subject: Decorating Your Home [print this page] If you're about to venture to a home improvement plan, remember these steps for decorating:
First, set a budget. It's easy to get carried away with the idea of grandeur only to come crashing hard back to reality when you find that you don't have enough spending money to turn your plans into fruition. With a budget, choosing the items, supplies, materials and whatever else you need will be more organized and easier, especially come shopping time.
Second, select a theme. With this comes the right colors, decorations, furniture and design. You can still decorate without a theme to follow but it will be more difficult for you to organize your decorating. Plus, buying things in different outlets can be a hassle. A theme makes decorating coordinated with similar items, same color scheme and most of the time, same store where you can buy your decorative items. Example: A Victorian theme calls for dark colors, heavy furnishings, lots of details and dramatic accessories such as paintings and chandeliers. No scouting for bright-colored accessories or stylish modern furniture. You can also get most of these Victorian-inspired stuff from a flea market or a similar kind from a thrift store.
Next, maximize decorative elements. By this, don't just focus on the sofa set or the dining table. Believe me, smaller items make a difference. Flowers in an ornate vase on top of an antique-looking chest is a work of contrast - both masculine and feminine. The flowers too bring a relaxing appeal to the room. Scented candles whether lighted or not add color (and smell!) to the room. The different shapes also give the eyes more to feast on. Tree branches as decor, especially for a country theme is an eye-catcher - original and creative.
Area rugs make great decorations because of the variety in colors, shapes, sizes and design. A round rug is cute and works well with smaller spaces. A large rug is a good choice for high-traffic areas where floor protection is needed.
It is important that you pick one or two rooms in your home and focus on them. Sometimes when you are focused on doing to many different things it can be overwhelming. Sticking with a small area until it is finished is a much better idea. Then you will be able to enjoy that area of your home while you are working on another room in the home.
