How to Decorate Your Home Space
Decorating in a style that reflects who you are is one of the pleasures of having your own home space. The process asks you to look at the tasks from several vantage points, which work together to build a visually pleasing whole. Depending upon your personality, you can plan these elements out with precision and forethought or allow them to evolve over time. Your approach allows you to not only choose the best decorating style for you, but also to solve decorating problems created by your home.
- Difficulty:
- Moderate
Instructions
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Choose a decorating style. This helps you choose a color scheme and the decorative elements. Most decorating styles have colors and furniture styles and accessories that are typically associated with them.
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Make a focal wall. A focal wall allows you to highlight one wall by painting it a different color than the walls around it. It creates an anchor in the room, which directs its visual flow. Hang up items such as a collection of old photographs, a favorite oil painting, wall sconces or mirrors. Use a focal wall in any room of the house to quickly draw the eye into the room.
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Create inexpensive wall art to bring a personal touch to the space. Stretch a piece of material that has an interesting texture over stretcher bars and apply gesso to create a piece of abstract art. Gesso is a primer that artists spread over their canvases, which makes the canvas hard and prevents the paint from seeping through the canvas. Additionally, you can paint landscapes or draw portraits. Hang up fabric items such as tapestries, quilts or a Japanese kimono. Display these on the focal wall.
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Seat more people by featuring two sofas instead of the common set up of a sofa and an armchairs if you entertain a lot. A sitting space should ideally allow at least six people to sit. Adding the sofa brings this up to eight people.
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Make the most of a small space by buying furniture and accessories that perform double duty. For example, an ottoman or coffee table may have a built-in hidden storage compartment. A bed may come with drawers underneath.
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Use mirrors to add more light to a room. Mirrors reflect the light already in the room and make the room look larger, too.
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Use the 80/20 rule if you blend decorating styles. This rule helps you combine the decorative elements of two or more decorating styles in a room. Choose one style as the predominant style and the other as the accent style. For example, if you've combined Tuscan style with Japanese, choose Tuscan-style furniture and wall treatments. Accent with Japanese items like shoji screens or decorative bamboo. Choosing two styles that have colors in common will help you blend this technique more seamlessly.
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Choose decorative touches that show who you are. Place an antique bottle collection on the fireplace mantel. Cover your throw pillows with the old set of tea towels your grandmother gave you. Paint the shelves of your built-in bookcase your favorite color.
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References
- "Trading Spaces: Make It Yours"; Brian Kramer, editor; 2004
- Rental Decorating Digest: Simple Ways to Decorate Your Walls on the Cheap; Kathy Wilson
- "House Beautiful"; A Bungalow Goes from Small to Spacious; Alexandria Abramian-Mott
- Country Living: Budget Decorating & Makeover Ideas
- "House Beautiful"; A Surprisingly Large New York Studio; Carol Prisant
- Rental Decorating Digest: Blending His and Her Styles
Resources
- Photo Credit Ryan McVay/Photodisc/Getty Images
