We tend to think of themes only in terms of parties, dances or fund-raising events. At Christmas and Halloween, Thanksgiving and St. Patrick's Day and on any number of holidays, you often adapt a theme. You might refer to them as decorations or celebrating the occasion or acknowledging the event, but what you are doing is preparing a theme.



In some homes or apartments, the theme covers both the inside and outside. People frequently go to great lengths to keep up the Yule or Halloween or St. Patrick's Day traditions. Pumpkins and haunted houses appear on the lawn, the exterior of the house is decorated with lights and the inside is hung with banners or wreaths or both. If you have ever done any of this, creating a themed room will not be difficult.

Themed rooms offer many possibilities. What rooms you can choose vary as much as a possible theme. Do you want to decorate the living room in a Medieval style and the bedroom in a Victorian mode? Are the children's rooms to follow a Disney or dinosaur theme while the teen's bedroom resembles the tower room of some pampered Princess?

The approach you take is as varied as the amount of themes. You can be subtle with hints of a theme appearing through the use of color and art objects or blatantly convey the idea in everything in the room. Colors, paintings, bric-a-brac, furniture, wall hangings, floor rugs, lamps and other odds and ends can all shout out the theme loudly for all to recognize.

As should be the case, start with a basic plan. Decide upon the theme and which room or rooms to redo. Before you make any concrete decisions, however, make sure you consult the room's occupants. Your children or husband might not want to have their favorite room turned into a miniature of Barney's world or Star Wars or a replica of Cleopatra's bedroom ? la Elizabeth Taylor.

Also take into consideration the daily practical use. A white theme may not be appropriate if includes carpets and rugs where small children and large animals track in mud repeatedly at least ten times a day. Delicate items, highly fragile glass and china d'cor should, probably be avoided, even if thematically correct, in sectors of high and volatile traffic. Family rooms where any rough housing may occur can do without such finer touches.

That said, it is easy to create a themed room. What you need to next consider is on what scale you will carry it out. Themes can embrace every element of design. Walls, entryways, windows, floors and furniture, not to mention wall d'cor and the accessories that can be added, are all possible methods of expressing a theme. Even plants can be used. Cacti, for example, may indicate a South-Western theme, umbrella tree plants and orchids, a tropical jungle.

The themed room can be created easily and even cheaply. It is restricted only by your needs and your imagination. How far you want to extend it remains up to you, and those who live within the confines of your abode.