Decorating Tips For Your House
Most people want to give their house or room a make-over but don’t know where to start. Here are some useful tips that address the common decorating dilemmas.
Dilemma: You have no decorating skills and don’t know where to start.
Solution: Start by becoming a copycat. Create a mood board with cuttings from magazines, books, downloads from design sites or photographs of homes that have the input of an interior decorator. If you like something, find ways to copy the same look and personalize it with your preferred colour scheme or furnishings.
Dilemma: Old decor and limited budget to decorate
Solution: Be clever with what you spend your money on. Rather than trying to do everything at once, use your limited funds on decor that will give you the biggest visual impact, such as painting your walls, creating a focal point etc. Don’t be eager to get rid of your old furniture, particularly if it has good frames or is an antique. Old furniture can be given a new lease on life with a coat of paint and re-upholstering. When buying furniture, aim to purchase one quality piece a year, and build on it year by year. Alternatively, decorate one room at a time.
Dilemma: Small spaces and a small house
Solution: Trick the eye. There is little you can do to increase your current space. However, with clever decorating, you can make it seem more spacious. For a start, aim for a monochromatic colour scheme (where you use one colour) or cool colours in your decor and on the walls which make the walls recede and appear larger. If you have a low ceiling, paint it the same colour as the walls as this visually enlarges the space. Buy multi-purpose furniture, for example, a wooden chest can serve as a coffee table while providing storage from books, cds and magazines. Use light weight and see-through furniture such as a glass dining table or coffee table. Limit the amount of furniture you use to avoid cramming the room as this makes it smaller than it already is. Borrow space from the outside, if you have a balcony, patio or veranda. For example, you can install glass windows in your balcony and turn it into a dining room, play room or study room. A patio can also be made into a second living room.
Dilemma: Large rooms are difficult to decorate
Solution: You can break one large room into smaller rooms to create cosy nooks. For instance, in a large living room, you can have two or three smaller rooms. Create a cosy conversation space with two upholstered chairs arranged near a fire place with an occasional table between them. The larger space is for your main living area which will accommodate your sofa set. A third area can be demarcated as a library with a bookshelf and a loveseat. Alternatively, it can be a music room with an instrument such as a guitar or piano. Resist the urge to arrange furniture around the walls as this emphasizes the largeness of the room. Instead, pull furniture away from the walls and where possible, arrange at interesting angles rather than right angles.
Just about any house or room can be decorated regardless of its size and location. All you need to do is think outside the box and in no time, you’ll have given your house the proper decor it needs.
Contact this author at www.qhi.net.au for home improvement and building services in Brisbane Australia.
