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How to Keep your Real Christmas Tree Beautiful and Safe

Monday, December 26th, 2011

Using a real fir as a holiday tree is a beautiful, traditional choice.   Living trees are not as common as they once were, as many holiday decorators choose to use artificial trees.   A living Christmas tree can be a wonderful centerpiece in your traditional holiday décor, providing you follow a few simple steps to preserve the beauty of the tree as well as to ensure safety.

When shopping for your tree, inspect any prospective trees closely before you purchase.  Look for brown patches in the needles, an excess of needles on the ground surrounding the tree, and for weak or bare branches.   The trunk should be a uniform color and texture, with no damaged or discolored areas.   The needles should be bright or vibrant (depending on the type of fir tree you’re buying) and firmly attached.   The root ball should be moist and free of any mold or mildew.  After purchasing, transport the tree home very carefully.  If you’re tying it to the roof of your vehicle, be careful placing the rope or twine to avoid damaging small, tender branches and needles.

At home, prepare your tree stand by placing in the area of your home where you plan to decorate the tree.   Fill a small pie pan or other container with water and add a few drops of bleach.  The bleach will help the needles stay bright, as well as preventing mold and mildew from growing on the trunk of your tree.  A moldy tree isn’t on anyone’s Christmas list!  Live trees need water for a couple of reasons.  Firstly, the water helps prevent the tree from drying out.  A dry Christmas tree is very, very flammable – keeping the tree moist will help make the tree more fire-resistant.   Secondly, a moist tree will hold onto its needles longer, which means less vacuuming and fewer bald spots on the tree.

When you bring the tree in the house, two or more people should hold and position the tree while a third person attaches it to the stand.   Most Christmas tree stands use three or more thumbscrews to hold the trunk in place; work in a circle, tightening each screw a little at a time, which will make sure the tree is both centered and secure in the stand.   Test for sturdiness, especially if there are pets or small children in the house who may pull the tree over.

The primary disadvantage in using a live Christmas tree, aside from environmental reasons, is the flammability.  Even a moist tree can catch fire – it’s made of wood, after all.  Make sure your tree is not close to anything that might catch it on fire, including the fireplace, lamps, heating vents or candles.  Test and examine all electrical light strings for frays, and plug in lights before stringing to find any burnt out or damaged bulbs.   If you’re connecting more than one string of lights together end to end, secure the connection with a strip of electrical tape.  This will prevent the plugs from pulling apart and creating a spark.

Many years ago, when Christmas trees were decorated with real candles, homeowners would keep a bucket of sand near the tree to put out any fires.  Nowadays, consider keeping a freshly charged fire extinguisher nearby and make sure the entire family knows how to use it in an emergency.

Jessica Ackerman from WallDecorandHomeAccents.com, has skills in all areas of large candle sconces and architectural wall art.

Photos credits – Christmas tree made of diamonds, Lazy shelf Christmas tree and Upside down Christmas tree.

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Budget Ways to Decorate a Living Room with Blue Carpeting

Thursday, December 22nd, 2011

Blue carpeting was a staple in many homes built between the 1950’s and the 1980’s.  Blue is a popular decorating color, but the ease of using blue on the walls, in fabrics or in accent pieces does not necessarily translate to blue carpeting.   When faced with a sea of ocean colored shag or bold navy Berber, what is a homeowner to do? If you cannot replace the carpet, your best and cheapest option is to find a way to live with it.  Fortunately, many color schemes work wonderfully with blue, so no matter what your personal style is, you should be able to find a balance between your taste and the cerulean floor covering giving you fits.

Find The Humor

This room, a very stylized piece created for a decorating showcase, shows how much fun a little blue carpeting can be.  The narrow strip of bright sea blue running down the center of the room divides the space into symmetrical halves, with each side mirroring the other.  From the cute angled sofa to the clever half pots on the walls under the vinyl sea anemones, this space is hip, fun and bordering on futuristic.  Blue is right at home in this style.

The next picture is a livable room; this time decorated in a fun, eclectic style. Blue here is balanced with many white, black and white accent pieces and again, a sense of humor.  This room is fun without being over the top like the previous room, making it a space that would be right at home in a suburban house or an urban townhouse.

You could easily copy the feel of this rug by stenciling designs in black on your own carpeting.  Painting carpets is challenging, but not impossible, and it has made much easier when you use fabric paint, which is made to stretch and bend without cracking or peeling.

The next room is even more traditional, but it still has several bold contemporary elements.  Mixing pale blue with bright red against a backdrop of neutrals is a very hot trend, the effect is high drama and high contrast, but it feels updated and fresher than standard black and white.  Notice how the homeowner’s use of shades of blue remains in the same family.  While the colors may be slightly different, they share many of the same color qualities.  This room has many formal qualities, but the edges are taken off by the abundance of soft fabrics and gentle textures.

The final room is familiar, and shows one of the most famous rooms to have blue carpeting.  The Oval Office, where the President of the United States conducts business, is traditionally re-decorated for each President.  Presidents choose art and furnishings that reflect their personal style.   This is a replica of Lyndon Johnson’s Oval Office, which was created at his Presidential library.  While the styles may change with each new President, the Oval Office has consistently had blue carpeting.

Just as fleur de lis wall art may be one person’s cup of tea and music wall hangings may be another’s, your particular shade of blue carpet cab be made more palatable to your taste by tweaking the room with a good dose of your personal style.

Professional designer Jessica Ackerman, writes for WallDecorandHomeAccents.com, and specializes in decorating with contemporary wood wall art and architectural wall decor.

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Space Saving Design Ideas for a Dorm Room

Sunday, November 27th, 2011

Introduction

So you’re moving away to the dorm! What a wonderful and exciting time!  Living in a dorm is the first experience many teens have with living independently, and it can be an important step on the road to adulthood.   Now that the excitement has started to die down, it’s time to come up with a plan for how you will decorate your own dorm room.   Your dorm room should reflect your tastes and your personality, as well as provide you with a functional living space.

Dorm Room Basics

Most dorms come complete with institutional furniture.  Beds, dressers, desks and a couple of desk chairs are standard at most colleges.   Many colleges do not allow you to move the furniture out of the room, so plan on making the most of it.   Additionally most colleges will not allow you to paint or use nails or screws in the walls.  This can limit your choices, but it can also make you use your imagination – which is every decorator’s best tool.   Most dorm rooms are also very small, which can also be a decorating challenge.

How Will You Use Your Dorm Room?

Before you begin to plan the arrangement of your room, take a few minutes to think about how you will use it.  You’ll be doing many different activities in your dorm room; eating, sleeping, studying and even entertaining.   Additionally, you’ll need to store many of your belongings in the room.  Chances are good if your dorm room even has a closet, it will be tiny and you may have to share it with a roommate.  Don’t count on many storage areas being included in the basic dorm room.

What Do You Need To Keep In Your Dorm Room?

Think about what you’ll need, what you’d like and what you can do without in your room.  You’ll need storage for drinks and snacks; books and study materials; clothing and personal items and areas to display your special art or treasures.   You may want a small refrigerator, a television or a stereo in your dorm room.  If you have the space, you may want to include a small sitting area for guests or just hanging out with your roommate.

Making A Design Plan And A Budget

Now that you know what you’ll need and what you have to work with, it’s time to start the more formal planning process.  Decide how much money you can spend and make a budget you can stick to.   Draw a scale model of your dorm room and furnishings on graph paper to play with different room arrangements.  Take your tape measure with you to the store if you’re planning to buy anything large so you can make sure it will fit in the space you have available.

Making The Most Of The Space You Have

Small space decorating can be a challenge, but it can also be a lot of fun.  It takes a little creativity and ingenuity to pull off a successful small space design, but there are a few tricks and tips that can help.

  1. Keep the colors simple.   You don’t want to overwhelm a small room with a rainbow of colors.  Keeping a basic color scheme of two or three colors will make your room seem more polished and put together.   Even a monochromatic scheme can be beautiful in a small room.
  2. Symmetry is your friend.  While the urge to go outside of the box when arranging furnishings is tempting, sticking with a symmetrical design will help the room feel larger and again, more polished.
  3. Make the most of unexpected space.  Putting your bed on raised blocks can give you much more storage room underneath the bed without raising the whole unit like a bunk bed or loft.

Dorm living is a great experience, and one you’ll remember your whole life.  Creating a dorm room that is lovely, comfortable and reflects your personal style will make the experience even more rewarding.

Jessica Ackerman, author and staff designer at WallDecorandHomeAccents.com, specializes in trees wall art and Southwestern wall art.

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Double Duty Decorating for a Dorm Room

Saturday, November 26th, 2011

Introduction

Going away to college to live in the dorms is a great and exciting time for many teens.  The freedom and independence of college life is a stepping-stone on the way to adulthood.   Living in the dorms can be a challenge as much as it can be a reward, however, especially when trying to fit two people and a semester’s worth of stuff into a small space.    Dorm rooms can be a challenge to keep organized and stylish, often having to depend on college issue furniture while abiding by strict rules on how a student can and cannot decorate.   If you’re a teen headed off to college soon, or a parent of a college-bound student, this article can help you make the most of the space in the dorm.

Make A Budget

One of the first steps of any decorating project is to decide on a budget and stick to it.   Deciding how much you can or want to spend on the dorm room will help fine tune your decorating plan in the next step.  Additionally, a budget will keep you from overspending – which is very important to families trying to pay for a college education.    No matter how large or small the budget is, there are many options for dorm room decorating.   Style doesn’t have to be expensive.

Make A Plan

The next step is developing your decorating plan.   If your college allows it, ask for a tour of a typical dorm room before moving in and measure the space and stock furnishing carefully.   When you get back home, draw a scale version of the room on graph paper.  Then draw and cut out scale versions of any furniture you must keep in your room.   Practice a few different configurations of the furnishings with your graph paper model until you find something that works for you.   Next, make a list of things you’ll need to be comfortable in the dorm, and begin coming up with a plan for how to fit everything into the small space.   Most dorm rooms serve several functions.  They’re places to sleep, eat, study and entertain.  Additionally, you’ll need to make sure you have adequate storage for clothing and personal items.   Inventory what you already have, and make a list of anything you’ll need to buy.

Comparison Shop

Once you have an idea of what you need, go to several brick and mortar stores and online retailers to find the best values.   Many companies have sales featuring college dorm supplies in the late summer, with the biggest markdowns happening after school starts.   Consider only buying necessities now, then fill in the blanks with heavily discounted products once you’ve moved in.

Space Saving Furnishing

Many college students like to make the most of the limited dorm room space by elevating the beds.  When I was in college, my roommate and I both slept on raised beds, leaving the entire floor area of the room available for other purposes.  We were each able to slide our desks and dressers under the bed, making the most of a very, very small space.   Furniture that can serve more than one purpose is another great idea – consider ottomans with storage that works as a table, a chair and a storage container.  Choose items on castors, which can be slid out of the way with just a hint of effort.

Space Saving Accessories

One big trend in dorm decorating is wall-hung storage.   Most dorms don’t let you put nails or screws into the walls, but there are many reusable adhesive products on the market that can support heavy objects and don’t mar the surface of the wall. These products can be used with lightweight shelves or storage containers, again getting things up off the floor and off the surfaces in the room.

The most important rule in decorating your dorm room is to have fun.  You’ll be spending a lot of time in the space, make sure it’s comfortable and matches your personality.  Just make sure your dorm room doesn’t end up looking like this one:

Jessica Ackerman is a freelance writer and works for WallDecorandHomeAccents.com. She shares her wealth of knowledge on trees wall sculptures and tree of life wall art.

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Ways to Add a Feminine Touch to a Bachelor Pad

Friday, November 25th, 2011

The phrase ‘bachelor pad’ can strike fear in the heart of many women. Images of dirty socks on the ceiling fan, dirty dishes in the oven and walls filled with posters of scantily clad women flash through the minds of many women.   While these are clearly greatly exaggerated stereotypes implying unmarried men are incapable of taking care of themselves, there are steps you can take to add a touch of femininity to your home.   In addition to making your home feel more welcoming to any women guests you may have, it will help you create a design balance.

Let us begin by looking at what makes a design feel masculine or feminine. Typically, our assessment of the “gender” of a space is related to the colors, patterns and textures used in the room.  Pastels, florals and soft shapes are considered feminine; bold colors, stripes/plaids and harder shapes are considered masculine.   There are, of course, exceptions, and many designs and design styles can easily be defined as gender-neutral, meaning the appeal is based on something other than gender.

Despite the descriptions above, adding a feminine touch to your bachelor pad doesn’t mean you need to paint anything pink or cover your leather couch in a floral slipcover.   There are many subtle ways to take the manly edge off your space without giving your buddies a reason to poke fun at you.  Pick one or more of the following tips and give them a dose of your own personally style to make your home look and feel welcoming to any guest, regardless of gender.

  1. Bring the outside in.   Adding living things to your space (things growing in the refrigerator do not count) instantly makes it feel more vibrant.   While beautiful flowers arranged elegantly in a simple vase can be very masculine, if you would like to avoid things that bloom there are a multitude of non-flowering houseplants available. Many only require minimal upkeep, needing only a little water and a little sun to thrive.
  2. Frame your art. Nothing says “dorm room” like posters stuck to the wall with tape or thumbtacks. Posters about the charms of alcohol and/or semi-naked women probably don’t belong in your public spaces, but other posters can look great hung in groups in inexpensive, matching poster frames.
  3. Hide your junk. Sufficient storage can go a long way in helping you keep a tidy (and easy to keep that way) home.  Having a place to store everything from your bills to your tools to your collection of sci-fi movies on betamax tapes will help you keep track of all your stuff, as well as keep it out of the way.
  4. Remember the rule of three. Pulling together a design that looks both stylish and intentional can be as easy as remembering the rule of three.   Creating a color palette? Three complementary colors will always work.  Hanging art?  Groups of three will always look balanced.  Adding a collection to a shelf?  Use three items for a polished look.  Want your wall art to look great?  Hang it so the center is one third of the way down the wall.  Three is a magic number in design, and a secret to helping even the most design challenged bachelor achieve a gorgeous home.
  5. Do not be afraid to go soft. Throw pillows, a blanket, fabric window treatments, over-stuffed furniture or a beautiful woven rug can add a feeling of softness and comfort to your room without forsaking the manly vibe.
  6. Do not let electronics be the focal point. Sure, you may have spent more on the television, DVD player and state of the art stereo equipment than you did on all the rest of your furniture combined.   It absolutely deserves a place of honor in your design scheme, but using electronics as the focal point of your room can feel cold and sterile – balance the fancy toys with warmer items and color to keep them from being too dominant.
  7. Keep it clean.  Anyone, male or female, will prefer visiting your home if it’s clean.   Even if you’re no Martha Stewart, keeping things de-cluttered, dusted and vacuumed will make your house feel inviting.    Devote an hour or two once or twice a week to doing basic cleaning tasks without feeling too big a strain on your social calendar.

Adding a feminine touch to your home will make it feel more cozy and inviting to you, as well as to your visitors.  Toning down the manly vibe doesn’t have to be complicated or over-the-top.  Creating a warm, inviting space can still reflect your tastes and masculinity.

Online contributing editor for WallDecorandHomeAccents.com, Jessica Ackerman has extensive design experience, using trees wall artwork and contemporary wall artwork.

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Tips For a Small or Compact Home

Thursday, November 24th, 2011

While doing some research, I came across this small house design; the imagination of Poland based, Front Architects, whom described their compact house, Single Hauz, “as a kind of manifest, proposal of a house/shelter for a Western Worlder.”

It wasn’t what I was looking for, but sparked the idea for an article on small houses and how to maximize space.

If one considers some extreme points of view we ultimately need very little to fulfill our living needs; they would include a space to eat, a space to sleep and a space to wash ourselves. Caravan living however doesn’t appeal to me, and even though I might even like a touch of minimalism in my home, I’d like to think that we need more than our basic physical needs being met. After all isn’t that what interior Design is all about?

Here are a few tips to help your small house look bigger:

Your colour scheme:

Use light colours on your walls, door and window frames and on architectural features, because light reflection is essential. Take advantage of natural light, by exposing large windows, glass sliding doors and mirrors. Use similar colours and tones throughout the house, to visually unite rooms and make the whole space seem larger. Go to the extent of continuing even the same flooring throughout, including spaces like your patio or balconies if you have any, leading the eye beyond the room.

Lead the eye upwards since its view sideways is limited, by using vertically striped wallpaper, and if painted, make the ceiling exactly the same colour to create the illusion of one whole space. Ceiling lights and a beautiful chandelier will also draw your attention to the ceiling.

Play around with the idea of creating the illusion of extended space, with 3D murals or wallpaper of i.e. a bamboo forest on one wall. This effect is also created by a large window or French doors leading to a garden or outside deck area.

Your furniture: You don’t need small furniture to maximize space; large pieces will add luxury and a large ceiling-touching wall unit will provide you with much needed storage. In fact, it’s much more desirable to have a few large functional pieces than many cluttering small pieces. What you need is less junk and more purposeful furniture for a room to breathe and achieve an airy spacious feel with. For your room layout, calculate the amount of people in your household and include only compulsory pieces; rid yourself of all unnecessary furniture and de-clutter.

Make your furniture choice light or pale coloured. By using the same colours on your furniture as on your walls, you allow the eye to travel freely over the space without interruption; but vary the patterns or textures to create interest. Find multi-purpose furniture, such as a coffee table with storage (image), ottoman that can double as extra seating and a round table that will take up much less space and seat more people. Don’t forget to organize and utilize valuable storage space under stairs or built in cupboards.

Your home accents: Keep your surface areas as clear as possible by taking inspiration from the minimalist scheme. De-clutter and use only items that are coordinated and essential to the scheme.

Frame your artwork in two large frames with oversized white mats and thin frames for a serene and non invasive effect.

Use mirrors and reflected surfaces as often as possible, light bouncing of these items will reflect light into darker areas and give the illusion of an extended space beyond.

Artist, Jessica Ackerman, is a consultant with WallDecorandHomeAccents.com; she demonstrates what a well-trained eye can accomplish with Southwestern wall artwork and tree of life metal wall sculpture.

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The Art of Bespoke

Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011

Bespoke is derived from the word “Bespeak” which in the 1800’s meant the “ordering of an item” It historically referred mainly to tailor made items, with haute couture for the rich and gifted – however today apart from fashion design, bespoke professions include Interior Design, Architecture, Graphic design and Software design.

In certain modern design, bespoke is not as immediately evident as in history, when it referred to a tailor made item made from no available pattern. Measured and fitted to provide an item of the utmost exclusivity and to differentiate between made-to-measure or hand-crafted furniture, bespoke furniture brought uncertainties about the definition in Modern times. However, even though hand-crafted furniture might be purposely made by a specialist craftsman and made-to-measure furniture is made to a buyer’s specification, unless the item is solely a one-of-a-kind crafted item, it can not truly be considered bespoke.

In Modern Interior design, custom made craftsmen and women, Interior designers and Architects continue to provide us with the highest of quality true bespoke design.

So what is the fuss about, when it comes to bespoke furniture?

In Bespoke, the designer or Buyer has complete control over the use of fabric, design, materials, features and use, providing the buyer with exactly what they envisioned and required, created with the proficiency of a professional craftsman.

Designers often use these specialist craftsmen to provide them with pieces based on an original drawing. When designing your own furniture or home, using the services of a Specialist Bespoke craftsman may be greatly beneficial, as they specialize in interpreting your design needs into the perfectly finished item you require for your home.

The beauty of working with a bespoke craftsman is the unlimited potential of what can be created, and instead of limiting your creativity to your own skills, you’ll have at hand the expert skills, design knowledge and workshop of a professional. This means that your original design might even be improved to better suit your needs and you’ll have the freedom of any style, material, or fabric of your choice to suit your room perfectly.

And if you don’t have any original ideas of your own, readymade original designer furniture can be bought online. You most likely would not have much of a say in the design of your piece and it isn’t true bespoke in the sense of it being the only one of its kind, but nevertheless if your aim was simply to wow, these designers would provide you with a spectacular, mainly not-seen in-shops piece to flaunt in your own home.

Many of these furniture designers offer a wide range of fabulous pieces for your home. However, designs are often in tune with the times and with Contemporary design being the latest style, finding more traditional pieces might not be as easy. Don’t despair though, there are still many designers that provide pieces for a more eclectic clientele, but be prepared for many hours of research in front of your computer. This is my favourite:  www.interiorinternet.com

Jessica Ackerman writes for WallDecorandHomeAccents.com where she provides detailed instructions for decorating with Southwestern metal wall art and contemporary metal artwork.

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Living Room Decorating Ideas with a Gothic Theme

Saturday, October 22nd, 2011

Gothic style has a rich tradition in medieval and romantic architecture.  Intricately carved facades, details borrowed from ancient cathedrals and elaborate arches used hundreds of years ago can translate into modern decor by paying attention to details and using your imagination.  While you may not have soaring marble arches or stained glass windows in your home, you can still attain a gothic inspired living space, and without spending a fortune.

Like many personal styles, the extent to which you give your home the gothic treatment depends on what makes you feel  content and comfortable in your space.   If you want to pay homage to the style without creating a space that’s dramatically non-mainstream, you can bring some of the nuance of gothic style to your living space with small decorating details.

Colors:  A gothic palette is filled with deep, saturated jewel tones.  Deep amethyst, dark garnet, rich forest green and midnight blue accented with neutral shades of ecru or off-white (think old lace) can make a dramatic statement.   Highlight with metals like pewter, cast iron and silver.   Dark woods, like wenge, cherry or walnut, are more authentic to the gothic period than lighter or soft woods.

If you’re hesitant to use such intense colors for large areas, such as walls, carpet or major upholstery, it’s easy to add hints of these rich colors without overwhelming your room.  A handful of velvet or brocade throw pillows, an area rug with a splash of the rich gothic colors or a few beautiful art pieces in these color families would be an easy way to get the idea of gothic style in your home without going overboard.   Adding pieces and accents in dark wood, cool metals and stone (including granite, limestone and marble)  will help finish the look.

Textures: Gothic inspired fabric tends to be heavy and formal, like velvet, brocade, taffeta and lace.  Much like Victorian gothic fashion, gothic style for the home can be very refined, even bordering on fussy.    You can add a hint of gothic style to your decorating fabrics in many of the same ways we suggested you use color –  as an accent in your accessories like throws, rugs, window treatments and art work.   Thumb through art books, focusing on romantic art as inspiration for color, texture and tone to use in your room.

Architectural Elements:  The most recognizable piece of gothic architecture is the pointed arch.  While some readers may be fortunate enough to have such features in their homes, most of us do not.  The idea of the arch can be attained in a couple of different ways for little or no money.   Shop flea markets and secondhand stores for an arch shaped mirror, the larger the better.  Hang it on a prominent wall and give the impression of a beautiful Victorian arch.   Several companies make wall decals, (quickly becoming a trend among armchair decorators) including several beautiful arch and scroll shapes.  Crafters with the right tools (such as a computer assisted die-cutting machine) can make their own decals with cling vinyl.

In addition, with a steady hand and a stencil, a crafty homeowner could paint gothic elements on the walls instead of using clings, or even search architectural salvage stores for old window frames, stained glass windows or pieces of ironwork to adorn the walls with gothic flair.

Accessories: Depending on your tastes, the pieces you use to accessorize your gothic living space can range from small, elegant Victorian ceramic figures to ornate crosses to antiquated books to theming a room around vampires or gargoyles.  Aged pieces, fresh flowers and decorative clutter will always be at home in a gothic space.  Victorians also proudly displayed collections, photographs and assorted bits of ephemera as part of the decor.

Gothic style can mean anything from a romantic Victorian inspired room to a Bram Stoker inspired enclave for a vampire enthusiast.  If the style appeals to you, you can easily find ways to bring the items and ideas you love most about Victorian gothic style into your own living space.

With signature design style, Jessica Ackerman, an online writer with WallDecorandHomeAccents.com, describes bold approaches to contemporary metal artwork and trees wall hangings.

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Window Treatments for a Huge Window

Thursday, October 20th, 2011

A large window is often a selling point for a home, most homeowners want a gorgeous view or lots of natural light. Once the romance of a huge window wears off, however, the challenge arises in how to choose a window treatment which will not be overwhelming in the room, block too many benefits of the window or break the bank. In this article, we will examine a few different ways to dress up your giant window.

The Basics

Before you plan anything, it is important to get an accurate set of measurements for your window. Grab a helper and carefully measure each dimension of your window. Measure the width and height at several different points along either plane – sometimes a window frame is not perfectly square.  If you get different measurements, average all of them together. Depending on what kind of window treatment you are considering, you may need to take measurements for the window inside the casing if you are planning to hang horizontal blinds or a shade; or outside if you are planning on a traditional curtain treatment with a rod above the window.

It is also important to pay attention to how the room is used. Most oversized windows appear in public spaces, such as family rooms or foyers, but large windows may appear in bedrooms as well. Unless your sleep schedule corresponds exactly with the sun, chances are good you will need to invest in some light blocking or filtering window treatments. Many commercially available draperies have the option of a blackout lining and light blocking fabric is available in many fabric stores if you are sewing your own window treatments.

Types of Window Treatments

There are many ways to dress up a window, from shutters to draperies to blinds and shades. Choosing which kind of window treatment will work best for you is mostly a matter of personal taste. Even within the different categories of window treatment, there are an infinite number of styles and options. Creating a beautiful window treatment is only limited by your imagination.

Draperies and curtains are window treatments, which are usually made of cloth. Most drapery fabrics are heavy; weightier fabrics like velvet and brocade hang beautifully and do not tend to wrinkle or wilt. Oftentimes, heavy drapery fabrics are paired with sheer panels, which allow light in while preserving privacy. Draperies come in a variety of styles which can match any decor. Formal styles usually depend on a pulley system to open and draw the drapes, casual and contemporary styles may depend on drapery rings or tabs which glide over a curtain rod. Hanging draperies from floor to ceiling around a large window will create a dramatic focal point in your room.

Shutters are quaint in cottage and country influenced designs, and can make a charming accent to a large window. Blinds and shades are also quite lovely and can stunning against large windows. Make sure the treatment you choose fits with the scale of both the window and the room.

Have fun making your oversized window an integral and elegant part of your design.

Senior staff writer Jessica Ackerman of WallDecorandHomeAccents.com, writes “How To” articles on decorating with Southwestern wall sculptures and contemporary wall hangings.

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Suggestions for Hanging Wall Art in Groups

Saturday, September 24th, 2011

Creating an art wall is one of the quickest ways to personalize your space.  A grouping of carefully selected art pieces can bring a bland space to life, and is perfect for renters who can’t paint but still want to bring some sass to living spaces.  Creating a delightful wall takes only your imagination, a hammer, some nails, a ruler, a level,  a few pieces of paper cut to the shape of your art and a roll of tape.

Basic Tips
No matter what you plan to do with your walls, the steps to create the best look are the same.  Once you’ve chosen your pieces, trace each onto a piece of newspaper and cut them out.  Use these to try out different arrangements before you hang the actual art. Use your ruler and level instead of trying to guess or eyeball where each piece should go.  Mark nail holes with a pencil and apply a small piece of clear tape on the wall before driving in the nail to prevent drywall or plaster from cracking.  When you’re satisfied, replace the paper decoys with actual art.

Find A Common Thread
Here we see a simple arrangement of five paintings by artist Marisa Haedike.   Connected by a color palette and similar theme, the paintings stand out against the mustard yellow background.  Like an outfit that makes you feel like the best possible version of yourself, a well planned art grouping can turn a nice room into a fantastic room.  This type of wall art group is the easiest to master, even for those who don’t consider themselves decorators.
Start with five paintings which are similar in size, are the right scale for the wall, and share at least one characteristic.  That characteristic can be the same kind of frame, a color or subject, but make sure you can visually connect each image to every other image.  Hang in two lines, either horizontally or vertically, with two pictures in one line and three in the other.   Voila, instantly gorgeous wall.

Create an Illusion
This photo illustrates how you can create a headboard from a collection of framed art.  The soft pastels and gentle images in the photo wall balance beautifully with the white room and the black and white graphic on the blinds.  The overall affect is both soothing and sophisticated, classic and chic.  A monochromatic room can feel very stark, but the art selection and the rich textures in this room keep the look inviting.

Make the Most of Your Home’s Quirky Details
Here, the photo collection helps make an eleven foot wall feel less intimidating.   The decorator took advantage of an odd space in a client’s bathroom by filling it with beautifully framed family photographs.  The black, silver and white frames bring the collection together while the careful arrangement of the grid pattern creates a striking and dramatic focal point in the unusual space.

The soaring, narrow wall could easily make the small restroom feel even smaller than it is, taking advantage of it as a natural focal point was a smart decorating choice.  The rest of the bathroom, including fixtures, walls and countertops, appears to be pure white, which is a perfect backdrop for this collection.  The small individual image size makes the wall feel like a patchwork quilt.

While the frames are different shapes and sizes, there is a certain amount of symmetry in this design.  Notice that the four long rectangular frames are identically sized and used as anchor pieces in the corners of the design.  The four similarly shaped small square frames are also grouped in twos, giving the overall design balance. Creating this wall is as simple as the five art piece mentioned previously, just on a larger scale. Pick the art you want to use, lay out your design with paper patterns,  and check every piece with a ruler and a level.

Get Crafty
The following images show different ways to create an art wall group with a variety of projects.  If you fancy yourself as artistic, you may wish to try your hand at creating your own art.  Not only will you save money, you’ll also have a wall you know is completely one-of-a-kind.

Fabric Finesse
This individual uses beautiful fabric samples in a bright spring time color palette to create a bright and cheerful art grouping.   To recreate this look, gather an assortment of fabric scraps and head to the local hardware store to purchase a couple of sheets of hardboard, which is essentially pegboard without the holes.   If you don’t have the resources to cut the board to size yourself, ask the hardware store to cut your sheets of hardboard down to size for you.   Sand the edges of the cut pieces to remove any rough patches, then stretch each piece of fabric around a piece of board and secure to the back with a staple gun.  Avoid using glue or other adhesive which may bleed through fabrics.

Quick and Gorgeous
This project is as simple as purchasing 12 LP record album cover frames and decorative paper.  Paper designed for scrapbook pages ( 12” x 12”) is the perfect size and comes in an endless variety of colors and patterns.  Simply slide paper into the frame, measure and hang.

A collection like this is only limited by your imagination.  Consider using record album covers, wrapping paper, fabric, art paper or your own art in place of the scrapbook paper.   Remember to keep your images connected in some way to give your overall project a sense of being intentional  and put together.   Even a grid of identical solid colored blocks can be visually interesting .

An Artist’s Interpretation
Finally, this image illustrates what a really talented digital artist can create.  This collage is made of photos, much like the tower in the bathroom above, but the artist has taken the images a step farther by personalizing the individual pictures with his or her own stamp.   The vintage, sepia toned images used as a foundation are beautiful alone; with the artist’s additions they become extraordinary.

Jessica Ackerman is a freelance writer and works for WallDecorandHomeAccents.com. She shares her wealth of knowledge on wood wall art and tree of life wall art.

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