DECORATING ADVICE : Swag Drapery Would Open Up Canopy Bed

Question: We have just purchased a simple but beautiful four-poster bed and canopy. My husband wants me to have drapery made for the bed, but I think it would be claustrophobic to sleep in a draped bed. Any alternatives?

Heidi Downing

Answer: Why not dress your bed with a swag drapery treatment? Use a floral of bright pinks, rose-reds and greens on a sky-blue background. The look can be enhanced with lace throw pillows and a floral throw rug. Cover the ceiling with sky-blue paint and the woodwork with white semi-gloss enamel.

Q: I need a new sofa and curtains for my living room, which is antique white. The carpet is a peach color. I have a Queen Anne wing chair in slate blue, and I have brass curtain rods.

VBW

A: Choose an English flowered chintz for the draperies, maybe a design of peach, pink and light-blue flowers entwined with lavender ribbons and green leaves on a white background. Purchase enough of the chintz for your new sofa.

The throw cushions on your quilted sofa can be peach, lavender and light slate-blue. Also, purchase some pretty light-blue lamps for your room, and outfit them with white pleated shades.

Q: My dining room carpet is beige. The sofa and a chaise are covered with black upholstery; the throw pillows are maroon, gray, gold and purple. I have one bay window and regular size windows covered in silver blinds.

My dining room set is made of natural wood and has black accents. The chairs have beige-padded seats. There is a big wall mirror with black accents. I also have a medium-size aquarium--black stand, red ground. The problem is that everything looks bland, and the black and silver colors dominate.

Tess Cash

A: I think your living room would be a happier place if you re-covered your sofa, perhaps in a soft beige, and if you painted your walls a light color--maybe pale honeydew-green or light papaya. Keep your chaise in black, and accent your new beige upholstered sofa with some plum and light honeydew cushions. The honeydew cushions can be piped with magenta and beige cord. Cover the dining chair seats in the new wall color--either the honeydew or the melon.

Q: Give me some advice on how to create a dining room that makes a statement.

Janni Sandy

A: There can be a stylish dining room in your future--if you are willing to take a chance. Instead of neutral colors, why not let black set the tone?

Here’s how to start: Paint your chair rail and baseboards white. Cover the wainscot--the wall surface between the baseboard and chair rail--with a small geometric wall covering of a soft-green dot design on a black background. Above the chair rail, choose a wall covering striped soft rose, light green and black.

At the ceiling line, above the white chair rail and around the white doorway, apply a border paper--perhaps a design of soft roses entwined in green leaves on a black background. The border design will give lots of drama to your dining room setting. Wall coverings that coordinate make decorating a breeze.

On the walls, hang some paintings or prints that have large white border mats, and suspend the pictures from the wall with big white bows. The “bow tie” can add lots of dash to any wall hanging.

Place a floor-length skirt on your dining table: Choose a rose or dark black-green underlay, and cover it with a white lace skirt that is tied at the sides. Dress your table with handsome accessories. Try crystal glasses, a crystal fruit bowl and white candles in shiny brass candlesticks.

On the floor, lay a Victorian rug that is covered with roses in shades of pink, red and green on a black background. And for that final touch, consider hanging a crystal chandelier, outfitted in black, over your table.