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WHEN YOU ARE ON BUDGET |
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You're having a few friends over, and you want to add some special touches to your home, but you don't have much (if any) budget to spend. What can you do?
First, take stock. Look around your apartment and find accessories and furnishings that can either be put to another use or embellished. Dig out crafts supplies and decorating magazines for inspiration and find some ideas you like.
Second, decide what you need to do to make the gathering run smoothly. If you're having an intimate dinner party, you may want to focus on atmosphere (e.g., light some aromatic candles).
Third, get started! Decide on the projects you want to tackle, gather materials, and go for it. To help you get started, consider these low-cost decorating ideas:
Ambience. Group candles together on a tray and intersperse pine cones, leaves, and other natural embellishments throughout the arrangement. (Great for December holidays.) A candle grouping on a mirror (take it off the wall and use it like a tray) can be very dazzling and dramatic. In the bathroom, place bowls of potpourri and light scented candles or leave out scented soaps, unwrapped, to freshen the room. If you're really daring, fill your bathtub halfway with water, |
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HAVE YOU EVER HEARD ABOUT DOORWAYS? |
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Do you think you've gotten creative in every room, and you're ready to just sit back and take it all in, eh? There are just a few more things you might want to look at before you relax and enjoy your budget-conscious handiwork. You may have forgotten a few areas that are often overlooked, and they're typically painted white or off-white. They're your doorways and window frames, and although they might not seem all that important in the decorating scheme of things, you'd be surprised at what a difference they can make when they're handled with care and creativity.
Consider these ideas for making your doorways and window molding a little bit special:
Purchase new or used corbels (decorative support brackets) and place them in the upper corners of a doorway.
If you lack elaborate window moldings, stencil one right onto the wall around your most prominent windows.
For larger doorways that have no door, install a curtain rod and hang draperies to create an elegant entry.
Use colorful paints and paint markers to decorate door moldings (and the areas around them) to complement your room decor. If you're not confident in your artistic abilities, use stencils.
Drape plastic grapevine over windows and doorways for a |
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HOW TO DECORATE WITH YOUR BOOKS |
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When I walk into a home that contains many books, I always get a cozy, comfortable feeling. I'm not sure what it is about books, exactly, that makes a space a little warmer, a little more "homey," but they always seem to do it.
Book collections also tell a lot about their owners. In keeping with my antique-inspired cottage theme, my book collection consists of battered old (but not valuable) volumes of Shakespeare and Dickens' tales. Not only are they wonderful to read, but they're wonderful to look at.
So if you have books in your home, why not take them off the bookshelves, dust them off, and put them to good use? Here are some ways to use books to decorate:
Stack up large books on the floor and place a piece of glass or wood on top to create a small side table.
Place small book stacks of varying heights on a table. Place framed photos, candlesticks, or other items on top of and around the books and you can achieve perfect height and balance.
On an ottoman or coffee table, set out trays or baskets holding books so visitors can browse through them. This is especially nice if you have antique volumes, |
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HAVE YOU EVER HEARD ABOUT ONE-ROOM LIVING? |
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We all know that apartments come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and layouts. Still, many of us have always believed that apartments and houses are a grouping of clear-cut, separate rooms, each designed for specific functions, and that four walls and a door designate those areas. And often, this is how it works. But not always.
As a teenager, I visited a loft apartment for the first time. It was an incredible space in an old warehouse building. The ceiling was soaring, and I could only guess that it was at least twenty feet high. In its original state, the loft was one, huge square with no interior walls defining any of the areas, not even the bathroom. (That was simply a commode and a shower in one corner.)
The woman who lived there was an artist, and she was quite ingenious when it came to designing, decorating, and manipulating her space. To preserve the open, airy quality of the loft but still construct some private areas, she created "walls" that were about five feet tall. They resembled office cubicle walls but were much more stylish. (Some were actually frosted glass panels that let in the light but obscured the |
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HOW TO BLOCK ON UNATTRACTIVE VIEW |
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Perhaps you have a wonderful view from every window in your apartment. Perhaps you see a distant cityscape or a rolling green meadow. Perhaps you are so happy with your views that you don't even worry about window coverings.
But then again, perhaps your views aren't quite so perfect. Looking out a window and seeing a less-than-attractive site is a common occurrence for apartment dwellers just about everywhere. And if your window treatment budget is tight or if you're a short-term renter, making an investment in something unique and spectacular may seem out of reach for you. But it doesn't have to be. And if valances, blinds, draperies, and other old standbys just don't seem creative enough for you, you don't have to stick with them. Consider these ideas:
Stained glass. When you think of low-budget ways to dress your windows, perhaps stained glass isn't the first thing that comes to mind. But an old stained glass window can be suspended by wire or chains in front of your window or even propped up on a window sill. Sure, you could opt for blinds, but you may be surprised at what one stained glass window can do for a room. (It may |
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