Focal Point

Q: Even though my taste is conservative, I know that my small and traditionally furnished living room is a bit on the dull side and could use some livening up. How can I make it look more interesting while avoiding clutter? Can a small room benefit from what you often refer to as a focal point?A number of remedies are available, with the choice depending in part on the size of your remodeling budget. None of them is simple, however, since it's no easy feat to add zest to a small, traditional room without making it appear eccentric.

My wife and I are lifelong Columbians. Three months ago, our first child, Elijah, was born. I am writing in support of the Inner Arbor Plan not for myself, but because it will be an amazing place for our son to learn and grow. For the first time, Columbians of all ages enthusiastically supported a Columbia Association project. The CA board listened, and voted 8-2 in favor of instituting an independent Inner Arbor Trust to design and implement the plan. Developing the Trust was insightful, as it should not be under the CA board's purview to micromanage the establishment of this focal point.

We recently moved to a townhouse that has given us the luxury of a fireplace in the living room. In reality, however, it's a small hole in the wall surrounded by black slate. How can we perk up its appearance?The best and simplest strategyis to emphasize the framing effect by adding a decorative element of some kind. One solution might be a contemporary-style bolection molding in finished wood or with a painted surface. A stone-like composition may be worth considering as well. This type of straightforward dTC and boldly projecting frame will make a dramatic design statement.

COLLEGE PARK - Mike Locksley is 42 years old, a father of four and a $500,000-a-year offensive coordinator. Mike Locksley is also well versed in the art of freestyle rap. Just not well enough, apparently. "My kids will tell you I'm awful at it," Locksley said Tuesday, chuckling heartily before repeating once more for emphasis: "Awful at it. " He knows enough to know what he likes, though, and what he doesn't. So when he strolled through the Maryland locker room after one practice this spring, his first back in College Park in a decade, and heard defensive back Jeremiah Johnson's lyrical barbs aimed at his offense, he turned to the sophomore.

The world of garden design really doesn't have a simpler concept than the focal point. "Everywhere you look in a garden, your eye needs something to create a picture," says Edwina vonGal, a garden designer in New York whose own gardens have the character and confidence that come with years of experience. "A focal point is where your eye zooms in and the energy is centered." VonGal often designs large gardens at fancy addresses, but the concepts she works with do not need acres to express themselves.

I live in a contemporary-style home with a typically under-scaled fireplace opening that has no mantel. Unfortunately, it's in the living room, so it has to be made more inviting, because I plan to place seating pieces around it.How might I treat the fireplace to make it the room's focal point? And where do I find a mantel suitable for a contemporary setting? Only traditional designs seem to be available.I can help you with the focal point issue but not with the mantel dilemma. I don't know where you'd find a modern-type mantel and, frankly, I can't imagine what it might look like.

They're shapely, chic, sexy and sometimes funky. They lend color and personality to interiors. And they light up a room. If you've somehow overlooked pendant lights, you're missing out on a small accessory that packs electrifying clout in the home today. Pendant lights are scaled-down versions of chandeliers, a single hanging entity without the extra branches. The light may be stripped to a bare bulb suspended from a rod or cord or housed in a decorative shade crafted from glass, resin, metal or fabric.

Severna Park volleyball coach Tim Dunbar says he hears it all the time, but this was different.Julie Gosewisch was a freshman at the time on crutches after surgery -- a painful leg lengthening procedure -- persistently telling him how she was going to be on the court next season."

A The entire end wall needs to be turned into a focal point. But that can't be achieved by the addition of any single object, unless it's truly colossal. A symmetrical composition also won't solve your problem, since it too would tend to elongate the hallway.In this photograph a situation similar to your own was addressed by introducing an altar-type console table in a color contrasting with that of the wall. Note that the objects placed on and under the table are not arranged in a symmetrical fashion.

The revival of interest in faux and decoratively painted furniture has gone on too long for it to be considered merely a fad. It's time, therefore, to offer some thoughts on how such pieces should -- and should not -- be used in the home.This is one of those instances in which it's best to be bold. Painted furniture can certainly serve as the focal point for an entire room.I'm not suggesting, however, that pieces of this sort should simply be plunked down in the living room with no concern as to whether they mesh with the overall design.

There is no magic formula for the Ravens to win, but running back Ray Rice has to touch the ball between 25 to 35 times a game as either a receiver or running back. In the Ravens 12-7 loss to Jacksonville Monday night, Rice had only eight carries for 28 yards and five receptions for 35 yards. He was the target on eight passes. Ravens outside linebacker Terrell Suggs was surprised that Rice didn't have a lot of carries even though Jacksonville running back Maurice Jones Drew carried 30 times for 105 yards.

Buck Showalter may not be a magician, but according to many local baseball fans, he probably should be. The Orioles new manager is the focal point in the team's turnaround. His astute attention to detail and a passion for the game has many Birds fans salivating for more good baseball next season, when Mr. Showalter will truly put his stamp on the team. There is a way we as fans can show our appreciation for what Mr. Showalter has done these past few months for a previously lame ball team.

By now, most people have heard about the Shirley Sherrod-Andrew Breitbart-tea party-NAACP-racism scandal tape. In short, two parts of the tape were exposed at different times. It was a tape that allegedly disclosed racism within the NAACP. The Baltimore Sun claims that the racism charge was against Ms. Sherrod, and that if only the whole tape was disclosed it would show that she was explaining her transformation away from racism, and not that she was pleased with her previous actions of reverse discrimation against a white farmer ("Running scared at the USDA," editorial, July 23)

Opposing defenses are beginning to catch on to Cody Lehrer, and for good reason. The sophomore attackman for Mount St. Mary's has scored 44 goals this season, fourth-most among DivisionI players. That kind of production has inspired a few opponents to try to prevent Lehrer from even touching the ball. "I've faced shutoffs in a good number of games this season," Lehrer said. "It can be frustrating at times, but at the same time, I view it as a compliment. They have a respect for me and see me as a threat.

The woman wailed outside the ruins of Cathedrale de Notre-Dame de Port-au-Prince, the Roman Catholic cathedral that symbolized Haiti's religious fervor. "This is what God did!" she cried Friday morning. "See what God can do!" Tuesday's earthquake brought down the roof of the enormous pink-and-cream cathedral, filling the apse and nave with tons of rubble. The quake punched out its vivid stained-glass windows, twisted its wrought-iron fencing and sliced brick walls like cake. The western steeple, which had soared more than 100 feet in the sky, toppled onto parishioners praying at an outdoor shrine to St. Emmanuel.

Eric Atkins Mount St. Joseph, guard, senior The point guard, a four-year starter, brings poise and energy at both ends of the court as the Gaels' floor general. He averaged 22 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals in earning Baltimore Catholic League Player of the Year honors as a junior. Atkins has signed with Notre Dame. Brandon Belt Arundel, guard, senior Precise from the perimeter and explosive to the basket, the point guard averaged an Anne Arundel County-high 20 points for Southern last season.

By now, most people have heard about the Shirley Sherrod-Andrew Breitbart-tea party-NAACP-racism scandal tape. In short, two parts of the tape were exposed at different times. It was a tape that allegedly disclosed racism within the NAACP. The Baltimore Sun claims that the racism charge was against Ms. Sherrod, and that if only the whole tape was disclosed it would show that she was explaining her transformation away from racism, and not that she was pleased with her previous actions of reverse discrimation against a white farmer ("Running scared at the USDA," editorial, July 23)

In a large room that has a focal point at one end, it's often necessary to situate the main seating cluster in the center of the space. That arrangement affords a direct view of the room's main attraction, whether it's a fireplace, an entertainment center, or a window that frames a dramatic vista.In addition to establishing what's known as attractive sight lines, this sort of furniture layout creates a cozy conversation grouping.Problems can arise, however, whenever chairs and tables are placed well away from a room's perimeter walls.

If one could measure regret per square foot, the little structure built 16 years ago next to the Inner Harbor's iconic Constellation would be off the slip-up scales. The paint had scarcely dried when condemnation began rolling in: The building is not only homely, critics groused, it covers up the very thing it's intended to promote. "You'd be hard-pressed to find any architect's group that would give that an award," says Donald C. Fry, president of the Greater Baltimore Committee. "It does not provide the attraction worthy of the dock that's a centerpiece of the Inner Harbor."

They're shapely, chic, sexy and sometimes funky. They lend color and personality to interiors. And they light up a room. If you've somehow overlooked pendant lights, you're missing out on a small accessory that packs electrifying clout in the home today. Pendant lights are scaled-down versions of chandeliers, a single hanging entity without the extra branches. The light may be stripped to a bare bulb suspended from a rod or cord or housed in a decorative shade crafted from glass, resin, metal or fabric.