Happy homecoming for father-in-law

Q: My father-in-law is hinting that he'd like to come live with us, now that he is a widower. We have a small room that had been my husband's den, but I need help in making it work as a bed-sitting room for a 72-year-old man.

A: Think tailored. Think small-scaled furniture and - unless he's expressed a preference for vibrant colors - think calm, warm hues that will be masculine but not necessarily macho (as black could be, for example). Also take care to include all the comforts of the home he is leaving: good reading lights, inviting chairs in a sitting area that won't make him feel confined to a "bed" room.

The bedroom we show here fits that bill handsomely, with its warm fawn color scheme, gentle geometric fabrics, and seating area that's small but comfortable enough to invite a guest into. More welcoming features include generous reading lamps, on the table and both sides of the bed, tall book shelves for storage, and the surprise of that large reproduction painting that stands in dramatically for a headboard.

The window treatments are also notable: simple pinch-pleated draperies grace the wall while filtering the light and guarding the resident's privacy. (For a host of other good window ideas, check out the book from which we borrowed this photo, "Beautiful Windows," by the editors of Woman's Day Special Interest Publications, Filipacchi Publishing.)

By now a rite of spring all across the country is going on. Local designers in show houses are pulling out all the stops to show the best of their abilities for you to peruse and use - for free - back in your own home.

For example, celebrating its 75th year, Historic Garden Week in Virginia ( www.VAGardenweek.org) opened the doors of some 200 private homes and gardens all across the state last month. Just a couple of take-away ideas from there:

• Nautical charts used to wallpaper a guest bath in an 1883 Italianate cottage in the Hampton Gardens section of Richmond.

• A library completely faux-finished in tortoise shell - shelves, fireplace surround and woodwork - set off by a zebra-patterned rug; on the Seminary Avenue walking tour.

Meanwhile, Kips Bay ( www.kipsbay.org/showhouse.html), the "grandmother" of all designer show houses, opened in New York for its 36th year, this time in an apartment building (totally logical, since most New Yorkers by far live in apartments).

Ideas from professional designers worth taking home:

• Tops of different-sized tin cans overlapped on walls and covering furniture (in Matthew White and Frank Webb's bed-sitting room).

• A child's room with a flight of some 100 paper airplanes zooming across the ceiling and out the window (Jennifer Carpenter's creation).

• Corrugated cardboard, applied floor-to-ceiling and painted a shiny brown to give texture to an ordinary plaster wall (Jeff Lincoln's study).

• An application of reflective stretch vinyl that slicked - and visually raised - the typically low apartment ceiling (in Philip Gorrivan's room).

Rose Bennett Gilbert is the co-author of "Hampton Style" and associate editor of Country Decorating Ideas. Please send your questions to her at Copley News Service, P.O. Box 120190, San Diego, CA 92112-0190, or online at copleysd@copleynews.com.