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Finishing Touches

The Penny Crabtree Company,

1-866-765-1301,

Penny Crabtree; Instructor, Holistic Redesign Director, Award-winning Author

www.healthyhomedecorating.com

www.pennycrabtree.com

Adding the WOW FACTOR

Once you have painted the walls, put up the window treatments, moved the furniture

around, and cleaned up the mess, you might think that the job of redecorating your room

is done.

But it just doesn't look finished! What to do? Read on.

Once you have the shell of your room just the way you want it, you're not done with the

job. There are lots of finishing touches that you can add to make the room look

finished and welcoming. Some decorators feel that decorating a room or home should

always be a work in progress.

Whether it takes a week, a month, or a whole lifetime, finding just the right finishing

touches for a room is really the fun part of decorating. You'll be adding the jewelry to the

room, the personality that makes the room reflect who you are, what your interests are,

and where you've been.

Get some ideas from our list of finishing touches for decorating a room.

John Wheatman reminds us, “ Creating a room is like making a salad. Ever so

delicately, you dip a finger and find that the dressing needs a bit of salt or a dash of that.

Your rooms are like that dressing they will need altering as your life evolves.”

Plants and Flowers

It's amazing what a quick transformation can be made with fresh plants and

flowers. You don't need to find something dramatic and expensive. A simple plant

potted in a decorative pot set on a coffee table, bookshelf, on top of a cabinet,

almost anywhere, adds life and color instantly. Be sure to keep fresh plants shiny

and dusted. You might even want to have two plants for each location, one for

display, one "on the mend." If a plant gets scraggly or droopy, get rid of it! You

might nurse it back to health, but not in your living space! If you just don't have

time to tend plants or if your room is dark, find some new artificial plants. These

work great for out-of-reach spaces. But be sure to keep them dusted and perky,

too.

Expand on a Theme

Everyone has a special interest. Traveling, sports, pets, flowers, children, and

even a favorite book or movie can all provide focus for a room and offer ideas for

adding finishing touches. By choosing a theme for your room, you'll know what to

zero in on and be able to select accessories, art, and colors to expand and enrich

the theme.

Deck the Walls

Bare, boring walls get a real lift with a painting, colorful poster, collection of

prints, or family photos. When working with art, try to focus on a color scheme or

theme. Unify the works with common mat colors, similar colored frames, and size

and shape. One large piece can create a

focal point

in a room, while a small

collection of pieces draw the eye for a closer look.

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Finishing Touches

The Penny Crabtree Company,

1-866-765-1301,

Penny Crabtree; Instructor, Holistic Redesign Director, Award-winning Author

www.healthyhomedecorating.com

www.pennycrabtree.com

Get Grounded

A hardwood floor looks sleek and smooth, while wall to wall carpet adds softness

and unifies large spaces. But an area rug, placed on top of the flooring, can

create a special area, provide a boundary for furniture, and even divide a room

into several spaces without walls. Classic oriental rugs can be found to fit almost

any decorating scheme and contemporary patterned or color-blocked rugs add

color and character to the floor and the room.

Gather Together Some of Your Favorite Things

If you collect anything such as dolls, books, teapots, cameras, or sporting

equipment, use the collection as a point of interest. Gather the whole collection

into one place or arrange the items around the room. Celadon plates, blue and

white porcelain, carved wooden pieces all offer themselves as works of art for a

room. What do you love?

Combine Textures and Feel

Contemporary interiors are often sleek and smooth, while cottage style rooms

are usually soft and snuggly. For a really interesting look and a comfortable

feeling for a room, combine smooth and rough, shiny and matte, hard and soft in

one room. The contrasts will add interest and help to avoid a boring room.

One Piece to Stand Out

Neutral walls and fabrics look clean and neat in a room. But to really draw

someone's eye, add a punch of color with lime pillows, orange mats on black and

white photos, a hand-painted piece of furniture on the main wall, an animal print

ottoman. Just one interesting accessory or piece of furniture will help make the

room spectacular.

Accessorize, Accessorize

Go around the house and gather everything that looks interesting. Clocks, books,

flowers, figurines, pots, mugs, and pictures really go a long way in brightening up

a room. Try the pieces all around until you find just the right spot. Then if you still

have a bare tabletop, shop at stores or

online

for just the right piece.

Spectacular Lighting

Instead of simple boring overhead lighting or a basic lamp, try for drama with

interesting spot lights, ceiling track lighting, and decorative lamps.

Old Architectural Elements

If you just don't want any more pictures, you might think about finding some

pieces of architectural salvage. Place an interesting old iron fence section on the

wall behind the sofa, use corner shelf supports for a bookshelf, cut wide

baseboard molding for a mirror frame, mount cut-glass door knobs to hang hats

at the entry. These are just a few of the ways you can use interesting old salvage

pieces to decorate a new room.

One Unique Antique

Add character to a boring room with one unique antique piece. You'd be

surprised how an old chair, side table, wall shelf, lamp, or set of china will turn

into a focal point and turn a room from drab to delightful.

Custom Stencils and Faux Painting

If you're an artist, or willing to give it a try, add color with a hand-painted border,

faux details, or color accents. If you're not artistic, use some of the new wonderful

stencils and provide interest with wall words, vines, or floral motifs.

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Finishing Touches

The Penny Crabtree Company,

1-866-765-1301,

Penny Crabtree; Instructor, Holistic Redesign Director, Award-winning Author

www.healthyhomedecorating.com

www.pennycrabtree.com

Add Interest Above

Draw the eye upward with a dramatic ceiling medallion. Draw a high ceiling down

with faux ceiling beams. And add color and design with stenciling around the

ceiling.

Always Keep Your Eyes Open

Who knows when you might find something wonderful for your room? Make plans to

shop flea markets. Keep a list with you at all times with the items you're looking for or

areas you'd like to fill. You're bound to find just the right thing when you expect to least!

15 Terrific Ways to Add Interest to a Plain Room

Maybe you've finished redoing a room but it still looks a bit blah.

Don't stop decorating until your room is welcoming and fully accessorized. For some,

this may take days, for others weeks, and for still others it may be an ongoing process.

Yet the hunt for just the right details can be rewarding.

Use these tips to add some interest , some sparkle , and some personality to boring

rooms.

1. Add interesting furnishings - Beige walls and beige sofas are fine, but they offer

relatively little to really capture your attention. Punch up your room with interesting-to-

look-at furnishings such as a dark wood armoire, a red enamel coffee table, a textured

rattan chair, a terrific tufted ottoman, or a rustic pine hutch.

2. Art - Framed posters, prints, photographs, and paintings give a room depth and

dimension. They also add color, style, and underscore the mood or theme of a room.

3. Antiques - Even one carefully chosen antique piece can add character to a room.

Choose a pretty chest of drawers , an armoire , a side table, or chair.

4. Texture - Avoid an all-shiny or all-textured room. Instead use a mix of smooth, shiny,

soft, hard, textured, and rough. For example, pair smooth white ironstone and twigs on a

rough country cupboard. Set glass candlesticks next to a wood planter of ivy on a stone

tabletop. Or, arrange a collection of matte ceramic plates with framed architectural

photos on a shiny painted mantle.

5. Themes - Room themes can give you decorating “focus " and give a reason to include

whimsy . The sky is the limit for theme ideas -- from English hunt club to rustic country

porch, from rooms of all white to contemporary artist lofts, and from industrial steel to

quaint Victorian. If your room lacks focus, then come up with a theme and use

accessories to accomplish the look.

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Finishing Touches

The Penny Crabtree Company,

1-866-765-1301,

Penny Crabtree; Instructor, Holistic Redesign Director, Award-winning Author

www.healthyhomedecorating.com

www.pennycrabtree.com

6. Collections - Base a room on a favorite collection and you're sure to love the room.

Whether you collect pottery, teapots, blue and white, contemporary art, black and white

photographs, or quilts, there's a way to use these items as focal points, accessories, and

points of interest.

7. Stenciling - Whether borders, corner vines, faux windows, or quotations, there are

many stencils that can add a touch of color and interest.

8. Architectural Salvage - Old pieces of Architectural salvage provides vintage looks

with dimension, texture, and charm. Look for weathered columns, iron gates, crackled

corner moldings, and more.

9. Ceiling Projects - You can add interest to a ceiling with stencils, medallions, faux

beams, and more.

10. Shop for One-of-a-Kind Pieces - Anything unique will automatically add some

interest. Learn more about shopping at flea markets to find interesting accessories for

your home.

11. Old Style Parts and Moldings - Older homes need the vintage look of home parts

and decorative moldings such as brackets, mantels, screen doors, porch posts, and

more. Search the net for some great pieces, or browse local salvage yards.

12. Find Accessories - Use these online shopping sources to find just the right

accessories for a room.

13. Lighting - Adding a mix of lighting types to a room will provide options for dramatic,

task, and general lighting.

14. Area Rugs - The right area rug can anchor a furniture arrangement. Find one that

fits into your scheme.

15. Plants and Flowers - Fresh plants and flowers add a living, breathing presence in a

room. Keep yours healthy, dusted, and in top shape. Move scraggly plants outdoors to

recover, or throw them away. Use artificial greenery in rooms with low light, on high

surfaces, or when time is limited to care for real plants.