Woman's Wonderla

creativity and imagination

Interior Designing is all about creativity and imagination. The basic elements that we use to play around with the mood, look, personality, character and overall environment of our rooms, kitchen, bathrooms, garden, backyard, garage and home, in general, are described below:

Fluorescent and halogen lights look harsh and are too bright for coziness and warmth in the room. Use soft incandescent lights instead.

Direct the light to attract the attention to visually appealing focal point in the room such as down lighting as from lamps shades of table lamps or up-lighting for attracting the attention to the family photos and portraits on the walls.

Make use of variety of textures. Soft and fluffy pillows, cushions and throw blankets make the room look cozier while baskets and hardbound books arranged neatly in book cases make the room look more sophisticated and ethnic. Black chrome armchairs, metallic round chairs, modern irregular-shaped tables and large mirrors make the room look too formal.

For the cozy room decor, use textured furniture as sleek furniture makes the room look quite formal.

The use of more patterns makes the room appear smaller and cozier. In a small room, use patterns sparingly.

Throw rugs add instant warmth to the room and are great for those who are renting.
Dark warm-toned colors on walls, furniture or furnishings make room look smaller but cozier.

Redecorating your house can be done for little money. Creativity, hard work, and shopping can help fix up your house for cheap.

You don’t have to hire a professional decorator to have a one of a kind décor for your home. Just use your own creativity and imagination. Put some elbow grease in and stir the emotions of all that see your one of a kind home. The best part is that it doesn’t have to cost a fortune.

If you aren’t afraid of getting a little paint in your hair or having a few broken nails, you can make some changes to your home that don’t cost a fortune. The trick is in doing all that you can on your own in the most economical ways possible. That way you will save more of the redecorating budget for those projects that you don’t feel up to tackling this time around.

First thing is to look around and take inventory of what you have that you want to reuse and what you want to get rid of. You need to know exactly what you have to work with before starting. If you are going to use the same basic furniture, then you will not have to spend such a big amount of your budget on that.

Does what you are going to keep need a little lift or something fixed? Make a list of all the items in the room that need to be repaired or changed a little bit. Does the couch need to be recovered? Does the floor need to be repaired? Are there any holes in the walls or ceilings?

Does traffic flow through the room like you wish? Are the seating arrangements so bunched up that the room looks off center? Or how about the tables, are they the right size or just in the way? And don’t forget the curtains. Do they need to be replaced or cleaned?

Sounds like we have a big budget in mind doesn’t it? However, that is not necessarily true. If most of the furniture is in sturdy condition but the finish or covering is worn or outdated, how about refinishing or recovering? Maybe even make throws for them instead of recovering them. You can sometimes even use sheets, pins, rubber bands, and ribbons to create a draped effect without any sewing or large amounts of cash involved.

If the furniture isn’t in the best of shape, talk to friends and neighbors to see if they have some old furniture that they would be interested in selling. Also, don’t forget thrift stores, flea markets, and yard sales. You never know what treasures you may find that will fit right in with the look you want to create while saving a lot of money off of buying new furniture.

If you are going to keep your major furniture, how about adding some pillows, throws, or new pictures or wall hangings to brighten up the room? They can be used to change the look entirely or to just give it a little update. If you have been using a pattern of pillows and curtains with flowers, why not try stripes, checks or even solids? Or maybe even go with a western or nautical theme. Consider the look you want to create for the room and then look for material, curtains, or pillows that will fit the theme. If you shop wisely, this, too, can be done without spending a fortune.

If you have any repairs that need to be made, are they something you can do already or learn to repair? If not, then take bids on the project from several different people and ask for references. Be sure to call the references to find out what type of work they have previously done and how satisfied the client was with the outcome. If you know someone that has had that type of work done before, don’t be afraid to ask who they chose and why they chose that particular contractor.

If there are not any major repairs but it could use some fixing up, why not try putting your imagination in overdrive and creating your own way of decorating in expensively? Think of out of the ordinary things that you can use. An old wagon with a glass placed on top can make a wonderful table and will draw compliments from most any guest.

Don’t forget to add the small touches that make the room. Maybe a little picture or knick knack will just set off the table in the corner. A little paint and some creative stenciling may be just the thing to bring that old cabinets up into this decade. Maybe move the bakers rack from the kitchen into the living room and use as a shelf or into the bathroom to hold linen.

The trick here is to think of out of the ordinary uses for ordinary things. Use a splash of color in an unexpected place, or a different texture than you would expect. The combination of elbow grease, imagination, and inexpensive materials is one that is hard to beat when redecorating. The outcome can be a one of a kind room or home that will be the talk of all your friends and relatives. So you got the paper and pen ready to make notes on what changes you want to make first?