Tag: decorating

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5 DIY Home Decorating Projects

Next to renovating, home decorating is the best way to revitalize your home and improve your living space. With home decorating, taking the DIY route is relatively safe, and it lets you use your creativity in design choices. This helps to make your home feel uniquely personal.

If you’re looking to get started on a decorating project but are stuck for ideas, check out our top 5 DIY decorating projects.

  1. Your front door is the introduction to your home. It should be elegant, make a statement, and introduce guests to the theme that they’ll find within. You don’t need a completely new door to change the outward facing feel of your home. Simply painting the door, or changing the molding to an accent color can make a world of difference.
  2. Handles are one of the simplest things you could change in your home to make immediate improvements in any room. Drawer and cupboard handles, as well as door handles are easily replaceable by hand. New fittings can freshen up desks, dressers, closets, and kitchen cabinets.
  3. Change your curtains. Curtains are one of the easiest things to change in your home. Another great thing about new curtains as a redecorating project is that they’re available in a wide variety of colors and styles. Choose curtains that complement your entire décor, especially your carpets and walls.
  4. Decorators who are a little bit more adventurous could try redecorating their current furniture. Older hardwood items can be sanded and re-stained, or if you’re the creative type you could even create your own paint designs and finish them off with a sealant coat.
  5. Add some rugs to your living spaces. Rugs are underutilized these days, especially since so many homes are carpeted. Contrary to popular belief, rugs DO work over carpeted floors. You only need to choose them carefully. Aim for a rug that doesn’t clash with the rest of your décor, and you need to be very careful by considering the curtains, wall color, carpet color, and even the furniture. If you want to carry a theme and you have a light carpet, an easy rule of thumb is to match your rugs to the color of your curtains.

Home decorating can be fun and rewarding, so long as you plan it right and remember to consider the overall design and look of your décor. Starting any of these simple projects is easy, and all of them can be completed for only a small cost. Redecorating today could completely transform a tired space, helping you to feel wonderful in your home again.

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Top 5 Home Decorating Disasters

One of the great things about decorating your own home is that you get to input some of your personal creativity and flair in to any space. This means that you will have total freedom to get the look and feel that you want. Choosing your own paints, carpet, furnishings, or even lighting fixtures is all part of the fun in decorating your new home, or in revamping your tired décor. One problem though, is that not everything that seems like a good idea actually works in practice. If you’re taking it one step further and thinking of installing improvement yourself, then there’s even more risk to get it wrong.

If you’re thinking of redecorating, or are decorating a new home, you don’t always need to pay a professional designer. However, it wouldn’t hurt to know the top five home decorating disasters that you need to steer well clear of.

Bathroom Tiles. Tiles are a beautiful flooring choice for any bathroom. The right kind of tile will create an elegant and timeless look, and can turn an ordinary bathroom in to a luxurious escape. Homeowners need to be extremely careful not just in choosing tiles, but in installing them. Not all tiles are alike and bathroom tiles need specialized coatings and sometimes materials to keep looking their best. Installing the tiles is a critical job, and getting anything wrong can cost thousands in getting professionals to start all over again. If you have no experience in installing tiles, working with grout, or any general handy-work, then this is one home decorating disaster where a professional is needed.

Carpets. Carpets beautify and make homes more comfortable. There’s no other material that evokes luxury in the way that carpet does. Choosing carpets should not be based on looks alone, but practicality too. Light colored carpets might look elegant, but imagine how hard they can be to keep clean. If you have children and pets, then light colored carpets could be the worst choice you could make. Lifestyle comes before looks, and in the case of carpets there is a lot of care required to avoid a decorating disaster.

Lighting. Lighting is one area of home decorating that doesn’t get the attention it deserves. Above all, lighting should be practical, so if you’re going for the latest in designer fixtures, make sure they allow enough luminance. Elegant and practical is the safest way to go.

Hanging decorations, artwork, and portraits. Consider that decorations, family pictures, and artwork are all to be enjoyed, so why do most homeowners place them at heights that require stepladders to appreciate? Aim for eye level height of the second tallest person in the family. Unless you’re in the NBA, going too high will only compromise your décor.

Avoid overmatching. When you’re in the bed and bath store, or any boutique decorating shop, you will notice that there are matching sets of almost any item. Placemats that match couch throws and cushions, which match curtains, which match the doormat… and it goes on. Over matching everything in your home is a decorating disaster that you will regret. Variation is what makes a décor beautiful. Your furnishings and decorations should complement each other, rather than creating a sterile and stifling look throughout your home.

Decorating your home should be about variety, practicality, and comfort. Homeowners should not shy away from style, but need to be aware of what can go wrong. In the case of renovations, always use professionals if you’re not skilled in the job. Additionally, sometimes an interior designer can be a help, even if you only bring them in for a short consultation.

With the right care and restraint your home can be as beautiful as you want it to be, as long as you know where to draw the line when it comes to home decorating.

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