7 Centsible Home Decorating Tips for Your Quick Home Fluff-Up

Posted by admin on December 5th, 2008 filed in HomeDecor

A little ingenuity can go along way in making your home attractive with minimal cost. Here are 7 ways to get started and tap your own imagination:

1. Mirror Mirror. Rather than hang a very large mirror, stand it up against the wall. Turn it horizontally and vertically to get a good look for your space.

2. Sheet Savvy. Buy a pretty and colorful discount bed sheet to use as a tablecloth. Gather the four corners and make a “poof” to tie with pretty ribbon.

3. Planter Plenty. Buy an attractive planter with a pedestal base and top it with a piece of glass for a quick side table.

4. Towel Trio. Hang a new colorful set of towels in your bathroom and put a decorative tie around it using a piece of luxurious cording with tassels. The cording is inexpensive when purchased at sewing stores.

5. Pretty Plates. Take all those pretty mismatched plates you have in your kitchen cabinets and hang them on the wall. They don’t have to all be the same size or pattern, but similar colors create a pleasing look.

6. Basket Case. Turn a sturdy large wicker basket upside down, cover with a piece of round glass, and you have an end table for next to the sofa. Store reference books underneath it.

7. Garbage Can Grandeur. Turn a new large plastic garbage can upside down and cover it with a pretty tablecloth that “puddles” on the floor to use as a bedside table. Store Christmas gifts or birthday presents that you don’t want your kids to find underneath it.

By looking around your home at what you already have, or buying things on sale at home stores and on the internet, you can “fluff-up” your home and make it more attractive in no time!

c2005 Kathryn Bechen. All rights reserved worldwide.

Visit http://www.kathrynbechendesigns.com for more free ideas and tips for decorating your cottage style home on a dollarwise budget and to sign up for Kathryn’s free e-newsletter of decorating tips and resources. Kathryn is an interior decorating consultant and author who specializes in Cottage Style, Non-Toxic, and Dollarwise decorating.

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Home Decorating in the Real World

Posted by admin on November 27th, 2008 filed in HomeDecor

Planning and decorating a home to suit your lifestyle and budget doesn’t have to be an all or nothing proposition. It doesn’t have to be stressful or budget breaking. Decorating your home can be a fun creative project the entire family can become involved in.

Your home will never be static. Lifestyles change, children grow, interests evolve and your home will reflect these changes.

You probably have a vision or some ideas of what you want your home to be. This could be anything from a grand colonial to a southwestern ranch or a seaside cottage. It could be a formal traditional look or a “come in and put your feet up” atmosphere. Whatever your plan is, you want your home to exude a sense of comfort, peace and usability.

The first step toward achieving your vision would be to be realistic. If you live in a small ranch home with a beer budget, a grand piano and a twelve foot dining room table just won’t fit into your plans no matter how you slice it.

Yes, your lifestyle may change; you may move into a larger home, you may get a promotion and a large raise. But for now, be realistic and work within the framework that is available at this time.

The first step in realistic decorating would be to go through and do a total assessment of the room you want to decorate. What is the main function of this room? Set up your plan and priorities according to this foundation. What do you absolutely need in this room? Do the walls or ceiling need painting? Is the flooring adequate? Does it need refinishing? What furnishings are absolutely necessary to meet the function of this room? A sofa for sitting? A bed for sleeping? A table for eating? Set your priorities according to YOUR needs and the needs of YOUR family.

If the wood flooring is soft wood and loaded with splinters and you have an infant crawling around, carpeting would be a priority for you. On the other hand, if only adults use the home, a coat of paint and some area rugs may be all you need. You decide the priorities in your home.

If there is one piece of advice I would give you it would be: Don’t skimp on the major items in your home. Buy the best you can afford These major pieces will be with you for many years. Look for sturdy construction, great design lines and colors you can live with a long time.

Take your time and design and fill out your room in three phases

Phase One

Do what needs to be done with ceilings, walls, floors and windows. If you really want textured wallpaper but can only afford paint, paint the walls with your final color choice. This way when you upgrade to textured paper everything will still be coordinated. If you have your heart set on a brick tile floor in the kitchen but it is not in your current budget, settle for vinyl in a brick pattern if you must. You are still achieving the look you want until you can move up to your first choice.

Your main furniture concern in Phase One should be your major pieces. This is where you should spend the bulk of your budget. Buy the best sofa, bed or dining room table you can afford. Always remember, you don’t have to buy an entire set of anything. In fact, the most interesting rooms are made up of individual pieces rather than sets. This is an important fact. This is most obvious when shopping for dining rooms. Chairs do not have to match tables. It is possible to buy a great table without any chairs and use inexpensive chairs for a while.

Phase Two

Once the foundation is laid, it is time to move on to Phase Two. Once you have bought the main pieces, fill out the room with inexpensive pieces until your budget catches up with your tastes.
For example, in the living room director’s chairs and wicker trunks could substitute for side chairs and end tables. As you replace them they could be moved to the back porch and form a comfortable place to relax on a balmy evening. Wooden side chairs and inexpensive end tables could be used in the bedroom and flea market cabinets could be used to hold china in the dining room. Again, all of these pieces could be put into use in other parts of the home as you upgrade your furniture.

Phase Two is a transitional phase that is continuously evolving. Because you have a vision and made a plan before you started your room, you know where you are going and Phase Two is the journey.

Phase Three

Phase Three is the destination. You have been filling in and replacing items over time. Eventually you reach your final goal and are living in the home you envisioned years ago. You are still adding accessories and refreshing items, but you now are in a home that is completed according to your plan.

Don’t feel everything has to be accomplished in a month or even a year after you move into a new home or apartment. Life is constant change and always in flux. Enjoy the journey. You may look back and see that the journey was actually more enjoyable than the destination.

Gloria Daniels has worked in many areas of the home decorating field and has been helping clients decorate their homes creatively for over 20 years. Visit her website at http://www.home-decorating-room-by-room.com and take advantage of her *free* online home decorating workbook to develop the home of your dreams.

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Home Decorating For Under $100

Posted by admin on November 22nd, 2008 filed in HomeDecor

People spend large sums of money to improve their homes, some even taking out expensive home equity and refinancing loans. While it’s true that putting in new floors or cabinets can cost a bundle, there are plenty of things you can do to improve your home for much less. There are 3 key areas to focus on where small improvements will make the most difference - the foyer, bathrooms and kitchen. These projects below cost under $100.00 to do and just one of the projects below can make a huge difference, but why not do all 3?

Foyer

It’s true that you only get one chance to make a first impression and the first impression people get of your home is your foyer. Has your welcome mat lost its welcome appeal? It’s time to spice up your entrance so what you hear are “oohs” and “ahhs” when people cross your threshold. If you have a spacious porch, a potted plant in a metal planter can create a pleasant atmosphere. Contemporary planters are about $10.

If you’re really adventurous, a coat of brightly-colored paint on your front door can create a splash. If you take on this challenge, it’s a good idea to make sure that the paint complements your home. For example, if your home is mostly red brick, a red door would make a dynamic look. A gallon of interior/exterior gloss enamel in red or any other bright color will set you back no more than $20.

Kitchen

When you look in your kitchen, what catches your eye first? Probably all those nifty cabinets that discreetly tuck away your dishes, right? After a number of years you might crave a different look. For starters, you might want to give them a good cleaning. This one step alone can make a difference. You would be surprised the amount of dust and grease that can accumulate on cabinets. Depending on the material that your cabinets are made of, simply removing the cabinets from their hinges and wiping them down with the damp cloth is sufficient. There are chemicals on the market, but you need to make sure that the chemicals are made for your cabinet material.

Once your cabinets are shining again, you can then add or replace knobs. Knobs range from simple unfinished versions that cost as little as $.50 to decorative insert pulls that costs around $3. With the average kitchen containing about 12 cabinets, your cost won’t go over $36.

Bathroom

Guest bathrooms are usually confined to a small space. Why not give this room a lift? You undoubtedly have a nice set of guest towels and matching accessories. These items are not necessarily cheap so unless you want to go over your $100 spending limit, you can leave those items as they are. What you can add are wallpaper trim, artwork, and color. There are numerous styles of wallpaper trim that you can choose a new look for your bathroom. You can go as conservative and as creative as you want. To complement the wallpaper trim, you can add artwork. You don’t have to go out and purchase expensive artwork. You can use your imagination to come up with some ideas. For example, a few seashells, colorful fabric, and an empty picture frame are all you need to become your own favorite artist.

If you have any leftover paint from your door, you can use this to paint a wall in your bathroom, as long as the color doesn’t clash with the other elements of your bathroom.

Lee Dobbins writes for A Kitchen Decorating Idea Guide where you can find
hundreds of articles on frugal kitchen decorating.

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