How to Do Interior Design on a Budget

While I definitely don't look down on people who hire interior decorators, with your own home you may want to try doing it yourself. Here is what I consider to be a good list of alternative actions a person can take to get a nice look on a budget:

1) Before you start, take the time to gather resources and information for your project.

This can include watching home and garden cable networks (which have shows hosted by professional designers), consulting design magazines for ideas, and seeing what resources you can find on the Internet. I believe just because you're doing something yourself doesn't mean you have to go into a project not knowing what you're doing. If possible, you want to have people somewhat surprised that you did it yourself.

2) Consider the look you're wanting, along with the purpose of the room.

A room can look very nice and still not make guests uncomfortable about moving a throw pillow two inches to left and "ruining" it. I've actually laughed at some covers of interior magazines I've seen after picturing a real family living in such a pristine room. There's organized, and then there's impossibly organized. I think when it comes to this we all have to find a happy medium.

3) Prior to any action, get input from everyone else who uses the room.

For example, a desk may look nicer in a certain part of the room but may be too far away from a power source for your family member to use it for their computer very long. There are little things you may not think about where you need feedback just to be considerate of other people who use the room.

4) As with anything you do yourself, give yourself room to learn and even make mistakes.

I think when it comes to our homes, it's more important that we enjoy living in them than becoming frustrated with trying to create the "perfect" look. It's really comes down to a personal decision on what you want and how much time and energy you're willing to dedicate.

More Tips:

• Many home and garden websites not only have general tips put project documents that you can print and download for free!
• Consider looking up design principles such as color theory and perspective as well. While they're mainly in the general art field, they are helpful.
• With things such as paint and wallpaper, always get samples and check to make sure you like them in different light conditions. Just tape the sample to the wall and check it throughout the day. Otherwise it may cost you extra time and money to change it again.

Resources:

HGTV's Website
HGTV Pro
DIY Network

How to Use Color in Decorating

Using color to decorate can sometimes be intimidating, especially when you've never done it before. As someone who grew up in a home with white walls and beige carpet, I used to think adding color to a room meant covering it with artwork. Through school, I had studied art and the psychology of color, but I had never seen color applied well in a home until I met my husband's family. I want to offer you a few tips in this article that I've seen applied by my mother-in-law that I thought were impressive.

1) Decide if you need to change what size the room feels like.

The lightness or darkness of a color can visually affect how big or small the room seems. If you have a large room that you want to seem smaller and more cozy, you'll want to use darker colors. Lighter colors will open up a small room.

2) Think about the emotion you want the room to have. Color does impact people's moods.

A light sunny yellow for instance is a great shade if you don't want to go neutral but don't want too bright either. Psychologically, we associate this color with happiness and warmth (smiley face, sunlight, etc.)

Red can be used as an attention-grabbing color. You can have one focal wall painted red and the others painted a more neutral color. Your eyes will automatically go to the red wall first. It's a great way to showcase artwork and possibly distract from any negative aspects of the other walls. I've also seen were the upper part of a room was painted red, bringing your eyes up as opposed to the darker color on the lower half of the room.

Cool colors such as blue and green are more soothing. They're great options for bathrooms and bedrooms.

3) Don't forget about textures.

One of the best effects I've seen done in multiple houses is clouds on the ceiling. This can be done by sponging both light blue and white into cloud patterns. There are more detailed books with photos that I suggest you research before attempting it, but it looks very nice.

There are also kits that if you want to do a sponged combination of two or three colors. You don't have to have a lot of painting experience and the process is very forgiving if you make a mistake.

More Tips:

• Try it out first. When you're thinking of changing a color of a room, get a small sample square. Post it on the wall to check different lighting conditions. You may love the color during the day but find you dislike it when it gets dark. Better to find it out in the early stages than have to live with it or paint it back.
• If possible, plan your whole house even if you're not painting it all at the same time. Do a little planning to see if you have a set of colors you'd like to carry through your whole house. It doesn't have to be the exact same in every room, but houses look nicer if they have common colors spread out as opposed to unpredictable colors in each room.
• Don't forget about floors, furniture, and accessories. Walls aren't the only place you find color. Similar decisions can be made with your flooring (wood tones, stone or carpet), furniture (the colors of your couch, for instance), and accessories (curtains, rugs, artwork, etc.).
• Don't feel like you have to have a house that looks exactly like the home and garden magazines. They are designed to spark ideas for you, but you don't have to use every one of them. You want rooms to fit your personality and daily life. It doesn't have to look like a magazine cover, but it can definitely be what you want for you and your family.

How to Use Ribbon in Decorating a Christmas Tree

Decorating a Christmas tree is a lot of fun and a family tradition for many people. In this article, I want to share a tip that can make rolls of ribbon look very nice on your tree.

Things You’ll Need:

• 2 or 3 rolls of ribbon that you want to put on your tree. With this project, kinds with wire in them are great. The ribbon can be the same exact type or just match in colors.
• Your Christmas tree.

1) First, begin with your first roll of ribbon. Instead of weaving the entire roll through your tree, start cutting two or three 2 foot strips.
Do the same with your other 2 rolls until you have a total of 6 to 9 strips, according to the side of your tree. Do not continue doing this to the entire rolls however, because you'll need to cut larger strips later on.

2) Beginning at the very top of your tree, tuck one end of a ribbon strip into a branch and then the other on a slightly lower branch.
You want the ribbon to be fairly loose and more vertical than horizontal. Twists are okay, but for this effect it's best that most of the ribbon is facing outward.

Do the same with the other strips until you're all the way around the top portion of the tree. The overall effect we're going for is the ribbon will look like it's cascading down the tree like a waterfall, not traveling horizontally through the tree the way Christmas tree lights are done.

3) For your second level, you want to make the ribbon strips a few inches longer than the first levels.
Somewhere between 2 1/2 to 2 3/4 feet is fine. You're also going to use more strips on the next level--closer to 8-12 according to the size of your tree. Do the same exact process. You should begin to notice the effect by now.

4) Last, continue this pattern until you've reached the bottom of the tree.
With each lower level, you'll need to increase the size and number of ribbon strips you're using. This is an excellent way to create a full-looking tree that looks professionally decorated.

More Tips:

• A very nice effect is using three different ribbons--2 solid and one sheer/transparent. It's very pretty, especially when the Christmas tree is lit.
• While this is possible to do with the tree already decorated, it's a lot easier if you do this after the lights but before ornaments.