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Get crafty with your decorating ideas
Here is a list of clever decorating ideas that are
easy to incorporate into your own home. These ideas
have come from a variety of sources: my own head, fellow
redesigners and stagers, and clients. Free to email
me your own clever ideas and I'll include them in a
future column.
For craft rooms:
- I had the pleasure of redesigning a client's craft
room last week and was impressed by her creativity.
She uses non-traditional containers to store her
craft supplies. For example, she stores spools of
ribbon in large antique birdhouses, large footed
bowls and urns. Not only are these containers functional,
but they also look beautiful on her shelves.
- Another way keep spools of ribbon handy is to hang
them on a series of decorative bathroom tissue holders
on the wall. For this same client, we stacked six
of them on a narrow wall next to her work area.
For dining rooms:
- Use scarves as table runners or as part of a centerpiece.
Wrap a scarf loosely around a footed bowl or a collection
of candlesticks.
- Create a fragrant centerpiece: Fill tall glass
cylinders about 1/3 full with coffee beans and tuck
in an ivory colored pillar candle.
- Anther way to use glass cylinders and candles:
Drop a large handful of cranberries into the cylinder,
fill with water about 2/3 full, then place a floating
candle on top of the cranberries. It makes a lovely
holiday arrangement.
- Are your dining chairs in need of reupholstery?
They don't all need to be identical. Pick one fabric
for the two chairs on the ends, and a different coordinating
fabric for the side chairs.
For kids' rooms:
- Use baby clothes as art: Hang three or five decorative
hooks on the wall and use them to display adorable
baby outfits.
- Hang a length of pretty ribbon on the wall and
use as a clothesline to display children's artwork.
- My daughter, Sara, created her own artwork using
her name: On a piece of poster board, first she asked
all of her friends and relatives to write her name
using many different colors of markers. Then she
spelled out SARA using magazine letters and stickers
and pasted them onto the poster board. She even added
her old school nametags. The result is a personalized,
colorful masterpiece in her room.
For artwork:
- Instead of hanging small pieces of art on the wall,
display them on a stand or easel. Tuck these into
bookcases and china cabinets, or use them as part
of a tabletop vignette. At a recent redesign, we
placed kitchen-themed art on a stand and used it
to decorate the garden window.
- Decorate plain bi-fold closet doors by hanging
artwork or framed photos on the doors.
- Hang a decorative empty picture frame on the wall
and place a smaller piece of art inside it. It is
an interesting look and is a good way give a small
piece needed visual weight and scale.
This article first appeared in Alameda Newspaper
Group papers on Dec. 23, 2006.
Go
back to the list of decorating columns.
All articles copyright 2003-2008 Anna
Jacoby.
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