, rusty red, burgundy and wine shades. Red goes very well with olive green, navy blue, cream, black or brown. A primary red rug will look great with black and white décor or wall art, navy blue furniture or a nautical themed room done in navy blue and white or cream. Of course black and brown are neutral, so reds give a pop of color to a room heavy with these shades.

Common furniture items that work well with red rugs are blocky square furniture, warm wood tables, metal and glass tables, wicker or rattan. Futons with metal frames, wood frames in mission styling and frames with a basket weave pattern, will all look great. If you use a pattern rather than a solid shade of red in the rug, try matching lamps and other accessories to the shape of the pattern on the rug, rather than the color. Match the color of lamps and other accessories to the colors chosen for furniture, and use red throw pillows and furniture throws. Leave the table runners off the tables as they tend to distract from the modern beauty of the room. If you like you can also use one red piece of furniture, such as a chair. You don’t want to put your red chair against a red rug unless they are two different shades of red that contrast nicely, such as primary red and rust. Put the red chair off the red rug, perhaps under a piece of black and white artwork, or in front of an attractive black and white folding screen.

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Coral prints seem to be the new floral print. Admittedly, coral is a contemporary and versatile pattern. Any feeling desired can be created through the use of coral rug designs. Coral prints are reminiscent of sea coral and very dense coral patterns can remind us of brain coral or of peering through the bare branches of a tree – depending on the color of the print. Coral prints are relaxing and can remind us to slow down a little and smell the coffee, if not the roses.

Coral prints obviously work well with nautical or seaside themed décor and tropical themed décor suits a coral print rug nicely.  If that seems boring, do something a little different.  If you choose a brown and beige coral print, you can couple vine and leaf prints in the rest of the room, and it will look great. If you use an orange coral print, try using browns and greens in the rest of the room. A large piece of coral in a cream color against a dark background looks nice with plaid in shades of brown and cream, or green. It also works well with brown neutrals and brings a natural feel to a room.

Teal colored coral looks great in an island-inspired room complete with bright island colors, like lime green and sherbet-orange. Teal is a versatile color, since it works well with almost every theme. If you want a nature theme that reminds you of the woods or mountains, teal coral can serve as the reflection of a mountain lake with fingers of fog floating just above it. Coral is probably the most versatile of the nature-like patterns available.

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Decorating with purple can be fun, yet challenging.  Purple can be lovely and has been the color of royalty for millennia, first popular in Victorian times. Deep purple hues add warmth and comfort to a room, but are best suited for a formal room, such as a living room or dining room. Lighter hues of purple are great for more informal rooms, such as bedrooms, family rooms or dens and home offices.

To properly use purple in your home, consider whether the room will be formal, or more casual. The whole room does not need to be purple, so don’t overdo it. In fact, it might be a good idea to pick one item in the room to be the focal point, and then use colors and styles to fit that focal point. One way to do this is by using a purple contemporary rug. The rug is a very important addition to a room.

If you’ve chosen to use a purple or plum colored rug, paint the walls a soft gray. Add a wallpaper border that contains the same plum and gray tones and try using gray furniture and dark wood tables in the room. Use lamps that are plum or silver and table runners in gray, silver and plum, with cream shades. Keep the shades simple and don’t use pleated shades. Use gray and plum for the drapes with cream colored shears behind. Keep knickknacks simple, but airy. Use no more than one statuette per table and no more than three on a mantle. Plants are fine, as they add layers to a room. If the room is humid enough, ferns are a good choice, or non-toxic plants that trail, even indoor palm trees look great with this rug and color combination. In this way, a formal living room can be beautiful and functional, while not being overly purple.

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Calvin Klein is a name synonymous with fashion and a cool, minimalist style. Calvin Klein began with longtime friend, Barry K. Schwartz, in New York City in 1968. In the beginning, they were known for men’s and women’s coats. Today, the Calvin Klein brand encompasses everything from coats to shoes, watches, fragrances, underwear, and home décor. There is no facet of American fashion that Calvin Klein has not touched. Calvin Klein rugs are no exception.

The Calvin Klein collection of rugs is a beautiful addition to any home, in keeping with the clean lines and minimal, almost Spartan designs that the brand is known for. Understated elegance is the key to every collection from Calvin Klein, and has been since 1968. With so many people clamoring still for Calvin Klein designed items and home décor, there’s no reason for the designs to change.

This does not mean the collection isn’t fun and that there isn’t an element of playfulness to be found. Buds in unexpected places, such as a dark colored rug, retro-inspired variegated prints and broken plaids, as well as marsh reeds and floral accents, and unusual yet high-quality materials, like rawhide, can be found in this collection.

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It’s been yet another long, cold and gray winter pretty much everywhere. After months of snow that caved in roofs, caused crazy transportation and traffic nightmares, and was generally crummy for everyone, it’s no wonder we are looking forward to summer. Summer is the time when we have the kids or grandkids pretty much all to ourselves and we can run around with them, if we want, or just watch from the porch as they play. At the end of a busy summer day, we don’t want to go inside – we still want to stay out “for just a little longer, Mom”. That’s where a comfortable outdoor porch or patio comes in and makes summer last that much longer every day.

Decorating an outdoor space seems daunting to many people, and it shouldn’t. Remember going to Grandpa’s house when you were a kid?  They might have had one of those cool steel gliders on the porch. You know the kind – it had been painted about twelve different times, always a different color, and when you sat on it with Grandpa and he pushed gently, it squeaked a lot. It would burn your legs in the middle of the day, but it was comfortably warm late in the evening, just at twilight, while you sat eating watermelon and listening to your Grandpa tell stories.

That was about the only thing he had on the porch, other than a mat to wipe your muddy feet on before you went inside. The porch was his domain. He smoked, pondered, and told stories, gliding gently or sitting still. We want to make memories that last as long, that are as comforting and happy as the ones made on the back porch at Grandpa’s.

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