DecoDreams, Issue #021, Beyond Paint

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DecoDreams
Your Guide to Creating Beautiful Spaces, FAST!
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July 19, 2004
Issue #021
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THE MISSION...DecoDreams is the home-decorating-made-
easy.com e-zine that delivers interior decorating tips,
ideas, and solutions to enhance all rooms of your home.
Staying on top of what's hot in decorating has never been
so easy or fun!
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DON'T FORGET Your Friends!...If you like DecoDreams, please
do a friend and me a huge favor and "pass it along"...

...or ask them to subscribe by visiting
Home Decorating Made Easy.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
***********************ACKNOWLEDGEMENT********************

Diversity of creative ideas has always been the
hallmark of home decorating. That's why I've asked
designer, artist, educator and writer, Marney
Makridakis, to share her own unique brand of
decorating advice in our "Ask the Decorator" column. I
think you'll enjoy her wit and original insights.

Submit your questions to Marney by clicking here. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

> TABLE OF CONTENTS

o News

1) Consider Using Murals to Awaken Your Walls

o Featured Article

1) Beyond Paint - Wall Covering Options

o Today's Quote

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~~~~~~~~NEWS ~~~~~~~~~

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Consider Using Murals to Awaken Your Walls

This month's issue of DecoDreams focuses on walls. Of
course paint is the easiest way to wake up any room.
But if you really want to turn a room into a themed
retreat, why not consider using a mural? Nowadays,
murals cover just about any theme you can imagine...
from and underwater scene to a romantic Tuscan
landscape.

Even one wall made over with a mural can dramatically
change a room. If this idea sounds appealing,
definitely check out MuralsMyWay.com. Catch you next month! :-)

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FEATURED ARTICLE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Beyond Paint - Wall Covering Options

I think paint is a great solution for changing a room
affordably and relatively quickly and easily. But
paint is not always the best choice for covering
walls. This issue of DecoDreams focuses on ways to
decorate your wall without paint.

For you renters out there who aren’t allowed to paint
your walls, this is your lucky day! You’re bound to
find a new idea that you can use in your space.

For "afternoon decorators" who are limited on time,
there are several ideas listed here that can be
achieved in a flash.

Even if you don’t have restrictions that keep you from
painting, this is still a great topic to consider.

Thinking outside of the paint box can inspire all of
us to open our imagination beyond the most obvious
choices to find decorating ideas that really inspire us!

That’s what I think decorating is all about -
stumbling upon ideas, options, and alternatives that
really make us feel joyful to be "at home".

Unique Wallpaper Techniques:

Tear pieces of a wallpaper and hang them,
collage-style, on the wall. If you use pre-pasted
wallpaper, it’s as easy as soaking the pieces in water
and then sticking them on the wall. This is most
effective with wallpaper that doesn’t have a repeating
pattern, such as wallpapers that are solid, textured,
or those that simulate a painted finish.
Cut several different coordinating wallpapers
into squares or rectangles and apply them to the wall
to form a grid. This is a great way to create a
spectacular grid wall treatment without the hassle of
painting inside the lines. For example, take your
three main colors and find a solid or "faux finish"
wallpaper in each color, and create a grid by
alternating squares of the colors.
Another way to use the same technique is to
create a "stone wall", which is perfect for any
classic decorating style. Take rectangles of neutral
solids in slate grey, cream, and stone green and
alternate them, allowing the edges to slightly overlap
to create an extra layer of textures.
Mix-match triangles of floral wallpaper to
create a "quilt" on a wall in a romantic cottage-style
sitting room, sunroom, breakfast nook, or bedroom.
This is a great way to make use of cast-off wallpaper
sample books (ask your home improvement store to give
you a call the next time they are getting rid of
wallpaper books).
To add interest to a striped wallpaper
pattern, cut the paper into squares and then alternate
the direction of the stripes between vertical and
horizontal. Regardless of the color, width, or
texture of the stripes, this creates a
fascinating "woven" look on any wall.
There are many "paint-able" wallpapers on the
market now, with deeply embossed and etched designs
that are ready for the paintbrush. An alternative is
to cover the raised areas of embossed wallpaper with
gold leaf. It’s a gorgeous formal look that is very
easy to create with a few simple supplies. (Buy gold
leaf and sizing medium at your local craft store and
follow the directions on the label.)
For a less formal look, you can use any
waterproof markers to mark on the raised portions of
embossed wallpaper. It’s a great way to add some
texture to any wall, anywhere!

Soft wall treatments:

Dye or paint simple bedsheets so that they
match the color scheme of your room, and then hang
them on the wall. You can tack them down (with tacks
or staples) so they hang taut against the wall, or
attach them at the top of the wall and allow them to
fall freely, creating "curtains" on your wall.
Hang a quilt on your wall for a cozy, sentimental
look, or hang an oriental or other ethnic rug for a
sophisticated flair.
Drape silk scarves vertically so that they cover
the entire wall.
Hang fabric on your wall, either covering the
entire wall or hung in panels, alternating between two
coordinating fabrics.
For added texture, hang thick upholstery fabric on
your wall, using tacks or a staple gun. In the
example shown here, a hard cornice covered in a fabric
coordinating with the wall’s fabric was installed at
the top of the wall for extra dimension.
Create a grid out of beautiful ribbons of various
colors, textures, and widths. This technique is
equally stunning in both formal and casual rooms.

Three-dimensional applications:

Install several magnetic bulletin boards solidly
across the wall, and cover with magnets.
Cover a wall with an unusual collection of items,
such as old hats, neckties, plates, teacups,
appliance, cookie cutters-use your imagination and any
collection can be a wall treatment!
Colors that are complementary to your room. Hang
them separately to simulate large panels, or hinge
them together for a more solid look.
Bring the outdoors in and cover your wall in a
natural material such as moss, straw, dried flowers,
or bamboo. Or buy artificial silk ivy garlands and
hang them to cover a wall. Twist in garlands of
berries for accent.
For an unusual faux chair rail, glue on items
such as rhinestones, buttons, beads, or seashells in
horizontal stripes on the wall.
For a more ambitious project, create a mosaic
on your wall by adhering beads, glass pieces, stones,
or other small objects and then filling in the spaces
with grout.
Buy wood letters of any size (available at
craft stores) and put them on your wall, spelling out
words, poems, or sayings.
Bring out your bookish side and cover your
wall with book pages (pages from old children’s books
are a lot of fun), book covers, and even the books,
themselves! Buy a handful of old books at a flea
market, open them to their halfway point, and nail or
screw them directly in the wall.

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~TURNING IDEAS INTO ACTION!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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ASK THE DECORATOR

DecoDiva, Marney Makridakis, Answers Your Question
About Decorating With Art

QUESTION: I'm helping friends decorating their living
room, which has formal furniture, but they want it to
be more casual. They need some color in it real bad
since the walls are white and the sofa/loveseat and
carpet are off-while. I bought some beautiful fruit
prints at an antique auction and would love to use
them in this living room, as my friend’s don't want to
spend a lot of money. Is it appropriate to put fruit
pictures in a living room?

ANSWER: Putting pictures of fruit in a living room is
no problem at all, and it sounds like it would be a
good way to bring some color into the room. You could
emphasize those colors by adding some throw pillows on
the off-white furniture pieces that echo the colors in
the fruit. You could even place a small bowl with
beaded fruit knick-knacks for an additional splash of
color and a fun touch.

However, it’s very important to remember that your
friends should truly like the artwork if they are
going to hang it in their living room.

One of the things most important pieces of advice I
can share is to never, ever make a decorating decision
solely because you came by the item frugally.

We all love bargains, and often depend on them in
order to decorate our homes, but just remember, the
key to wonderful decorating is to have every single
element in room hold some kind of significance or
meaning to the homeowner.

If the paintings of the fruit resonate with your
friends, then go for it! If not, let the walls be
bare a little longer until the right art comes along.
After all, we may not be able to always choose who
comes to visit, but we can choose the artwork that
stays in our home!

----------Recommended Resource----------

Get Organized Now!
Before you begin any decorating project,
do yourself a HUGE favor and get clutter
under control. Doing this alone will make
a room appear larger, and you'll feel more
relaxed. The crown jewel is that you'll get
more time back into your day. Click here to
learn more...

http://www.homedecoratingmadeeasy.com/get_org_now.html

------Recommended Resource------

"How to Make Roman Shades"
I reviewed this ebook recently and it's
the best you'll find on how to
easily create roman shades on
your own. Step-by-step diagrams
and easy, yet detailed, instructions
will have you making beautiful roman
shades in no time at all. Even sewing
beginners will find the process easy
to follow. Just think of the money
you'll save!

http://www.homedecoratingmadeeasy.com/sew_roman_shades.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ***************** TODAY'S QUOTE ***************************

"Each time you are honest and conduct yourself with
honesty, a success force will drive you toward greater
success. Each time you lie, even with a little white
lie, there are strong forces pushing you toward failure."

- Joseph Sugarman

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Wishing you all the best,

P.S. Don't forget your fr*ee chapters of Awaken Your
Interior Designer. You'll get 72 pages, filled with
lots of ideas and photos to put you on the right
decorating path.Click here to download your copy right away

P.P.S. If you're thinking of starting a part-time or
full-time business for crafts or home decorating, be
sure to download our complimentary ebook called From Passion to Cash: How to Make Money With Your Passion of Crafts and Decorating. You'll find lots
of helpful ideas to get you going in the right
direction. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~