Modern Home Decorating

Leanne Moore, editor of Your Home & Garden has shared some tips in taking interior decorating out of the box.  She tells us to experiment but still have a clear goal in mind. Instead of following classic designs, she tells us to let our imaginations run wild because it really doesn’t hurt to try something new when it comes to the designs of our houses.  Here are some style tips that may help you come up with your next big home decorating idea.

Style tips

Maintain focus: Sticking to a theme makes shopping easier.

Be bold: The Coulings painted their entire dining room blue after finding that the contrasting white fireplace and window surrounds were harder on the eye than the all-blue effect.

Get experimental: “Don’t be afraid to experiment with colour,” says Couling. “Try it in unexpected places. If you love it on the chart, try it on the wall, live with it for a while and if you’re not happy, it’s just a weekend with a paintbrush to transform it again.”

For more information, you can read the whole article at the NZ Herald

Don’t be intimidated when it comes to home decorating colors.  The more that you fear choosing the right color, the more confused you’ll get.  The best way to get rid of the fear when it comes to selecting the color for decorating is to know which colors work best with what setup.  As they say, the best way to conquer your fear is to face it and how better to face this fear than by knowing the colors inside and out?

Color choice when it comes to home decorating is usually very critical so don’t rush it. The right color combinations can also save you a lot of money because with the right accents, you can decorate your home on a budget with the right colors.

Read the entire article on About.Com

Alcove beds are a rare anomaly. They can’t really be bought. You need to use the power of renovation to build them. Yet… They are worth all that trouble. Luxurious hole-in-the-walls that exude all manner of sensual feeling. Plus, you’ll be in good company as well, since Thomas Jefferson has one. Apartment Therapy’s extensive overview of all kinds of Alcove beds is worth a read:

Scanning our analytics and seeing what you like to read about, I noticed that alcove beds are a secret delight (and highly ranked). They’re an unusual addiction as well, since you can’t buy one — you have to build it. Here, then, is a big hit of sweet alcove beds to settle your system. Enjoy!

Read more here.

Curb appeal is very important to the value of your home. If you have an attractive and clean home on the outside, this will make someone want to see the inside. If you are selling your home, great curb appeal is just as important as having a home show beautifully on the inside. If the outside is not clean this can deter a potential purchaser from even booking a showing to see your home, even though the interior could be spectacular.

The first thing to do is take an objective look at the outside of your property. Get other opinions as well. To enhance the appearance of your home there are a few inexpensive things you can do.

The most important consideration is the state of repair of the property. You must repair everything that needs repairing, which includes any cracked windows, broken railings, loose screens, crooked shutters, loose awnings, broken light bulbs, etc.

Once repairs are done then it is time to clean and unclutter. The garage should be cleaned out and items thrown out that have not been used in a year. Remove old tires, paint cans, bicycles, loose shrubs and broken lawn furniture from the yard.

Clear all pathways of any debris. Trim all shrubs and remove dead branches. Clean out the eaves. Don’t forget the back yard! A new paint job can add tremendous curb appeal. Paint front doors, garage doors, trim and shutters a contrasting color to the brick and siding for a dramatic effect. Use only one color for uniformity and balance. Too many colors look busy.

Siding can be power washed to refreshen the appearance. Flowers and flower pots can add tremendous color to a boring front yard. Place flower pots and large outdoor plants in a variety of colors on the front steps, walkways, or porches. Hang flower pots from the ceilings of verandas or hang on railings. Buy plant hooks and hang flower pots from them, which can be placed on the sides and front walls of your home. Plant a few flower beds with some green perennial plants for contrast. This is fairly inexpensive, but can add a lot of appeal to your yard. There are many books on landscaping at the library that can help you with this. Nurseries can offer helpful suggestions as well.

Those of you not familiar with the latest on gardening now have at least a basic understanding. But there’s more to come.

Spotlights focused on your flower beds can brighten up the yard at night giving it a very homey and welcoming feeling. This is also good for safety. A well lit home is a deterrent for burglars.

Lastly, add a decorative wreath and outdoor floor mat to the front of the door. This just adds the finishing touch and offers a welcoming appearance.

Window shutters can serve many purposes. In areas of the country prone to hurricanes, tornadoes, or other natural disasters, the shutters are fully functional. They can be closed in times of bad weather. This helps to protect the windows from damaging winds.

In parts of the country immune to such disaster, shutters are still popular additions to windows. Though fully decorative and completely inoperable, they give the home’s exterior an extra spark. Homeowners simply like the look of shutters. They give the face of a house character, personality and jazz it up a bit. Shutters give a house a traditional beauty, an old-fashioned elegance.

Shutters can also be used inside a home. They can be used to close off louver doors between rooms. This can be a decorative touch or it can add function to a door.

Shutters can be made of many different materials, including wood, vinyl, and faux wood. They come in an array of colors, although black and white are the most popular choices. Shutters are also available in many different styles. Whatever your style, whether traditional or contemporary, they have shutters to suit it. A popular choice today are farmhouse-style shutters on a city house. This look works particularly well with homes that feature a prominent porch. This allows homeowners to feel the comfort of the farm with all the convenience of the city. Window shutters can be made to match or complement your home’s exterior or to stand in stark contrast to it. Whatever your decorating goals for your home, you can probably find a shutter to match.

Whether for decoration or function, shutters are a nice addition to any home.

You can’t predict when knowing something extra about gardening will come in handy. If you learned anything new about gardening in this article, you should file the article where you can find it again.

Michael Hehn
http://www.articlesbase.com/non-fiction-articles/how-to-create-curb-appeal-when-selling-your-home-87971.html

The decor that is used to decorate an oriental style home is very ornate and colorful. Traditions from the Orient are displayed throughout these pieces. The pieces themselves can be found on walls in the form of artwork, displayed as statues or other “show” pieces, or the designs could be shown through the very furniture that is placed throughout the home.

Panel pieces in threes are very popular for displaying artwork in the oriental tradition. The artwork itself varies by what is displayed on the panels, but it is typically very traditional and colorful. There is a lot of gold, red, and black used as colors in this artwork. Large, wall-sized fans are also popular for decorating in the oriental tradition. Again, the artwork displayed will vary, but the colors will be similar to those used in panel paintings. The displays may include traditional oriental women complete with hair pulled back and wearing traditional clothing, likewise for Oriental males. They may also display the mythological creature so often seen in oriental design, the dragon, often breathing fire from its mouth.

Colors of walls in an oriental decorated home are most typically white. The red, gold, and black are most often reserved for the complimentary pieces. Clean lines are important to the Oriental home, so the walls will enhance those clean lines by having been painted either white or very light beige. Those walls will be lined on the bottom by wood grained shoe moulding and trim around doorways in the home. This further adds to those clean lines displayed throughout the home.

Knickknacks will be sparse. They will be well chosen after much contemplation. Not all Oriental pieces are red, black, and gold. Some use blues, blacks, and yellows too, but the first are the most typical. These traditional colors will be found in a lot of the knickknacks that will be displayed throughout the home. There will be only a few chosen and they will compliment one another. Plants will also be sparse. An orchid is a popular choice for Oriental decorating, but many green leafy plants will be appropriate too. Orchids can be hard to care for, so some may choose a simply ivy instead.

Artwork, other than fans and panels, will compliment the color choices of the knickknacks displayed. They will compliment the gold in a statue or the red sprinkled throughout the serving dish. There will never be too much color in the artwork, it should be simple, just like everything else discussed here.

Furnishings will be lower than typical to enhance the Zen tradition originated in the Orient. Some furnishing may not have legs at all, they may be nothing much more than cushions on the floor. Coffee tables and end tables will also be placed lower than their American counterparts. Again, this is to compliment the furnishings that are set lower. Often the legs of the furniture and coffee and end tables turn in. This shape goes along with the Oriental tradition.

An Oriental home is a clean one that displays its cleanliness through the undisturbed lines in the home. There will never be clutter in this style home. All pieces will have been chosen with much effort. The homes become pieces of artwork themselves and bring peace and serenity to those that are living among them.

Lee Dobbins
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-improvement-articles/how-to-add-interest-to-your-home-with-oriental-home-decor-123921.html

The earliest appearance of paint was approximately thirty thousand years ago. There are still some caves today where graphics and pictures can be found that were drawn using paint. Color has fascinated cultures throughout history. Some cultures used colors for healing purposes.

Paint is made up of a pigment, a binder to hold it together and with thinners it makes paint easy to apply. We use paint to help preserve, decorate and add function by covering a surface with a protective coating.

Before the nineteenth century, the word paint only applied to oil bound types. Those that were bond by glue were called distemper. The first synthetic dye was discovered in eighteen fifty-six and was produced inexpensively. It was during this time frame that linseed oil began being mass produced. By eighteen eighty, Sherwin Williams produced and marketed paints in tins in a wide range of colors. With their success, the paint was exported all over the world.

Americans have been practicing the green revolution for a long time. They started having concerns around nineteen fifty regarding what chemicals and solvents were being put in paint. In nineteen seventy lead and mercury was outlawed and could not be used in the manufacturing of paint. A major difference in modern wall paints is the change from linseed oil to alkyd oil which is generally derived from soybeans. The use of synthetic resins such as acrylics and epoxies have become prevalent in the last thirty years.

Wall paints are the easiest and least expensive way to change the entire look and feel of a room. Your stark cold walls can be transformed into a sophisticated ambience of color and texture. It seems to breathe new life into the room with harmony and design.

Scientists have proclaimed that color affects us psychologically and certain paint colors provide either a cooling effect while other colors give us a sense of warmth. Some warm colors are orange, red and pink, while blues, greens and violets are thought to be cool colors.

Choosing just the right color and finish can be confusing and challenging. Here is a color and finish vocabulary to help you figure it out:

• Hue – The base of a color. Lighter or darker variations are still the same hue.

• Value – The lightness or darkness of a color.

• Shades – Colors with values closet to black, the darker reds and so forth.

• Tints – Colors with values closet to white, the lighter blues and so forth.

• Tone – A color’s intensity brightness or dullness.

• Flat Paint – Is the standard paint for walls and has the lowest sheen available.

• Satin Paint – Has a slight sheen and is easier to clean then flat paint.

• Semi-Gloss Paint – Is highly durable and easy to clean. Great for kitchens, bathrooms and children’s rooms.

• Gloss Paint – Has a high sheen and is used in areas that are susceptible to getting dirty.
   This is great for doors and door frames.

Paint can also be mixed with a glaze to create various textures and patterns. This process is referred to as faux finish and is quite popular with home owners and interior designers. Washes are simply latex paint that has been thinned with water to produce color that is more delicate then that of a glaze. Washes also show brush marks which add depth and texture to your surface. There are other techniques that create unique charm and characteristics such as sponging, stippling, rag-rolling and color blocking.

Your first step before actually painting should be to take measurements of the area and calculate the amount of paint you will need. Then prepare your walls for painting. Patch all holes and allow spackling to completely dry. You must also remove any loose paint and sand uneven edges. Please don’t forget to cover the furniture and floor and remove light switch and outlet covers. A primer may be needed if your walls are new or show a lot of damage. You should also seek assistance from your home improvement store. They deal with this daily and can offer valuable advice.

It is best to take small steps and before too long you will feel like a professional and show off your technique on every wall in your home. At the end of the day as you look around you will be amazed at how a little color, texture and pattern will change your world.

Barbara Tobiasz is an expert in interior/exterior decorating. Along with her husband Joe, they own and operate Wall-Decor-Concepts.com. For more information on Wall Paints, go to: http://www.Wall-Decor-Concepts.com

Barbara Tobiasz
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-improvement-articles/wall-paints-various-colors-textures-and-patterns-705023.html

My room has this comforter in it http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Microfiber-Stripe-Reversible-3-piece-Comforter-Set/3442836/product.html and my walls are a light shade of blue. My room is also pretty small. I need some ideas for decorating my room, I really don’t know what to put on the walls. Any ideas?

Something Organic, Black and white photos, they will support the strong graphic theme without repeating it. hope this helps