color of your walls can give your living room, bedroom, or dining room a brand new look and feel

Tired of ogling the latest styles in brand name home furnishing stores and catalogues, only to find that the price of one little coffee table equals more than half your monthly salary? Don’t be discouraged — with a little ingenuity, your home can be as beautiful and stylish as a Hollywood celebrity’s, for just a fraction of the cost.

* Start with the walls. It’s easy to forget that sometimes just adding a fresh coat of paint or changing the color of your walls can give your living room, bedroom, or dining room a brand new look and feel.

Wallpapering is another way to jazz up a room — but don’t break your budget hiring a contractor. Consider wallpapering just one wall, or only wallpapering borders.

* Create atmosphere with Light. Don’t overlook the power of a lamp. The right lighting can transform any room. Forgo overhead lighting for lamps, and stay away from halogen unless it fits into your modern decorative scheme.

Wall sconces are another great way to add a stylish touch to any room. Look for the type that lends itself to easy, self-installation.

* Accessorize. Another inexpensive way to create a designer look is to buy a few key accessories, like silk pillows, chenille throw blankets, and fresh-smelling candles. Choose an elegant centerpiece for your dining room table or coffee table, like floating white candles, fresh flowers, or a ceramic or glass fruit bowl.

Pictures, photos, prints and paintings can be hung around a room to create whatever look or feel you desire. Shop flea markets and thrift stores for prints and interesting photographs, or go to a discount store for frames and hang some of your own creations.

* Buy furniture that won’t break the bank. Shop smart for couches, lamps, tables, entertainment centers, and more. Estate sales, consignment stores, flea markets, junk and thrift stores can be gold mines for second hand but stylish furniture.

If you don’t want second hand, shop clearance sales or online. Online furniture stores can be treasure troves for good deals, since they generally have little overhead and therefore don’t pass those costs on to you, the consumer.

* Can’t afford a new couch? If you are somewhat handy with a sewing machine, use discounted fabric or beautiful sheets to sew yourself a couch cover. Still have energy? Create more cheap but beautiful “new” furniture by sewing upholstery covers for your armchairs or dining room chair seat cushions.

If you can’t sew, buy a shabby chic slipcover or tuck in a large beautiful sheet or blanket for a homemade slipcover. Finally, consider simply rearranging your furniture — finding a different wall to put your couch against can create a whole new look for your living room.

Use any or all of these tips to achieve the style you want at a low, low cost. Amaze your friends and family with your stylish home, then dazzle them with the shoestring budget you had to work with. Go ahead! It’s your home and you deserve the best without having to spend the most.

Posted in Living Room |

Interior Painting Tips

Brush up

Whether it’s time to paint your new home, or re-paint your current home, there are a few tips and techniques that will make the job much easier. If you’re getting ready to sell your home, a fresh coat of neutral colors will let potential buyers get a nice mental image of how their furniture will look in the house. Following are a few helpful painting tips and techniques to ensure a beautifully-painted interior in no time.

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The primer coat

Unless your current color is flat, it’s important to apply a primer coat to make the new paint adhere better. On flat-painted walls that need only small repairs, you might simply want to spot prime.

For walls with big areas of patching plaster, it’s a good idea to use a sealer or primer/sealer combo. Priming doesn’t require as much attention as painting, but it’s done the same way as painting-with brushes and rollers.

Ceiling and wall painting

You’ll always want to start with the ceiling if you’re painting an entire room. First, cover the perimeter and unpainted areas around the fixtures. Painter’s tape is excellent for covering. It’s generally a trademark blue color and sold at any hardware store.

Start with the ceiling (moving widthwise), in sections by about six feet square. Employ a series of overlapping “W” strokes, moving from right to left, then back from left to right.

If you’re using a finish other than flat, be sure to go over the whole ceiling once again with one-directional, overlapping, and non-diagonal strokes. This will ensure the paint is blended correctly. Then repeat the exact same steps with the walls, painting up to an inch or so next to edges and trimmings. The last non-diagonal strokes should be from top to bottom.

Using a paintbrush

Unless you have a very steady and skilled hand, or you have an edging tool, be sure to mask the perimeter of the ceiling with painting tape. Then paint the upper perimeter of the walls, and all the areas that you weren’t able to cover with a roller.

Final tipsroom5

If the ceiling or walls require a second coat, only start painting after the first coat dries. Always check the paint’s label for specific recoating and drying instructions. Generally, you will always get a better second coat if the first coat is allowed to fully dry.

To paint trim, baseboards, windows, and doors, use painting tape or a paint edger to protect your freshly painted walls. You can wedge doors open with a rolled-up newspaper, but always place a drop cloth underneath to protect tile or carpet.

A roller is the quickest way to paint a flat door. For doors with panels, you will most likely have to use a large brush. For double-hung windows, first pull the top sash down and paint the bottom area, then push it back up and paint the top area. Next, paint the bottom sash, and then the jambs and frame.

Posted in Interior Decoration |

Living Room Painting Ideas

Do you have furniture that doesn’t seem to go with the rest of your house? Try a fresh coat of paint before you change your living room’s decor.

Let me guess, you’re cringing right now at the thought of painting your living room. You’re not alone. Even though most homeowners know painting is the most inexpensive and quickest way to transform their living rooms from drab to fabulous, they still express reluctance in vivid hues. They feel selecting the right paint colors is an intimidating task not easily achieved by amateurs. However, finding and living with colors you really love can be easy, fun and a lot lighter on your budget.

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Top 4 Tips

1. Collect Decorating Samples From Your Home The best way to begin choosing the right paint color for your living room is to let fabric lead the way. Fabric provides inspiration for a room’s color scheme. It’s also a more prudent starting point since painting your living room is much easier and costs a lot less than to change furniture and window treatments.

2. Study Color Schemes You Admire in Home Decorating Magazines Turn your magazine flipping into a treasure hunt. Mark or rip out pages with rooms that you like. This will become your decorating portfolio and will come in handy when its time to pick a mood and feel for your room.You may even see a room with the same structure as your space that you can use as a template for your wall color and furniture placement. See how the pros do it, copy them and then add your own personality twist for a fresh, new look.

3. Keep Paint Tones in Mind and Instantly Change the Mood of your Living Room You want to use colors appropriate to the natural setting lighting. To create the prefect place to curl up by, you must understand the psychology of color. The color wheel has two sides: warm and cool. Just like the group name connotes, warm colors add coziness and warmth to a space while cool colors add a smooth airiness that can translate an atmosphere of peace and relaxation. Warm colors range from red to orange and cool colors range from blue to violet.Knowing how color will affect your emotional response will come in handy when choosing the mood of your living room.

4. Notice Architectural Features Highlighting window casements, columns, staircases, crown moldings and other architectural features with shades of white can instantly turn your living room into a true showcase admired by friends, family and yourself.

If you’re feeling brave, instead of painting your living room’s architectural features white or off-white, consider the palest shade of color to coordinate with the walls. Your Home Interior Decoration Bottom Line: Painting your living room can be fun, easy and cheap. You may already have the framework for a showroom hiding in your carpets, curtains and furniture.

Choosing a living room’s feel can be as simple as flipping through your favorite magazine and cutting out a picture. Paying a little attention to details, especially architectural ones can give your living room that custom touch. This is a secret that most do-it-yourselfers overlook. If you follow these tips, you will pick a paint to please your palette and give your home the quality it deserves.

This article was provided by the American Homeowners Association (AHA). Richard Roll, Founder and President of the American Homeowners Association (AHA), is dedicated to providing over 1 million homeowners with the information, tools and resources that will help them save money and make the right decisions about their homes. For more information on how to renovate, remodel and decorate your home with less time, money and effort, go to www.ahahomenew.org for a special offer from AHA. Want to do the right things to maintain your home quickly and easily? The National Home Maintenance Manual (NHMM) helps you protect your largest investment.

Posted in Living Room |

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