Home Decor Accessories - How to Create a New Look in a Room

Apart from complimenting your newly painted walls with soft furnishings and effective flooring, home decor accessories in a room are just as equally important. Accessories ranging from flowers in a contemporary vase to art pictures hanging on your walls, all add the finishing touches to any room. Above all, accessories add personality to a room, they inject your own personal touch making your home unique to you and comfortable and inviting for you and your family.

Decorating with Art Pictures

You will be surprised at the important role that art pictures play in home decor accessories. Not only do pictures add your own personality into the room, they absorb noise and can actually help change the illusion of a rooms' shape if placed in the right places. For example:

• horizontal landscape pictures help widen a room;
• Portrait floral pictures help give the illusion of height; and
• one large picture reflected through a mirror gives the sensation of additional broader space.

Creating Art Arrangements:-

For a maximum effect and to make interesting wall arrangements that can become a dynamic focal point of the room, try to hang smaller pictures in a cluster.

If you hang an even number of smaller prints tightly together in a cluster, this will help balance out a large space and give a window effect in a small space. Remember to hang the prints together tightly to create one unit and one focal point.

For larger pictures, place them in proportion to the furniture. For example, hang a large picture approximately six to nine inches above a sofa or at eye level. By hanging a larger print too high above any piece of furniture can leave both pieces feeling disconnected.

Tips Before Hanging Art:-

Before hanging any art on a wall, try different combinations of arrangements. Use painter's tape and brown paper bags and keep rearranging the bits of paper on the wall until you have come up with a great picture arrangement.

Always hang prints at eye level and use your hand in between pictures as a guide to space large and medium sized pictures.

Create Illusions with Mirrors

Mirrors are great to help create the illusion of space. By cleverly placing mirrors on an adjacent wall to a picture or something which is interesting in your room, will reflect the image and add a sense of space.

For darker rooms, hang a decorative mirror near a window. The light will then bounce off the mirror into the room portraying more natural much-needed light back into the area.

To give the illusion of depth in a room paint one of your walls in a darker contrasting color to your other walls. Then hang a mirror on that darker wall. This instantly gives the additional sense of depth to the dimensions of the room.

Lighten-up with Light Fixtures

Light fittings are one of the most important elements of home decor accessories as they set the ambience of the room. By using different types of lighting you can create different moods on different areas of the room, at different times of the day.

For example:-

• accent lighting such as a spot light is used to emphasize wall paintings, ornaments or other interesting areas in a room;
• soft lighting used by small wall light fittings or table lamps, help create a gentle romantic mood;
• general lighting such as a ceiling center light, strip light or bright wall lamps are used for everyday purposes.

Tip: use a dimmer switch to create different moods with your lighting.

Adding Color with Flowers & Plants

Fresh flowers are always a wonderful accessory in a home. They are easy to blend in with any rooms accent and you can swap and change the color, type of flower and position at any time. They are such an easy and adaptable accessory to have. If you are allergic to flowers, try silk flowers instead - sometimes it is hard to distinguish between real flowers and silk ones...

By placing plants throughout your home helps add natural color, texture, and also softens the area making it more appealing to spend time there. Don't forget to use attractive plant pots and containers for your plants - they are a home decor accessory too!

Area Rugs and Textiles

Area Rugs:-

Area rugs add warmth and texture to a room. They help soften wooden or hard floors and add contrasting colors and patterns into the room.

First you must determine what you want the rug for - is it a focal point? or do you want to group furniture on it? Secondly, you must measure what size rug you need before you go shopping.

Other Textiles:-

By using other types of textile home decor accessories, you can create additional comfort and softness in using:-

• scatter cushions made with different types of material;
• throws on your sofa or lounge chair;
• napkins, place mats and tablecloths in the dining room or kitchen;

Summary

Home decor accessories play a crucial part in your home decorating. Even if you don't need to repaint your walls, you can still change the look of your room. By rearranging furniture and wall pictures, adding soft light fixtures, flowers arrangements and plants, the placement of an area rug and using different textiles in a room, all help create a new look to reflect you and your personality.

Claire Bowes is a freelance writer and the owner of flower-pictures-n-posters.com and landscape-pictures-n-posters.com. In addition to fine-art prints, these two sites offer landscape photography prints and flower posters.

---

Better Links Directory

Fresh Fruit Baskets

From their inception, fresh fruit baskets were exactly that ?... Read More

Black Forest Cuckoo Clocks

Known for its harsh winters, its many local artisans, and... Read More

Getting The Most From Your Candles

I love burning candles and have them all around the... Read More

Decorating a Guest Bedroom - Get Out of your Own Way

Decorating a Guest BedroomThe guest bedroom is the one room... Read More

Have You Considered These Space-Saving Bed Designs To Maximize Your Interior Decorating Space?

Vertical and functional space planning are two of the most... Read More

Animal Print Rugs - Adding an Animal Print Area Rug Can Complete The Look of Your Room

If you love animal prints or have an exotic theme... Read More

A Guide to Acrylic Kitchen Sinks

Unlike laminates, acrylic and/or polyester plastics are homogenous nonporous material.... Read More

Take The Clothes Off Your Rooms and Let Them Breathe

Its summertime and the livin' is easy or at least... Read More

How to Wash a Down Comforter

Few things are as comforting on a cold winter night... Read More

Futon Slip Covers Protect While Adding A Decorative Designers Touch!

Futon slip covers do two things. Number one and most... Read More

Cookers

If you are buying a free-standing cooker, oven or hob... Read More

A Sofa Slip Cover Will Add New Life To Your Tired Furniture!

A sofa slip cover may be just what you need... Read More

Tiffany Lamps - A Timeless Treasure

Among the varied accomplishments of it's inventor, the lamp was... Read More

The Advantages of Copper Kitchen Sinks

If you want a touch of class and art in... Read More

Corner Bakers Rack: Create Extra Storage Space and Style

One of the most highly sought after pieces of furnishings... Read More

California King Bedding Cannot Be Interchanged With Standard King Bedding

If you are looking for a great selection of California... Read More

Where to Find Discount Wedgwood China

There is not a lot of discount Wedgwood China available,... Read More

Dining Chair Slipcovers ? A Great Way to Impress Your Dinner Guests!

Planning a dinner party but worried what your guests will... Read More

Decorating on a Shoestring Budget

Right now one of the most popular shows on television... Read More

Bathroom Vanity Cabinets

Bathroom vanity cabinets are considered bathroom furniture, and usually range... Read More

Decorating a Romantic Room

Creating intimacy in a room is about finding a mixture... Read More

The Magic of Design

There was a time people thought the world was flat.... Read More

The Benefits of Owning an Ionic Air Purifier

Ionic air purifiers are not filter systems. Ionic air purifiers... Read More

Summer Decorating Tips To Cool You

Redesigning your home for summer gives you the opportunity to... Read More

Three Ways to Add Charm and Style to Your Kitchen

I like decorating my kitchen with a cozy, warm, inviting,... Read More