Whether it’s rustic, farmhouse, modern, or something entirely different, pick a design style to help you choose furniture, paint colors, and décor. This will help to make the room look cohesive and intentional, rather than a mix of different styles.  Sometimes, you can get inspiration from a painting, a piece of furniture, or a quilt that you really love. Then, you can make it a focal point of your new room. Try looking at design websites like Architectural Digest, Better Homes and Gardens, or HGTV for inspiration. Save pictures of the rooms that you like so you can reference them later. Interior design relies a lot on color schemes, so pick 1 “main” color to use throughout your room, like a neutral taupe, crisp white, muted gray, or pale pink. Then, choose 1-2 extra “accent” colors to complement your main color and add fun, eye-catching details.  For example, if you’re doing a bohemian theme, you might choose a light cream color for your main color, with bright pink, gold, and turquoise as your accent colors. If you’re doing a farmhouse theme, you could choose crisp white for the main color, and use a french blue and bright yellow for your accent colors. Try using an item, such as a throw pillow or afghan, to help you choose colors for the room. Pick a main color to go on your walls, and remove all of the furniture from the room to repaint. Try to stick with your color scheme if you want to do multiple colors, and choose a shade that will complement many colors, even if your tastes change!  If you want to add some interest to the room, paint one of the walls in your accent color to create depth! For a smaller room, you can pick brighter colors like light cream or white to make the room seem larger and brighter. Stick with neutral paint colors if you plan to incorporate bold, colorful décor, or if you plan to change out your décor often. It’s surprisingly easy to refinish old furniture to give it a fresh look. You can paint wooden items, reupholster a thrifted chair, or decorate the headboard of your bed. This is a very budget-friendly idea because you don’t have to buy new items.  If you do want a few new pieces of furniture, visit a thrift store or look on Craigslist for cheap and free items that people don’t want. Something as simple as draping a new throw blanket over a piece of furniture can update it. With your color scheme in mind, pick out a duvet or quilt, pillow shams and covers, and a few throw pillows for your bed. It’s best to keep the quilt or duvet a solid color or simple pattern, and add pops of color with pillows. You can even lay a throw blanket in a complementary color across the end of the bed to pull everything together.  For example, for a farmhouse theme using white walls with accent colors of blue, and yellow, you could have a blue duvet with pale yellow throw pillows. To save money, choose quality sheets and less expensive throw pillows and blankets. Move the furniture that you have around in the room to test which setup makes the most sense for your room. Try to give yourself at least 3 feet (0.91 m) of walking space between pieces of furniture. This will help the room feel spacious and open, even if you have a lot of furniture.  For a more open space, select a focal point for the room and position your furniture along the walls. If you want a more traditional look for your bedroom, position your headboard along a wall and place a nightstand on either side. For most rooms, it’s best to place your dresser along an empty wall so that you have enough space to access it. To avoid moving objects around multiple times, sketch out the room and furniture to scale to see what type of arrangement works best. Lighting is important for making your bedroom feel cozy and bright. Choose a set of matching lamps, and place one on your nightstand, with the other somewhere else in your room. If you have a second nightstand, you can place it there, or on the dresser.  For a cozier feel, you can use string lights along your ceiling or hung between walls to give the room some ambient lighting. You can also add a brightly colored lamp shade for a pop of color that coordinates with your color scheme. For example, if you’re doing a rustic or farmhouse theme, look for a lamp with a wooden base and a brightly colored lampshade. Switching out an overhead light fixture in a bedroom for a softer lighting option can also help to make the room seem more relaxing and romantic. To make your bedroom multipurpose, designate an area for relaxing by setting up a comfortable chair and a small table. Look for a chair that’s upholstered with an accent or neutral color, and pick a fun statement table. If you don’t have a lot of space, you can make a seating area by positioning a small bench at the foot of your bed, or you can get a set of floor pillows to make sitting on the floor a bit more comfortable. To add some fun pieces to your room, position a piece of art or a mirror on an empty wall, like the wall above your bed. If you don’t have space above your headboard, choose a wall that doesn’t have anything on it.  Look for pieces of art that match your general theme or color scheme. This will help to pull the room together. Hanging up pictures of family and friends can also help to make a room seem cozier and more inviting.

Summary: Decide what your inspiration or style will be for the room. Choose an overall color scheme for your room. Paint the walls to transform your room with a new color. Repurpose and update your furniture to fit your new style. Select a new bedding set and pillows that match your color scheme. Rearrange the furniture to give your space a new purpose. Pick a couple of lamps to brighten up the room. Add some comfortable chairs to create a separate sitting area. Hang up some artwork or a mirror on an empty wall.


When trying to listen for a beat by ear, make sure you give the piece of music all your attention. Use headphones or move to a quiet environment with no noise interruptions. If you’re trying to listen for the basic beat of a song, tune out the top instruments like lead guitar or vocals. Try listening for the bass instruments, like the bass guitar or bass drum.   If you’re listening to a digital recording, try turning up the bass so that you can hear it more easily. In a song, the bass line often carries the steady beat. Ignore the complex rhythm and melody. Try to pick out what feels like the heartbeat of the song. Listening to the drum line is the best way to count the beats. In country and rock music, you can typically hear the bass drum on beats 1 and 3 and the snare on 2 and 4. In pop, funk, and house music, the bass drum is generally played on all 4 beats, which is referred to as "four on the floor." A musical phrase is a segment of music that sounds complete in and of itself, often only a few measures long. Practice listening to natural phrasing in music. Think of listening to a song as though you were listening to a conversation. Where would the breaths be? What sounds like a musical “sentence”? Try counting these smaller sections of the music to find where the downbeats fall. Again, use your words, or tap your feet along to the beat that you feel. If you are not on the beat, practicing out loud will make it more obvious and easier to get back on track.

Summary: Eliminate distractions. Pay attention to the lower instruments, like the drums. Listen to phrasing. Say it out loud.


You will need:  3 cups self-rising flour (self-raising flour) ½ cup sugar 12 ounces of pale or light beer 1/3 cup fresh chopped rosemary 2 tablespoons of melted butter
Summary: Preheat oven to 375ºF/190ºC. Gather the ingredients. Coat a loaf pan with butter and set aside. Combine the flour, sugar, rosemary, and beer in a large bowl and mix well. Pour the mixture into a loaf pan. Bake for about 55 minutes, or until the bread has risen and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. About three minutes before the bread is finished, brush melted butter over the top.