I run into this question all the time in home redesign consultations, “How do I mix styles?” If you have older furniture or furniture that you inherited and want to add a fresh look to a room, and mix styles, you can! Follow these three tips:
Tag Archives: decorating tips
5 Quick Home Decorating Tips under $50
Do you find that sometimes you just want a change in your home decorating? I have childhood memories of moving the furniture around in my room to create a new look; the need for decorating change started young for me! For all of you looking for a home decorating idea, I have five tips, and the bonus is that they can be done for less than $50!
1. Add a fun mirror.
If you have an area in a room that may be drab or dark, consider adding a mirror. For a modern look, click here for a 47” round mirror from Target. Hang it above a book case, small wall table, in a dark hallway, or anywhere needing a fresh look.
2. Add a plant.
Plants are fabulous for instant home décor, and they offer health benefits by purifying the air. You can fill an empty spot with a lovely color of green. You can pick up affordable palms that can be found at your local home store such as Home Depot. Now is a perfect time to purchase decorative pots as many are on end-of-summer sales. Philodendrons are a good choice for inexpensive indoor plants as they do well as table top plants to add a spark of life to your table décor.
3. Add a new pop color by painting a piece of furniture.
Depending on what type of furniture you are painting will depend on how it should be painted. You can quickly transform a small piece into an unexpected pop of color in the room. Pick a fun accent color. Perhaps your inspiration color is already present in your couch, rug or art.
4. Add decoration with a fun tray.
If you need a quick coffee table arrangement, add a tray to tie a vignette of accessories together. Transform a tray you own, or pick one up at your local craft store and grab the paint you will need while you are there. For inspiration, click here to view ideas on Pinterest.
5. Add a stunning pillow.
Choose from one of the many embellished, beaded, faux fur, beautiful embroidered pillows that can be quite expensive. Because you are buying only one as a pop of color or texture to an existing room, it’s a fun way to add interest and a flash of panache to a drab chair or love-seat.
Experiment and have some fun! Or give me a call 610.955.8202 or email and we can think outside the box together!
By Debbie Correale, founder and owner of Redesign Right, LLC. You can learn more about her at RedesignRight.com. Find her on Facebook.com/RedesignRight, Twitter @RedesignRight, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Houzz, Google+ and Instagram.
5 Ways to Hide Your TV
Are you interested in a creative way to hide your flat panel television? Your options are to hide it, disguise it, or cover it up. I created an Idea Book on Houzz for you to get some ideas that may fit into your home, click here to view. Here are five unique tips for hiding your TV:
- I love this idea from a company named Frame My TV where you can frame the panel with the framing material of your choice and choose the artwork you wish to display. When you want to view TV, the artwork slides up exposing the screen, click here for a video on how it works.
- I found this idea from Home Love Stories where she decided to use an old map that she found on ebay that pulls down to cover up her TV, click here to view.
- Pottery Barn has a lovely option with a mirrored cabinet, click here to view, that can make your room look larger when it’s closed and offers a beautiful accessory to the room.
- Hiddentelevision.com offers a mirror that when the TV is turned on you see the picture through the mirror, which is unique! To learn more about this type of mirror, click here.
- I love this idea from Lowes Home Improvement where you can use sliding artwork to cover up your panel. For a video on the project, click here, for step-by-step instructions click here.
If you have an unusual or lovely idea to cover up a TV, please share and include a photo I would love to see your idea! For all your interior decorating, home staging, and color consultations call Debbie 610.955.8202!
Let’s Welcome Spring with Home Projects
As we finish off the month of March here on the east coast, we have seen every weather combination this month … from frigid cold, 8” of snow to 65-degree weather – Welcome to Spring! With the start of April and enjoying the longer days of light, we naturally are drawn to the outdoors. Spring is a good time to consider some outdoor projects to get your home ready for outdoor fun or if you plan to put your home on the market to sell this year. Consider one of these outdoor projects:
- Remove winter debris, broken branches, and leaves that have accumulated under bushes, etc.
- Consider a lawn service to put down grub control and fertilizer, remember you have only until the Forsythia blooms to get the grub control to work properly!
- Get your outdoor furniture ready for use and parties! Click here to review different cleaning options from Real Simple on ways to clean the various types of outdoor furniture.
- It’s too early to put out any flowers but Pansies, and who doesn’t love a lovely pot of pansies to bring spring cheer!
As spring begins it’s that time of year when we think of renewal, new colors, lighter feeling coming out of our hibernation. Consider one of these indoor projects:
- Complete that painting project that you have wanted to do. It’s also a good time to consider painting your kitchen cabinets if you were thinking of updating the look but unable to afford the expense of new cabinets. Click here to review instructions on how to paint your kitchen cabinets.
- Get rid of old stuff and clutter! Too often we pile things and call it organized and only move those things from place to place to get them out of the way. It’s time! Get rid of it! You will be amazed at how liberating the process can be. Create your three piles, sell, throw away, give away and truly adhere to this project until you are done! To read some fabulous tips on how to go about this process, read this article from House Beautiful on creating breathing space in your home.
- Lighten up! Clean the windows, have your drapes cleaned or consider replacing them if they are old and faded or simply out of style.
- Add a fresh color scheme to your living space! If you like the color blue, add blue throw pillows, candles, trays or vases all using the same blue color and balance throughout the room. You will be amazed at how much joy this will instantly bring you!
If you are in need of a spring-time redesign, call 610.955.8202 to make an appointment with Debbie! Also, registration for the May 18-22 and June 12-14, 20, 21 Interior Redesign and Home Staging Classes is happening now, if you’re interested, click here. Note, the June class is a split weekend course and is in high demand, plan to get your registrations in soon!
5 Tips for Decorating your Coffee Table
One area of the home that I frequently see neglected is the coffee table. Too often it is the repository for piles of magazines, though neatly stacked, the look is tired and not very interesting. Wouldn’t you like to dress it up? Or if you have had the same items on your coffee table for the past five years, it may be time for a decorating change. Consider a complete redesign, or in some cases, consider decorating it! In this post, I will share some ideas to help you with decorating your coffee table. Some of these ideas can be done quickly to create a new look for your table today!
- If you have a very large coffee table, consider adding a tray to break up the look. This also allows you the opportunity to use the tray as a frame to display favorite items. If you don’t have a coffee table use an ottoman!
- Add an elegant arrangement of seasonal flowers. Use a monochromatic color selection to dress up the table or add a pop of color to complement the pop color in the room.
- Add a decorative box which on its own is beautiful and can double as a place to hold remote controls and batteries. Love this idea!
- Add a favorite large scale book with a beautiful cover that invites guests to open it and explore!
- Add candlesticks or pillar holders of varying heights. You can mix and match these but they should balance with the look of the room and the table. If using multiple things, be sure they are of varying height to balance the arrangement.
Here are a few examples of coffee tables that I have done during home redesigns, which is your favorite?
If you find that you have been struggling with a room and you are unsure what to do but want to change something, contact Debbie@RedesignRight.com for a consultation or a room redesign!
By Debbie Correale, owner of Redesign Right, LLC. You can learn more about her at www.RedesignRight.com. Find her on Facebook.com/RedesignRight, Twitter @RedesignRight, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Houzz and Google+.
How to Decorate with a Cottage-Style Touch
Are you planning on a vacation in New England this summer? Do you love the cozy sea-swept look of a New England cottage? Do you love the ocean and want to bring a bit of it home with you? The relaxing, peaceful feeling you get from walking on the beach early in the morning, wouldn’t you love to keep that with you at home?
When you think of cottage style, what comes to mind? Here is a definition from HGTV.com: “Cottage style has a colorful, comfortable look characterized by painted or decorated furniture with graceful lines, weathered finishes, textural elements such as baskets, bead board walls and natural-fiber rugs, and colors taken straight from a lush flower garden.” Here are a few ideas that you can incorporate into your home to add a cottage-style touch:
- Embrace Natural Elements such as weathered or repurposed wood items. Cottage-style likes to pair opposites such as a polished piece with a rough-hewn piece or an item made of tin.
- One of the key looks to cottage-style decor is distressed and weathered furnishings. You can easily transform an existing piece of furniture with new paint color and use a sanding block to rough up the edges to add character and style.
- In a traditional cottage-style home, there would be a neutral color palette using shades of white. Because of the many choices in white paint colors, picking the right one may not be as easy as thought. Here is an article found on Houzz that offers some help in choosing a white based on what you are looking for in a room, click here to read.
- Add a soft neutral colored throw with pillows to a chair, settee, or sofa to add comfort incorporating natural materials such as linen, burlap and wool.
- Add fresh flowers from the garden. Incorporate the tall Queen Anne’s Lace, thistle and Goldenrod that you see on your walks.
- Integrate beach elements from your vacation such as found seashells and starfish. They will offer you great memories of your trip and add a bit of peace to your space. I love this idea from Martha Stewart where she uses an over sized shell to create a flower arrangement, click here to view the steps.
- Add a candle centerpiece to a coffee or dining table using a favorite glass hurricane, candles and sand.
Enjoy your summer and have fun incorporating the things that you love into your living space to help you hang onto that lovely feeling of summer year round!
If you need help trying to arrange or choose a paint color to achieve a cottage-style look, contact Debbie@RedesignRight.com for your interior decorating and redesign needs!
By Debbie Correale, founder and owner of Redesign Right, LLC, West Chester, PA. You can learn more about her at www.RedesignRight.com. Find her on Facebook.com/RedesignRight, Twitter @RedesignRight, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Houzz and Google+.
Spring! Cleaning Tips and Decorating Ideas
by Debbie Correale
Ahhhh, that beautiful sweet smell of springtime air! I find it so energizing and especially enjoy the longer days of sunshine! With the start of spring many fun holidays are quickly approaching, are you ready? In honor of this lovely season, I decided to share some spring cleaning and holiday decorating tips with you as you get ready for the holidays.
First, we need to clean out old items or what we no longer use. This can be done by giving items to charity, selling them, or disposing of them. There are many charity options for you. Consider giving to your local church, Goodwill, Habitat for Humanity, Humanity ReStore, or the Salvation Army and Purple Heart offer at home pick up for certain items. (Click on the charity to read more about the donating options.) In Southeast Pennsylvania there are many high-end consignment stores where you can turn your clothes into cash. Click here to view a list of stores from MainLineToday.com.
For tips on de-cluttering and organization, I turn to the organizing expert, Peter Walsh, who has a plan titled, “5 Ways to Declutter Your Home This Weekend.” Too often we see projects as unattainable or too much work for the time we have to invest. These tips break it down into manageable results! He details many great ideas and offers the amount of time it takes per project. I love his tips on organizing the closet as I find in many homes this is one of the biggest problem areas. He offers that it should take a few hours to de-clutter shared closets, what do you think? Are you up to that task?
Depending on the holiday you plan to celebrate, I have included a list of resources for various holiday decorating ideas. For these fabulous tips, I turn to MarthaStewart.com, click on the topic to review the details.
- Passover Decoration Ideas
- Cinco de Mayo decoration Ideas
- Easter Centerpiece Ideas
- Mother’s Day Templates for Creating Printables
It’s such a beautiful time of year, plan to incorporate the beauty of nature outside and reflect it inside for your decorating ideas. This can easily be accomplished by a simple centerpiece for a holiday brunch. Purchase grocery store potted plants; such as, primrose or daffodils. Place the plants on a platter or simply arrange down the center of the table, creating a table runner of plants and intersperse with decorative holiday items to suit your purpose. Simple, quick, and inexpensive!
If you find your house is looking drab or you are so used to living with it that you need a fresh eye, contact Debbie@RedesignRight.com to help you realize the full decorating and layout potential of your home.
Happy Spring!
Debbie Correale is founder and owner of Redesign Right, LLC. You can learn more about her at www.RedesignRight.com. Find her on Facebook.com/RedesignRight, Twitter @RedesignRight, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Houzz and Google+.
How to decorate with a vintage flair!
When you hear the word “vintage” what do you think about? For many, vintage is “old stuff”; for others it is using things of a charmed past era. In regard to wine … it’s aged and expensive! In this blog, I want to show some fun decorating ideas to add a look of “vintage” into any room!
These beautiful prints are from Zlatka Paneva sold on PotteryBarn.com. This artist uses a combination of antique images with hand-drawn elements creating unique artwork.
I love the look of these antique pickling jars that can be used in many decorative ways such as the ones in the photo holding dry or real plants, a variety of favorite collected items, such as old marbles or a single candle. (Photo from PotteryBarn.com.)
Looking for just the right vintage paint color? Sherwin Williams has a paint color line titled, “Vintage Moxie” and there are many options to choose from! I love that Aloe Blue … it reminds me of Aruba.
Looking at these colors you have some excellent options to add a pop of color. Adding accessories in one of these beautiful colors as a consistent theme would be beautiful, such as this lovely blue vase which can be found in the “Romantic Vintage” collection at Pier1.com.
Using architectural appeal repurposing old barn windows as wall art adds a very elegant vintage touch to any room! (Photo and idea from BHG.com.)
Using photos of vintage fruit and vegetable crate labels is an attractive idea for a unified vintage wall art look. Scouring antique stores and finding these original pieces of artwork is not the only way to accomplish this look. If you Google “vintage fruit and vegetable crate labels” images you will be amazed at all of the different looks there are – where you could print out and use in a particular theme picture frame as in this example from BHG.com.
I love this idea from BHG.com where you take an old spice rack and paint it an accent color of your choice. A good online source for finding these spice racks is Ebay.com, click here to review some options.
Another idea for vintage wall art is to use old maps. You can purchase them inexpensively from Allposters.com or create your own! For these instructions, I turn to MarthaStewart.com to transform a favorite area map into a piece of vintage looking art, click here for those instructions.
Online resources:
Potterybarn.com – Vintage Décor Finds
For a great resource for all things vintage is Etsy.com – click here for a listing of Vintage Wall Art.
Here are a few locations in Pennsylvania where you can find salvaged or antique items:
Carson’s in the Cornfield, New Holland, PA
Brandywine View Antiques, Chadds Ford, PA
Have some fun and incorporate something vintage in your next room design! For all your redesign or home staging needs, contact Debbie@RedesignRight.com.
Debbie Correale is founder and owner of Redesign Right, LLC. You can learn more about her at www.RedesignRight.com. Find her on Facebook.com/RedesignRight, Twitter @RedesignRight, LinkedIn, and Google+.
Decorate with your favorite inspiration!
One of my favorite places in the world is Aruba! I love the beautiful beaches, white sands, and the warmth and peace that I feel when I’m vacationing there. With Aruba in mind, I wanted to write about a way of decorating that might inspire you to do the same. In terms of décor, if someone said, “Aruba theme” you would think – beach theme…which is not necessarily what that has to show. I love the colors of Aruba! (Photo of Aruba.com.)
Aruba Blue is such a fabulous color, and unique to Aruba that Benjamin Moore has named it a paint color. Beautiful!
How can you use this color palette as a pop in a room?
Pier 1 refers to this color scheme as “Peacock Blue” – you will see in this photo from Pier1.com a variety of blues used in various ways to add a pop of color in the floor covering, glass accessories, or pillows. You can turn a neutral room into a lovely hue of Aruba!
I love this idea of painting the background of your book shelf or cabinet with different colors. (Photo by MarthaStewart.com.)
If you were thinking that this color scheme was not masculine, or cannot be used in a study, or bachelor pad…think again! Check out this classic sports car, Bugatti Royale Coup from the 1930s, the sleek glossy black with the blue is beautiful! This classic combination can be incorporated into any room!
You can incorporate the lovely colors of Aruba in many ways; such as, a light fixture, place settings, rug, or outdoor pot or container color!
(Photos for ideas: Light Fixture: LampsPlus.com, Place Setting Idea from MarthaStewart.com, Rug from Homedecorators.com, Outdoor planter idea from MarthaStewart.com.)
The next time you want to make a quick change, incorporate something into your décor that you love or inspires you! Sand between my toes and a gentle salty breeze…awwww, to be back in Aruba!
For all of your redesign or home staging needs, contact Debbie@RedesignRight.com.
Debbie Correale is founder and owner of Redesign Right, LLC. You can learn more about her at www.RedesignRight.com. Find her on Facebook.com/RedesignRight, Twitter @RedesignRight, LinkedIn, and Google+.
Decorating the Family Room this Spring
The family area of a home seems to be the biggest problem area for most people. It’s the room we spend the most amount of time in, and it frequently serves as a multi-purpose room. If this room is used for a family with children, it takes on a whole new dimension of stuff! Let’s break it down to a manageable task! If you want to freshen up your family room, choose one of the many new colors that are available this season as a pop to an already neutral background. This spring you should see various things in this spring 2013 Pantone color selection, and there are some very pretty options.
With any redesign start with an organized plan. If you watch TV and movies in your family room, have storage to contain remotes, movies, etc. by the TV. If your family enjoys games, make an investment in a storage ottoman or play chest where it can serve as dual purpose storage as well as a coffee table. Online sites such as Overstock.com offer many inexpensive storage ideas, click here to view their ottomans. Choosing furniture that can serve as storage areas is a fundamental idea for family rooms.
If you have the space, built-in book cases can serve as a nice storage area for books, DVDs, and decorative items such as family photos. To build your own, click here to view the detailed instructions from the diynetwork.com. If creating built-in shelves is cost-prohibitive, you may consider a less expensive approach that has a beautiful result using bookcases from IKEA! You won’t believe the finished result; click here to view the step-by-step photos and instructions.
If you build the organization into your daily routine and store things where they are used, you will find success. If you have kids, be sure to include them in the daily “pick up” routine, and if everything has an assigned place the kids will know exactly where things should go without bothering you!
If you need help with your family room redesign, contact Debbie@RedesignRight.com!
