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Home Decor 101: How to Style a Nightstand

February 24, 2014 By CENTURY 21

Style your nightstand to reflect your personality and streamline your morning and evening routines.

A nightstand is an important component of your bedroom. It is the last thing you see when you turn off your light and fall asleep and the first thing you look at when you turn off your alarm and turn on the light before getting out of bed.

Here is our list of essential items for your nightstand:

1. Reading Lamp: Choose a lamp that fits with the decor style of the rest of your room. For example, if your room can be defined as Art Deco choose a modern lamp and if your room includes Coastal elements choose a lamp design that is inspired by the ocean.

2. Clock: Regardless of your morning routine a clock can help insure that you are on time.

3. Accessory: Add an accessory such as a tray to store the jewelry you wear every day, your favorite candle, or a vase of freshly cut flowers.

4. Picture Frame: Style your nightstand with a picture of loved ones to make you smile when you fall asleep and when you wake.

5. Books: Who doesn’t love reading in bed? Keep a few books at arm’s length.

6. A Notebook and a Pen: You never know when inspiration will strike! Be prepared.

7. Art: Hang your favorite print, photo, or painting above your nightstand to tie the look together.

What recommendations do you have for styling a nightstand? How have you styled the nightstands in your home?

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Five Simple Chalkboard Paint Projects for the Home

January 22, 2014 By CENTURY 21

Chalk it up! Five simple DIY projects to make with chalkboard paint.

Chalkboards are not just for the classroom. Use chalkboard paint to decorate your home with these five simple DIY projects.

GET ORGANIZED USING CHALKBOARD LABELS Use chalkboard paint to label just about anything. The possibilities are limitless, but some of our favorite ideas include: labeling Mason Jars for beauty accessory storage, labeling food storage boxes to create the ultimate organized kitchen, labeling spices in a spice rack, and labeling file drawers, cabinet doors, and dresser drawers to easily identify the contents. Make entertaining a breeze by painting labels on wine glasses, pitchers, cheese trays, coasters, and table runners (no more forgetting whose glass is whose). Paint the outside of shelves in a bookcase to organize books alphabetically by author, title, or genre or take it outside by using chalkboard paint to make garden tags and garden pot labels.

MAKE A FORGET-ME-NOT STATION BY THE FRONT DOOR Write out helpful reminders like “Pick up the kids at three!” “Don’t forget your keys!” and more. We can’t promise that you’ll never forget anything again, but this will certainly help!

PAINT ROOMS You can use chalkboard paint to paint any room of the house, but we recommend using it for kid’s rooms, home offices, and kitchens. How many times have you heard parents tell their children not to draw on the walls? Chalkboard paint gives kids a large canvas in their own space – your son or daughter might be the next Rembrandt! Use chalkboard paint in a home office to make a calendar, a to-do-list, and a brainstorm board. Use kitchen walls to display a menu, shopping list, or your favorite recipes.

PAINT STAIRCASES Make a statement by painting your staircase. Use the chalk space to make note of your favorite quotes, mantras, and reminders.

PAINT FURNITURE Use chalkboard paint to give old furniture a budget-friendly makeover. For example, write love notes and inspirational quotes on a headboard, to-do-lists and reminders on a desk, table setting and dining etiquette reminders on a kitchen table, a television show schedule on a coffee table, or reading lists and reminders on a nightstand.

Did you try one of these projects? Send us your photos on Instagram, Pinterest, and Tumblr with the hashtag #C21 or by Tweeting at us at @Century21. What are your ideas for DIY projects with chalkboard paint?

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Tips From The Pros: Designer’s Corner

January 14, 2014 By CENTURY 21

Our kitchen and bath design expert answers your questions.

Question: How can I connect my kitchen to the outdoors?

Answer: Try using large, undivided windows. Install one long, tall window above a kitchen sink instead of two smaller openings. Allow at least three inches of “breathing room” around a window, too. Or try including a “garden window,” a small bay window with shelves that gives a three-dimensional feel.

If your kitchen lacks a view or an outside wall, a skylight may be appropriate to flood the space with daylight.

If windows don’t fit in your budget, cut flowers, fruits and vegetables around the room add a fresh feel, as do green plants and herbs. Grow lights, mounted under wall cabinets, do double duty by providing accent lighting, too.

Question: What recent innovations in kitchen surfaces are homeowners finding useful?

Answer: Today’s kitchens are witness to a design switch: the typical homeowner spends more on countertops and less on cabinets. Lower-priced cabinets with a host of door and finish styles have given homeowners the funds to upgrade their countertops.

The options are unlimited. Laminates alone come in a number of brands and hundreds of colors, textures and patterns: modern, retro, traditional, Asian inspired, nature-inspired and even metal. Styles, colors and shapes as well as edging continue to push the boundaries of kitchen design. Although natural granite continues to remain a top choice, trend-conscious homeowners are looking for new options,including a honed or brushed surface that shows fewer smudges and fingerprints.

Engineered quartz, a new market entry, comes with a huge array of colors and textures. Appearance is also more consistent, even as the benefits keep pace with real granite.

Exotic wood countertops come in different thicknesses, shapes and sizes. The wood can run in full-length planks with a face grain, edge grain or end grain boards. Two different woods can even be combined in a checkerboard pattern.

Concrete has moved out of the driveway and into the kitchen—natural, stained or embedded with glass or other products. It’s a great, durable product that takes heat and is easy to clean.

People often forget metal makes a superior countertop, too. Stainless steel can be brushed or enhanced with other textured finishes, and copper, galvanized or even raw steel can substitute for countertops.

Glass counters are best used as serving counters or in areas of light use, but glass tiles are gaining in popularity, particularly for kitchen sinks.

Be sure to consult with a trained professional to guide you in the options best suited to your application.

Exotic woods:
• Zebrawood
• Iroko
• African Paduak
• Wenge (“wen-gay”)
• Antique Heart Pine

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