The teenage years can be difficult as children begin to draw away from parents and develop their own personality and style. One important and positive way to encourage this process is by letting teens decorate their rooms to match their current mood and taste.

Because this is such a time of change, chances are good that the rooms will go through an evolution. You can help this process along by starting with a room that is neutral enough to support all the changes to come. Here are some suggestions:

Keep it simple. A room with a strong personality will overwhelm any changes your teens want to make. In this photo, the carpeted floor is a crisp white, along with the walls. The white on white design supports virtually any color scheme. The pink/orange colors come from the bed linens and hanging lamp – both inexpensive and easy to change as your child’s tastes shift.

Choose plain furniture. This bed is interesting and yet its minimal lines open it to the possibility of many styles and colors. The four-poster provides opportunities for additional decorating touches by hanging fabric or accessories such as the fabric lamp cover to the right in the photo.

Look for temporary decor. The pattern to the left is actually a set of temporary decals. These are available in many colors and styles. You daughter can arrange and rearrange those to suit her mood. Shop the Internet to find these – there are many companies producing them. The other wall color comes from a large canvas. This piece is significant enough to command attention, but easily replaced later. You can find prints or just stretch fabric over a canvas frame to add color and style quickly and inexpensively.

Decorating their rooms provides a good way for teenagers to express themselves. And remember if they choose dark purple or black for the walls, it’s only paint. With luck you may get a room that looks as cute as this one does.

Are you someone who loves to read? Many book lovers find books taking over their homes and their lives. While books are a lovely addition to a home, in excess they stop adding charm and start feeling like clutter. If you’re in this situation, here are some suggestions to help you manage.

Read and release. Set a box in an unobtrusive spot in your home. After you read a book, ask yourself if you will ever want to read it again. If the answer is no, place the book right in that box. Once the box is full, take it to a used bookstore or donate it to a library or thrift shop.

Share with other book lovers. If you have a friend or family member who loves mysteries as much as you do, make arrangements to pass along your books once you’ve finished with them. They will be grateful and you will have fewer books.

Schedule a book review. With several boxes handy, look through each bookshelf and remove any books you won’t want to read again. Distribute those books among several categories: donate, sell, or give to friends and family.

Separate your reference books. You may have books that you use regularly for your work or hobbies. Separate those from other books and keep them organized in one place. That way you won’t be constantly passing over them when deciding which books to donate.

Add shelves. If you have sorted and removed all the books you can and you still have piles around the house, consider adding either purchased or built-in bookshelves. You don’t want your books to be clutter. Instead, create a way to enjoy them and let them add personality to your home.

Now that you’ve put away your holiday decorations, before you put your home accessories right back where you had them, how about taking a few minutes to rethink your table tops?

Nothing makes a room feel stale more than having the same arrangement of accessories placed in the same places year in and year out. With everything mixed up due to the holidays, along with the start of a new year, now is the perfect time to take a fresh approach to your coffee and side tables.

To start, place all of your home accessories on your dining room table. Look at the large pieces that are left. Do you want to move that lamp? Would this side table look better at the other end of the room? The functional goal for small tables involves providing a place to put a glass from every seat in your living room. Do your tables meet that goal?

Once you’ve sorted your large pieces, take the time to consider where your accessories will fit. In this photo, the woman uses this side table for her cup, newspaper and phone. Therefore it’s smart to have one strong accessory, such as this plant, rather than several elements that would constantly get in the way.

Tables that don’t receive heavy use can handle more elements. Remember to combine different heights, and when possible set up your accessories in groups of three or five – odd numbers are more appealing. When you rearrange things, your home looks fresher and your treasured home décor selections will pop in their new locations.

Spring gardening may still be several months away for most of us. This doesn’t mean that you can’t start to dream and plan your summer garden. Soon enough it will be time to start seeds indoors for those summer flowers and vegetables.  If you can’t wait for seedlings, you can always start a small herb or lettuce garden on your window sill.

This kitchen has the typical window right above the kitchen sink.  If the sill is wide enough, this makes an ideal spot to start seedlings or have a container for lettuce and herbs.  You’ll be able to monitor the progress every time you are at the sink, and this will help you remember to water the plants.  Should you not have room on the sill but have counter space in a sunny spot, you can have an herb garden there too. Be mindful of water from the pots or container leaking onto the countertops, especially if you have butcher block wood counter tops.  Placing a tray underneath the pots can help prevent spills.

Placing seedlings or an herb garden on the floor should be avoided if you have pets or small children. Cats are notorious for eating house plants and herbs are no exception.  It’s best to keep your little kitchen garden up off the floor and on a counter or sill.

Today’s families are on the go more than ever. Getting the whole gang together for a family meal can be challenging with everyone’s busy schedules.  The majority of American families do not eat every dinner together during the week. Does this sound familiar?

Involving the whole family in making dinner can be a fun activity, and it just might help get your kids to eat their vegetables.

Family cooking school can be something as easy as make your own pizzas from scratch or letting the kids help with taco night. If you have small children, getting them interested in cooking is a great way to get them interested in healthy food from a young age. Older kids and teens can be in charge of designing a menu and even shopping for ingredients. You could even divide up into teams to do the best of cooking competition—with prizes.

Set up your kitchen to make prep and clean up quick and simple. If you are working with little kids, things can get messy so protect your floors and counters. This can mean moving the runner out of the way or putting down a drop cloth if things are really messy.  Messy is fine. Remember this is a fun activity for the family as well as a way to get dinner on the table.

Tangerine is the first new color to show up in the 2012 color trends, and from kitchen gadgets to these flip flops, it’s getting some attention. Teal appears almost as often as an accent. Since these two colors are at opposite ends of the color wheel, the really stand out when paired.

Although you may not want to convert your home to a tangerine and teal wonderland, you might want to consider adding some splashes of these colors to your home to provide a quick color update. Here are a few suggestions.

If your kitchen or a bathroom could use a brightener, you could add an area rug and some towels in these vivid colors. Look for rugs with a rubber backing that go in the washing machine. These colors need to be sparkling clean to work. This is a low-cost way to make a change.

Look for tangerine and/or teal throw pillows. Brighten up a chair or sofa with these colors and you’ve added an unexpected vivid element to your décor. Teal also stands out in glassware. Look for glass vases or bowls to perk up a bookshelf. If possible, set the glass against a white or light background to help the color shine. Notice how well the teal color works in this photo.

Tangerine works well in large color segments. Teal is better as a color accent. If you’re using both, have tangerine take the lead and let teal serve more in the background. Notice in the photo the tangerine sofa blends well in the room and the teal accents toward the back still have a presence.

Are you ready to take a color chance? How about tackling two of the stars of 2012, tangerine and teal?

The Romans used mosaic as flooring for their homes and bathrooms so we have them to thank for the beautiful tile mosaics still being used in flooring and bathrooms today.  Mosaic is a natural choice to be used as flooring and walls in the bathroom.  It also makes wonderful accents with other materials.

A narrow strip of colorful mosaic tiles add interest to the wall in this bathroom.  The natural stone color of the larger tiles is given a punch with the deeper red tones of the mosaic.  This is also a great example of a more expensive material used sparingly for big impact at low cost.  Adding a strip of mosaic tiles made of tumbled marble or glass adds a touch of luxury to even the simplest bathroom tiles.

Mosaic tiles on the floors and walls can mean a lot of grout to keep clean.  Adding a mosaic tile border around the middle of the floor or stripes of mosaic tiles would liven up a plain floor.  In the shower, mosaic tiles can be used with natural stone tile, ceramic tile or porcelain tiles.  Tumbled stone mosaic tiles would have less impact than a glass or colorful ceramic mosaic.  A single row of mosaic tile used as a border high in the shower or at waist height, or both would work well.

Mosaics can also be used to decorate a mirror and bath accessories. Find a flat plain frame to fit your bathroom mirror and cover it with mosaic tile that you use elsewhere to help bring together the design of the bathroom.

This cool bathroom was designed by Sarah Richardson’s show, Sarah’s House. It has a lot of wonderful and stylish design elements that all come together to make it feel polished and styled. Let’s take a look at the major elements of the bathroom.

Use of natural stone. Both the floor and counter top are white marble with gray veining. This is a classic choice of hard surface for bathrooms. Using the marble on both the floor and the counter helps unify the design in a relatively small space.

The glass shower enclosure also helps the small space feel bigger. A shower curtain would close off the space and make the shower feel smaller. The glass opens up the shower space and lets it flow with the rest of the room.

Small tiles are used in an interesting way. Creating stripes of color with small square tiles makes a bigger impact than using all one color or even having a random mosaic pattern. Horizontal stripes help to widen the feeling of the room. The tile is also a nice way to introduce color into the room.

A non-traditional bathroom mirror over the vanity is a nice way to add style to a small bathroom. The round mirror also echoes the round vessel sinks. Both circles break up all the linear shapes of the room.

Silvery sconces complement the silver frame of the mirror as well as the nickel bathroom fixtures, including the faucet and shower head.

In a small space, such as a bathroom, all design elements need to be well thought out to make the room feel bigger than its small footprint.

There is a big trend in design right now that you’ve probably seen. Mixing up different design styles in one room for an eclectic look that when it works feels very personal.  While using just one style, like traditional or Mediterranean, is still popular in new home construction and decorating, we’re seeing more and more eclectic interiors in the shelter magazines and on design blogs. What do you think? Is this a trend you are following?

This picture is a good example of eclectic style working well in a room.  The room and chair are traditional in style, and in the classic neutral color palette.  A club chair like this one can work in many different style interiors and is a great basic chair. The woven pouf, or table, feels much more contemporary and handcrafted.  It is clearly not the same style as the club chair yet works well with the chair and the room. A single piece that stands out can become the focal point. This table almost feels like a piece of sculpture in the neutral space.

By keeping the floor neutral works, the room feels like a cohesive space. A traditional rug or contemporary rug would be too much.  A simple woven rug or natural jute area rug would work best in this space, keeping things neutral.

When mixing styles, keep your eye on line and color to create an eclectic space that feels sophisticated, not just a hodgepodge of found furnishings. Mix in smaller accents from another style and see how they work with your existing pieces until you achieve a look you love.

Ready for a little more personality in your home office or bedroom? How about thinking outside the shelf when determining how to store books?

This zigzag approach actually holds quite a few volumes while adding a touch of design daring to your home. This style can be found on the Internet or easily built if you’re handy.

Want even more of a design feel? How about sorting the books by color on each shelf? Combining red, green, blue and black covers would increase the sculptural feel. Some designers also cover books in white or brown paper to keep them looking clean and simple. Of course, this turns them into accessories rather than functional objects.

By choosing a light color for the shelves, furniture and walls, this homeowner chose to have the furnishings almost fade into the background and the accessories and books stand out. If your accessories are more functional than attractive, using a brightly colored or black set of shelves and dresser or buffet would put the accessories in the background. This might be a better choice in a commercial application such as an office.

Shelves like these have only become possible since the development of shelf holders that become invisible once the shelves are installed. This clean approach allows the shelves themselves to become part of a clean and contemporary look.

Don’t choose the simplest or most standard options when you decorate your home. Even something as simple as a bookshelf can become a statement of your personality if you look outside the standard in your home’s design.