Use fabric, paint to take your headboard from boring to beautiful

Two basic rules of life: 1. Change is inevitable 2. Everyone resists change. Remember this: When you are through changing, you’re through.” — Anonymous.

Q: Can you give me some ideas for a headboard? I have furnished my bedroom with mix-and-match things I like, but I do not have a headboard. My budget is pretty limited.

A: There are many ways to create a headboard effect without buying an off-the-rack piece and still give the head of the bed importance. One of the most inexpensive solutions is to use paint. You can paint a headboard (somewhat boring), or you can paint a design or graphic.

Using the colors in your room, and specifically your linen, paint stripes or squares to match the linen. Your options with paint are endless. Fabric is also an excellent choice, and the expenses would be limited to a curtain rod and fabric. Select a matching sheet from your linen, or maybe duplicate the curtains in your room. Hang the rod all the way up at the ceiling behind your bed and hang the curtain in place of your headboard. You would want it to be as full as you would a curtain, so you may need more than one panel if you are using ready-made curtains.

A folding screen in another option, but you’d have to buy the screen if you don’t already own one.

Have fun with your room and don’t be afraid to experiment with your headboard.

Q: I am looking to redecorate a Jack and Jill bathroom for two guest rooms. I would like to use a pedestal sink to keep the space as open as possible and my husband wants the more traditional cabinet. Can you offer any advice?

A: Since the bathroom in question is for your guest rooms, you have more freedom in your choice. The most common reason to have a cabinet sink is for storage. Since chances are your guests won’t be moving in permanently and don’t need to store Costco-sized mouthwash and hand lotion, the pedestal sink would work. As long as you have some facility for storage of extra soaps, toilet tissue, tissues and other bathroom necessities. The pedestal sink will take up less room and maybe give you a chance to put a little decorative chair or table in your bathroom — both additions your guests would appreciate.

There are so many new products on the market — even the pedestal sink has new looks. You didn’t say if your bathroom is new construction or a remodel, but if it is a remodel, keep in mind that if you have a cabinet in the bathroom now and you decide to go with a pedestal sink, this will dramatically affect your current flooring and wall treatment.

When you remove the cabinet, you will have to deal with the space behind and under the cabinet. As you know, matching existing wall coverings and flooring presents its own challenges.

If you have new construction, I would recommend a pedestal sink. If you have a cabinet in an existing bathroom, you should be a little more thoughtful in your decision.

Carolyn Muse Grant is the editor of Southern Nevada Home & Garden magazine. Her Inside Spaces column appears weekly in the Home & Garden section of the Review-Journal. Check out other decorating tips in Southern Nevada Home & Garden magazine, which is published the first Saturday of each month. Send questions to cgrant@reviewjournal.com.