Interior Decorating Ideas

	Out of Ideas for your Next Interior Decorating Project? Are you Looking for a Home Interior Decorator? Find useful information that will hopefully provide you with new home interior decorating ideas. Learn about colors, space design concepts and more. You will also find some resources for different styles of home decor such as contemporary or traditional themes. ~The Technology Behind Modern Shower Heads ~Mistakes to Avoid When Choosing Wall Mirrors ~More Tuscan Kitchen Decorating Ideas ~A Variety Of Styles In Furniture Collections ~Create A Mural In Your Home ~Glass Shelves Tips For Expert Use' ~The Use of Marble Or Ceramic Tiles When Remodeling
	Home Decor Styles
	Interior Decorating By Room
	Interior Decorating Elements
	Intro to Home Decorating
	Techniques and Projects

~The Technology Behind Modern Shower Heads ~Mistakes to Avoid When Choosing Wall Mirrors ~More Tuscan Kitchen Decorating Ideas ~A Variety Of Styles In Furniture Collections ~Create A Mural In Your Home ~Glass Shelves Tips For Expert Use' ~The Use of Marble Or Ceramic Tiles When Remodeling

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The Planning Basics of Home Interior Decorating - By : Julien Raynal

"Home decor styles range from a number of themes, designs, and materials.
While planning your home decor project, you can either opt for the theme being implemented throughout the house or use one specific theme for a specific room."

All of us love to surround our world with things, which are both beautiful as well as exotic. Our homes are one of the most intrinsic parts of the world around us. Therefore, most of us enjoy making our homes more than a mere structure made up of four walls and a roof. Home decor styles range from a number of themes, designs, and materials.

While planning your home decor project, you can either opt for the theme being implemented throughout the house or use one specific theme for a specific room. For example, a house was once designed in such a way that each room was decorated with the styles of the different countries the home owner had visited. All rooms included authentic art and furniture from each visited country.

An assessment of your needs is preferrable before embarking on the process of a new home interior decorating project. The next point to keep in mind would obviously be taste such as personal likings and dislikings. You can then choose from several themes that can stretch from Victorian to more contemporary themes, which are more suited to the modern and urban lifestyle.

One of the modern themes including home decor ideas that are really catching up is the use of bamboo. Eco-friendly and beautiful, bamboo has a number of advantages that account for its popularity as a first choice for home interior decoration. Transform your home to a tropical paradise of peace and harmony with the use of bamboo. Another benefit of using bamboo is the fact that the material is famous for its sheer versatility. You can incorporate it into almost anything beginning with floorings to even towels!

The main point to remember when using bamboo for decorating your home interior is the fact that the glue that is used for sealing the sheets into a pattern should be non-toxic glue. This is especially important when bamboo flooring is glued with inexpensive or low quality glue. The flooring can cause the floors to dent and also cause them to give out a harmful gas called Formaldehyde.

Curtains can also match with the flooring with convenience as bamboo curtains can be easily purchased all over the world. It is best to keep the interior spaces clutter-free while using bamboo flooring, as this would go a long way in enhancing the ambience. The color that this theme would necessarily involve would be slightly muted. Furthermore, this color is quite fashionable in this decade. In case you want to add color to the space, cushions and rugs make make nice floor decor additions.

To add a bit of freshness to the room, accentuate the muted sophistication of the theme with a couple of bright hibiscus flowers and perhaps a well chosen painting with a color selection that matches the home decor accessories.

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Julien Raynal - Julien has been in the home interior decorating business for more than four years. He discovered is passion for home related topics when he started his retail business for the home. After years of experience, his goal is to bring to the internet a wealth of useful information that will inspire the online population with powerful home decorating images and articles. Website: SymphonyHomeDecorating $6.00 Welcome Survey After Free Registration!

Tips for Decorating with Texture and Patterns

The black and white checkered floor run throughout the house, and the white tiles on the wall compliment the patterned floor.

Decorating with texture and patterns makes a room interesting and alive. Contrasts of smooth and rough, thick and thin, shiny and dull pump up the interest quotient and prevent a room from appearing too staid. That's why the pros mix stripes with checks, pile rugs on tiled floors, and marry leather with wicker.

A room full of the same thing is boring. Instead, you could combine surfaces, finishes, and even periods. A 19th-century sideboard, for instance, might hold a pair of stylish lamps from the '30s; in the living room of an urban town house, a raffia armchair could be in­cluded to deformalize taffeta drapes. Magic happens when elements with diverse qualities are brought together. Happily, many times, this allows us to use what we have -- baskets, books, quilts -- in a fresh manner.

Layers -- a pillow atop a pillow, chair pads on rush seats, matchstick blinds with cotton drapes -- cook up warmth. Especially in cold climates, textures relieve rooms of any sterile or chilly overtones. Of course, how you introduce texture will depend a great deal on the style of your decor and the room's application. An elegant dining room will call for a more subtle hand than a mountain ski retreat. In the dining room, flame-stitch fabric on the dining chairs and a large, heavily textured oil painting is all that's needed. Inside the lodge, Navajo blankets, chenille sofas, and leather armchairs will turn up the heat and form a pleasing interior.

Kitchens and baths exhibit an interesting array of textures. Shimmering surfaces like granite, tile, stainless steel, glass, and mirror are the norm. Even plug-in appliances with their shiny profiles contribute to the picture. But so many hard-edged materials call out for a bit of relief found in a brick hearth, a wood ceiling, or a colorful kilim rug. If you favor a pared-down contemporary style, consider including a warm-hued oak floor or cherry cabinets to mix it up. A butcher-block top on an island, a window seat with a cushion, or a single shelf displaying three or four pieces of rustic pottery in earthlike colors will help balance the overall modernity of the setting.

The patterned pillows integrate the patterned floor against the plain sofa.

Be it a flowery needlepoint rug or a stencil used on walls, patterns like textures pick up the tempo of a room and support its theme. Guiding rules? Less pattern in a room that's meant for quiet like a bedroom, and exercise restraint when it comes to big, wild patterns. As beguiling as those patterns may seem now, they are the ones you're most apt to tire of quickly. Leopard prints and bold plaid, in the right setting, look fantastic together.

However, less-flamboyant rooms will do as well with similar patterns in the same color or with patterns that are not alike but share the same color range. Small-scale repeats in soft furnishings like cushions and upholstery of a larger-scale pattern found at the windows is a well-tested technique. Over the years, certain patterns have become linked with very distinct styles. A faded chintz translates English; a blue-and-white toile is all about France. Study your building blocks -- walls, ceiling, and floor -- to see how texture and pattern could benefit them.

Texture unifies the chair, pillow, and bookshelf.

Ceilings, depending on your decor, can be wallpapered, painted with textured paint, or covered with a material such as tin. Certain heavy papers with embossed patterns can be applied to a ceiling and also painted. Tin ceilings that are most often associated with the 19th century are replicated today in easily installed tiles of steel, brass, or chrome. Tongue-and-groove ceilings, painted or unpainted, are traditional in New England's seaside houses and also on porches.

If you're building a new house, keeping the beams exposed in, say, the family room will add country-house charm as well as texture. Suspend baskets, bunches of dried herbs or wildflowers, or strings of heady garlic from the beams, and gain yet another tactile bit of interest. A ceiling draped with fabric or tented is romantic or fun. Bold red-and-white stripes, for instance, imbue a child's room with a jolly circus ambience.

Fabric is an age-old wall treatment, too -- from vibrant wall hangings to voluminous curtains suspended from rods affixed just below the ceiling. Quality fabrics such as ticking, wool, burlap, or imitation suede can also be glued to walls like paper. Rather than dress the whole room, consider covering one wall behind a four-poster bed or a writing desk. Upholstered walls also add texture and, with batting underneath, are a high-end remedy for battling obtrusive noise.

Decorative paint treatments such as dragging or sponging are relatively easy and will also hide wall imperfections. And realistic, nature-inspired wallpapers interject texture, pattern, and style. Consider ones like grass cloth or cork for an Asian- or Caribbean-inspired room, or choose papers that simulate bamboo, stone, or wood. Some papers also copycat faux finishes, murals, and architectural details such as plaster ornamentation and wood moldings. To help you achieve a custom look, many of the sample wallpaper books are set up to display complementary colors, patterns, and textures all together. Transport several sample books home, see how the papers are affected by light, and observe which ones will best suit your furnishings before you order.

The checkered backsplash compliments the color and texture of the countertop.

Even at ground level, texture and pattern matter. Luckily, scores of choices exist for all kinds of spaces and styles. Choose your material according to how the room is used as well as how you want it to look. In a kitchen, the options could be anything from resilient rubber flooring like you might find in busy restaurants to rustic terra-cotta tiles like you might find in Mediterranean homes. Cement with wood inlays is a good-looking partner for commercial-style appliances in a contemporary or a country kitchen.

This bedroom is pulled together by the pattern and texture on the bedspread, night stands, pillows, and framed picture.

Play a little! If the room is carpeted, layer on some area rugs to bring it up to date. For a quick breath of summer, toss a sisal rug down on a hardwood floor, and lay a colorful floor cloth out in the sunporch. Even in a tiny powder room, a small easy-to-launder throw rug (anchor it on a no-skid mat for safety) reverberates with style.

Color, texture, and patterns lend personality to a room, but lighting is crucial. You can single-handedly destroy the soothing comfort of a bedroom with harsh overhead lights or diminish the excitement of a play room with soft, fuzzy lighting. On the next page, learn how to properly light your home.

Source : HowStuffWork

To learn more about interior design and get tips and information on decorating your home, visit:

• Interior Decorating: Get tips on how to decorate your home and read about organizing a project and selecting an interior design that fits your lifestyle.
  
• Decorating a Room: Find out how to decorate a room from floor-to-ceiling.
  
• Decorating Styles: Are you traditional or eclectic? Learn about decorating styles for your home.
  
• How to Design a Kitchen: Create a kitchen that works for you and get tips on how to choose and place appliances and create a decorating scheme.
  
• Kids' Rooms: Get tips on decorating your child’s room, with information on colors, smart strategies, and money-saving tips.

$6.00 Welcome Survey After Free Registration!

Decorating with Color

The green walls and red chairs energize this room and work well together because they are complimentary colors.

Decorating with color reveals quite a bit about a person. Right now, you're probably wearing your favorite hue -- taupe, lavender, pink? Studies have shown that color, in every aspect of our lives, affects us emotionally and physically.

Orange, for instance, stimulates the appetite. Don't be surprised if you find yourself feeling hungrier in a kitchen or a restaurant that's painted the color of your morning juice. People tend to be more "up" in red rooms, more subdued in those that are blue. Hospital rooms are often painted a pale, serene green, a shade of well-being.

With color you can manipulate the proportions and mood of a room, making it seem smaller or larger, loftier or more intimate. On the whole, rooms washed with an abundance of natural light are best painted either white or a pale color; darker rooms are more attractive in a rich, warm color. No light in the kitchen? Buttery yellow walls can bring in the sun. Have an upstairs hall that's too long and too narrow? An end wall painted a warm marigold color will dispel that gloomy corridor feeling forever. Tones of sand and blue-gray together are like a day at the shore. Dazzling jewel tones add brilliance. Historical colors such as ochers, reds, and blues (Williamsburg blue being at the top of the charts) conjure up period backdrops.

All that said, color can often seem the most confusing aspect of decorating. Overwhelmed by hundreds of choices, you have probably forgotten that, unlike lots of other elements you may not be too thrilled with like the tiles on the floor or the shingles on the roof, the wrong color paint is easily remedied. If you don't like it, pick up the brush and try again. Rather than be intimidated by color, use it to forge rooms that make you happy every single day.

Whirling the Color Wheel
You'll feel more confident if you understand how colors interact with each other. The physicist Isaac Newton developed the first color wheel way back in the 17th century when he was studying the effects of a beam of light shining through a prism.

The color wheel, consisting of 12 colors, is the prismatic spectrum of rainbow colors set forth as a circle. The three primary colors -- red, yellow, and blue -- are spaced equally around the wheel. The secondary colors -- orange, green, and violet -- which are created by mixing two primaries in equal amounts, are set between them. Tertiary colors -- colors such as yellow-green, blue-violet, and red-orange -- are an equal blend of a primary and a secondary color and make up the remaining half-dozen colors.

All the other colors outside of the wheel are variations of those 12 colors mixed with white or black or each other. When white is added to color, it creates lighter values called "tints." Adding black or gray to a color forms darker tones called "shades." Celery is a very pale tint of green, while avocado is one of its shades. The term "tone" refers to the value, or intensity, of a color.

The soothing blues and greens open the space and make it appear larger.

Artistry
Some of the most successful decorating themes occur when colors of equal intensity or strength are combined; for example, pastels such as pinks and peaches that have a similar lightness or vibrant hues of red, yellow, and blue that share the same depth. If it's zing you want, combine two complementary colors; they're "complementary" because they lie directly opposite each other on the wheel.

Red and green, for example, are popular partners often found in high-style country rooms. For heightened drama in a stark modern setting of glass and chrome, a less-familiar union would be a purple sofa littered with plump yellow pillows. A color will clash with the colors to the right or left of its complement on the wheel, for instance apricot with purple-blue. Still, not all clashes are bad news. Modernists often pair colors like bright yellow and royal blue successfully.

Cool colors -- like green, blue, and violet -- will make your living room appear larger because they seem to push the walls away. Warm colors -- oranges, reds, yellows -- do the reverse. Paint your bedroom a charming Tuscan apricot, and the space will feel marvelously cocoonlike. A dark color will add mystery and romance (on a practical note, dark rooms also remain cleaner-looking longer). A color plan that includes any three consecutive colors or any of their adjacent tints and shades will zap the room with life. Gardeners often follow an analogous scheme in their flower borders with waves of fiery red melting into drifts of orange and yellow or, the opposite, red blooms flowing into crimsons and violets.

Soothing monochromatic themes utilize one color like blue or gray in a variety of tones or gradations. Smoke-colored walls, silvery velvet drapes, and a dark gray sisal carpet on the floor of a New York apartment affords the owner the feeling of living on a cloud. Want to know all your choices for, say, a green scheme? Paint manufacturers have made it foolproof with chips and charts that follow every color's logical progression. To ease our bewilderment, handy aids such as large L-shaped chips exist to judge trim colors and flip charts of suggested color combinations. Some stores even rent pints of a paint for a minimum fee to ease the process along.

The monochromatic orange in this living room infuse it with warmth and coziness.

Think of your background color as a plate on which you are presenting all the other elements: furnishings, accessories, art. An accent color should be the garnish (the green parsley or the bright red cherry) you place on top. If you appoint a color like cobalt blue or plum as your accent color and adhere to a neutral palette, it will be much easier to shift moods or to alter the look of a room according to season with throws, rugs, cushions, pillows, and slipcovers. A pearly colored living room? Come winter, swap lime-green sofa pillows for chocolate-brown. A bright-white-tiled bath? Hang up navy-colored towels as a nautical nod to summer in lieu of red (too winter holidayish). Colors, like fashions, tend to follow the fads. A neutral palette, however, will never look like yesterday's news (think of 1950s pink), an important consideration if you are someday going to place the house on the market.

Kids love color and the more colors the merrier. Kids' artwork is proof. And today there are any number of freewheeling colors based on crayons along with awesome special-effect finishes like glow-in-the-dark paint and glitter. Forego the ubiquitous pale blue and pink for something newer like luscious peach or pale lav­ender, the color of morning mist. Still, if you're look­ing to keep the same recipe for a number of years, neutrals such as creamy ivory or pas­tels will adapt best for them as time goes by and they mature.

Let playful furniture in primary colors be the high jinks for a young child. In an older child's space, one color used on all the furniture (white, cornflower blue, or buttercup-yellow) will give the room a tidier, more uniform feel. Rather than installing walls, you could use different colors to designate different areas: Paint the study zone bright green; put restful moss wallpaper behind the bunk beds.

Children appreciate being included in making the decisions regarding their rooms. Rather than confront them with a zillion choices, though, narrow it down to three or four colors you think are appropriate and then let them choose.

The splashes of color against the white sofa fabric pick up the colors in the mural.

Unbeatable White
White or off-white is a timeless background upon which any style can be superimposed. In the 1920s, Syrie Maugham created an all-white drawing room in her London home that became a landmark in the world of interior design. White can be elegant as in an ultramodern loft or homey as in an all-white beach cottage. White unifies a small space. Paint the floor white as well as the walls and windows, and a tiny room will feel more open. Add snowy window treatments -- a roll-up shade of white denim, white shutters, or celestiallike white shears -- and expand the setting still farther.

Contrary to what you might think, white is not boring. Sun-bleached seashells heaped in a bowl offer a host of variations. Follow their cue, and combine several different tones of white: Paint the ceiling a bright, wake-up white; color the walls a more forgiving creamy-white; and dress the chairs and couch in slipcovers of natural cotton. When you need a punch of color, add a bouquet of flowers.

White walls and white linens on dark furniture keep the room calm, cool, and clean looking.

The Final Decision
Tote home a handful of paint chips or strips in the same color range, and tack them on the wall. Ob­serve how they are affected by continuously changing natural and artificial light. White daylight is made up of all the colors of the spectrum. The color of your walls will depend on how much white light is reflected and how much is absorbed. Switch on a lightbulb that does not have the same balance as the spectrum, and you might notice a more blue or yellow tint.

When you have finally selected your colors or whit­tled it down to one or two, paint them on a wall and live with them for a couple of days. It will help if you paint a large area rather than just applying a puny dab. If the color seems too dominant, switch to a lighter value on the paint strip. If you're still undecided, trust your instincts. Color is, above all else, very personal. Family and friends aren't going to judge your rooms in technical terms anyway. All they will know is that you're content and that your bedroom looks beautiful. In the end, that's what counts.

Color isn't the only thing to make a room pop, however. Texture and pattern offers contrast and spices up an otherwise uniform room. On the next page, learn how to incorporate texture and pattern into your home.

Source : HowStuffWork

To learn more about interior design and get tips and information on decorating your home, visit:

• Interior Decorating: Get tips on how to decorate your home and read about organizing a project and selecting an interior design that fits your lifestyle.
  
• Decorating a Room: Find out how to decorate a room from floor-to-ceiling.
  
• Decorating Styles: Are you traditional or eclectic? Learn about decorating styles for your home.
  
• How to Design a Kitchen: Create a kitchen that works for you and get tips on how to choose and place appliances and create a decorating scheme.
  
• Kids' Rooms: Get tips on decorating your child’s room, with information on colors, smart strategies, and money-saving tips.

$6.00 Welcome Survey After Free Registration!

Achieving Balance with Decorating

This room evenly balances the island and the couch and carries the wood finish throughout the kitchen and living space.

Reduced to its simplest terms, achieving balance with decorating emphasizes a visually pleasing arrangement of furnishings, all of which are a comfortable fit or scale for the room. Heights and sizes may and should vary for greater vitality, but the juxtaposition is carried out with purpose.

For example, to maintain the same visual weight, an armoire should be offset with a generous-size table or two portly chairs, an area rug, and a smaller table. An oversize porcelain bowl displayed on the mantelpiece has two framed watercolors as its neighbors. And keep in mind that no lamp should be bigger than the table upon which it sits.

Lacking the proper mix of scale and balance, a room feels disjointed or even lopsided. Think of a living room where all the furniture is pushed to one side. How much better it would have been to have tugged the sofa away from the wall and anchored it with a table behind and two smaller tables at either end. The end tables don't have to match, but neither one should overpower the other.

If you plan to buy new furniture, study the entire room first. Consider what you already own and what you need. Then visualize how the pieces will work with each other. Do as the professionals do: Include some matching elements to add symmetry and to enhance the sense of harmony. Think twin lamps, dual mirrors, two trays, or matching chairs on either side of a hearth for formality.

Start Drawing
A dozen little furnishings afloat in a big -- or even a little -- room end up looking like clutter as the eye darts from one object to the next. In fact, a few larger-scale pieces can actually make a tiny room appear grander. So they don't get lost, group small furnishings together in a large room.

To avoid having to lug and push, use room-planning aids like computer programs to experiment with a variety of furniture arrangements or draw the room to scale on graph paper. Mark the location of doors and windows, traffic zones, architectural features, electrical outlets, and heating sources. Make one square foot of room space equal to one square.

Cut out blocks -- to scale again -- to represent each piece of large furniture. In a shoe-box-size room, only one option may exist for a tall hutch or an overstuffed love seat. If that's the case, concentrate on finding the most complementary sites for your other furnishings. Consider adding a mirror to enhance the sense of space, and at the same time, begin thinking about creating a focal point.

Grab Their Attention
A focal point is the highlight of the composition; it is the element that draws and holds the most attention. If you're fortunate enough to have a beautiful view from a picture window in your living room, designate the window as your centerpiece, and compose your furnishings to take advantage of it. Fireplaces and French doors are classic focal points.

Today a media center tucked discreetly behind louvered doors with matching storage units on either side or a handsome armoire might be an option as well. However, TVs by themselves are not good candidates. With the set turned off, TVs are dreary, dark holes.

The delicate furniture balanced with the light color of the walls imbues this room with a Zen feeling.

Sometimes less-obvious focal points gain interest when they are off-center or not placed in the main part of the room. An antique cupboard filled with a collection of your grandmother's majolica, a lovely hand-painted Chinese screen, an oversize painting, or a mass of healthy green plants (lit at night) would each fit this role. You want visitors to stand up and take notice.

However, you also need to be aware of practicality. Would two small conversation areas better allow traffic to flow than one? Awkwardly placed tables and chairs that interfere with your family's movements should be left out.

Figure approximately 30 inches for walkways, and position sofas and chairs no more than eight feet apart or people will have to strain to hear one another. In the dining room, three feet of pullout space is required for chairs around a table.

Furniture can also alter the proportions of a room. A sofa set on the diagonal, for in­stance, widens a space visually. A taller piece such as an ar­moire makes the ceiling seem higher while also providing a focal point. To foster flexibility in a small room, include one or two movable pieces.

The natural wood of the basket floor tie together the natural stone and brick of the fireplace.

When you are seeking extra elbow room for a meeting of the school com­mittee, a streamlined maple coffee table on casters is easy to roll away. If someone in the family uses a wheelchair, make certain there is plenty of room for their maneuverability, and arrange seating so they can conveniently pull up and join in.

In a kitchen where function comes first, layout is paramount. Implement the classic work triangle -- the imaginary line that runs from sink to cooking center to refrigerator and back to sink -- to save steps and increase efficiency. In the kitchen, the cooking area is often designed as the focal point.

A magnificent stone range hood teamed with a backsplash of oversize stone tiles elevates an ordinary drop-in cooktop to dramatic heights. A sculptural stainless-steel hood over a no-nonsense industrial-style range is equally as arresting. Tile gives you leeway to create all sorts of colorful mu­rals and mosaic designs to serve as eye-catchers in both kitchens and baths.

Unleash your imagination! If you own a vintage tub on legs, embellish it with gold and suspend an elaborate chandelier above it. If you're in the process of remodeling and privacy is not an issue, install a large window next to the tub. A generous amount of glass will not only focus attention on the bathing area but will also make the room feel more spalike.

An ottoman serves as the focal point, gold and red yones balance out the room.

Small Touches Tip the Scales
Objects of similar materials -- silver bowls at either end of the sofa, silver candlesticks on the mantle -- unobtrusively bring harmony to a space. Another option is to use color to unite objects that have no common thread.

An inlaid box, a stack of leather-bound books, and a picture frame -- each a lustrous shade of burnt umber -- will look very content together, not busy, on a glass-topped side table. Don't allow collections to be scattered helter-skelter. Too many things everywhere make a room look cluttered. Muster your treasures on one table or shelf, and the room will appear twice as serene.

Repeat colors within the room, too. Echo the citrus color of a painting in sofa pillows or the luminous green of an Asian lamp in the carpet. Color is one of your best tools.

Color isn't just about choosing a favorite; certain colors can open up a space while others can make a space seem smaller. On the next page, find out how to use color in your decorating.

Source : HowStuffWork

To learn more about interior design and get tips and information on decorating your home, visit:

• Interior Decorating: Get tips on how to decorate your home and read about organizing a project and selecting an interior design that fits your lifestyle.
  
• Decorating a Room: Find out how to decorate a room from floor-to-ceiling.
  
• Decorating Styles: Are you traditional or eclectic? Learn about decorating styles for your home.
  
• How to Design a Kitchen: Create a kitchen that works for you and get tips on how to choose and place appliances and create a decorating scheme.
  
• Kids' Rooms: Get tips on decorating your child’s room, with information on colors, smart strategies, and money-saving tips.

$6.00 Welcome Survey After Free Registration!

Interior Design Tips: Caring for Antique Furniture

Today i would like to share with you some thing that you can do at home to care for your antique furniture and maintain them over the long term.

I am going to give you a few simple things that you can do that are inexpensive, that will help bring your furniture back to life.

Wipe Down the Antique Furniture

One of the first things we do once we bring a piece in, usually from an outdoor market or another antique shop, we wipe it down and we use a special furniture wax. It’s a European furniture wax that comes in different colors. And what I have done here is, here’s an example of a piece of furniture, and this was the original finish. You can see it’s very dusty and dull. It’s even got some paint marks on it.

Apply Wax to the Antique Furniture

What I did was I just took some very simple 4-0 steel wool and that’s four zeros. You don’t want it to be too harsh, otherwise you’ll ruin the finish. And then some of the furniture wax that we have. It has a beeswax compound, and it comes in different colors. So, even if you have some gauges or scratches, you try to pick a color that matches your piece best, and it blends it right in.

Refinish the Antique

The bottom part here is an example of something we did in a darker finish. A darker oak. Up here is a golden oak. And here is the original. So you can see you don’t have to refinish a piece necessarily when you buy it to bring back its original patina.

Ways to Maintain the Antique Furniture

For on going maintenance you should apply wax every 3-4 months, or as needed. It will help your wood last longer. Things you also need to consider are never spray any aerosol cleaners directly on a finish. This will over time eat away at the finish and cause permanent damage. What you want to do is take a rag and spray it directly into the rag, and then wipe it onto your furniture to keep that shine.

Consider Your Climate

The other things you need to consider is what is your climate? a lot of the heat is steam heat, it pulls all of the moisture out of the air and that can do tremendous damage to wood furniture. So you want to make sure that you have a humidifier going. Extreme heat can cause damage to wood furniture.

Ways to Fix Stuck Drawers

The one thing we’ve probably all experienced is sticking drawers, and it can be very frustrating but there are some easy remedies. One is if you’ve just bought a piece of furniture out in say a flea market that might have been very damp and it might have been out there for a few days. Just let the piece dry out for a little bit. Maybe one or two weeks to make sure.

Soap or Sand a Stuck Drawer

If the drawers still sticking, if it’s a slight stick, you can use a bar of soap. It’s as simple as that. However, more serious sticks might require some sanding. And usually if you remove a drawer, you’ll be able to see where the wear is on the side of the drawer. If you take some sandpaper , which you can get at any hardware store, and just start sanding that area and that should solve your problem. But just do a little bit of sanding at a time and then put the drawer in. Just do a light sand and try it and then repeat the process until the sticking has stopped.

Interior Design Tips: Top Interior Decorating Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Here are some common mistakes that during designing the interior, ranging from the selection of furniture that does not fit (too big or vice versa), to the decorations that are too focused on the decorating trend curve. Please note that the trend decor is something to recur, choose the decor trends you like, make a plan, and follow your plan wisely. So you do not need to throw too much money on parts that do not actually need.

1. Choose Furniture That Doesn’t Fit

You wouldn’t wear clothes in a size that’s baggy or skin tight, so why would you choose furniture that doesn’t fit in your room?

Before you shop for furniture, whether you’re buying new or at a garage sale, measure your space, think about where you’re going to put the piece, and write down notes. Resist the temptation to buy a too-big sofa, thinking you can put it on an angle if it doesn’t fit. Write down the measurements an stick to it.

It’s just as bad to buy pieces that are too small, thinking you can add more pieces to fill the space. Plan out your arrangement, think it over, and then find the pieces that are just right.

2. Use Too Many Patterns and Prints

Don’t pick up just any fabric or piece of furniture you like, thinking you can work around it. Plan your color scheme, select a main pattern, then find coordinating stripes, small prints, and plaids that enhance your choice.

Follow the Rule of 3: Select one main pattern, usually a large print. Then find one small, coordinating print and one stripe or plaid. Then call it quits. If you need another fabric, think about using a solid-colored texture or interesting weave instead of another pattern or print.

3. Float a Rug in the Middle of the Room

The elements in a room should be connected, both visibly and physically. A rug on the floor adds color and a connection between pieces of furniture. The rug should be tucked under the front legs of chairs, sofas, and tables.

A rug placed in the middle of a room, unanchored, poses a safety hazard. It would be easy to trip on an edge or corner of the rug or slip and slide if the rug moves

4. Push All the Furniture Up Against the Wall

You may think that a room will look larger if the middle of the floor is open, without furniture. But the opposite is true. Unless you’re going to have a dancing party in the middle of your room, move the furniture into groupings in the center.

Arrange a sofa with a table behind it, away from the wall with a walking space behind. Show off the back of the sofa and arrange decorative items and a lamp for reading behind it. Move chairs out of corners and you’ll have a more open, airy look in your room.

5. Put Out All Your Collectibles

Whether you collect knick knacks from travels like ash trays or salt and pepper shakers or fine pieces of sculpture or one-of-a-kind hand-blown glass, you shouldn’t put everything out at one time.

Do your best to select only the most important pieces, either in monetary or sentimental value, and get rid of the rest. If you can’t bear to throw the pieces away, put them away and rotate the items on display. Less really is more!

6. Decorate With Family Heirlooms Whether You Like Them or Not

Just because your grandparents chose to decorate in Victorian style doesn’t mean that you have to. If you want to use something that was handed down, select one special piece and use it as an accent in your home. But get rid of the rest of the pieces that you don’t want. Your space should reflect who you are, not who the people are who went before you.

7. Put Decorative Pillows Everywhere

You can buy pillows in every size, shape, color, and texture. But just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Pillows are great accessories to use to add interest and softness to a space, but they should be functional, not just decorative.

It’s almost a natural that you’d use a decorative pillow on a sofa or at the back of a deep chair. Several on the top of a bed would be logical too. But don’t place pillows on furniture that you have to take off to sit down or lie in bed. Make pillows decorative, soft, comfortable, and, above all, useful.

8. Protect Your Furniture With Slipcovers

Slipcovers are wonderful for covering up worn fabric or patterns on fabric that are out of style or don’t go with your decor.But any slipcover should be decorative and add to the piece, not distract from it. The worst of the worst are clear vinyl slipcovers. You might be tempted to choose one to protect the beautiful silk fabric on your furniture. But they just look awful. There’s no question about it and you should avoid them at all costs.

If you must cover a piece of furniture, choose a slipcover in a color that resembles the upholstery you’re covering. Hopefully it will blend with the space and no one will really notice. Remove the cover whenever you have guests and replace it for everyday activity.

9. Hang All Your Artwork and Mirrors at the Same Height

You’ve probably heard the rule about hanging art at eye level. That’s all well and good, but people’s eyes are not at the same height. Think about it: a 6-foot person’s eyes are higher than those of someone sitting on a chair.

Please read previous post about How High to Hang Art that will guide you through the process of deciding where to hang pictures and mirrors so that they create a focal point on a wall and enhance the space instead of detract from it.

10. Use 100 Watt Bulbs in All Your Lamps and Light Fixtures

Of course you’ll want to have a good light for reading, but the other lights in your room should be selected for specific tasks or to create a mood.

Choose your lighting to match the function of the space. For the kitchen, you might want recessed lights or a small lamp in the corner of a counter. You’ll need a good lamp over your desk and maybe track lights over your computer and work space.

For total light control, install dimmers on all your wall light switches and on lamp cords.

11. Choose Dining Room Chairs to Look Good, Not for Comfort

Not! A dining room is a place for people to gather, visit, and enjoy each other’s company. The dining chairs should fit comfortably around the table. But the most important thing they should be is inviting, giving guests no reason to get up and move out. Create a welcoming room and your dinner will be a time to remember.

12. Decorate With the Trend of the Day

Even if it doesn’t match your decor it’s fun to be up to date with trends and fads, but your home is not the place to be “au courant” every season. Decorating and furniture are expensive investments and you can’t expect to change colors and styles with the calendar.

Choose trends you really like and decide how you can get the look without spending a lot of money. There are ways to incorporate decorating trends into your decor without making a total change. You’ll save money but not be left behind the decorating curve.

Some, in fact most, rules are made to be broken. Choose the rules you’ll follow wisely. The things listed here are absolutely not to be done.