Exotic Mask
Whether you live in Tulsa, Okla., or Portland, Maine, you can bring an exotic feel to your home decor and infuse your surroundings with the romance and the intrigue of a foreign land. The bedroom is a perfect place to create a retreat that offers a sense of escape and a hint of mystery.
Safari Themes
Let your bedroom reflect your adventurous spirit by introducing a safari theme. Start with a base of neutral colors like khaki greens and tans. Add faux animal hide rugs; and bedding and draperies in leopard or zebra prints. Select furniture made with dark woods. Adorn your walls with African masks, sculpture and beads.
Jungle Themes
Begin with flooring in dark, beautiful sustainable woods like bamboo. Paint your walls the green of jungle foliage. Bring in colorful accents for bedding or pillows that reflect the feathers of exotic macaws. Fill your space with ferns and other leafy plants. Choose a four-poster or canopy bed and hang gauze around it like the mosquito netting required in the tropics.
Moroccan Themes
Inspire dreams of the Arabian Nights by creating a Moroccan theme. Cover your floor with a Persian rug. Select wood furniture with intricately carved details. Set colored glass lamps on hexagonal side tables and hang pierced metal pendant lights from the ceiling. Use spice colors as accents: cinnamon, turmeric, saffron and paprika. Combine them with cooling cobalt blue.
East Indian Themes
For a blast of color, go East Indian. Paint your walls fuchsia, tangerine or purple. Bring in wooden furniture with traditional Indian details like intricate carvings, inlaid bone or colorful hand painting. Cover your floor with embroidered wool crewel rugs. Don't forget to include bright silk bedding, curtains and wall hangings.
Making It Work
Exotic bedroom themes can be quite jarring if the rest of your home looks conventional. The solution: incorporate in your bedroom decor touches that mirror elements from elsewhere in your home. For instance, if your Victorian living room is lavender, then use a purple accent color in your bedroom. Also be mindful of what is outside your house. You don't want to sit in your bedroom Kasbah looking out at swing sets or smokestacks. If that's the case, consider curtains or other window decorations that obscure the view.
Tags: your bedroom, your home, your walls, Cover your, Cover your floor, East Indian, floor with
