Romance in the Bedroom - It's Not As Hard As You Think.

The modern bedroom is not just for sleeping anymore (was it ever?). The bedroom now functions as a home office, den, media room, exercise room, retreat, spa and just a place to get away from the kids, or conversely, a family gathering spot. If you want a space that combines room for romance, respite and rough housing, read on for some ideas that our readers have come up with.

1. Fake Fireplaces
Think you need a chimney and a flue to have a fireplace? WRONG! The crackling of logs can be generated with sound effects, the fire can be no more than silk, smoke and a plug nearby, or a little can of glorified Sterno can fuel a gel fireplace which can almost seem like the real thing. Easiest of all, buy a fireplace mantle, attach it to the wall, paint the wall black inside the mantel or get a photo of a fire the correct size, buy a nice fireplace screen and put it in front. Voila! It may not generate one kind of heat, but it's likely to generate another.

2. Go Rustic
How about a log bed, faux log wallpaper, that old hunter's red and black check bedding, and maybe a faux stone fireplace. Put a braided rug on the floor, get some Adirondack wrought iron lamps, a big cozy leather chair, a bookcase which looks like a rowboat on end and you're set.

3. Pump Iron
Are you work out fanatics? Some exercise equipment folds up, but get real, you're not going to do it. However, with a big flat screen on one wall and some surround sound in the room, a cozy chair to collapse into post exercise and a shower nearby, exercise can become a nightly warm up to bedtime.

4. Paying Bills Is More Your Style?
These days desks and/or computer work stations come in everything from glass and chrome to slide out units hidden in armoires when they're not in use. Many kitchen cabinet manufacturers now create cabinets that can be combined into home furniture for use as discreet home offices or media cabinets. Kraftmaid shows an example of building a built in storage/media wall of cabinetry. It certainly looks custom, but doesn't have to have the custom cost.

5. Lighting
Purchasing dimmers for your lights is a great investment. You'll instantly have control over the atmosphere of the room. Light fixtures are so creative these days. Size, style, materials and colors of light fixtures have infinite variety from playful to sparkling, to dramatic or subtle. Multiple tiers of crystal can recall an old bordello, retro can recall the lines, colors and textures of the 1920's or the 1950's, rustic can coordinate with  logs and wrought iron, contemporary is sleek, clean, simple, but also bright and lively.

6. Romantic
Maybe you just want the old Laura Ashley/Ralph Lauren feeling of fabrics with lots of flowers, big fluffy pillows, a soft rug that your feet sink into, tied-back curtains that cover lightly blowing sheer lace over small paned windows and candles softly burning. Dim lights, walls painted in soft colors, romantic music to waltz in place to, air scented with sachets of pine needles, and an indefinable sense of peace create a space of calm, security, safety and encourage relaxation and experimentation.