Home Design Articles

While most kitchens these days have wall-to-wall built-in cabinets, a few have an opening in the cabinet decor to allow you to actually hang an old or antique wood plate rack. This is the cabinet of old: several wooden shelves with solid sides and back. The whole thing was hung in the kitchen as the place to store plates and serving pieces. When our holdings of kitchen equipment and paraphernalia expanded, the wooden plate rack became the enclosed cabinets we use today. Still, having one of the old plate racks to display some of your favorite kitchen equipment is a nice touch.

While you can store your small kitchen appliances on a wall plate rack, they are a lot more fun as places to display a kitchen collection. Ceramic kitchen canisters make a bright and interesting display, and, let’s face, the cute ones are not likely to actually be used, so their placement on the plate rack will not slow down the cooking process at all. It may even speed it up by clearing some of the counter space, making cooking and meal preparation easier.

Collecting ceramic kitchen canister sets can take a lot of room, but they are so cute it is hard to begrudge the space they take. If there is no room on your kitchen walls for more shelves, you can consider take the doors off a cabinet or two where the lights shine on the doors, and show off some of your ceramic canisters there. Each ceramic canister set can sit on a shelf, as if in a parade. With the number of cabinets put in some kitchens now, there should be room for the dedication of one cabinet to ceramic canister display.

If there are no upper cabinets to sacrifice to the display, then you are going to have to display the ceramic canister sets on the counter, up against the back splash. This is not really a problem is you have a lot of counter space or do not cook often, but just when you want your kitchen to look its best, at a holiday, you are going to need the counter the most. So the counter display may be limited to one ceramic canister set, the one you actually use. But there should be room for one ceramic canister somewhere, even when the counter is in full use.

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If you are planning to put up a tapestry on your wall, make sure you select one that has the appropriate colors to match your decor. It will need to combine well with either your wall paint or with the design and color of your wallpaper. Mostly, a tapestry should make a room brighter and more cheery to look at. Such a plainly obvious piece of décor, if not well selected, can actually serve to depress instead of lighten the mood of the room.

There are machine-made tapestries as well as hand woven ones. Although machine tapestries are usually woven more tightly, hand-made ones have a more personalized appearance which has a greater appeal for some people. There are also tapestry kits available which allow you to make your own tapestry.

Commercially available tapestries
In most home décor stores you can see an impressive collection of tapestries. Some of them are traditionally designed with arabesques and floral motifs. Others are recreations of well-known paintings. There are also modern tapestries with abstract shapes woven into them for a more modern styled home. Tapestries may be woven with combinations of threads. Today, silk, cotton, wool, acrylic and cotton are often used in combination with one another.

Making the tapestry yourself
If you prefer the individuality and distinctness of a homemade tapestry, you should look for hobbyists and craftsmen who are selling their products. You will indeed encounter designs in their handiwork that you cannot expect to find in machine tapestry.

Otherwise, you could start tapestry-making on your own. There are tapestry kits for every level of expertise in that art. Get a beginner’s kit to start with so that you can start practicing with large patterns and limited thread colors. As you improve your technique you can create more complicated designs and images. With a lot of skill, you can even make eyeglass pouches, pillowcases, latch hook rugs and other odds and ends using tapestry techniques.

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One simple item that can improve the overall décor of a room is a mirror. Mirrors add light to enclosed dull areas and can open up a room to give an impression of space. This simple item is often overlooked when it comes to redecorating, but it can be the defining touch to such a project. There is often a huge choice of mirrors in different styles and designs with different periods in History adding to the mix, so it is worth spending some time when choosing which mirror is the right one for you.

The larger a mirror is the more light it can catch and reflect in turn adding another dimension to a room, so it is a good idea to choose a larger size than a smaller one. A good idea to help you decide is to cut a piece of card to the desired dimensions and place this in the space where you wish to hang your new mirror, the adjust the size by cutting or folding until you feel it is suitable. Remember to take into account the size of the frame that will go around the mirror as this can take up a large proportion. Also consider the shape of the mirror you have in mind. Will a square or rectangle do? Perhaps a round mirror? There are countless different shaped mirrors available.

The color of your mirrors frame should be taken into account also. Should you want a wood framed mirror remember that different woods come in different shades. Oak is generally much lighter than cherry for example, or you may prefer a frame bound in leather (faux leather is also available) which also comes in different shades and even different colors. A fine polished glass mirror also makes a good choice and among the many colors available there is cream, red and black, which should be chosen to match the surrounding décor.

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You can’t just run in and decorate your home and expect it to look like a magazine. The rooms you see in magazines are carefully thought out and planned, from the placement of floral arrangements to the fireplace mantle’s art work. Use these 5 laws for decorating your home and you will be well on your way to a picture perfect home.

The first law of decorating is to plan your design. Draw a sketch of the room you are decorating. This drawing should include placement of furniture, room dimensions, and other key points like light fixtures and where the fireplace is located. Be sure to include measurements of all windows and doors. These measurements will be helpful in the future when you are selecting doors or window treatments.

The second law is to decide which interior decorating style you want in the room. You do not want confusion or chaos in your newly decorated room. Select one style for your room and stick with it. If you are confused on decorating styles, look through magazines or online to find examples of each. Which one appeals to you? Which one is appropriate for your lifestyle?

The third law of home décor is be specific. Jot down the decorating style on a sheet of paper. Include specifics from the style that you like and want to incorporate in your new room. Also include any specific materials you will use in the room. If you want to use the modern style of decorating, you should jot down what you like about the modern style and what types of materials you will use to decorate such as granite or polished concrete flooring, striking artwork that makes a statement, and stainless steel appliances. Writing it down brings focus to your project.

The forth law is to think about the room itself. How is the room used? Is this a high traffic area or is this an area that is used by only a couple of people at a time? For bedrooms, you generally need a path to the door, the closets, and any additional seating area you may have. Plan your furnishings according to the functionality of the room. Do not buy oversized furniture that blocks off an area of the room you use frequently, this causes frustration and chaos.

The fifth rule of home decorating is always purchase the larger items for your project first. Purchasing these items first insures they are all capable of blending together in your set color scheme. Larger items are things such as an extra large wall clock, upholstered furniture, rugs, and drapes if you are decorating a living room. Major appliances, dining room tables, kitchen sink taps, and window curtains are the major items for a kitchen. It is much easier to match the smaller items to larger ones than vise versa.

With a little bit of careful planning and remembering these 5 laws, you will be well on your way to decorating your home.

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Floor pillows are great addition to your home. If you have a big house or a small apartment downtown having that perfect floor cushion is possible. All you have to do is have a very clear idea how big the pillows should be so that it would not look like a mess around your living spaces. These pillows are said to be adapted from the Japanese floor cushions that is a typical furnishing in every Japanese home. The versatility of these pillows are just hard to miss that western cultures also brought it to their homes for a number of use. Because large floor pillows can assume many styles through their many different options, these can easily be accent pieces in the home.

Kids and adults alike would enjoy sitting and lounging on the floor. This can be a good additional sitting spot for a big family enjoying a movie on the weekends. It can also be great for a small get together, your daughter’s sleep over’s and many more social functions that your family can host. Because a floor pillow is rather cheap for a sitting you can buy a number of these and store some away for some unexpected number of visitors.

These pillows can also be easily fitted with slip-ons that can assume many colors, designs and thematic pictures that people in different ages can easily relate to. Having different sizes of these cushions also allow you to offer it to kids, teens and adults that can offer them satisfactory comfort because of the perfect fit of their built and height. The possibilities of these pillows are endless. It is up to your creativity and imagination how you can maximize it in your home. The prices of these pillows can range from 20 to 100 bucks depending on the size, fill and its quality.

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