Calm, collected and quieter than a room filled with patterns and colors, this a masterful bedroom, indeed. Photo courtesy of Laura Moss.

Q: My wife grew up in England and has had a lifelong love affair with chintz. Now she has what we hope will be a lifelong love affair with me – despite the fact that I prefer contemporary design. No flowers or fluff. We are redecorating the master bedroom. She is willing to forgo chintz if we can find other ways to make a bedroom comfortable and attractive. We hope you can help us.

A: As seeing is believing, I turned immediately to a design professional known for her well-tailored and gently disciplined ideas. As you see in the pictured elegant bedroom, designer Jamie Herzlinger is a classicist who believes in softening contemporary style with plush fabrics and posh colors.

Here, her combination of warm gray velvet upholstery and chocolate walls, punched up and outlined in white, is neither feminine nor masculine – but certainly sexy and inviting. It's a bedroom all about comfort without coyness but with a lot of curves – from the shelter bed that embraces its occupants within velvet wings to the velvet love seat at the bed's feet.

Yet for all the strokes of solid color, it's her subtle use of pattern that affirms the designer's talent: a trellis design in the rug that adds interest underfoot, and subtle stenciling on the wall over the head of the bed.

No flowers and no fluff, just fabulous. See more of Herzlinger's artistry at jamieherzlingerinteriors.com.

Q: Why not a dinner plate?

A: Food for thought this summer from the Department of Agriculture: Should the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans be presented on a dinner plate instead of the traditional pyramid showing what the department recommends as a healthy diet? After all, argue partisans for the dinner plate, that's where these foods will be presented in American families' dining rooms and kitchens.

But the larger argument is about what foods should make the cut. Looking for the right answers in the middle of America's current epidemic of obesity, infertility and diabetic children – health problems traced directly to bad eating habits – the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee met in Washington, D.C., this month to hear testimonials from food experts, lobbyists and concerned citizens, including several mothers of young schoolchildren.

With billions riding on the committee's decision, it's a big deal what goes on the symbolic plate (or pyramid) – and on our dinner plates at home, whether they're bone china or practical plastic. Two places to learn more: mypyramid.gov (Department of Agriculture) and www.westonaprice.org (a 501C3 nutrition education foundation).

Q: My new studio apartment is good size (22 feet by 30 feet) with the kitchen separated by an arch. I used to entertain a lot when I had a real dining room, but I hate having my dinner guests look into a messy kitchen. What can I put on the arch that doesn't look tacky?

A: A tall folding screen is both attractive and practical. Stand it just in front of the opening (leave space enough for you to go in and out), and fold it out of the way when your guests go home.

Or you could hang vertical blinds across the opening – easy enough to pass through as you serve. Or install lightweight blinds behind the arch (have them motorized to draw up and down at the touch of a remote).

Easiest answer of all: Revive the traditional door curtain, called a portiere. Swagged on a graceful diagonal across the opening, it will add elegance while obscuring those dirty dishes.

Rose Bennett Gilbert is the co-author of "Manhattan Style" and six other books on interior design.