Yearly Archives: 2016
Bedroom Design: 5 Things Every Woman’s Bedroom Should Have
Post by Tracy Kaler.
All bedrooms start with a great mattress, and luxurious bed linens, if affordable, are a must as well. Don’t forget the window treatments for softness and light control, and a chair or bench to put your shoes on and take them off at the end of a long day. Besides the basics, however, a lady’s bedroom doesn’t feel complete without these items.
A well-designed closet.
Any fashionista will attest –– having a great closet is a must. Size doesn’t always matter here, either. A small, well-planned closet with shelves, hanging space, and drawers will suffice, as long as you can stay organized.
Something sentimental.
Whether it’s a vintage jewelry box from your great grandmother or a bargain flea market find that you had to have, one sentimental tchotchke adds soul to any bedroom.
A dressing table or writing desk.
Every lady’s bedroom should have a designated spot to sit down and write a note, apply makeup, or open mail. If you have a small bedroom, consider placing the table next to your bed to act as a nightstand.
Pretty accent pillows.
Pillows certainly aren’t required, but they add pattern and interest to any bed. Don’t go overboard, however. Two to four pillows should be more than enough, especially if you have shams.
A full-length mirror.
I don’t know a woman who doesn’t want to see what she looks like before she leaves the house. Install a door mirror, or purchase some other full-length mirror to check that you look your absolute best every single day.
Bedtime Stories: Fairy Tale School
Post by Mark T. Locker.
The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani
On the edge of a dark wood sits the village of Gavaldon. Every four years, two children from Gavaldon are taken away. You cannot stop the forces that choose the children, but it can be easy to guess who will be taken, because they are taken to a mysterious and legendary school, the School for Good and Evil. This is where the worst and the best are taken to learn how to be a fairy tale prince, princess, witch or warlock. Or, if you aren’t so great, how to be an evil minion or an animal companion.
Sophie is absolutely convinced that she will be selected as the new candidate at the school for Good. She has prepared all her life to become a princess and to find a handsome prince all her own. Her best (and only) friend, Agatha, lives in the cemetery with her mother, who makes potions and poultices for the village. Draped in black and wary of people in general, Agatha’s only hope is to be left alone. But when the night arrives, Sophie and Agatha are both taken but much to their surprise, not to the schools they expected. It turns out that all of Sophie’s good deeds were more self-serving than altruistic and she is dropped in the School for Evil while the reluctant Agatha is taken to the School for Good.
What follows is each girl struggling to correct what was clearly an error while simultaneously learning the tricks of their respective trades. Agatha is loathe to wear pink frilly dresses but her natural talents for the skills of the good betray a kind heart. Sophie, on the other hand, makes the most of her putrid black gowns, and her skills at the black arts suggest maybe she wasn’t placed there in error after all.
An interesting spin on fairy tales and schools of magic, The School for Good and Evil is the first in a trilogy. An entertaining read for fans of magic, fairy tales, and the complicated friendships all of us have. This book is a great bedtime read as it will surely feed your dreams with magical delights.
Bedroom Design: 5 Stylish Los Angeles Bedrooms
Post by Tracy Kaler.
The West Coast capital has long been known as a style hub. Whether looking at fashion on the runway or interior design, Los Angeles trends differ from the East Coast, and have their own look, feel, and personality. Let’s take a peek at five stylish bedrooms in Los Angeles.
This LA bedroom takes classic midcentury modern to another level. The bed’s clean lines, textured coverlet, three-dimensional art, and funky pillows create a stylish yet comfortable environment. The pool view isn’t bad either!
This Silver Lake bedroom embodies a chic, colorful design, yet manages to keep things simple. The headboard is understated, but the wall hanging (actually an area rug turned horizontally) makes a statement.
A gorgeous bedroom in the Hollywood Hills takes a risk with black walls but manages to pull it off. Antique furnishings such as a Chinese chest pair well with the linen headboard and matelassé bed covering.
This neutral bedroom features white walls and furnishings with dark hardwoods and a natural fiber area rug. With so little color in the interior, the room gives the outside view an opportunity to shine.
Fun and whimsical, a bedroom in a Spanish style home uses bunk beds to save floor space. The décor keeps the mood light and is ideal for a child’s room.
Bed Nuts & Bolts: How To Avoid Body Impressions in Your Mattress
Post by Jessica Schoenenberger.
You did a lot of research and paid a lot of money to get the mattress of your dreams. The materials inside your mattress and how its constructed will determine how your mattress holds up. Innerspring mattresses with tempered steel coils will give you better, longer lasting support than layers of all foam. Materials like latex on top of individually pocketed innersprings, will retain better loft and show less body impressions than memory or polyurethane foams. So, try this simple program to avoid those dips and valleys.
Research shows it takes 30-60 days for you to get use to your new mattress and for it to get use to you. The chore of flipping your mattress is no longer necessary. You can improve long range performance by rotating your new mattress every quarter for the first year, then once every six months. A rotation is 1 turn of the mattress, putting the head at the foot and the foot at the head of the bed. The reason is physics; most couples are different weight, height and shapes, yet we tend to sleep in the same spot, in the same position(s) night after night. By rotating your mattress you sleep on different sides without actually having to change sides. Once a year its advised to also rotate your foundation or boxspring head to foot. A King or Cal King Set comes with 1 mattress and 2 foundations, you should switch the foundations from one side to the other and rotate each head to foot. Same goes for Split Queen foundations.
A simple rotation schedule will even out wear & tear and help you get use to your new mattress more quickly. While all mattresses naturally soften over time and with use, by rotating your mattress and foundations you will get many more years of sleeping well.
Movies in Bed: Stranger Things
Post by Mark T. Locker.
I’m not a film major; I’ve never been good at “reading” films and analyzing things like framing of shots, lighting, things like that. There’s been a whole lot of talk about this new Netflix series and all the ways it is paying tribute to the classic adventure movies of the 1980s. I haven’t read those yet because I’m horribly afraid of spoilers. But you can feel the nods to such classics as The Goonies and Close Encounters while you watch. As the kids ride frantically through the night on their bikes, you half expect them to start flying à la ET.
This is an amazing series and arguably one of the best shows on television right now. The year is 1982 and four boys are playing Dungeons & Dragons in a kid’s garage in Hawkins, Indiana. One of the young boys, Will, leaves for home but never makes it. While searching for their friend in the dark woods, the three remaining boys come across a strange young girl. Maybe it’s a coincidence that she has appeared right when Will disappeared. Maybe it’s not. Meanwhile, Will’s mother (Winona Ryder; another great nod to the 80’s) is convinced she is getting messages from Will, wherever he is. Naturally, most think she’s lost her mind. But has she?
Meanwhile, a secret government facility seems to have lost control of a hugely dangerous project. These things never turn out well.
The cast of this show is amazing. The three kids on a quest to find their friend are perfect. Awkward and bullied but undeterred thanks to the powerful friendship. Winona Ryder as a mother on the verge of mania trying to figure out what’s happened to her son. And Millie Bobbie Brown, who plays the mostly silent mysterious girl known as Eleven, is incredible.
If you haven’t already binge-watched all 8 episodes, tonight is as good a time as any to start. Anyone who loves monsters, mystery, innovative kids, or adolescent drama should be watching this.
