Create a Dining Room with Elegance and Style

Nothing compares to getting your family and closest friends together for a visit over a delicious meal. A formal dining room brings a note of elegance and romance to any home – it often feels like the most special room in the house. It could be that it is a space dedicated to special occasions filled with family, friends, and food, or that it is a place for intimate family gatherings. Since the dining room contains so many memories of special moments, it deserves a special design.

However, creating a space that is special enough to for a celebration but functional enough for everyday living can be a challenge. Striking a balance between elegance and comfort is essential in order to design a space that your entire family will enjoy for years. Follow these tips below to create a space worthy of your celebrations.

Choose a Color

A fresh coat of paint can breathe new life into any room. Your dining room sets the stage for all your special occasions such as holiday celebrations, birthdays, and family get-togethers of all types. It is essential that you keep in mind its different uses when selecting the paint color. For restrained elegance neutral palettes work well, especially if you are going for a contemporary look and feel. White shades will open up a small dining room and is a good option for a room that will play many roles over time.

Make an Understatedly Bold Statement

The dining room table is the most important piece of furniture in this space, and often commands the most attention. You may be tempted to make a statement and choose an ornate design. However, you can make just as much of a statement by choosing a classic, neutral design that will stand the test of time. The clean, minimalist lines of the Laurel Canyon San Lorenzo Dining table from Lexington Furniture will create a focal point in your dining room that will be impervious to passing trends. When your table is classic and neutral, just like your walls, you can easily switch out other accessories to change the look to match the season or occasion.

Add a Dramatic Touch with Pattern

Simplicity is the hallmark of elegance, but is also allows dramatic touches to stand out. Decorating with drapes let you add color, texture, and personality to your dining room, and opting for a sophisticated print will only emphasize this look. Luxurious white-on-white patterned drapes add texture that won’t overpower the space.

Finishing Touches

A few carefully chosen accessories can completely transform a room, and paying attention to the smallest details can transform your dining room from ordinary to outstanding in an instant. Exquisite wall art, light fixtures, or a gorgeous view are all accessories that can bring that ultra-sophisticated finishing touch to your dining room.

It can take time and attention to detail to create a dining room that is special enough for your family’s formal occasions and functional enough for their everyday routine. But with careful planning, a little thought, and some inspiration, you’ll soon have a dining room with the right mixture of elegance and comfort.

If you want to create a dining room that shows off your elegant style, visit the Baer’s Furniture showroom near you to see the latest collections. For more design inspiration, check out the Baer's Furniture profile on Houzz!

Shades of Gray in Bedroom Decor: From Eclectic to All-Out Glamorous

Shades of gray have been utilized in design long enough now to qualify as more than a passing trend. Gray in the bedroom is quickly becoming a classic color combination. It’s usually associated with moody dramatic style of classic minimalism. And while it does work well for those types of looks, gray also has a softer side that is not just soothing, but also strikingly beautiful in a bedroom. Take a look at this cool, gray bedroom highlighting the Playlist Collection by Universal Furniture.

Classic Elegance in the Bedroom

An example of classy elegance, the bedroom above shows off the understated power of a palette limited to gray and white. The warmth of alternating oak grain patterns on the Playlist Melody Queen Bed by Universal Furniture makes the gray on the bedding and windows work. A cooler gray wouldn’t harmonize as well with the warm tones on the bed and balance the white in the room.

Pretty but Not Pink

Gray is a great choice for a masculine bedroom, but it also has a pretty side. There’s just enough gray in the curtains to contrast with the pure white on the walls. The dark gray bedding dilutes any chill created by the cool silver window treatments, making the space feminine without a trace of a bow, ruffles, or pink. When transitional and modern elements mix with contemporary gray, the effect is a glamorous space oozing with elegance.

All That Glitters: Add Gold Accents

Adding touches of gold to an otherwise gray and white bedroom gives you a rich, luxurious look that is opulent but not ostentatious. Keeping things under control is the key to working with metal décor, here a few gold accessories pick up the metal drawer knobs on the Playlist Chest by Universal Furniture to amplify the style in this bedroom. The wall of windows behind the bed bring in light that really adds the “Wow!” factor.

If you’ve written gray off as too cold, too futuristic, or too gloomy, it may be time to give gray another shot. Getting gray right can be tricky: it can be cool or warm and can evoke many different feelings that can have a huge impact on the mood of a room. If you are interested in designing a room with shades of gray, contact a Baer’s design professional and take advantage of the complementary design service from Baer’s Furniture.

Decor Tips for Creating a Tropically Inspired Bedroom

The warmth of the tropical sun evokes a feeling of relaxed ease, which is what makes tropically inspired bedrooms so popular. The look is lush and beautiful and can help you get a peaceful night’s sleep. If this sounds like a look you would like in your bedroom, designs that reference the Caribbean, Africa, and Southeast Asia will all create an inviting and warm tropical bedroom. Here are a few tips to get you started.

A Room with a Tropical View

Remember the gorgeous view at that tropical hotel you visited? Tropical villas and hotels make the best use of their views that they can, and you should also. Your bedroom may not look over palm trees, a white sandy beach, or sparkling blue water, but you can still create a tropical look by ensuring that there is plenty of light. Folding or sliding glass doors that open up at least one wall are perfect for a tropically inspired bedroom.

Bamboo Bedroom Furniture

Using bamboo in your tropically inspired bedroom will add an extra layer of tropical flavor. A bamboo bed, like the Island Estate King West Indies Bed from Tommy Bahama transforms your bedroom into an island retreat. With its blend of island inspired textures and materials, the bed creates dramatic, exotic island flair.

Cool Floors

Wood flooring is popular for tropically inspired bedrooms although tiling and marble are also good choices. Select a floor that has some warmth—not plain white but off whites, pale terra cotta, and grays will work. Tropically inspired bedrooms with tiled floors are cool and easy to clean and maintain. You can also warm up the bedroom with an area rug, if you think it needs it.

Tropical Netting

Hanging netting around your bed can evoke the feeling of a balmy tropical night. Netting is a quintessentially tropical element, but you don’t have to hang netting over the entire bed as you would to avoid mosquitos in the tropics. Just a touch of netting will do the job, you can easily find plain, white netting in a fine gauze to achieve the best result.

Accessorize, Accessorize, Accessorize

Now that you have laid the foundation, it’s time to play. Have a little fun with your tropically inspired bedroom and make it your personal space. Accessories help you do this. Try green and white wall paper with a large tropical print, or add green and white furniture such as the Island Estate Avalon Wicker Chair by Tommy Bahama that will give you a place to relax, read, or just enjoy the tropical mood you’ve created.

Fans for Air Circulation

In many designs, fans are an anathema, but for tropically inspired bedrooms they are a must. You don’t have to turn them on, but the presence of a fan will give you bedroom additional tropical flair. Ceiling fans are ideal, there are many types that can be incorporated into your design and give you additional lighting. However, even a simple desk fan will do the job.

For more tropically inspired pieces from Tommy Bahama, visit a Baer’s Furniture showroom near you to see the entire collection.

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