DECORATING ADVICE : Wallpaper Border Should Influence Color Scheme, Decor in Bedroom

Question: In my 15-by-18-foot bedroom, I have a wallpaper border against walls that are off-white with a tinge of orchid. I have blue-gray carpeting, which I will keep. I will replace the bedspread and draperies. I have three windows, two of equal size on one wall and a smaller one on another wall. What colors should I use for the bedspread and draperies? Can I use a print or a striped pattern?

B. Palumbo

Answer: I like your flowered vine border paper of blue, purple and burgundy. It looks perfect for the wall color you described. Consider applying the border paper at your baseboard and around the door surfaces. At your windows, install white louvered shutters, topped by a valance of light burgundy lined in a lavender, white and aqua stripe. For your bedspread, choose a striped fabric and line it in aqua. Your bed skirt can be light burgundy. If you want to use a print in your bedroom, be sure it coordinates with your border paper.

Q: I just purchased an off-white sofa and a large swivel chair for my living room. My draperies and carpeting are gold. I would like to put some color into this room. The walls are off-white. I have two club chairs that I would like to change. I would like to install a valance with the draperies. I have seven windows in this room.

Shirley Leverette

A: To add color to your room, select a print for your valances. The print can be big chrysanthemum flowers of reds, entwined with yellow and blue flowers with green leaves on a pale-blue background. Use the print for your new club chairs, and have the fabric quilted. For throw pillows on the white sofa, choose rich green and tangy red. Then add a gold-and-white striped pillow to the group. Also try some brass lamps on your end tables for extra sparkle.

Q: What colors should I use to complement my brass accessories?

Cindy Burner

A: Brass is back. And it’s popping up in a number of household fixtures: fire tools, chandeliers, andirons, table frames, beds, wall brackets, dining-table bases, plant and flower accessories, door hardware, animals and standing lamps. And that’s just for starters!

Homeowners are often intimidated when choosing a decor, but brass is so versatile it’s virtually foolproof. Chocolate brown and navy blue are just a few of the colors brass complements. Broadway actress Ethel Merman once told me she loved brass with bright red and flag blue.

But what really makes brass special is the extra sparkle it gives a home. Brass accessories enhance a home’s decor in the same way fine jewelry brings out the most in a special party dress. When combined with other metals--stainless steel or black wrought iron, for example--the effect is truly smashing. Picture a coffee table with a brass and stainless steel base set on an Oriental rug. It’s a dynamite look, and it can work in either a traditional or contemporary setting.

Here’s a scheme for a brass-enhanced bedroom with an old-fashioned comfortable style. Find a big quilt for the bed, along with big pillows with ruffles for a border. Place a rag rug at the foot of your bed. Adorn the window valances with ruffles. By the window, place an easy chair. The double bed should be flanked with brass wall lamps. Smaller lamps enable one person to read while the other sleeps. And to make that bedroom as shiny bright as possible, find a fanciful Victorian brass headboard.