Finishing Touches
Copyright NA38562378 10/08/02
The Penny Crabtree Company,
1-866-765-1301,
Penny Crabtree; Instructor, Holistic Redesign Director, Award-winning Author
www.healthyhomedecorating.com
&
www.pennycrabtree.com
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.”
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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.
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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.
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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.
?
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.
?
Gathe r 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
Conte mporary 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 b oring room.
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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 an d white photos, a hand-painted piece of
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Finishing Touches
Copyright NA38562378 10/08/02
The Penny Crabtree Company,
1-866-765-1301,
Penny Crabtree; Instructor, Holistic Redesign Director, Award-winning Author
www.healthyhomedecorating.com
&
www.pennycrabtree.com
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 won derful stencils and provide interest with
wall words, vines, or floral motifs.
?
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.
Alwa ys 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 welcomin g 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.
pg_0003
Finishing Touches
Copyright NA38562378 10/08/02
The Penny Crabtree Company,
1-866-765-1301,
Penny Crabtree; Instructor, Holistic Redesign Director, Award-winning Author
www.healthyhomedecorating.com
&
www.pennycrabtree.com
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.
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, the re'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 o f 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 inte rest 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.