Black and White Theme for the Bedroom

Black and White Bedroom Theme by athena-goodlight 

You are about to move to a new apartment and most often you are faced with a basic white room. Think of it as a blank canvass where ideas can come to play. The elements in this bedroom are dominated by black and white with some accents of cream and tan. 

Three basic shapes are used to keep the understated theme that maintains a modern yet creative look. The squares, rectangles, and circles are evenly distributed throughout the room.

A conservative mix of textures, which is limited to the fabrics add a hint of warmth and coziness to an otherwise serious character of this bedroom set.

How to Make Terrariums and Other Under-glass Gardens

A terrarium is among the least demanding of all indoor gardens. It is a garden enclosed in glass. Here, plants get ideal humidity and remain dust free. You can make a terrarium using a discarded aquarium with a glass cover, but a lot of other glass containers can be transformed into wonderful terrariums. Rose bowls, brandy snifters, fish bowls, goblets, large jars and bottles, and stacked candy dishes make for pretty under-glass gardens.

image via Wikimedia

These indoor gardens grow attractively with minimum light requirements.  Read about How Fluorescent Lights Promote Growth and Flowering

These are ideal for 20-watt fluorescents. 
You can grow a really attractive bottle garden in a shadow box under a pencil-size fluorescent tube. These tubes are available on order from lighting specialists. You can also set up your own indoor garden lighting.  Instructions can be found here: Basic Fluorescent Light Setups for Indoor Gardening


Display your terrarium in low-light areas about a week or two, then give it an alternate, rejuvenating period under normal light setups.

To plant an aquarium or other glass container, pour 1/2 to 1 inch of coarse gravel and perlite on the bottom. Add little pieces of charcoal. Then cover with porous, moistened soil. Having a mixture of equal parts garden loam, peat moss, perlite, and vermiculite is great for dish gardening, but double the portions of loam and perlite if you're growing desert plants. If you want to go for a woodland scene, form some mound out of the soil and fashion them to look like hills and create depressions for valleys.


Choose miniature, slow-growing plants, utilizing only those that are compatible. Using a small piece of a mirror will give the illusion of water. Small pieces of driftwood may be used to support miniature vines. Small rocks and woodland moss or green sphagnum does add a natural touch.

Beautiful Plant Choices for Your Indoor Garden

Using Blue and White Patterns for Table Settings

When we speak of traditional table settings, a common style that comes to mind is the classic blue and white antique ceramic combinations from either China or Europe.

What's good about this theme is that you can mix and match different pieces from separate sets such as antiques and contemporary pieces and still achieve a serene yet sophisticated effect.



Just remember a few basic tips when using the blue and white theme:

- The shades of blue must be uniform.

- Because of the intricacies of most blue and white porcelain designs, keep the tablecloth and table napkins plain so that the focal point will be the patterns or the other way around.

- You may combine solid whites or solid with the patterned ones to blend the traditional and contemporary pieces.

- To add color to the table, place fruits such as lemons or oranges.

I remember the tea sets that little girls play. I didn't see the sense in this particular role playing game when I was a child. Somehow, it suddenly makes a little sense to me now.

Choosing Lighting Fixtures for Bathroom Mirror Area

Bathroom mirrors sometimes function as makeup and shaving counters. Because if this, good lighting plan and implementation is important, especially if the bathroom does not have ample sunlight coming in. This is a common dilemma for those living in apartment buildings, condominiums and rented places where you're not lucky enough to have bathrooms with good, natural lighting.

More often, a bathroom mirror with three lighting fixtures is ideal. Two bulbs are to be placed on each side of the mirror using wall brackets and another directly on top of the counter or wash bowl. Use warm lighting hues for the top light and daylight bulbs for the side. This combination will give you ample blend of brightness and natural light effect to illuminate your natural skin tones - very important when applying makeup. Remember that bad lighting can also result in bad looking makeup. For men, a badly-shaved face.

 Do shop around for the best light bulbs at your local home depot. LED bulbs last longer, shine brighter, and consumes the least amount of electricity compared to regular bulbs. They may not be the cheapest bulbs around but the quality they offer will provide more savings for you in the long run. In fact, for a more economical set up, you can set just one long LED bulb on top of the mirror and you have a well-lighted bathroom counter.

Unless someone in the household is knowledgeable enough to do this project, better hire an electrical contractor to set it up.

image credit: pope24
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