The New Nation - Internet Edition

Is your ideal bedroom an oasis, a tranquil haven away from the fast pace of your daily life? Do you dream of a beautiful place to dream?

You can create a peaceful retreat using neutral colors and complimentary textures. One way to do this is with a monochromatic scheme.

A monochromatic scheme is the use of one color in varying shades throughout the space. It can be a little tricky to achieve, but the results can be ideal for your bedroom design.

Begin by going to your local home improvement store. In the paint department, choose a neutral color, such as beige. Find the paint sample in beige that you like best. There will be several other sample cards in the color range. Each card has several shades on it.

The color you like best is the one you'll use as your primary focus, which is your bedding. Choose a few shades lighter for you walls, and a few shades darker for your throw pillows and carpeting or area rug.

Choose a shade from between the darkest tone and mid-tone and use those for lampshades and curtains. Now comes the tricky bit.

For your bedding, pillows, carpeting and window treatments, choose textures that the light will play off of, giving depth and dimension to the colors. Chenille is excellent in monochromatic schemes, as is jute. Silk is an excellent material as is lacquered wood.

If you want your room to be earthy and cozy, choose courser, grainier textures. For a more Asian or modern aesthetic, choose smooth and sleek textures.

To make all the different shades pop, choose a piece of artwork for the wall that has a variety of colors, but compliments the texture of the room. You could also place a little red candy dish on your night table or choose and area rug with a colorful trim.

The monochromatic scheme in interior design is one of the more challenging plans, simply because all the colors need to be precise. Otherwise, you could end up with a big brown box. But it is also one of the most rewarding schemes to create.

If a monochromatic scheme isn't what you had in mind, you can use a mix of neutrals and create an analogous scheme. Use a similar approach as in a monochromatic plan, but expand to the next color in the family instead.

For example, if you choose green, you may use colors from a pale yellow-green to a deep blue. Referring to a color wheel will be a great help with this scheme. Choose your color, then go two, three, or four colors to the left or right. That's your color scheme.

But an analogous plan will, inevitably, take you out of neutral territory. If you want to stick with neutrals, you can try a variation of the split complimentary scheme.

A split complimentary scheme is the use of two colors that are directly opposite one another on the color wheel, such as red and green. A variation of this might be gray and white.

Though gray and white are not, technically, opposite one another, this can still work. Use variations of gray and break up the colors with one strong shade of white.

The key to decorating with neutrals is to keep the variations of shades in check, and be consistent with your textures. Soon, you'll have the bedroom of your dreams.

Creating a bedroom in any color may seem like a difficult task at first, especially since we all want our homes to look like they could be in magazines. Well, at least me. But choosing neutrals was your best bet. When thinking of neutral colors the first things that come to mind are the earth tones. Soothing greens, like the color of your lawn in the middle of spring, the sage greens, the color of a green melon, the color of a pine covered mountain. Inviting yellows, like the sunshine on a nice day, sand on a beautiful warm beach. Browns, not the most appealing color to some, but actually very calming, think cherry wood, oak, that burnt sienna crayon no one wanted to use back when we were in grade school, the different shades that you find just looking at well, anything. Grays, another not so pleasant color, but very neutral and earthy. So, many variations of gray that it still amazes me. Grays with purple undertones, blue undertones, pink undertones. Then you have black, doesn't seem entirely neutral, just sort of dark and uninviting. But when paired with the right colors, I believe, that black is an excellent accent color, even if just for one or two pieces in a room.

You can paint with one color and just decorate with other colors. Or you could have a base color, an accent color, and decorate with one or more colors. Or you can have a base color, a second color, one or two accent colors, and still decorate with even more colors. With neutral colors the possibilities are completely endless. I personally decide how I am going to paint a room before I decide on the accessories, such as lamps or new furniture. Only because the painting, for me, is the most expensive part of the project, depending of course on whether or not you are going to paint yourself or pay some one to paint for you. Whether you are going to have anything but, straight paint. If you are going to have some sponge work done, some texture added to your room.

For accessories, choose colors that all blend well with the main colors. Such as, varied shade or shades of my main colors, with one or two colors that contrast from the paint. Secondary color of course would be the stone wall. But, whatever you decide to do, it is something that you will need to like, that reflects your own personal style. Something that soothes you. Any room can be done in neutral colors, but it doesn't necessarily mean that it will be soothing for everyone.