August

Quick And Easy Bathroom Decor Changes

By Duane Jones

Description: Tips to clear up your bathroom clutter and give your bathroom decor a fresh new look.

Are you tired of the way your bathroom looks? Don't feel bad, a lot of folks are in the same boat. The bathroom is one room in the home that can look drab and run down very easily. What if you don't have an unlimited budget to make changes in the fixtures and plumbing? Well take heart, there's lots that you can do for very little money that will totally and radically improve the decor of your bathroom.

One of the biggest problems with bathrooms is their tendency to get cluttered. You know, towels hanging all over the place, bath products on top of the vanity and on the shower floor and things like that. So if you really want to make a 100% improvement in your bathroom clean up the clutter.

Fortunately, that is very easy to do and inexpensive. If you go to any WalMart or Target store, you will find plenty of organizer products for use in the bathroom. They are also very cheap. So get some of them and start to install them so that the most used products and items are within easy reach of wherever they would be used in the bathroom. If you make the storage spot convenient most people will continue to put it back in its place after they use it. If you make the storage spot even a little difficult to access, you will see those items left all around wherever someone finds a spot for it.

Next, get some extra towel racks and install them so that there is a towel holder within easy reach of almost anywhere in the bathroom. Extra towel holders mean that even used towels can have a spot to be hung up instead of just left lying over the tub or shower stall door. Another advantage decor-wise of having extra towel bars is that you can use some of them to put up fancy towels for show that will really pick up the appearance of the room and highlight the colors that you used in your bathroom design.

Another simple and easy change to the appearance of any bathroom is the flooring. If you don't like what you see, change it. Fortunately, most bathroom floor spaces are fairly small and so not much material is needed. There are several options that you can choose from including vinyl sheets, ceramic tile, or vinyl tile squares. If you want simple and easy, stick-on vinyl tiles are probably the way to go. You can get them at a local Home Improvement store and they are usually very inexpensive too, and you can get some great looking designs that look very close to actual ceramic tile at a casual glance. Armed with a small cutter to trim the tiles when needed or shape them around an object on the bathroom floor, you are ready to go. If you make a mistake, peel up that tile, throw it away and use another one. Simple and easy!

Finally, buy some new towels for the bathroom. Get some great new colors and designs that are eye-catching and pleasing. Again, not much money invested for lots of return in visual appeal.

Change out the doorknobs on your vanity and closet, and change the shower curtain and rings if you have one.

Just a few of these inexpensive changes in a bathroom can go a long way to changing that tired, old, cluttered, bathroom into one that makes you proud to show it off, and a pleasure to use.

July

Escape to Sunny Mexico - at Home!

By Debbie Rodgers

Can't get away for a southern vacation this year? Don't despair--plan a sunny Mexican style refresher for your patio décor and enjoy the festive atmosphere of a hacienda at home this summer.

As with every other decorating style, Mexican décor has its own basic elements.

Color
- The predominant color in the sunny Mexican look is yellow -- bright, cheery and warm. If you're lucky enough to be working with an outdoor space that abuts a stucco house exterior, consider painting the stucco yellow or soft terracotta. Otherwise, fashion walls for your space from a fence, a screen, or a trellis painted an uplifting sunny hue.
- Accent the yellow with bright blue or vivid turquoise. Shades of terracotta, red, orange, and bright pink are also popular.

Furniture
- Furniture made of heavy wood looks most authentic in Mexican style decorating. Small rough-hewn side tables are suitable. If you can't get heavy wooden furnishing, paint simple wooden folding chairs bright yellow and blue.
- Alternatively, use wrought iron or hammered metal furniture. The Mexican influence of these materials can be also be used in gate hinges or accessories such as candlesticks.

Tiles
- Mexico is justly famous for its beautiful tiles -- either unfinished terracotta or those with bold glazed patterns of flowers or other objects in shades of yellow, blue, and red.
- Consider clay floor tiles to give a concrete slab patio a fresh new look. If tiling is not in your budget, get creative with paint as we did on this city balcony.
- If you're serious about the Mexican look, tile the roof of your outdoor space with red clay tiles.
- Use brightly colored tiles on a table or a tray. Carry the terracotta theme with clay plant pots.

Fabric
- Use brightly colored tiles on a table or a tray. Carry the terracotta theme with clay plant pots.

Accessories
- Accessorize your Mexican-styled space with wrought iron candlesticks or grille work.
- Fish and bird motifs (such as roosters or parrots) are good, especially if made of clay or tile.
- Carry the bright colors into the plantings in your space. Nasturtiums are ideal for hanging baskets or the lattice you've installed. If you're growing zucchini or other squash, consider planting them near the patio, so that the blossoms add to your atmosphere.
- If you want to get away from the yellow in your flowers, use bougainvillea, pastel poppies, or broadleaf greenery such as yucca plants.
- Heap a rope basket with apricots, guavas or pears. Alternatively, you can make oversized paper Mache replicas or paint wooden yard-sale fruits.

Try a few of these ideas and before you know it, you'll be sipping marguerites and crunching tortillas in your very own Mexican courtyard.

June

Liven Up Your Living Space

By Colleen Moulding

If you're unsure of the look you want, start by tearing out magazine pictures of rooms you like. You will soon see themes appearing. Painted wooden furniture and pale stenciled walls, traditional mahogany or art deco or a little of many styles blended together in your own eclectic way. Make room boards with pictures; paint samples and fabric swatches to help you decide.

Don't compromise. If you can't have what you want and can't make something into what you want, either go without for now or use an obviously temporary solution until you can have just the right piece.

Display collections in one place. They have far more impact grouped together. A collection of green glass bottles catching the evening sun on a window ledge or in a conservatory looks far more stylish than a couple in the bathroom, one on the mantelpiece etc.

Flowers and plants give an instant lift to a room. Look carefully at magazine pictures styled by professionals and nearly every one will have a display of flowers or plants. Ask friends for cuttings of easy plants and top up your collection cheaply at school fairs, summer fetes and car boot sales. Treat your room to a bunch of flowers from the local market whenever you can afford to and have a look at the marvelous silk versions available now for when you can't.

Change furniture you don't want to replace by recovering it or hiding it under a throw. Experiment by tucking it in different ways before piling on cushions. Extra large sheets and duvet covers can be ideal for this job.

Easy capacious storage can be made for your kitchen, utility room, bathroom, bedroom, workroom or kid's room by using inexpensive shelves or shelving units under a worktop and hanging curtains on a tight curtain wire in front of them. Match or contrast them to the window curtains and this often looks so pretty you won't want to change it later.

Buy fairly large glass and clip frames and hang some new prints. Museums and art galleries often have excellent quality prints at very reasonable prices.

Don't forget to incorporate texture into your room. Think of a chunky cream cotton throw, seagrass matting or a bright Indian dhurrie. A silky scarf as a bedroom wall hanging, a glowing beeswax candle, oversized calico curtains with large jute tiebacks. A feast for the eyes and the fingertips.

Change the atmosphere of your room overnight by changing the lighting. Dimmer switches fitted to all your fixed lighting and lamps will make a huge difference. Consider candle sconces instead of wall lights, they are very easy to install, no wiring to worry about, and can give quite dramatic results. Use uplighters on the floor behind plants or to highlight a feature. Treat your lamps to new shades.

Be confident about the look you want to go for. If you do it half-heartedly it won't work so well anyway. Be bold! You can always change the room again if you change your mind!