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Open, airy, organic spaces, all about form and function. Sophisticated and sleek yet approachable, alluring. My home is Mid-Century Modern.

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Bathroom Cleaning Secrets From the Pros

Whether cozy, sleek or luxurious, hotel baths are the perfect getaway. Now you can transform your bathroom into just such an escape. At Inn-spired Bathrooms, you'll tour six hotel-inspired baths, garner simple ideas for getting the look you want and learn the cleaning secrets of hotel housekeepers.

How do hotels keep those bathrooms so clean? One quick answer is that hotels clean bathrooms every day, even if the same guest is occupying the room night after night. While you may not want to clean your entire bathroom every day, doing small things — such as wiping down the counters, faucet and sink, and spot-cleaning the mirror — can give your bathroom a daily perk-up. The rest is all in the weekly routine.

To get the dirt on the routine, we asked two experts: Jenny Botero, resident manager of the 697-room Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Va., and Erika Jacso, director of style for the W New York Union Square, in New York City, which boasts 270 rooms. They gave us 10 simple steps for keeping your bath sparkling.

Step 1: Vacuum and dust On the rare occasion that the W Union Square receives a complaint, "it usually has to do with finding hairs on the tile or floor in the bathroom," Erika says. Her team's goal is to make sure that never happens. They work from top to bottom, dusting light fixtures and shelves with micro-fiber cloths before vacuuming floors and crevices.

Step 2: Heat up surfaces Heating tile and the tub just 10 degrees above the normal air temperature "doubles the effectiveness" of alkaline cleansers, Jenny says. Her staff fills the bottom of the tub with a couple inches of the "hottest water they can draw from the tap" and lets it sit for a few minutes. Erika's staff also throws hot water over the tiles, shower and tub.

Step 3: Spray Drain the tub, then spray an antibacterial cleaner on tile walls, tub, counters, sink, toilet and floor. Work from top to bottom, starting at the top of shower walls, and spraying down to the tub and inside the toilet bowl.

Step 4: Spread Use a sponge or cloth to spread the cleanser around evenly on tile surfaces.

Step 5: Sit Disinfectants need contact time in order to work. Erika's team lets the cleanser sit for five to seven minutes inside the toilet bowl and on surfaces.

Step 6: Scrub Use a scrub brush or nonscratch abrasive pad to scrub every square inch of the tub and tiles. Both housekeeping experts swear by Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, especially for hard-to-remove gray rings inside the tub.

Step 7: Rinse This is the most important step, in Jenny's opinion. The chemicals in cleansers are designed to attract soil and particles, she points out. If you don't rinse after spraying your cleanser, dirt is going to stick to it and build up and "be even more troublesome."

Step 8: Dry Use clean, dry cotton cloths or rags to thoroughly dry all surfaces. Jenny recommends using color-coded cloths for cleaning — blue for glass and mirrored surfaces, yellow for the toilet, and pink for tub and sinks. That way, you never make the mistake of wiping off the sink with a cloth that was used to dry the toilet.

Step 9: Glass and mirrors Spray the mirror and other glass with a glass cleanser and wipe dry.

Step 10: Floors Exit out of the bathroom by rinsing, wiping and drying the floor.

By Kathy McLeary

A Feng Shui Guide to Color

Feng shui is the Eastern practice of analyzing where things go to create the most healthful and beneficial energy flow. Using colors in your home based on how you respond to their energy is a crucial component of the process. If you have a living room full of hot, fiery colors that sometimes leave you feeling burned out, bring the heat down with simple accessories such as blue silk pillows, blue blown glass and candles that are pumpkin-colored rather than red. Sometimes a room just needs some relief from the energy associated with its predominant colors.

That said, while a room with too much fire energy may be frenetic and not relaxing, a room with too much blue may be too cold and uninviting. To help you make sense of it all, here's a primer on the five elements of Feng shui and the associated colors that elicit specific energies in your home:

Blue and black, associated with water energy, support inner work, helping us to concentrate, contemplate, mediate and handle creative endeavors. Blue can slow the heart and breathing rates and lower blood pressure. It can be used to increase coolness, to calm and to create privacy.

Green is associated with wood energy, the energy of growth, decisiveness and action. It can motivate internal change.

Red is associated with fire, which supports life energy. The color of blood, it can increase heart rate, respiration and blood pressure. It also can promote activity and alleviate depression. It's clearly the color of passion and love.

Yellow is associated with earth energy, representing Mother Earth. It can cheer, infuse with hope, clarify and elevate mental activity. It also creates a sense of stability and nurturing. Yellow is often used to help children with dyslexia improve their focus.

White and metallic colors are associated with metal energy. They can support carefulness and focus as well as purity.

As for mixing colors, that can also mix the Feng shui energies related to them. Here are some things to consider when choosing combination colors:

Turquoise, a blue-green combo, evokes the qualities of wood and water. It has both the contemplative qualities of blue and the life of green, making it a great choice for spaces that allow movement and growth.

Salmon, a combination of yellow/orange and red/orange, is a unique balance of earth and fire elements that's quite harmonious. Use salmon to call attention to the heart of a space, create a sense of abundance and encourage conversation.

Lavender, a mix of the qualities of blue and purple, can evoke a sense of calm, spirituality, contemplation and quiet. Use lavender to minimize high activity, calm a stressful situation or create a special spiritual space.

Adapted from Interior Divine, Walking You Through the Transformation of Your Home, by Jayne Pelosi

Bathroom Zen

Most of us clutter our homes with unnecessary items, yet Zen decoration suggests a minimalist approach: Doing more with less. If you need a respite from your busy life, consider transforming your bathroom into a personal refuge. Here are some great tips for banishing clutter from the bathroom and creating a sense of calm.

Transfer bath products like shampoo, conditioner and body wash to coordinated containers that are the same color/texture as the shower tile so they disappear, says designer Jodi Fitzpatrick of Renata Resources in Fresno, Calif.

Keep surface areas clean. Stow all blow dryers and toothbrushes. Consider investing in a deeper medicine cabinet and reorganizing drawers to make space for only the necessities. A stripped-down design makes the bathroom seem more spacious.

If you have to store things outside of cabinets, do it in rush or woven reed boxes; they add natural texture and the rushes can take the steam.

Decorate by spotlighting one beautiful piece of artwork or seasonal flowers. Arrangements should be simple. Even a single flower is nice, says architect Yoshiko Sato of Morris Sato Studio in New York City.

Put towel bars on the back of a door or replace them with hooks or pegs. Coordinate towels with paint and tile so that they blend in with the background.

Display a few beautiful candles.

Keep your space open by installing the minimal number and size of bathroom fixtures, says architect Michael Morris. A sink doesn't have to be large. A nice contrast, he says, is a small metal sink with a marble or granite countertop. Undermount sinks add a nice abstract touch, he says.

Finally, you don't have to have to completely redecorate to achieve a state of Zen. "It's better to de-clutter your shower and place a large rock over the drain (it helps with feng shui) than stick a Buddha and a gazillion candles with raffia and gold coin wraps on the back of the toilet," Jodi says.

DIY Network Designer Jodi Fitzpatrick