Room

"I hate trying on dresses. Your fat hangs out everywhere, and these lights make your skin look gray." It was my mother speaking from within the fitting room of our favorite department store, where she was trying on dresses for her 40th high school reunion.I was along to give advice, to eavesdrop on my mother as she talked to herself. While waiting, I gazed at myself in one of the mirrors. It was one of those trick mirrors that makes you look 10 pounds lighter. It was placed there to sell more dresses, but it offended me. I have no desire to be seduced by a lie, not even a kind one. I smile at myself and wonder one more time, who is that woman staring back at me?

Editor's note: A rhyming Scottish folktale passed on to the author by her grandfather recounts the outcome of Lachie MacLachlan's hospitality.There was a wee house in the heather --'Twas a bit o' a but and a ben --And in it there lived all togetherLachie MacLachlanAnd his good wife,And his bairns to the number of ten."There's a fire on the hearthstone to warm me,And porridge to spare in the pot,"Said Lachie. "The weather is stormy,So me and my wifeAnd our ten bairns,Will be sharing whatever we've got."

MY WIFE IS a sportswriter. This is good and bad. The good part is this: Say I'm lying on the sofa watching pro football, and my team, the Miami Dolphins, has the ball, and it's third and four, a situation in which the Dolphins, after considering all 3,487 of their offensive plays, always decide to send the running back into the middle of the line for a gain of two yards. Always. The other team expects it, as does everybody else watching the game, including stadium-dwelling cockroaches, who wave their feelers to indicate: "Here goes the running back up the middle for two."

Q: I liked some of the ideas for "theming" a room that you presented in a recent column. I wonder -- can you help me with a practical situation? My preschool son loves stuffed animals, so much so that I'm having trouble keeping them in something resembling an orderly collection. Is there some way I can integrate the animals into a themed design for his room?A: Stuffed animals are the perfect raw material for creating a themed room for a young child. What could possibly be more natural for your son and for you, the designer?

Backgrounds are very often a designer's first concern. That's because they establish a tone and a direction for an entire setting.I find it helpful to think of a room's background as a sort of envelope. It sends a message while also enclosing all the contents. Careful attention must be paid to the background, which includes the walls, floor and window-covering, regardless of whether one is creating a palatial interior or something much more modest. The textures, colors and patterns chosen for these surfaces invariably will have a major influence on a room's overall appearance.

It's difficult to arrange furniture symmetrically when a room' focal point or architecture is not also properly balanced. Too often, a designer refuses to go with the flow of such a space, and will instead try to force the furniture into a standard layout. As a result, the room usually takes on an even more awkward appearance.A better approach in such situations may be to arrange the main pieces on a diagonal. By this I mean that groupings of tables and chairs should be placed at a 45-degree angle to the walls.

Q: I recently inherited a Victorian-era oak bed that's so fabulous that I have to find a way to make it look at ease in our bedroom. The bed is truly gargantuan, however, and it really overwhelms the box-like room. Would it help to paint over the medium stain of the oak? Is there any other treatment that might make the bed seem more in keeping with its surroundings?A: I wouldn't tamper with the finish of such a wonderful piece. Instead, you should try to lighten up the room itself and give it a look that's at least vaguely Victorian.

Plans for the renovation and expansion of Taneytown Elementary School have grown by one room -- for a preschool class.The school design plans, approved by the Carroll County Board of Education yesterday, include an additional 1,000 square feet for a preschool classroom.School officials added the room to the plan after a suggestion by the governor's task force for school construction recommended that counties plan for prekindergartens.Carroll County has added preschool space to new and renovated schools before, but this marks the first time the state has paid a share of the cost, said Lester Surber, supervisor of school facilities.

When looking for a new home, prospective buyers are often seduced by large, empty spaces. That's quite understandable, given the general shrinkage in the size of living accommodations over the past several years. The temptation to snap up a spacious contemporary home is especially acute when someone wishes to move from a tiny apartment or from a renovated residence that has been broken up into numerous small rooms and corridors.But open and airy spaces may prove to be less wonderful than initially imagined.

Editor's note: Harvey tackles a big job -- cleaning his room -- only to discover he and his mom have a different definition of "clean." On Saturday morning at ten to nine Harvey Moon was eating toast, Waiting for the cartoon show That he enjoyed most With only minutes left to go, He heard the voice of DOOM. "Today, young man," his mother said, "Is the day you clean your room!" "Not nowwww ..." moaned Harvey, Red in the face. "I'll miss 'Rotten Ed' And 'Invaders from Space'!"