Your Ultimate Decor Guide

We've rounded up some of our best decor tips ever to give your home a new look for the new year.

Over the years I have come across so many wonderful and affordable decorating ideas, and especially enjoy those tips that help you to create a beautiful home easily without spending too much money.

While some tips have been a little over the top, the most important things to remember is that your home doesn’t have to be perfect and you don’t have to follow the rules.

Here are some basic guidelines that you can put to good use if you want to give your home a new look for a new year...

• Spend some time sourcing photos of rooms that create the mood that you want in your home. For the best results, look for rooms that are similar to yours in size, style or layout. This will make it easier to visualise how it will look.

• While many décor and home magazines feature accessories and details that may be too expensive for you, consider how you can get the same for less. Home-Dzine offers plenty of ideas and projects for reproduction crafts and projects, and these can save you a lot of money.

• Start off with one piece that inspires you and build your decorating scheme around it. It may be a piece of art, a collectible, or even a favourite rug. Don’t settle for cheap, splurge a bit and invest in one interesting piece that sets the tone for the whole room.

• Unless you are creating a dramatic feature wall, choose your paint colour last. It is far easier to repaint a wall than it is to replace a carpet or buy new furniture and furnishings.

• Unless you are a perfectionist by nature, everything in a room does not have to match. More often than not it’s the unusual or unexpected that makes the difference.

• Be eclectic and mix things up a little. If you love to collect china but your décor is modern, so what. I always say that it’s your home and if it works for you then go with it.

And finally, decorate for you and your family. You should feel happy and comfortable in your own home.

Janice Anderssen is Women24's Décor & DIY expert. Click here to ask her a question and here to visit www.Home-Dzine.co.za

Can you add to these tips? If so, then pop your decorating resolutions in the box below.




 

- Women24

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Justine 1/4/2010 10:35:34 AM
Another tip is that you still have to work with the existing hard finishes in your house such as the colour and feel of your tiles/laminate etc. For instance terracotta tiles and lime green walls will never look nice together regardless of how gorgeous your furniture, curtains etc are. Unless you are starting with a clean canvas you cant ignore the limitations set by existing and more permanent colour schemes or themes of the room.
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