Hot to Use Home Decor Accessories to Create a New Look in a Room to Give it the X Factor
May 12th, 2009 | 
Author: Hot to Use Home Decor Accessories to Create a New Look in a Room to Give it the X Factor
By Claire Bowes
Apart from complimenting your newly painted walls with soft furnishings and effective flooring, home decor accessories in a room are just as equally important. Accessories ranging from flowers in a contemporary vase to art pictures hanging on your walls, all add the finishing touches to any room. Above all, accessories add personality to a room, they inject your own personal touch making your home unique to you and comfortable and inviting for you and your family.
Decorating with Art Pictures
You will be surprised at the important role that art pictures play in home decor accessories. Not only do pictures add your own personality into the room, they absorb noise and can actually help change the illusion of a rooms’ shape if placed in the right places. For example:
- horizontal landscape pictures help widen a room;
- Portrait floral pictures help give the illusion of height; and
- one large picture reflected through a mirror gives the sensation of additional broader space.
Creating Art Arrangements:-
For a maximum effect and to make interesting wall arrangements that can become a dynamic focal point of the room, try to hang smaller pictures in a cluster.
If you hang an even number of smaller prints tightly together in a cluster, this will help balance out a large space and give a window effect in a small space. Remember to hang the prints together tightly to create one unit and one focal point.
For larger pictures, place them in proportion to the furniture. For example, hang a large picture approximately six to nine inches above a sofa or at eye level. By hanging a larger print too high above any piece of furniture can leave both pieces feeling disconnected.
Tips Before Hanging Art
Before hanging any art on a wall, try different combinations of arrangements. Use painter’s tape and brown paper bags and keep rearranging the bits of paper on the wall until you have come up with a great picture arrangement.
Always hang prints at eye level and use your hand in between pictures as a guide to space large and medium sized pictures.
Create Illusions with Mirrors
Mirrors are great to help create the illusion of space. By cleverly placing mirrors on an adjacent wall to a picture or something which is interesting in your room, will reflect the image and add a sense of space.
For darker rooms, hang a decorative mirror near a window. The light will then bounce off the mirror into the room portraying more natural much-needed light back into the area.
To give the illusion of depth in a room paint one of your walls in a darker contrasting color to your other walls. Then hang a mirror on that darker wall. This instantly gives the additional sense of depth to the dimensions of the room.
Lighten-up with Light Fixtures
Light fittings are one of the most important elements of home decor accessories as they set the ambience of the room. By using different types of lighting you can create different moods on different areas of the room, at different times of the day.
For example:-
- accent lighting such as a spot light is used to emphasize wall paintings, ornaments or other interesting areas in a room;
- soft lighting used by small wall light fittings or table lamps, help create a gentle romantic mood;
- general lighting such as a ceiling center light, strip light or bright wall lamps are used for everyday purposes.
Tip: use a dimmer switch to create different moods with your lighting.
Adding Color with Flowers & Plants
Fresh flowers are always a wonderful accessory in a home. They are easy to blend in with any rooms accent and you can swap and change the color, type of flower and position at any time. They are such an easy and adaptable accessory to have. If you are allergic to flowers, try silk flowers instead – sometimes it is hard to distinguish between real flowers and silk ones…
By placing plants throughout your home helps add natural color, texture, and also softens the area making it more appealing to spend time there. Don’t forget to use attractive plant pots and containers for your plants – they are a home decor accessory too!
Area Rugs and Textiles
Area Rugs:-
Area rugs add warmth and texture to a room. They help soften wooden or hard floors and add contrasting colors and patterns into the room.
First you must determine what you want the rug for – is it a focal point? or do you want to group furniture on it? Secondly, you must measure what size rug you need before you go shopping.
Other Textiles:-
By using other types of textile home decor accessories, you can create additional comfort and softness in using:-
- scatter cushions made with different types of material;
- throws on your sofa or lounge chair;
- napkins, place mats and tablecloths in the dining room or kitchen;
Summary
Home decor accessories play a crucial part in your home decorating. Even if you don’t need to repaint your walls, you can still change the look of your room. By rearranging furniture and wall pictures, adding soft light fixtures, flowers arrangements and plants, the placement of an area rug and using different textiles in a room, all help create a new look to reflect you and your personality.
Visit Claire’s Home Improvement Ideas site and get inspired with more interior design ideas.
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Modern Home Decor – Simplicity At It’s Finest
Modern Home Decor – Simplicity At It’s Finest
By Lee Dobbins
If there’s one thing that a modern home has when it comes to decor, it’s simplicity. Some decorating practices use a lot of texture and knickknacks; you will certainly not find this in a modern home. Modern home decor includes clean lines, sparse decorative objects, and well thought out contrast in color.
The colors in a modern home will be dark. They will be tones of browns, reds, burnt yellows, perhaps even a pearled tone of white or silver. The walls will most likely contrast with one another. Not all the walls in the room will be the same color. Alternately, if the home is very open, colors may be varied by room. One room may be chocolate brown while the room next to it will be a burnt yellow. Either way, the colors chosen will contrast with one another.
The decor throughout each room will be well thought out and carefully chosen. The pieces chosen will be few and they will displayed through the use of shelves that are mounted on the walls. Modern home decor looks for clean lines; therefore, there are not a lot of things placed on the floor other than what’s absolutely necessary. Furniture is necessary to this room as well as perhaps a coffee and end table. Other than that, all else should be off of the floor.
Artwork will also be well chosen and very particular. Colors in the artwork should reflect colors that are painted on the walls. Pieces chosen should be of good size and only a few should be displayed. Again, clutter will definitely not do in this type of decor, so choose only one or two pieces of artwork and display on alternate walls.
Furniture for this type of room will be very simple as well as everything else. Fabrics will be smooth, usually leather or micro fiber. These furniture pieces will not be very ornate. The couches will be simple places to sit and not much more. Coffee tables will be artistic and often made of glass. Again, they will be very simple. They will either be round or square and if made of wood, it will be smooth and one tone. If there is a chair in addition to a couch, it will contrast with the material of the couch. In other words, if the couch’s color is simple beige, then the accent chair will incorporate that beige with a few other colors in a decorative piece.
A modern home is simple, yet classy. All things in this home have been picked out through painstaking efforts. There are clean lines throughout the home and very little in the way of knickknacks. Modern home decor screams good taste in a very simple way.
Lee Dobbins writes for Home Improvement Solution where you can get more decorating tips for dozens of decorating styles.
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Interesting & Intriguing Interior Decorating Tips for Your Kitchen
Interesting & Intriguing Interior Decorating Tips for Your Kitchen
By Hunter Pyle
There are so many businesses out there that are creating wonderful products for kitchens with new technology and a wide variety of colors. We no longer have to choose from white, red, green or black. You can have a beautifully decorated kitchen with your appliances matching the interior décor with nearly any color of your choice!
Stainless steel is a great metal that can be added to your kitchen in many forms, and it matches whatever color scheme you choose for your kitchen. Stainless steel is nice, easy to clean and looks magnificent.
Something as easy as reorganizing your kitchen can really make you feel better and make your kitchen look 100% better with minimal changes. Get some good storage boxes, a bread box, place to store vegetables and fruit, and storage for anything else that is out or does not seem to have a place of its own. When everything has its own place and the storage is highly organized in your kitchen it is easier to decorate and more convenient to clean. You will also enjoy your kitchen more just from adding some modern decorative organization tools.
A lot of people are choosing to add an island to their kitchen, which is a separate place for storage (usually in the middle of the kitchen) and has a matching countertop. Some people even use them for extra appliances such as a dishwasher, small oven, sink, and more. Most people have one side as a bar where people can eat and drink on stylish bar stools. Adding an island to your kitchen might be a great choice for you while adding more storage space, and eating space.
Another thing is adding a touch of your very own style to your kitchen’s decoration. When you are focusing on decorating your kitchen, organizing your items and choosing a color scheme you can sometimes forget to add a little something. A few vases, interesting knick knacks, wall décor, or some intriguing lighting can add that little touch that pulls it all together. Choose items that you love at first sight and know that you will love having them in your kitchen for a long time.
You can also choose to decorate your kitchen from your favorite decorative item, such as a vase or particular wall décor. By using an item you already love you can build a color scheme from that one item, choose appliances that seem to fit with that item, and even find intriguing organizers that fit the look of your favorite item. Some interior designers only work this way, and swear by it.
About the Author: Hunter Pyle wrote this article to talk about ways to decorate your kitchen so it’s more than just a place to cook. Check out Kitchen and Much More for some great ideas to help get you started.
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Budget Decorating – Interior Decorating Ideas for Small Spaces
Budget Decorating – Interior Decorating Ideas for Small Spaces
By Lynn Cressy
Are you looking for some interior decorating ideas that won’t break your budget? If so, you will be happy to know that there are plenty of changes you can make in your small space that will help spruce it up without hurting your pocketbook.
When it comes to budget decorating, the simplest change you can make is color. With a little paint, you can really open up a space and make it appear brighter and more welcoming. If you want to make your space look bigger, try dabbling in bright colors that will help lighten up the room. If you are looking for a cozy space, on the other hand, keep your colors on the darker side. Either way, a bucket or two of paint won’t put too much strain on your budget.
Other budget interior decorating ideas include finding ways to catch the eye of everyone that enters the room. Purchase a few inexpensive frames from the dollar store and put some of your favorite photos inside. Or, purchase some charming posters and put them in the frames and hang them in your space. By doing a little bit of shopping around, you will certainly be able to find a great piece to put in the frame and display in your small space. Just make sure you don’t overdo it. Putting too many pictures on your wall will look cluttered and unattractive.
Throw pillows and rugs are also great when it comes to budget decorating. Simply throwing a few pillows on a couch or chair can help you achieve an entirely new color scheme. Yet, you can purchase great throw pillows for less than $20 each and they can be changed out regularly in order to create a fresh and attractive look.
To learn more about decorating your home while staying within your decorating budget, download a free copy of the ebook “Budget Home Decorating Tips”. Download it free here: Budget Home Decorating Tips.
Lynn Cressy has a love for decorating and shopping for home decor. She owns a home decor web site and writes articles on home decorating and organizing your home and your life.
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