How To Decorate Your House to Make A Beautiful Home Of Style

Have you always wanted a beautifully decorated home but seem to have a hard time giving it just the right touches to make it that way? Well, decorating your home doesn't have to be a difficult task. By implementing certain tips you can turn your ordinary home into the home of your dreams!

Although decorating tips will vary from room to room, there are a few tips that should be used in every room of your home. These things must be done before the main decorating begins.

Remove excess clutter I know that this may sound elementary, but excess clutter can really take a way from a home's beauty. What is considered clutter? Of course, any junk laying around that is not benefiting anything, old newspapers, broken or unsightly furniture, stray items from other rooms, and decorations.
Decorations? Yes. The wrong decorations or too many decorations can become clutter. Pick out a few of your favorites and get rid of the rest. If you're a collector, than more than likely you have clutter. Ask yourself, "Is this collection really benefiting me?" If the answer is no, then get rid of it.
If you just can't part with the collection, consider designating one room to be your collection room. I went to someone's house about a few months ago and the lady who lived there had about 200-300 pairs of salt and pepper shakers. It didn't really benefit her, but it was a hobby and it made her happy. So she took the two rooms of her home that she used least and set her collection up in them. The key is to display them in an orderly fashion. Use bookcases or curios to help contain the items and eliminate a cluttered look.
Once the clutter is gone, many people will already begin to see a dramatic difference in their home.You will be amazed at how you will instantly become more relaxed and you'll be eager to continue to the next step.

Give Each Room A Thorough Cleaning Now that the clutter is gone, cleaning will be easier and maybe even enjoyable. Go through each room and clean them completely and thoroughly. Vacuum the carpets, dust and shine the furniture, wash curtains, blinds and windows and even wipe down walls. You may find more clutter in this process in which you should get rid of promptly.
With everything sparkling clean and clutter free, you will now have a new perspective on your home. What was once the old drab thing that caused you despair is now a bright happy place that is full of potential.

Find a Focal Point Now it's almost time to decorate but first choose a point of focus in each room. This will be the main place that you focus on during your decorating and all the other decorating in the room will complement this area.
The focal point is usually the first area that you see as you enter the room. This should display your best picture, your most lovely figurine, etc. The focal point is what sets the mood for the room and if it's the first thing that you see, it will obviously be the first impression of the room.
If you feel that the first thing that you see would not make a good focal point, such as a coat closet, then pick another area that you feel would make a great focal point and start here. A fireplace, a bay window, or a wide empty wall are some examples of some good focal points.

Let's Start Decorating!

• Now it's time to begin the fun part. However, decorating is still a lot of work and requires a lot of planning.
• Themes Each room should have a theme to guide you. Whether it's a color scheme, a certain style, (such as Victorian or contemporary), or a fun upbeat theme.
• Walls Once the theme is chosen, you should decide if you will paint or wallpaper your walls. New paint and/or wallpaper makes everything look fresh. If you have a large room, darker hues tend to draw the room in more and give it a cozy feel. If the room is small, use lighter colors that will reflect more light giving the illusion of a larger room. If you choose to hang wallpaper, add stripes for height, florals for romance or femininity, or solids or marbles if you don't want to paint but want a painted look. If you have an entire wall that you think would make a great focal point, consider a wall mural. When hanging wall decor, be careful not to over-clutter walls. Hang pictures at eye level.

• TIP: If you live in an older home or a mobile home, your walls may not be completely straight due to settling. Avoid wallpaper with stripes in this case as uneven walls will become more noticeable.

• Windows If you are lucky enough to have decorative windows such as an octagon or a large bay window, you may just want to leave these alone since they are beautiful on their own. However, adding real or artificial greenery around these windows will really add to the beauty. Not only will real plants flourish in the light, but artificial plants will also look stunning and natural in the sunlight. Decorative seating such as a Queen Anne settee or a wicker rocking chair (depending on what theme you choose) may add to the scene. This may also be a spot where you may want to add a magazine rack or table for reading by day and a pole lamp for night reading. When considering windows where you'll be adding curtains, keep each room's theme and colors in mind. Choose lace or ruffles for femininity or romance; this works best in bathrooms and bedrooms. Drapes are more likely to be found in living rooms, dens, and home offices. Valances are great for kitchens and children's rooms. If you don't want to spend money on buying new curtains, you may be able completely transform the look of ordinary curtains by just adding a few decorative touches. Floral garland or ivy may be draped along the tops of curtains, mini bouquets can be assembled and hot glued to ordinary tie backs, (this is lovely and instantly transforming), tassels or scrolled metal may also replace ordinary tie backs. TIP: If you have a room without windows, hang several mirrors and use mirrored accessories. This helps reflect light in the room without adding extra lights and gives the room depth. Use lots of mirrors in small rooms even if they have windows to give the illusion of a larger room.

Floors When it comes to floors, a little can go a long way. Make sure unnecessary items (even decorative items) are limited or removed. Decorative rugs can be a life saver in every room and can instantly brighten things up. Large tapestry looking rugs are lovely in living rooms, dining rooms, and hardwood floors. Rugs in front of the sink and appliances in the kitchen can serve a dual purpose. They help to keep the rest of your floor cleaner and can be purchased in a variety of colors and patterns to complement your theme. The same goes for the bathrooms. When purchasing rugs, it's better to spend a little extra for better quality. Rugs will always have traffic and if you buy low quality you'll find yourself replacing often which gets expensive in the long run. Also, the higher quality will look nice longer. Just by keeping flooring well cleaned will make a world of difference to the room. Go beyond vacuuming, sweeping and mopping. Shampoo carpets and rugs regularly (about every three months, more or less due to traffic), clean corners and nooks, shine and polish linoleum, and thoroughly clean tile grout. You'll be amazed how your room will sparkle!

Decorating Tips Room By Room

Living Rooms and Dens Do you have a lot of family photos that you want to display but limited room? Purchase bookcases and display photos in them. Add decorative figurines or florals among the pictures for a polished look.
Bathrooms Pay attention to shower curtains, rugs, and window treatments. Add candles to master baths, and fun decorative accessories to children's baths.
Dining Room This is the room for elegance! Pick a rich wallpaper and fancy light or chandelier. Display a floral centerpiece.
Kitchen Concentrate on the cabinets! If they don't reach the ceiling, add decorative vases, baskets, or China on the roof of the cabinets or drape floral garland or ivy around the top. If your cabinets reach the ceiling, concentrate on the countertops or appliances. Display decorative canisters, or pretty stove burner covers.
Bedroom Add decor that will enhance relaxation and romance. Place candles, misting fountains, mirrors and theme related comfortable bedding.
Children's Bedrooms Display their best toys and store others out of sight. Set the theme for fun by adding wall paper cut-outs and displaying their name in wood letters. For something really original, let your children help paint by placing their hands in paint and stamping the walls!

A Bungalow Goes from Small to Spacious

ALEXANDRIA MOTT: Forgive me if this sounds hackneyed, but it's never been more true: Your little house is a jewel box.

CHAD EISNER: When I bought it a client said, "Oh, tell me about your new home." I said, "Well, it could fit inside your swimming pool." And it actually took me a while to come to terms with the fact that this is a 900-square-foot beach shack in Santa Monica and not a 10,000-square-foot mansion in Beverly Hills — I'd love to put Fortuny curtains in every room! But this is a Cracker Jack box. You just can't do that. It'd be funny.
As in ha-ha funny?
As in not right, not appropriate. When something is this small, you can't fight it. The owners before me stripped it down to one room to make it feel bigger. But that's fighting the era and spirit of the place. I wanted to keep things consistent with a 1920s beach bungalow. And I wanted a real home, with separate rooms and a garden.

So you divided it into a living room, dining room, kitchen, bedroom...
Yes, four square rooms with a central hallway. If you put the rooms right next to each other, it's like you can't catch your breath. And you need to be able to see through them. The bedroom is all bed — I had to have a California king — but you can see through the room from the hallway through the glass doors to the garden. It doesn't matter if a room is 100 square feet or 1,000, you have to see beyond things to be able to breathe.

There's big-house furniture in the living room, too.
I needed things to be comfy. I'm 6-foot-1 and 200 pounds plus. Dollhouse furniture wasn't an option. And sofas have to be at least 40 to 42 inches deep to be comfortable.
Comfortable for watching that TV that you framed so beautifully?
There's no room for a big cabinet in here, so I had the TV recessed into the wall and thought I'd leave it at that. Then I was at an antiques fair and saw this old Flemish frame and adjusted it to fit. But again, it's about not fighting things, not trying to hide a TV. It's like, "I watch TV, I'm not ashamed."

Is that your overall approach to making a small space feel almost grand? Not fighting it?
If there's a trick, I don't know the formula. I do use the outside area as sort of my second living zone. And my ceilings are only nine feet tall, so I painted them a light color to make them seem higher. The wallpaper in the living room helps, too. The vertical stripes pull the eye up. And symmetry.
Symmetry?
Balance helps alleviate smallness. You need to keep consistent lines and create a focal point, like the two sofas, the TV between the two sconces. The house is a shoebox — but it's perfectly balanced.

The curtains help the rooms feel more important than small — even if they're not Fortuny.
That's because I hung them high. I used cotton linen everywhere, and then in the dining room I splurged with that Robert Kime print. I kept it on a roll under my bed for five years until I got up the nerve to cut it. There were times when I thought, "Maybe I should just use it for this." So glad I didn't. It was waiting for this dining room. It's handblocked silk, and there's something both traditional and contemporary about it.
You've mixed period fixtures with modern pieces, Italian with Moroccan...how did you keep it so coherent?
The neutral palette helps. If I had painted my dining room red, I couldn't have moved so seamlessly through the eras and have a metal and glass table and an antique Chinese console and the Kime curtains.

But there is color in the house.
Less than you think. The amount that I've used is very pointed. For the bedroom I wanted blue because — and I know this sounds corny — I have blue eyes. It took about three tries. I had one that looked like a little boy's room. By the third try, the contractor asked, "What's the name of this paint?" I knew it was a good sign.

Tell me about the lighting.
I wanted the rooms to be lit as they were lit when this house was built, like sconces, chandeliers. I fought myself tooth and nail about where I'd put recessed lights. I like a house to be moody, almost to the point of darkness. At the end of a long week, I like to turn the lights waaay down, put on music, and light about five incense sticks to the point that it's totally smoky. It mellows me out.

What about so little storage space?
I'm not a big stuff person. That's one thing I've been blessed with. I don't get attached to belongings. In this business, it's so easy to fall in love with a fabric or a color or an object. So the things I have are well chosen and they can transition from one thing to the next. There's not just a mix here, I have slipcovers for the dining chairs so that I can swap them out and it feels like a new room. Just new flowers can really change the feeling in a room.

But you did make room for your surfboard against the garden wall!
There is room for a complete life here. I've had parties for up to 100 people. Truly. This really is a home. I wish there were another 300 square feet for more closet space. But I also know that no matter how big any house of mine was, I'd always want another 300 square feet of closet space