People often prefer painted walls over wallpaper. But those people may be missing out on some of wallpaper’s advantages. Wallpaper tends to go in and out of style. But whether it is popular or not, here are 5 reasons to choose wallpaper for your walls.

1. Wallpaper Offers a Variety of Styles
When you use paint, all you can choose is the color of the walls. And if you are not handy with a paintbrush, you can usually choose only one color. On the other hand, wallpaper gives you much more variety to choose from. With wallpaper, you can pick from different colors, patterns, and textures. With wallpaper, you literally have thousands of options, whereas with paint you are rather limited. You may be surprised at the types of wallpaper they make nowadays. All the variety gives you endless options in terms of the style you can choose for your home.

2. Wallpaper Can Help Disguise Imperfections
With wallpaper, you can easily hide any imperfections or uneven surfaces that a wall might have. Since wallpaper covers the wall, a crack or dent won’t be visible anymore. All in all, wallpaper does a much better job disguising imperfections than paint does.

3. Wallpaper Displays Your Real Personality and Interests
Whatever you love, whether it’s boats or birds, you can easily express that interest with your wallpaper. You can truly express your personality and interests when you choose wallpaper for your walls. If you have something or a hobby that you want to show off, there is most likely wallpaper that goes with it.

4. Wallpaper Can Improve the Appearance of the Room
Depending on what type of wallpaper you choose, it can make any room look much better than before. For instance, some wallpapers will make a small room look larger. Or you might use wallpaper to bring together different elements of the room in order to create a more cohesive style. The biggest thing you can do to change a room is to put wallpaper up on the walls. If you choose your wallpaper carefully so that it’s pleasing to the eye and fits well with the overall décor, it can actually be more appealing than a simple paint job.

5. Wallpaper Borders Are a Great Option for Extra Style
If you are unsure whether you want to paint or wallpaper a room, there is a way to do both. Try painting and then add a wallpaper border to the wall. This way, you can have the personalized style and added character wallpaper brings to the room without the big commitment wallpapering the whole wall entails. By putting a wallpaper border in the middle or on the top of the wall, you can easily incorporate more of your sense of style into the décor.

Wallpaper has long been a useful home decorating too, and it’s not going anywhere anytime soon. Although according to décor trends it may come and go, there are permanent benefits to having wallpaper on your walls at all times.

About the Writer…
Leon Tuberman has 40 years of experience in the home furnishings and interior decorating industry. He is the owner and operator of popular furniture store in California. They offer a huge assortment of solid wood furniture for your living room, home office and dining room that’s built in the Heartland of America. Whether you’re looking for a wood beds for your bedroom or a wood coffee table for your living room then they have everything you need.

If you’re looking for a way to display your favorite piece of art in your home, then you have a couple of options to choose from. Rather than settling with simply hanging your piece of art on the wall, choose from one of these creative ways to display art in your home instead.

Use Ribbon to Hang Art on the Wall
You can go beyond simply hanging a piece of art from a nail in the wall by using ribbon to hang the art instead. Carefully choose your ribbon so that it adds to the art and complements it well. Hang ribbon either from a hook or screw in the middle of the back of the art piece or from both sides. Use a small nail or place a hook on the wall to hang it from. Especially if you end up using more than one ribbon to hang it by, you want to be sure that the artwork hangs evenly on the wall.

Place Artwork on a Decorative Shelf
A great place to display art is on a decorative shelf. There are all types of decorative shelves and ledges available that will add to the beauty of any piece of art.

Do be sure that the size of the shelf you select is appropriate to the size of the piece. You might also decide to display an entire collection of art on the shelf, rather than just one piece. It’s important to also double check to make sure that the shelf or ledge is properly installed before placing any artwork on it.

Use a Fireplace Mantel to Display Art
Do you have a nice fireplace mantel in your home? Why not draw even more attention to your mantel by placing a piece of artwork on it? Rather than hanging the artwork above the mantel, try placing the piece on the mantel and up against the wall.

Although the artwork should be smaller than the mantel, you don’t want a piece that’s so small that you don’t really see the art against the larger mantel. Rather than just displaying the one small piece, place two or three smaller pieces on the mantel for a unique look. Make sure that the piece of art is secure. After all, you don’t want it falling down off the mantel.

Find Unique Hangers for the Art
There are many different things you can use to hang artwork that you probably haven’t even thought of. For instance, if you have a favorite stocking holder, you can nail it to the wall and use it to hold your favorite piece of art instead.

You might also use a rope or chain that hangs from the ceiling or the top of the wall. One piece can be hung from it or several pieces. Hang the artwork either vertically or horizontally, depending on the length of the wall. Essentially, you are creating something like a clothesline for your pieces of art across a blank wall.

You don’t have to keep displaying pieces of art in your home in the same old boring ways. No matter the style and theme of the room, there are plenty of creative and crafty ways to display your art. So get creative and use one of these ideas to display art in your home.

About the Author…
Leon Tuberman has been part of the home furnishings and interior decorating  business for four decades. He is the owner and operator of popular furniture store in California. They carry a large selection of USA made solid wood furniture for your living room, dining room and bedroom. Are you searching for a bed for your bedroom or any other type of oak bedroom furniture then they probably have everything you need.

If a huge sports fan lives in your home, a sports-themed game room might be the perfect addition to your décor. Depending on what style you want, there’s a wide variety of sports themes you might implement. Décor theme options include: a specific sport, a particular professional sports team, a college or university athletics program, or any other sport that you love. Consider the following tips when you go to decorate your sports-themed game room.

Decorating the Walls in a Sports Theme
If you’re decorating the walls of your game room with a sports theme, it doesn’t have to be expensive at all. In fact, many of the decorate items you might need may already be lying around the house.

· You might tack some jerseys up on the wall with nails or long push pins. You might use some favorite jerseys from professional or college teams, or even perhaps your own old jersey.

· Inexpensive sports posters will also look great on the walls. You can usually purchase these at stores that sell sports memorabilia or sometimes even those that specialize in movie posters.

· Other sports décor items, such as a team or school blanket or a huge wall clock, can also be used to decorate the walls.

Another wall-decorating option is to put up shelves or wood bookshelves in order to display your sports items. Display items might include balls, trophies, autographed memorabilia, and any other sports equipment. Just be sure the display items are stable so they don’t end up coming crashing down on someone.

Necessary Furniture for a Sports-Themed Game Room
You are most likely going to want a television in your game room. You might also consider some sort of gaming system, perhaps one that you can also watch movies on. You certainly don’t need the biggest television out there, but for proper game playing you will need at least a medium-sized one. An entertainment center or a oak tv stand for the gaming room is another wise investment, as it will give you a place to house the television, gaming system, CDs, DVDs, and any other gadgets you may keep in the room. The great thing about an entertainment center is that it will help keep the room organized and clean, where everything has its place. For some extra character, use the top of the center to display some sports-themed items.

When it comes to game rooms, another must is comfortable seating. In terms of color, you might chose to buy seating in the color of the team or school you are featuring, or you can go with a more neutral color such as tan or cream. Then to create a sports feeling, you can add some decorative pillows to the chairs or couches. It’s common for most professional and collegiate sports teams to have decorative pillows available. Or if you prefer, simply throw a sports blanket on the back of the couch or chair.

With so many different sports décor items you can use, creating your sports-themed game room should be an easy process. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have much of a budget. Simply use those items you already have, such as old baseball cards, old sports equipment, and any other sports memorabilia that someone might want to donate to your new game room.

Some rooms naturally have a focal point, whereas other rooms might require you to add something to create that focal point. But before you add anything to the room, be sure to take the time to look closely at that room to see what it already has to offer. For instance, you might already have something like a fireplace that is a natural focal point that just needs to be played up when decorating.

A large piece you already have in the room might make a great focal point, such as a wood bookcase, an entertainment center, wooden dressers, or even a couch. You may only have to rearrange some furniture to create a focal point if you already have something in the room you can use. Or you might have to start from scratch in choosing the proper focal point for a room.

The Fireplace as a Focal Point
A fireplace provides a great natural focal point for any room. If you have a fireplace in the room, then there are plenty of ways you can draw attention to it.

For an instant focal point, arrange the furniture around the fireplace. But there are also other things you can do. You might draw attention to that area by painting the wall the fireplace is on a different color than the rest of the room. You could also change the style of the fireplace or add a new mantle to it in order to draw more attention there. Then top the mantle with eye-catching décor items, or hang a large piece of art over it.

The Couch as a Focal Point
If you have a favorite couch that you just love, with a little rearranging you can make it the focal point of the room. Just be sure the couch is in great condition. If it’s necessary, you might want to add a slipcover to it.

You can add colorful or patterned pillows or throws to the couch to draw attention there. Arrange the rest of the furniture in the room so that it is facing the couch. A large couch can be placed in the middle of the longest wall in the room. Side tables can be added to the couch as well.

The Armoire or Entertainment Center as a Focal Point
If you want to highlight an entertainment center or armoire in a family or media room, you need to make sure you concentrate on the quality of the product. After all, you don’t want an entertainment center that’s cheap-looking to be the main focus of the room. Thus, be sure to invest in an attractive piece of furniture that’s also of decent quality.

It’s not a bad idea to also look for a furnishing with doors that will hide any electronics. For some additional style, add flower arrangements, candles, and frames to the furnishing.

You can come up with many other ways to create a focal point in a room. There will be different pieces in different rooms that you might want to show off. In a bedroom, a popular focal point is the bed, for instance. Remember to use your creativity in showing off and highlighting your focal point as best you can.

As those of you with teenagers very well know, decorating a teen bedroom isn’t the easiest thing in the world. With some teens, it’s not a matter of figuring out what exactly they want; it’s whether you can afford it or not. Other teenagers just don’t care what their room looks like. For those of you who keep coming up short on theme ideas for your teenager’s bedroom, here are some great ideas to consider.

Theme Ideas for a Teen Girl’s Bedroom
For some teenage girls, it’s all about the color scheme when it comes to their bedroom. Pink and brown, turquoise and brown, and purple and white are all very popular color schemes for a teen girl’s bedroom. These color schemes can be found in a variety of accessories and fabrics that will look great in your daughter’s room.

Many teen girls want a glamorous décor in their bedroom. This theme doesn’t have to be as expensive as it sounds. You should be able to easily find accessories, furniture, and other décor items that fit the theme without breaking your budget. Anything with jeweled or glitter accents will work. A fake glass chandelier or a leopard-print lamp on the nightstand will create an instant glamorous effect in the room.

If glamour isn’t your daughter’s thing, consider a modern or funky style. If you go with this style, you will definitely need some input from your teenager. Bright colors are a hallmark of modern style, along with unusual or contemporary artwork, designs, and patterns on the walls. You don’t want this bedroom theme to get too trendy and out there, however. After all, you don’t want your teen tiring of it within a few months.

Consider these other great theme ideas for your teen girl’s bedroom:

· French theme

· black-and-white theme

· stripes-and-shapes theme

· floral theme

· romantic theme

· cheerleading or dance theme

Theme Ideas for a Teen Boy’s Bedroom
Most teenage boys don’t tend to show much interest in their bedroom theme, throw in a couple of oak nightstands and wooden bookshelves and they’re satisfied, unless of course they are truly passionate about an activity or hobby. Chances are that your teenage boy will simply want to choose a color scheme for the room and then leave it at that. If this is the case, then suggest a color scheme that goes beyond black or blue. To add some more interest and color, consider other colors like turquoise, green, red, yellow, brown, and orange.

A sports-related décor is very popular amongst teenage boys. One way to go is with a general sports theme, or you might concentrate on just one sport, such as football or hockey. You could also decorate the room with their favorite professional or collegiate team. As long as you don’t go overboard and clutter the room with everything sports, sports themes tend to be a fairly easy decorating style.

A car theme is another popular bedroom idea. This theme can be implemented in a variety or ways, from an old classic car theme to a focus on current hot racing cars. You might want to hang framed pictures of cars on the walls or, if you’re really creative, paint a mural of a speedway.

Consider these other great teen boy décor ideas:

· music theme

· skateboarding theme

· technology theme

· surfing theme

· camouflage theme

· wilderness theme

Decorating a teen bedroom should be fun for both parents and their teenagers. Suggest some of these great theme ideas to your teenage son or daughter; you might just end up scoring some parent points with your teen.

Do you find that the current look of your home is boring? Are you just looking for something different? There are plenty of simple ways to accessorize any room in your home. You don’t need a lot of money or an interior decorator to give a room an entirely new look. Try these simple ways to accessorize any room in your home.

Add Some Extra Flair with Throw Pillows
Start by adding some complementary throw pillows to a sofa or chair. Or try adding a throw blanket to the back of the sofa. Be sure, however, that these items are not the same exact color as the sofa or chair. After all, they should work to add some interest and design element to the room. For instance, if you have a tan sofa, find decorative pillows where tan is not the main color in the design or pattern. By finding accessories that match other complementary colors in the room, you can really pull the room together.

Update Your Lighting Fixtures
Give your room a whole new glow by updating your lighting fixtures. Installing new lighting in a room can make a big difference, whether you’re replacing older fixtures or small ones. There are many inexpensive ones available that are easy to install. Find a design style to fit the room, but also make sure the light fixture gives off plenty of light to make your room brighter and more welcoming.

Go Green with Your Living Room Accessories
You can easily add more color to the room with a houseplant or vase of flowers. No matter your style, you should be able to find some really beautiful fake flower arrangements at your local craft store. Otherwise, if you’re creative enough, you can make one yourself. The flower arrangement should be placed in a prominent spot in the room so that it garners more attention. If you decide on a houseplant, real or fake, it should also go where it will garner more attention. To draw more attention to the fireplace, for instance, consider placing two houseplants on either side of it.

Fill Up a Blank Wall with Framed Pictures
Are your walls boring? Try hanging a few picture frames in various shapes and sizes to spice things up. You should be able to choose from a wide array of unique and stylish frames that will not only help you display your pictures but will also add some interest to the room. Black-and-white pictures or those with just a touch of color will provide a dramatic look, as will matted images.

Reorganize Knickknacks with Shelving
If your various knickknacks in a room are getting lost in the mix, consider grouping them together on a mantle or shelving on oak bookcases. This way, you can display them together in a stylish arrangement and thus better accessorize the room.

It’s simple to redecorate or switch around the style design of a room by accessorizing. If you really want to do something totally different, you might look into moving the furniture around. You could also add new pieces of furniture to the mix, such as new such as a new side table or oak coffee table. Adding accessories to a room should be neither hard nor expensive. Just get creative and allow you style to really show.

You really can change the look of your bedroom without spending a fortune. A little creative thinking and planning can make a difference whether your working on a full project or just making a couple of changes.

Here’s how to get started:

Buy a few accessory pillows for $10 each (or less) in a new color palette. Take pillows of similar color, mix up the textures –like silk and chenille – and you’ve instantly go yourself a sophisticated monochromatic look. Try a romantic look with layers of pillows — large ones in the back and smaller ones up front.

A fresh coat of paint can make a huge difference in the look of room and its fairly inexpensive to do. Think repainting the entire room is too big of project? Then break it down by focusing and painting only one wall and experimenting with a single area of the room. Want to create some texture with your older more detailed closet doors? Then paint the closet’s frame in a neutral color and the inset in a dark one. Giving a room a new life can be as simple as painting the furniture. Give an old dresser a faux antique finish or sponge paint a cabinet.

A new headboard can be rather expensive. Try something new and creative like getting an inexpensive wrought iron or picket fence at a flea market. Bed skirts make most beds look soft and sophisticated and are an inexpensive decorating investment. They’re available in several color, textures and patterns. By using a soft and neutral color you can get the most in both beauty and versatility. You do not want it to be the center of attention, but you do want it to accent your bed.

Window treatments are easier than people think. Want to try something inexpensive and not too dramatic? Try swag curtains. It will really add a feminine touch to the room. You can place bicycle or plants in the ceiling. Or opt for just a blind and an inexpensive garland or floral accent at the top of the window. We also love the look of a simple rod with funky finials and ready-made unlined drapes. Ikea, Kmart, Target, JCPenney and Pottery Barn carry a large selection of all of these items.

Do have a canopy or four-poster bed that could use a little sprucing up? Drape fabric over the poles and let a little of the fabric fall to floor to achieve that beautiful *puddle* effect. To get this effect all you need to do is add an extra 2 feet to the fabric before it’s cut. Candles are a decorative item that many people forget to use. While most people go with white candles, since they’re the most sophisticated, consider clustering colored candles to create a focal point on a night stand or dresser. Even numbers tend to be boring so go for odd numbered candle groupings. Try different heights and gather them as an altar on a shelf.

Hanging framed artwork and posters or mirrors is inexpensive and can go a long way in changing the look of room, but make sure it doesn’t clash with your current décor. Keep it simple with a neutral colored frame – black, gold, brown or white. For an easy decorating idea try simple wall shelves. Collections are perfect for displaying on a wall shelf, but try to stay away from small items. Loading shelves with a lot of tiny knick-knacks will make your shelf appear too busy. Try glass bottles for a minimal look (adorn with fresh flowers), or even use a shelf to prop up framed paintings or photos.

Sue  has almost 20 years of experience in the home furnishings and interior decorating industry. She owns and manages a popular furniture store in Los Angeles. They specialize in Mission style and Arts & Crafts bedroom, office and dining room wood furniture. Her store offers a line of furniture that not only looks great, but is built using Old World craftsmanship. Whether your trying to find Amish bedroom furniture or American made solid oak dining sets, they carry the largest selection at prices that won’t break the bank.