Are you someone who likes to be different? I am. I don’t mind the status quo. I don’t disdain or necessarily protest the way the world goes around. I do, however, like to feel that I have my own style and unique taste regardless of what is considered to be proper or even acceptable sometimes. That may be a bit naive, I admit, but I still strive to feel comfortable in my choices because, I like them, not because they are in vogue.

This is true, even in the small or unimportant choices I make day to day. So when I look for something to adorn my home, I like to look for something I find unique or just a bit different to fit what I feel is my style. In the time I’ve been writing about home entertainment furniture, among other topics, I’ve found some of them that I wanted to share with people who have similar feelings. Here they are, the unique audio-video furniture I would like to find a way to incorporate into my home.

Entertainment furniture produced by people who are anti technology in their personal lives. That’s right, I’ve stumbled across some home entertainment furniture made by the Amish community. In case you are not aware or up to date on your Amish knowledge, my understanding is that they believe in preserving traditional methods and values. Because of this they don’t use cars or tractors, watch videos, or use cell phones. What they do is create unparalleled quality of handmade craftsmanship in everything they produce. What could be more unique than furniture supporting your technology made by people who refuse to participate in it? Not many things, that’s for sure.

A month or so ago I attended a “green” products fair, and found some really amazing work by a company who was trying to save the rain forest. OK, maybe that wasn’t their whole focus, but it was a part of it for sure.

Greentea Designs travels around the world to gather what they call “reclaimed wood” which is wood from structures that would normally be thrown out, burned, or otherwise destroyed. Then they use it to design and make fabulous high end pieces of furniture that anyone would be proud to display in their home. You should look at they work it is second to none, and you can justify the price by telling yourself that it’s all for the rain forest.

The last thing I wanted to mention is something that seems to have walked right out of the movies and into your living room. A motorized entertainment center. That’s right, with the touch of a button on your remote control on a switch on the wall, you can reveal your set as if by magic. Revealing itself from what seems like an average furniture piece, you can amaze your friends and family with a futuristic style that few people have hanging around the house. The only catch may be that you may forget it isn’t a surface to put miscellaneous things on (kind of like the bar is at my house) and have to clean it off before indulging in your favorite Star Trek flick, well, either that or the price. But think of how cool you would be!

There are myriad things you can do to decorate your home but have you thought about how you are going to light the results? It is a simple truth that different kinds of lights can completely change the appearance of something, even making colors and shapes appear to be completely different. When you decorate your house, it is very important to consider the lighting, preferably before you actually start decorating. Of course, this requires some advance planning, but the results will be well worth the effort.

Lighting comes in different shades; from neon to candles, and yes candles is considered lighting too. Whatever you choose, it will reflect in your room. If you want to make something a focal point in your room you need the right lighting to help you reach that goal. Just using a side table lamp will not highlight your new china cabinet in the other corner of the room.

For most people, the choice is to go with standard lamps. But this type of lighting can become dull after a while. It gives a steady glow that will become bland, especially if you want to highlight a new design. Standard lighting can take up minimal space and you can place it in almost any area of the room. You need an outlet and you have all the light you need. Add a lampshade to match your decor and change it every season if you want. Besides the fact that you need electricity you will also need to purchase lightbulbs every once in a while, but this is not an expensive purchase.

A form of lighting that requires rather more in the way of forward planning is recessed lighting. This is where the lights are actually in the wall, which means that not only does the wiring have to be planned well in advance, but the person who is building the wall and plastering it also has to be informed. However, these lights make a great statement and can be placed anywhere from ground level up. For instance, you could really make a statement with recessed lightbulbs casting light across each tread of your staircase.

Lighting can be used to highlight the accessories and details in a room in a discreet way which doesn’t diminish their impact. For instance, an area rug is a great detail to have in a room but it may be missed with discreet lighting at night. However, a lamp can be placed so that the rug is lit and therefore continues to be an interesting detail at night as well as during the day.

No matter what you choose there is something for everyone when it comes to lighting. Make small changes first that way you are not tearing down your walls trying to install lighting. Know what you want to highlight in that room and use it as your focal point.

If you have a gamer in your home you may find that their hobby ends up all over the house, anywhere they are. Games are found everywhere as well as the gaming units. While some gamers prefer board games and card games others prefer the video games. You need a space for the gamer to keep everything in one room or area.

First you must carefully select some storage for the area. If this will be going in a room that is used specifically for gaming then you can get really funky. If it will be placed in an area used by the whole family try for something more classic. Think about the style of gamming when selecting storage. Use the style to determine whether you need shelving or something similar to an entertainment center. If your gamer does more video gaming, steer towards the entertainment center.

Furnishings are very important as well. Make sure to provide comfortable furnishings that can be rearranged. Be sure there is enough seating for their friends, if not you will soon notice that your dining chairs have gone missing. If your gamer is into cards, board games, or table top role playing make sure there is a table large enough for their purpose. Often this requires a separate room. If there is no space in your home that is fitting consider adding an area to your dining area. This can be done by purchasing a buffet as storage. This piece will fit right into the room and it will be easy for them to stash their games once finished. This is a huge help if you are trying to eliminate clutter.

Any additions you make that make concessions for your gamers hobby will be appreciated, but in all actuality every gamer wants their very own game room. This really does not have to be anything special. Simply take a corner of the basement and put down a nice area rug and install the necessary furnishings. Your gamer is going to appreciate the thought and the privacy so you do not have to concentrate very hard on dcor.

An area rug is the one thing you want to focus on the most in this room. That is because the area rug will serve for many purposes. It will add some comfort to the game room. It will also help you keep the room clean. If your game room is upstairs it will muffle the noise. Choose a rug that displays the gamers favoriate colors. This will help them to feel comfortable in the room. The rug may be quite expensive but it will be worth it.

When you create a gaming room the rest of your home will be clutter free. You won’t have to pick up the games all the time, help them find their gaming units, or anything else. You can tell them to go look in the game room. Put your feet up and relax.

When you started decorating your house you probably had very definite ideas about what you wanted to do in each of the rooms. Now, having successfully stamped your personality on every room in the house, you are at a bit of a loss as to what to do in the spare room. After all, this is where you are going to put your visitors – everyone from your brother-in-law to your grandparents will probably, at some point, stay in this room. How do you make sure it is welcoming to everyone?

As you know everyone has their own taste so no matter what type of deisgn you try to place in this room it won’t accomidate everyone. Try to keep it as simple as possible yet relaxing for your guest. Neutural is the key.

This means trying not to make any strong statements. You want people to get to this room and immediately be able to relax, so it would be a good idea right now to forget about doing the entire room in crimson or black, lime green, scarlet… You get the idea. Stay reasonably neutral, or completely neutral. You can do a lot worse than do the entire room in white, although it might be rather like waking up in an operating theatre.

If you choose to use a white color in the room as the main color, try choosing a great accent color. Blues, deep grreen, red or purples may be another great accent color to use in the pillows, sheets, window treatments, and other little items throughout the room. They shouldn’t offend anyone yet they are relaxing to the soul.

Area rugs are an excellent way of adding color accents. A rug colored mainly white could feature your chosen accent color in small patches or as part of a geometric pattern. Avoid having an area rug entirely the same color as your accent color. That is not an accent. It is a statement and possibly something you want to avoid if you want everyone to feel reasonably at home in this room.

The important thing when decorating a visitors’ room is not to go overboard on what you see as creature comforts. You may not be able to sleep without being watched over by several laughing Buddha statuettes but the chances are your guests don’t feel the same way. Keep it simple rather than homely and your guests will definitely thank you for it.