Being able to own your own home is part of the American dream. Having the ability to decorate it with touches of your own flair and style that fit your personality and lifestyle makes it even better. Many people choose to use toile in their beddings due to its personality and charm. However, some may wonder how best to coordinate this with the rest of the room.

Toile is usually based on scenes from the countryside, and usually tells a story. It's designed to be both fresh and charming, while still with an old-world feel. With this specific feel to use as our criterion, it can be hard to find exactly what we want. Lighting, one of the most important parts of a room, can be particularly tricky to match when it comes to style.

Various lampshades can be your best friend when decorating a room, or your worst enemy. We've all seen the horrible, out-dated lampshades some choose for their rooms and never replace. These are definitely not going to work with toile. There are many different shapes of lampshade, including bell, drum, empire, coolie, and geometric.

While any one of these can work wonderfully with toile, it's important to understand what they actually are. Bell lampshades are shaped like a bell, narrow on top, and gradually widening on bottom. Coolie lampshades are similar to bell, but they have a more pronounced slope and are shorter. This is one of my favorites when matching with toile. Just be sure that the color coordinates well.

Drum lampshades are cylindrical. Depending on the fabric chosen, they can go well with a toile theme if chosen well. An empire shade is somewhere between a drum and a bell. Geometric shades are just what they sound like. They're usually either square or hexagonal, with distinct panels.

Whatever shape of lampshade you choose, the most important factor is coordination. This includes placement, color, and pattern. Placement depends on the room itself. Color, however, is very important. To match the toile, pick a color that is either in the bedding itself or one that coordinates very closely. This can really help tie the room together.

Many people that choose a toile theme for the bedding and bedroom choose to carry the toile on throughout the room. Although in the past everything would have been toile (literally everything), now most opt to only carry it into specific elements. Thus, toile lighting is not hard to find. Many lampshades come in toile in many different colors, or may even be part of the same collection as the bedding you buy. Whatever you choose, make sure it's what you want, and that it coordinates well. After all, it's your home.