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Wednesday, February 16, 2011

DECORATING WITH JEANIE -- ON A SHOE STRING MAKE-OVERS

Getting tired of your home’s accessories but don’t have the money to splurge on room redos? Decorating editor Jeanie Sims is here today with some decorating on a shoe string tips. -- AP

Thanks, Anastasia! No matter how much you loved some doodad, bauble, or tchatcke when you bought it, after looking at it day in and day out for umpteen years, you’re probably sick of it. Or you don’t even notice it any more. Or it’s totally outdated. Whatever the reason, you feel your rooms need a bit of freshening up, but you don’t have the extra funds to do much about it. Is there a solution?

You bet!

You’d be surprised how you can add new life into a room just by doing a bit of rearranging and switching out of accessories. Here’s how you get started:

First, gather up all the accessories you have in each of your rooms. Don’t forget the stuff you have hanging on the walls. Lay these items out all in one large space, like the floor of your rec room.

Now start mixing them up. See what looks good with each other that’s different from the mix you previously had in each room. Maybe that decorative bowl that held potpourri in your bathroom will look great holding keys or out-going mail on the table by your front door. The three framed landscapes from your front hall might be just the thing to spice up the wall above your kitchen table. That cute glass penguin lost among the books on your den shelving unit will look totally new and fresh on your bathroom counter.

When you see your possessions in a new light, you give new life to them. You may still feel the need to buy a few pieces to fill in where you used to have that lava lamp, but you’ll spend far less.

Lava lamps? Really, Jeanie! How could anyone give up a lava lamp? Isn’t that as necessary a decorative mainstay in a home as fuzzy dice are for a car? ;-)  


Readers, remember to post a comment to be entered into the drawing for a book from this week's Book Club Friday guest author.-- AP

1 comment:

Kathy said...

Don't have too much bric-a-brac because I hate dusting, but I find that just moving my furniture around and changing doilies and afghan throws gives the room a whole new look. My grandmother, mother and mother-in-law were all very prolific knitters and crocheters so I have loads of doilies and afghans to switch off.