Far too long ago, the lovely Leslie wrote to ask:

I’ve been looking at Etsy home decor, and some of the items they have are wall decals. I’m really liking the idea of having that as a pseudo headboard for my bedroom, but I’m worried about their quality. I’ve only seen pictures of them, not any in practical use in person. What is your opinion?

I love vinyl wall decals and think they’re a fantastic way to spiffy up a boring wall, and some of the headboard decals are totally sweet (like the one from Blik above). There are thicker decals and thinner vinyl decals, but as long as they’re not so thin that they rip or get warped when you’re trying to apply them, there’s not *that* much difference in terms of the quality of what’s on the market. The thing about wall decals is that they last the longest, whether they’re self-adhesive vinyl or fabric like these, when you take the time to thoroughly prep the surface on which you’ll apply them.

I should add that temperature changes will make wall decals shrink and expand, so if your area is prone to cooling off or heating up really quickly, you may find that decals don’t last as long. But I think that the temperature changes would have to be pretty extreme for it to really impact the life of the decal. That said, the best temperature in which to perform the application is somewhere around 60-70F because extreme temps can make putting up the vinyl wall decals difficult.

But for the most part it’s all about surfaces. The paint on the wall needs to be a standard latex or acrylic, not oil, and it can’t contain any of those neat little Teflon particles that some paints contain to make them easier to clean. Your decal will peel right off. Now a wall decal is basically a sticker – as in, it is something that sticks – and any sticker will stick best when it has lots of area to adhere to. If the wall is textured or the paint was applied with a fuzzy roller or old gnarly paint brush, the paint will be bumpy. It may not look bumpy, but the bumps are there. You can get around this by sanding a bit where the decal will go (which really only works if the decal is one big piece, like a headboard, and not skinny strips). Oh, and new paint should have a chance to cure for about a month before your vinyl wall sticker goes up.

Once your wall is smooth, it’s time to clean it! Walls accumulate all sorts of icky stuff – dust, grease, stuff that comes out of car mufflers, etc. – that can create a barrier between the actual wall surface and the sticky stuff on the decal, so you want to give the surface a good cleaning with a nice soapy detergent. In short, taking the time to choose a good application day temperature wise and then prepping the surface thoroughly will go a long way toward extending the life of you decal!

Have an old mantel? Know where you can get one for like $20? Grab it! Because you can make a truly unique and fun headboard with it. All you need is some paint, some way to mount your mantelpiece headboard, and that’s about it, according to Leah Moss. For those who love the idea, here’s some inspiration!

via Maison Reve

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Unless you absolutely do not have the space because your bed is nearly as wide as your bedroom, you probably have one or more bedside tables a.k.a. nightstands. As furniture goes, bedside tables are among the most useful, since once you’re ensconced under the covers, it’s unlikely that you’ll want to get up again any time soon. But you might need something!

While getting a nice set of matched bedside tables that are basically smaller versions of your dresser is the easiest way to do nightstands, why not think outside of the box? Mismatched bedside tables mean never having to buy new – you might even already have two tables (or table-ish somethings) that would work. How about chairs? Old suitcases? Even a planter stand could work in a pinch.

The only thing you should be careful of is height. Ideally, the tops of your nightstands will be at lest as high as the top of your mattress. And if you have two bedside tables – having one on either side is optional – they should be roughly the same height.

It’s that simple! Here’s bunches of bedside table inspiration for you to enjoy:

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Imagine you could pull any room from any house or flat and replace the same room in your house or flat with a snap of your fingers or the flip of a switch. Too bad life doesn’t work that way, but it sure is fun to design a whole new house in your head! My current dream house boasts a lot of white, bright colors, and a baby pink clawfoot tub, mmmm.

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Now, if you have a minute or two to spare for little ol’ me, post a link to a pic of your dream rooms!

Just goes to show you that a room doesn’t have to be “finished” to be finished.

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The bedroom in one of the many houses I lived in growing up was tres tiny. You could fit a twin bed, a dresser, and thanks to a nook in one wall, a rather small desk. That was it, and don’t think there was a lot of floor space for teenage-style lounging because there wasn’t. There was about enough space to get in and out, to open the drawers of the dresser and to pull out my desk chair. Would my bedroom have made a wonderful walk-in closet or craft room? Surely. But the fact is that sometimes you have a tiny room, and that tiny room needs to be a bedroom.

With that in mind, here are some images of adorable tiny bedrooms that are small with regard to space, but full of spirit:

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Don’t you just hate it when a shop puts together a room a that make you want to sell your husband* and then has links to all the stuff you’d need to buy to make your room look just. like. that? I felt that feeling today when browsing at Wake Up Frankie – a store I really ought to stay away from, since their tagline is ‘Fashion for your room” as if that’s the only space you have and they’re featured in such fine publications as Cosmo Girl and American Cheerleader. Yeesh.

But still, I’m loving this black, white, and yellow bedroom, even though I’m a super mature grown-up lady and definitely not a teenage girl (not even just in my mind even a little bit, cross my heart).

All that’s missing is this uber sweet Marilyn Monroe chair:

*But that’s only because the *me* who’d really want the above bedroom is the me of, oh, twelve years ago, and back then I didn’t even have a husband, so there. It’s really only the chair I want, anyway, and with the economy, surely no one is buying husbands?

I’ve had a love affair with gray since my teens when I painted the walls of my bedroom varying shades of gray. As a color, gray is frequently associated with neutrality — being neither white, nor black — and cool self-control. Because of its versatility and ability to harmonize with a variety of other hues, the color gray often serves as a backdrop to other, more vivid colors. But shades of gray can be their own perfect palette instead of highlighting bright yellows or pinks. Used on their own, shades of gray can make for a dramatic and bold or calm and soothing space, depending on how they’re used.

According to Wikipedia: “Most grey pigments have a cool or warm cast to them, as the human eye can detect even a minute amount of saturation. Yellow, orange, and red create a “warm grey”. Green, blue, and violet create a “cool grey”. When there is no cast at all, it is referred to as “neutral grey”, “achromatic grey” or simply “grey”. The color grey is often associated with aging or the passage of time, likely due in part to the decreased pigment-production of hair follicles in time, corresponding to the greying of human hair. In this context, grey is often used synonymously with “elderly”, as in “the grey pound” or “grey power” (when referring to the economic or social influence of the elderly), or as used by groups such as the Gray Panthers.”

You have your choice – go gray on your walls, go gray with accessories, or go gray down to the smallest detail. It’s easy, when there are so many different grays to choose from! Here are some inspiring images to get you started, and tomorrow I’ll show you how you can go gray for less than $25!

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Looking for ideas for your little chick’s room? Meg of WHATEVER created this tented bed set-up for her wee ones using blankets and ribbons and flowers, oh my. The best part? It’s in a corner, so behind the pillows is what might be a secret princess sanctuary with ample seating and space to play in a pink-tinted atmosphere.

Nice, right? I would have killed, figuratively speaking, for a bed such as this when I was about seven or so. Alas, my mom was never the girly type so my dreams of having a canopy bed or something similar will have to be passed on to my own daughter, who will no doubt want a racebar bed, much to the delight of her papa.

Love pillows? Oh boy! Er, unless they’re the most definitely NSFW Japanese love pillows. The love pillows below are not those, however, and are perfectly appropriate for workplace viewing so long as blog browsing isn’t the sort of thing likely to get you sacked. Enjoy!

$24 at Nesta

At Maison de Vacances

£29 at Lush Designs

I found this one here, but I don’t have any clue where it came from originally.

And these pretty pillows came from Living, Etc.