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.

Shop Sales In January

The best trick by far is to buy your holiday decorations in January.   Prices are slashed, sometimes by dramatic amounts, as stores try to move the last of the seasonal inventory.   Bargains are everywhere, from high-end boutiques to inexpensive discount retailers.    Nowadays, even grocery stores stock impressive amounts of holiday decorations; they can be a great source for staples like tinsel, indoor light strings and garlands.   With a valued customer card and January price slashing, you can take home a cartful of decorations for a few dollars.

Flea Markets

If your tastes are unique, you might enjoy hunting down one of a kind or otherwise unusual decoration at flea markets or swap meets.   Flea markets carry a little bit of everything; I’ve seen several with entire booths devoted to holiday decorations sold year round.  Old ornaments, nativity sets, candle holders and holiday dishes can all be found at flea markets – often times you can find very old or collectible decorations at flea markets, at a price that’s much less than the actual value as well.

Discount Stores

Discount stores, like Target, Kmart and Wal*Mart, are also great places to find inexpensive holiday decorations, and not only at the after Christmas sales.  During the prime holiday season, these retailers often stock a wide variety of holiday decorations in a range of low prices.  Currently, many high-end designers are experimenting with a design-for-all philosophy.  This means you can find beautiful pieces created by the same designers who fill the high-end boutiques and trade magazines – but at a price many more of us can actually afford.

Homemade Decorations

If you are crafty, the possibilities for creating your own one-of-a-kind decorations are endless.  Even the less crafty among us can tackle simple projects.  An abundance of homemade Christmas and holiday craft sites exist online, and many craft stores offer demonstrations or classes in many crafting techniques.  These classes will usually be holiday focused in October, November and December.  Most craft stores offer a newsletter by email or post that lists all the available learning activities.

If you aren’t the slightest bit crafty, but still enjoy handcrafted decorations, you can find wonderful treasures at craft sales.   Many larger towns and cities will have a large craft show in the early fall focusing on holiday decorations and items.  Online, try www.etsy .com for unique items from artists and crafters around the world.

Decor Swap

Another option is to gather a few of your friends for a holiday decoration swap.  Everyone brings decorations from their own supply, minus personal or heirloom pieces, and you can trade amongst yourselves.  This is a great and inexpensive way to keep your holiday decorations fresh and new every year.

Conclusion

Decorating for the holidays does not have to break the bank.  With a little planning and common sense, you can make your home a holiday showcase without spending much money at all.

Jessica Ackerman, author and staff designer at WallDecorandHomeAccents.com, specializes in candle sconces and holders and contemporary metal wall sculptures.

Photos credits to Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree and Vector tree.

The first step is to measure your space.  If you want to hang art on a long wall, measure the length and the height.  Find the center point in both directions, and mark a line from one end of the wall to the other with chalk at eye level.  Even if you are just painting or putting up wallpaper, you will need exact measurements when you purchase materials.

Prepare your space next.  If you are painting, tape off any trim, moldings, windows and ceiling lines with painters tape and protect your floor with a drop cloth.  Have a rag handy for wiping away spills as they happen.  Lightly sand the entire surface you are going to paint to make sure it is smooth, and then wipe down with a damp cloth to remove any dust.  If you have chosen a dark color for your walls, start with one or two coats of a tinted primer to make sure your current wall color doesn’t bleed through and to get better coverage with your color coat.  After applying primer, apply two or three coats of color.  Cover large areas with a roller and cut in around painters tape with a brush.  Carefully remove painter’s tape before the paint dries to ensure a clean line.  When paint is completely dry, paint trim after taping off walls.  If you are hanging wallpaper, consider where the pattern will fall before gluing.

Artistic Endeavors

If you are hanging art, consider your decorating style: For example, fleur de lis artwork lends a traditional feel, while jazz metal wall art may feel more contemporary.  In the following examples, we’ll look at eclectic, traditional and shabby chic spaces – if your style preferences are somewhere else, consider how you can bring elements into your stairway wall.

Traditional

This traditional staircase has many classic architectural details, as well as a calming, timeless color scheme.  The homeowner has chosen to hang prints in matching frames at equal distances on the wall.  Symmetry and balance are important details to consider when decorating in a traditional style. Faux finishing techniques give the impression of expensive panels on the lower walls, but are in fact an inexpensive alternative.

Eclectic/Bohemian

This wall is a hodgepodge of art in a variety of frames, hung in a free-form pattern.  The way the pictures are hung mirrors the curve of the staircase, and highlights the homeowner’s unique, playful style.  Other details represent a variety of styles, typical of eclectic decor. When attempting to hang photos like this, it helps to trace the frames on pieces of paper, taping them to the wall in different patterns and arrangements until you are happy with the flow and general shape.  It is easier to work with templates than to have to fill in nail holes later.

Cottage/Shabby Chic

If you love bright and joyful cottage style and lack proper storage, consider this cute solution for your stairway.  Striped wallpaper, brightly painted shelves and color coordinating storage containers make this functional nook a pleasure to behold.  The sweet cream paint on the stairs and the country basket tucked underneath add to the charm and whimsy of this area.  To recreate at home, measure carefully to ensure shelves are equally spaced vertically – this homeowner used every other stair tread as a guide – and that the horizontal length of the shelves does not create a hazard when going up and down stairs.

Jessica Ackerman of WallDecorandHomeAccents.com, is an interior designer who illustrates how simple it can be to use wall candle holders and contemporary metal wall decor.

Mop up wet spills as quickly as possible to keep liquid from seeping into the seams between hardwood planks.   Water can be sopped up with a paper towel, sticky fluids may need to be wiped up with a damp cloth to remove all residue.  Watch any spots where water or liquids have been spilled to make sure the finish isn’t damaged or that the wood isn’t swelling between the seams.

Depending on manufacturer instructions, you may be able to clean your hardwood floors with a gentle oil based soap meant for cleaning wood.   This kind of soap is usually diluted in water before being used with a sponge or cloth to remove built up or ground in dirt.  Some floors have finishes which may be damaged by water; be sure to spot check in a closet or corner to make sure any product you use on your hardwood floors is safe and won’t damage or change the color of the wood.

If dirt is too thick or if your floor has significant dings or damage, you may want to completely strip and refinish it.  This is a lengthy process, but it can bring even the dingiest hardwood floor back to life.  Start by using a chemical stripping agent to remove any finish like varnish or polyurethane.  It may take several coats to completely remove all traces of finish.  After the floor dries completely, use a floor sander to smooth out the surface of the floor.  Read directions carefully and follow all instructions for usage and safety to get satisfactory results.

After the floor is sanded, clean it with a dust mop followed by a damp cloth to remove all traces of dust and dirt.

Apply a new floor finish per instructions, this is usually done with sturdy rollers on long poles.  Allow your finish to dry completely, consult manufacturer instructions for exact drying times.  When the floor is completely dry, add a second coat of finish – lightly sanding any rough spots by hand with fine grit sandpaper between coats.   Some products may require several coats; some may only need two or three, follow instructions carefully and use your best judgment to decide what’s best for you.

Some hardwood floors can benefit by being treated with a wood conditioning treatment which protects the wood from air and light damage, as well as reducing damage to already affected wood.

Caring for your hardwood floors is worth it; no other flooring is as easy to care for and repair.

Senior staff writer Jessica Ackerman of WallDecorandHomeAccents.com, writes “How To” articles on decorating with large wood wall art and contemporary metal artwork.

Photo credit to justinshearer.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.