DIY Monday: Adding light and depth to a room

When I married I moved into my new husband's condo, which presented me with some design challenges. The condo is on the top floor of the building. That meant high ceilings and skylights in most of the rooms without windows. One of my main problems, however, was a dining room with 20+ foot ceilings, no skylight, a 30 year old light fixture and three very, very red walls. That made for a dark room.

I wasn't afraid of red walls. In fact, I'd painted a focal wall in my old house a deep, dark red (that took 9 coats of paint to get the right red). Of course, that house had tons of windows in that room to lighten up the effect. This wall was tall and the space was dark. Luckily, I had a solution.

My solution was to gather all the old mirrors we had between the two of us and use them to reflect the light from a wall of windows on the opposite side of the room thereby creating light in that space and lengthening the space visually. We were lucky, between the two of us, we had a wall full of mirrors. Jason had inherited several from his grandparents and I've always been an advocate of using mirrors to open up spaces. Additionally, we got a bright new chandelier for the space that, when reflecting off the mirrors, makes the room shine with light.

Now, I call my design style "eclectic" - I have friends, however, who call it "cluttered." In short, I like a lot of stuff on the walls. I say that because if you have a dark room problem and like a cleaner look, you'll have to adapt this solution to your own design aesthetic by, for example, using fewer mirrors than I've used. And you don't have to use old mirrors - you can go to the thrift store, find some frames, paint them black, white, gold or silver (whichever you prefer) and have the local glass store fit them with mirrors for you.

However you decide to adapt the idea, it certainly will add depth and light to your room.

Inspiration Thursday! Walls

We're heading into Labor Day weekend and school is starting again and as students revel in the heady joy of new school supplies and a new school wardrobe their rooms may start to feel a little dull. For those of us without a student in our lives, fall can also be a time where we start concentrating on our homes a bit more - memories of winter storms that cooped us up to stare at our own four walls come to mind. Is it time for a change?

A couple weeks ago a friend sent me a New York Times article on inexpensive and easy ways to change your living space without major renovation. Sometimes it's as simple as changing the pictures on your walls. They offered several interesting suggestions.

One of the things that caught my eye was the idea of a wall decal - easy to apply, easy to remove and a splash of color to an otherwise boring space! I would have KILLED for something this cool in my otherwise boring dorm room and how wonderful are they for apartments that restrict the number of nail holes in the walls?

Occasionally, I've come across packs of inexpensive decals at TJ Maxx and Kohls, but there are also several online options. Dezign with a z has interesting contemporary designs for pretty reasonable prices - and their selection is pretty extensive. Their designs are more graphic in nature and they even have glow in the dark and writable decals that are worth checking out.

Another exciting option is Dali decals. They too are very contemporary and graphic in nature. I love the idea of putting a large tree decal on the wall beside a crib. I also love the selection of wedding quotes that can be added to the wall of a newlywed's home. You can even put your name in lights by choosing a nameplate or monogram in a variety of colors.

If, however, you are like me and like MORE of everything, you might enjoy Blik. Don't have a headboard for your bed? Child of the 80s who misses Pong? Need a red chandelier on the fly? Blik has you covered.

If you're ready for a change, do a Google image search of "wall decals" and explore for yourself. Given the variety of options, I'm sure you'll find something to inspire you.

* Photos property of Dezign with a z, Dali Decals and Blik. Click on photos to get their links!