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By Kathy Wilson
Decorating a small room is one of the biggest challenges many
families have in their homes today. Making a small room work
for your loved ones can be frustrating and confusing. Here are
some great low budget ways to simply transform your small
rooms
no matter what your budget!
1. First of all, determine if making your room look larger is
really the way to go. After all, what's so great about large
rooms? Maybe you want your living room to be comforting, and
to
wrap people with warmth when they enter. Or your bath to be
charming, filled with personality everywhere you look! So
don't
be so quick to assume bigger is always better...you might just
be creating a problem where there is none!
2.Make the most of a small room you wish to make cozy by using
warm rich colors. Drape the windows with fabric, and add throw
blankets and pillows to cozy up with. You can buy inexpensive
muslin and twist and swag it over a curtain rod for a casual
but stunning frame to your windows. Buy flat sheets and sew up
pillow covers, and make throws from fleece fabric from the
craft store. Make your room cozy deliberately, and its special
style will show through, not the size of the room.
3. Reduce the clutter in a small room! This is the #1 problem
within small spaces, and also the fastest to fix. Take a box
and remove all clutter from the room. Move out accessories,
pillows, everything! Now bring things back one at a time, and
stop when it's perfect. The key here is restraint!
4.Use large scale items in a small room. Now, traditional
rules
about scale in a room would lead you to believe a small room
needs small scale furniture, but the opposite is true. Using
just a few larger scale pieces reduces clutter and gives the
eye a smoother trip across the room. The same goes for
artwork!
If you are trying to make a room look larger, go for one large
print on the wall, or hang a decorative rug, instead of small
collections.
5.A simple tip to make rooms look larger? Keep your windows
and
slick surfaces sparkling clean! Believe it or not, the
reflection of clean will make a room look brighter, fresher
and
larger. Try it!
6.Paint just one focal wall a rich deep color to add depth to
your room. Leave the other walls either white, or a much paler
version of your accent wall and those walls will appear to
fall
away. Also keep in mind that cooler colors such as greens and
blues tend to recede from the eye, while warmer colors such as
reds and yellows seem to close in a room.
7.Finally, remember to use as many double duty items in the
room as possible to reduce clutter. A chest of drawers can
hold
a tv, and store all your magazines and games, a futon sofa can
double as a guest room, and a pine chest makes a great coffee
table, while storing extra linens!
Remember, it’s not the size of the room, it’s the size of the
heart who creates the room. Let yours show through with
personality and creativity, not cash!
About The Author: Kathy Wilson is an author, columnist, and
editor of The Budget Decorator. For hundreds of free budget
decorating ideas, and to sign up for her free newsletter and
ebooks, visit her at www.TheBudgetDecorator.com
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