Tag Archive 'Interior Decorating'

Mar 06 2010

Change the Look of Your Living Room on a Budget

Most homeowners find that the living room is one of the most used spaces in the home. Families tend to use it for relaxing, entertaining, and spending time together. You may be looking for a new and different look for your living room if you spend a lot of time there. Fortunately, if you want to change the look of your living room, you don’t necessarily have to spend a fortune. Here are a few inexpensive ways to perk up and renovate your room.

Rearrange the Furniture
You don’t have to spend a dime to get a whole new look. Simply rearrange the furniture. The best place to start is to find a different focal point for the room and then rearrange things to focus on that new area. This is so simple to do and give the room a completely new look and flow. None of this requires any new furniture. Of course, if you really want to mix things up, add an inexpensive piece of furniture, like an end table.

Change the Paint Color on the Walls
Paint is great, as it is fairly inexpensive but can change the look of a room dramatically. Look at the color scheme you already have for the room, and choose a color from there. You can develop a whole new feel for the room by choosing a matching or complementary color. You also have the option of choosing one wall as an accent wall, if you don’t like painting the entire room. By painting it an accent color, you can give the room some more interest.

Add Inexpensive Accessories to the Furniture
It’s not necessary to spend a fortune on furniture accessories to change the style of a living room. Look around your home and see if you have any decorative pillows, throws, vases, baskets, flower arrangements, candles, and lamps, that you can take from a different room. You can give you couch a totally different style with some new decorative pillows. By adding different pillows to your neutral couch, you can easily turn a country-style piece to a contemporary style. Adding candles and baskets to the wood end tables and oak bookshelves in the room can really mix up the décor.

Change the Window Treatments
Different window treatments can completely change the look of a room, as they may allow different amounts of light to enter. You can also change the color, patterns, and type of material easily with window treatments. Another option is to add other window treatments to the existing ones. For instance, you could add a fabric valance to a window that already has blinds.

If you don’t have a lot of money to spend but you want to change the look of your living room, with a little resourcefulness and creativity you can come up with a new style. By simply following one or more of these tips, you can create a living room your friends and family may not even recognize.

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Feb 18 2010

Simple Tips for Decorating Your Bathroom in an Ocean Theme

One popular theme for a bathroom is an ocean theme. You can give your bathroom a unique ocean look with a variety of décor items that will leave you feeling like you are at the beach every time you set foot in the room. By following these tips and using your creativity, you should be able to come up with an awesome ocean theme for your bathroom.

Paint the Bathroom with Colors from the Ocean
You can quickly transform your bedroom into an ocean retreat by painting it blue, green, tan, and cream: the colors of the ocean. Paint the walls cream and then add a turquoise accent wall for a distinctive twist to the ocean theme. Another great way to add more color to the room is to add yellow, which highlights the feeling of a warm sun over the ocean. For those of you who are really creative, consider painting an ocean mural on one of the walls. This is a great way to fill a large space and can add a wonderful focal point to the décor. Even better, if this is your master bath, then your adjacent bedroom will feel like it’s right on the ocean.

Use Real Ocean Accessories
Rather than buying all your décor items from the store, try using items that can be easily found down at the beach or ocean. Things such as shells and sand make great additions to an ocean-themed bathroom. To add instant ambiance, place a basket of shells or bottles of sand on the shelf.

Hang an Ocean-Themed Shower Curtain
The shower curtain is one of the first things people notice when they enter the bathroom.  Hang an ocean-themed shower curtain for all to see. In this way, you can really play up the shower area. The shower curtain might showcase a beautiful ocean or beach scene. Or it might be more playful, with pictures of fish and the like. Decide whether you’re trying to create an ocean retreat or a fun beach theme, and choose your curtain accordingly. Look for Themed

Accessories to Complete the Look
There should be no problem finding bathroom accessories that fit in with the décor, as ocean themes are popular these days. You should be able to find ocean-themed soap dishes, bath mats, wastebaskets, and even towels. Tailor the accessories to fit the theme. For instance, if you’re creating a fun bathroom décor, then choose something like a fish-shaped soap dish. But if you’re going for a serious ocean retreat, then try something like shell-shaped soaps displayed in a blue soap dish.

You’ll find that an ocean theme is just as suitable for a child’s bathroom as it is for a master bathroom. You have a lot of flexibility here, as variations upon this theme range from lighthouses to sand sculptures. When designing the style, be sure to include your own personality and just have fun with it.

About the Writer….
Leon Tuberman has been part of the furniture and interior decorating  business for 40 years. He owns and operates his family owned furniture store. They carry a large selection of American made solid oak furniture for your living room, bedroom and wood office furniture. Whether you’re looking for a bookcase for your home office or a sofa for your living room  then they have everything you need.

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Feb 15 2010

Learn How to Add Color to Your Kitchen

If you’re like most families, you probably spend quite a bit of time in the kitchen. So why not make it more interesting by adding some color to the room? Maybe you don’t want a drab and dreary kitchen, but you don’t know quite how to add the right touch. Try some of these simple ways to add color to your kitchen, and make your look go from boring to beautiful.

Add Color by Dressing Up Your Table
If you’re looking for an easy way to add color to your kitchen, try dressing up your kitchen table. You might add a colorful tablecloth or placemats, as well as some colorful dishware. Add flowers in a vase or basket to the center of your wood dining table to add some instant color to the room. You want to try to find colors that complement your kitchen décor but add interest at the same time.

Add Color with a Backsplash
You don’t have to have a boring kitchen backsplash. Although you can always keep it simple with a neutral-colored tile or laminate, why not choose a colorful backsplash instead? You should be able to find tile and laminates for your backsplash in a variety of different colors. If you want a totally unique look, try arranging colored glass that’s been broken up in a random pattern on the wall. In this way, you can work some color into the décor and end up with a personalized, one-of-a-kind backsplash.

Paint an Accent Wall a Different Color
If your kitchen is painted a neutral color, then paint an accent wall to incorporate some color into the décor. You’ll want to choose a wall that’s not completely covered with cabinets or appliances. You’ll want the accent color to work well with the décor of your kitchen. For a more subtle look, go with a matching color. But if you want the wall to really stand out, pick a color that’s complementary.

Take the Doors Off the Cabinets
When you take the doors off your kitchen cabinets, you can display all your colorful dishes and other tableware. If you have neutral dishes, add some pop by painting the insides of the cabinets a contrasting color. This doesn’t mean you need to take every cabinet door off. But choose a couple of prominent cabinets about the countertops to be your “color cabinets.”

Use Window Treatments to Add Interest
Another great option is to utilize the window area in your kitchen to add color. For your valance or drapes, choose a color that will really stand out in the décor. A black-and-white kitchen, for instance, would benefit greatly from some red or purple window treatments.

You don’t need to redecorate the entire room in order to add color to your kitchen. Use what you already have and build some color into it, adding your own touches here and there around the room.

About the Author…
Leon Tuberman has been part of the furniture and interior decorating  business for 40 years. He owns and operates his family owned furniture store. They carry a large selection of American made solid oak furniture for your living room, bedroom and dining furniture. Whether you’re looking for a dining table for your dining room or a love seat for your family room  then they have everything you need.

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Feb 01 2010

Decorating with Crown Molding

Decorative molding is a great addition to any room, as it works to highlight certain features and enhance the décor. Decorative molding can add style and character to your walls, ceilings, and floors. Best of all, it give the room a finished and attractive look. If you’re looking for different places in your home to use decorative molding, here are some suggestions.

Use Decorative Molding around the Ceiling
The most common area to use decorative molding is up around the ceiling. One popular decorative molding is crown molding, which gives a sophisticated and polished look to the walls and ceiling. The molding is hung right where the wall meets the ceiling, giving a decorative touch to an otherwise uninteresting area of the room. You should be able to find this type of molding in a range of sizes, anywhere from 3” to 12” in width.

Use Decorative Molding along the Floor
People also like to put decorative molding around the flooring area. This is installed similar to ceiling molding, except it’s placed where the floor meets the wall. By concealing the area where the wall meets the floor, it gives the room a finished look. Commonly called baseboard, this type of molding is both decorative and functional, as it protects the walls from those scratches and scrapes made by furniture and other objects.

Use Decorative Molding along a Wall
The molding can be placed to create what is called a chair rail. Typically, you place the molding slightly lower than the middle of the wall. Then you run the molding all around the length of the room. People will often then place wainscoting or paint the lower half of the wall. If you’re looking to add some style and interest to your walls without going overboard, this is a great option.

Use Decorative Molding around a Window
By placing decorative molding around a window, you can highlight that area, playing up the beauty of the light coming in. What’s great about this is that the decorative molding will also seal any gaps between the window and wall. This is a terrific, energy-efficient way to keep air from escaping or entering the house. Most likely you will need to find a sill for the bottom part of the window that matches the rest of the molding.

Use Decorative Molding around a Door
Like windows, you can also use decorative molding to accent a door. If you already have decorative molding around a window, then try to match with that the molding you choose for the door. Just like with the windows, the molding will cover any gaps between the door and wall, hiding any blemishes and adding style and appeal to the room as well.

These are only some of the ways you might choose to use decorative molding in your home. Keep in mind, though, that if you use a certain type of molding one place in the room, use that same type of molding elsewhere. You can really pull together a room by using molding with the same color, width, or design, creating a cohesive look for your home.

About the Author…
For over 4 decades Leon Tuberman has helped people with their home furnishings and interior decorating needs. He owns and operates a popular furniture store in Los Angeles. They carry a large selection solid oak furniture for your home office, dining room and bedroom. Are you searching for bookcases for your family room or a solid oak bed for your master bedroom then they probably have everything you need.

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Jan 07 2010

Decorating with Wallpaper

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.

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Dec 02 2009

Decorating Ideas for a Sports-Themed Game Room

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.

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