There are many homeowners who like to do their own decorating projects themselves. Doing your own decorating projects is a great way to ensure that your own style and personality come through the decorating. Here are 5 great DIY decorating projects for the home.

1. Paint the Walls

Painting is by far the easiest yet most effective way to give a room a new look. The color of the walls is going to influence the decor of the whole room.

Be sure that when you decide to paint the walls that you do it properly and prepare the walls as needed. This may mean filling in cracks and then sanding them down so that the wall is crack-free and smooth. It also involves a coat of primer and may involve a few coats of paint depending upon the color and the saturation of the wall.

2. Install Molding on the Walls

Molding is a great way to add a new touch to the walls. It can add some interest and appeal to an otherwise boring wall. You can install molding at the top of the wall such as crown molding or choose to go a different route and install a chair rail in the middle of the wall.

You always want to paint or stain the molding before nailing it to the wall. You can always go back and touch up the nail holes with paint afterwards.

3. Personalize the Lampshades

If you can't find the exact kind of lampshade that you want or you just want something that shows your style, then design your own lampshade. An easy way to do this is to take a white or cream colored lampshade and cut out figures or designs with dark paper such as black or red. Tape the paper to the inside of the lampshade and you have a designer lampshade that reflects your own personal style.

You can also add items to your lampshade such as embellishments and ribbon to personalize it as well.

4. Make Your Own Artwork for the Walls

Even if you can't draw or paint very well, you can still come up with your very own artwork for the walls. You just need to get creative and use items that you have. You can look for photographs, postcards, and book images to hang on the wall. Collages of items found in nature also work well for artwork pieces.

An easy way to create your own artwork is to take a frame or blank canvas and wrap it in a patterned fabric to fit the style of the room. You can choose 2-3 different patterns and different sized frames and hang them in a cluster on the wall.

5. Make Your Own Window Treatments

There are many different non-sewing techniques to make your own curtains if you are not handy with a sewing machine or a needle and thread. Take a long silk scarf and drape it over a window curtain and you have instant interest around the window.

You can also use such things as placemats and tablecloths for instant window treatments. If you do sew, there are plenty of patterns that you can find to make your own window treatments from whatever fabric you like.

A DIY decorating project doesn't have to be difficult. These are just 5 of the many different projects that you can take on to decorate your home in your own personal style.

Leon Tuberman has been part of the furniture and interior decorating business for 40 years. He is the owner and operator of popular furniture store in California. They have a large inventory of handcrafted Amish built solid oak furniture for your bedroom, home office and living room. Whether you're looking for a pair of wood file cabinets for your home office or an oak night stand for your master bedroom then they have everything you need.

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Transform a Plain Wall With Simple DIY Home Decorating Tips
by Anabel Scott

Give a sparse space a makeover

We are not all blessed with a fireplace on which to place treasures, but now you can fake one! Here are a few handy tips and tricks on how to transform a plain wall in your living space into something of a feature and talking point.

You don't need to spend a lot of money to redecorate a room. I've listed three great ideas on ways to spruce up a plain looking wall.

A Fake Fireplace - How to do it
Measure and mark out two pairs of pillars on your wall - we suggest 90cm apart, 100cm high and 6cm wide for each pair. Invest in blue masking tape, which won't rip the paint off your wall (ask for it at your local hardware store).

Choose the shade you want your fireplace to be. We opted for plain black paint, but don't be afraid to experiment with color - and fill in the spaces between the tape.

When it dries, carefully peel off the masking tape to reveal the base of your fireplace. We used a shelf as the mantelpiece, but you could paint another stripe at the top.

A Funky Wall Display - Make it
Make a wall display from small canvases and embossed paper. Simply tape the paper to the canvas, ensuring there are no crease lines.

Dress up a wall
For an eye-catching effect on a plain wall, use black and white photos in cluster frames to create a classic look.

Arranging objects that complement the tones of the wall will help draw attention to your display.

A Fake Window - Hang it
Why not hang some curtains around a landscape painting or photo? This will give the illusion of a picture window. Take a picture of a beautiful landscape outside and have it blown up by a printer to poster size.

This is a unique way to display art as well as creating the illusion of more space with a framed window.

Don't be afraid to try something different. Remember your house should reflect your personality so if you have funky eclectic tastes then one of these ideas would suit you down to the ground!Your only limit is your imagination. For more ideas about using curtains to decorate your home visit our website. We have some great articles on using cream colored curtains to add some classic style to any room.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com

Of Coffee Tables and Books
by LJ Sew

Among the tables found in our respective homes, the coffee table is the most versatile. It can serve a multitude of functions without losing its primary use: a flat that serves coffee and other beverages. It signifies an avenue where friends and colleagues can drop in anytime of the day and can gather around to share easy conversations and light banter.

However, coffee tables can do more than hold a cup of tea. It can possess a world of its own via the best medium possible --- books. Coffee table books evoke a myriad of thoughts. Paradigm shifts can occur upon the opening of a page let alone a whole book. What makes one grab a book and open it in the first place?

The ideal coffee table book begins with the perfect title. Does it spell Madonna or Elvis? Iconic personalities whose lives are bigger than any book for that matter will encourage your guests to dive into it page after page after page.

You can have your well-loved and exclusively chosen photographs blown up and hardbound into a coffee table book of snapshots featuring amazing milestones in your life. You can even tweak this book and segue to a separate publication featuring a collection of your precious travel photos that you have accumulated over a period of time.

A coffee table book on politicians would be a great fodder for small talk. However, a specific politician like Margaret Thatcher or Barack Obama will drive the level of discussion a notch higher.

Books on the most-favorite word of the century, love, have volumes available. As endless as debates over love and loving can get, so are the resources of books and imagery on the said topic.

Whatever you delight in, be it furniture or fashion design, clothing of different eras, classic movies, do-it-yourself crafts, Harleys or Vespas, nature, flowers, or Andy Warhol --- just relish your picks. You and your guests are bound to have a meaningful conversation over a cup of latte or green tea. You can always talk about anything but you can also choose to talk intelligently as well. Your coffee table books will inspire you to do the latter.

And hey, should you still be confused on what book to get, you can start by purchasing one that has started a multi-million dollar industry by itself: coffee.

About the Author

LJ Sew is 29 years old. On days when she is not writing for Greentea Design and Victor Klassen, she paints with her daughter or watches the sunset with a vanilla ice cream cone in her hand.

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