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The Household How-To: 10 Tips For Decorating a Master Bedroom

December 27, 2017 by Painter Mommy 1 Comment

Master bedrooms are arguably one of the most important rooms in any given house. It’s the room you, the owner/renter of the house spend quality time by yourself or with your partner, it’s where you sleep, it’s where you have privacy and it’s where your more personal items are stored. It isn’t a room for anyone or everyone, it’s a private room, and that’s why it’s important.

Making sure your master bedroom is set up the way you want it to be set up is key in ensuring the bedroom feels like your room, and getting it right can be a finicky project. To help you out with this all-important task, we have written down 10 tips for decorating your master bedroom.

Use of Space

While some people like bedrooms to be spacious and relatively uncluttered to promote a clear and free feel, others feel like this wastes crucial space in your home on nothing more than floor space. If you lean more toward the latter kind of person, getting yourself a two-storey bed frame might be a good idea. It elevates your bed to above head height, making room on the floor while still keeping a bed set up.

Lighting

The lighting in your room helps to contribute to the mood, and therefore has a direct impact on how you feel about this personal space of yours. Warmer coloured lights give a more homey feel to a space, while cooler lights in white or blue give a less personal, more sterile feel to your space. Whichever you prefer is what you should go with, after all, it is your bedroom.

Curtains

The curtains in your room should reflect your personal sense of style, as they are the covering for the entryway for the most light in your bedroom. Blinds are just as effective as large, heavy curtains, and often cost less too, so exploring based on taste and preference can be more affordable than you previously thought possible.

Art

The art in your room or lack thereof is entirely up to you, but many people feel that the presence of art makes the room feel more personalised and comfortable. Large sculptures are usually only appropriate in larger rooms, however paintings and small sculptures work well in master bedrooms and promote a healthy artistic outlook on life.

Furniture

The furniture in your room is usually decided by how much space you have, although a couch is often a good addition to a medium to large sized bedroom for working on or to have as a place to sleep if a friend comes around.

Utility Items

Utility items are things like dirty clothes baskets, wardrobes, or bedside tables. Having a bedside table with power point facilities and a lamp is a good idea, as this allows you to charge your phone, plug in an alarm clock, and read by lamplight if you want before bed.

Entertainment

Having a television in your room is a divisive issue, as many people like to fall asleep watching movies or at least like to have the option to watch something if they can’t sleep. There are studies, though, that have proven that a television in your room restricts your sleep cycle significantly, so do your research before plugging in that new 50” screen.

Storage

Storage options in your room could be limited, depending on the space, so making use of all of your available room is important. Try buying plastic tubs and storing them under your bed, packed full of items. This will prevent them from getting dusty while keeping your room clear.

Walk-In Wardrobe

A walk-in wardrobe is an incredible thing, and if you happen to be lucky enough to have one you’ll understand all the space you save in your main bedroom. Try using the space for all of your clothes, and not just the hanging ones. This frees up a lot more room in your main room than might seem possible from such a small adjustment.

Ensuite

One of the best features of a master bedroom is the ensuite. Decorating your ensuite should be fun, because it’s your own personal bathroom. Put a speaker in there for music, and some scented candles for those times when you just need to relax.

With these 10 tips in mind, your master bedroom will basically decorate itself. Have fun with setting up your personal space, and remember to make it represent you!

A Future Culture-Vulture: Use Your Travels to Inspire Your Kids

October 30, 2017 by Painter Mommy Leave a Comment

Developing a love of culture often starts at an early age and if you expose your children to works of art and arrange a variety of cultural experiences, there is a good chance that their interest could develop into a passion.

A vacation is often the perfect opportunity to soak up some cultural highlights and give your kids an education while having some fun. Here are some pointers on how you can use travel to inspire your children to appreciate the arts and history.

A chance to inspire and educate

If you arrange a stay at somewhere like a Marriott New Jersey hotel you will often find yourself in an area that offers access to a range of free attractions like museums and art galleries.

There’s a lot to like about a museum when you are on a family trip and you don’t have to pay an entrance fee, but there are more valid reasons to go inside than the obvious attraction that you don’t have to reach for your wallet.

Museums offer a great opportunity to expose your children to some new experiences and broaden their understanding in a positive educational environment.

This exposure to learning and the chance to satisfy their curiosity will often prove to be the foundation for a greater connection to the world around them and the history that has shaped where we are today.

The power of art

Art has the ability to shape our feelings and perception of things like very little else can and many people have been inspired by a certain work of art that ended up having a profound effect on them.

Letting your child view some great works of art and allowing them to form their own opinion on what they are looking at and what it says to them can really help their creativity and critical thinking.

It’s a win-win situation as you can enjoy soaking up the culture too while knowing that your children are enjoying the experience in their own way at the same time.

Sign up for the tour

Many of the major museums and galleries and plenty of the smaller ones too offer a free guided tour of their works.

It can be a good way to enrich your learning experience and work your way around the exhibition in the most efficient way possible. Getting the inside track on the works from a knowledgeable tour guide is only going to help improve your enjoyment of the visit.

Follow the rules

You want to encourage your children to explore and appreciate the displays but it is also a good idea to set some ground rules if they are young and haven’t been exposed to this sort of environment before.

Fill them in on the usual protocol for visiting a museum or gallery, which includes no running and no touching, unless it’s interactive for the kids, which will be highlighted anyway if that’s the case.

It would also be a good idea to ensure that they have comfortable clothes and shoes for the trip so that your kids don’t start to flag after a couple of hours of walking around.

Take advantage of the chance to expose your children to some culture when you are on vacation or whenever you get the chance and enjoy seeing how it broadens their horizons.

4 Tips to Encourage Creativity in Your Children

March 24, 2017 by Painter Mommy 1 Comment

Creative thinking is a characteristic commonly found in successful business men and women. These people aren’t afraid to try new ideas or take chances. If you want to raise creative kids, but don’t know where to start, check out these four tips for encouraging creativity.

Create a Space Where Kids Can Get Messy

Image via Flickr by CCK_mom

It’s hard to keep your home clean when you have children. However, if your kids are always worrying about getting dirty, their creativity suffers. Instead of letting your kids run wild with the arts and craft supplies, create a space where it’s okay to be messy.

A sunroom or any tiled surface works great for a creative space because it’s easy to clean. Just make sure it’s free of allergens and stays at a comfortable temperature so your kids can play longer. During the summer, you can also set up some tables outdoors and let your kids make all the mess they want. Being messy isn’t really the problem; it’s being messy all over the place.

Schedule Time Each Day for Creativity

Most parents let their kids watch a little TV, and there’s nothing wrong with that. However, TV doesn’t help stimulate creativity. When kids watch TV, they go into a semitrance and don’t rely on their own brains to come up with things to do. If you want your kids to be more creative, turn off the TV and give them something to do where they need to think and explore their surroundings.

Set aside time each day during which your kids participate in creative activities. When your kids know they need to do something creative every day, they’ll start to think of things to do on their own. Over time, creative time will become their favorite time of the day.

Provide Ample Arts and Craft Supplies

Image via Flickr by Carissa GoodNCrazy

Another way to encourage creativity in your kids is to make sure they have all the supplies they need. Some kids can take crayons and some paper and color for hours. Others kids need more prompting with drawing books and creative toys. You know what your kids like to do, so find ways to bring in creativity.

Beyond arts and craft supplies, it helps to model creativity for your kids. If they see you sewing, painting, or gardening, they’ll want to join in on the fun. If your kids show an interest in a creative activity, make sure they have time to learn.

Let Your Kids Make Mistakes

Creativity comes when kids experiment and try new things. If your kids know you won’t be mad when they make a mistake, they won’t worry about trying something new.

Praise your kids when they try something new, but don’t make them feel like they’re under surveillance. Creativity happens when there’s freedom to explore without interruption or interrogation.

There are tons of ways to encourage creativity; there are just a few listed here. You just need to plan ahead and do what works for you and your kids. We’d love to hear what helps your child be creative in the comments below.