10 Things I Did to Make My Home Beautiful

People who enter my 1976 house always ask how I manage to make my home so beautiful. After all, a 35 year old home should start falling apart here and there. I tell them it used to, but no one believes me. So how did I do it? Here are the 10 things I did to make my home beautiful.

#1. Let the Sunshine In!

The first thing I did to make my home beautiful was get rid of the ugly 1970's drapery and 1 inch metal blinds covering the windows. I then shopped for 2 inch faux wood blinds online, the cheapest way to get the best blinds. In the living room I hung two layers of window treatments: bamboo blinds with inside mounts for daytime privacy that lets in light, and faux wood blinds with outside mounts for night time privacy (see pictures). If you want to make your home beautiful, start with modern window treatments that let in light and decorate your windows at the same time.

#2. Popcorn is for Movies, Not Ceilings!

I never understood popcorn ceilings. Yes, they're meant to muffle sound and provide insulation, but they also collect dust and cobwebs and are terribly difficult to fix. And, of course, they're hideous. So the next thing I did to make my home beautiful was get rid of every popcorn ceiling in the house. It was a sort of nightmare, as you can imagine, but I did discover a neat trick that makes the job easier. Instead of spraying water on the ceiling and hoping it would peel off, I painted it first, then peeled it easily. So if you want to make your home beautiful by getting rid of popcorn ceilings, follow these steps.

#3. Wallpaper Nightmare

Wallpapers are so personal, don't you think? I mean, what I love, someone else is likely to hate. So the third thing I did to make my home beautiful was get rid of the wallpaper in the hallways, kitchen and bedrooms. The nursery motif in the room that was to be my office was as absurd as the floral design in the room my son was taking over. I bought the pungent wallpaper remover recommended at my home improvement store, but I have to admit that my own solution to the problem proved far better. I peeled the top layer of the wallpaper off and left the glued paper on the wall. I then painted over the paper as though it were drywall, and I used this easy faux painting technique to eliminate any inconsistencies. I hope this solution helps you make your home beautiful too.

#4. Invasion of the Flying Saucers

Have you ever noticed that light fixtures from the 70's tend to look like enormous flying saucers. Okay, so the fourth thing I did to make my home beautiful was get rid of every light fixture in the house. I bought replacement fixtures at my favorite home improvement store, after I found a 10% discount coupon online. I matched the lighting to floor lamps that I bought at the same time. And for the rooms that had no ceiling wiring, I bought light fixtures that I installed near the wall (here's how).

#5. In the Battle of Dogs vs. Carpet, the Carpet Always Loses

Having 4 rescue dogs in my home is a challenge when it comes to keeping things clean. So the fifth thing I did to make my home beautiful (and help me keep my sanity) was replace the carpet with hardwood floors. You can also use laminate imitation hardwood which looks stunning too. Do a lot of shopping around, getting quotes until you find the best deal. And if you have to replace old tile or linoleum floors, consider using vinyl floor tiles (here's how I did it.) You can really make your home beautiful by changing the floors.

#6. I'll Just Slip into Something More Comfortable

After all the money I spent on my house, I had nothing left for my quickly aging furniture. The sixth thing I did to make my home beautiful was give my living room a slipcover makeover. In fact, I included my dining room in the makeover, because of my open floor plan. I brought an old wing chair up from the basement, then purchased matching slipcovers for my living room and for the wing chair which I positioned at the head of the dining room table. See the pictures and instructions for my slipcover makeover. Also, if you wish to turn your ottomans into comfy living room tables that you can rest your feet on, you'll need to make them yourself since manufacturers just don't make ottoman slipcover to match their sets. Here's how I made my ottoman slipcovers. I him these ideas help you make your home beautiful too.

#7. Fireplace from Hell

The fireplace in my basement made the whole space look dingy and hellish. I mean, you couldn't walk into the room without getting soot marks over you somehow. So the seventh thing I did to make my home beautiful was give that fireplace the makeover it deserved. I hung a piece of plywood over the soot-covered wood that coated the wall over the fireplace. I then faux painted the entire area, including the fireplace bricks to give them a clean, beautiful finish. If you want to make your home beautiful using my technique, here are the steps for my fireplace makeover.

#8. Not Exactly Magic Doorways

You can't imagine how ugly old doors can look until you see them all crowded together in a narrow corridor. My doors where plain brown disasters-ugly, scratched and boring. So the eighth thing I did to make my home beautiful was fix up those doors. I created panels from window casing and glued them on the doors. Then I painted the now paneled doors in glossy white paint. It was a big project, but the results were stunning. If you want to make your home beautiful with a door makeover, here are the pictures and instructions.

#9. Kitchen Be Gone

If I could have thrown away the kitchen, I would have. It was made of PLASTIC, and was old, scratched and cheap looking. So the ninth thing I did to make my home beautiful was paint a Tuscan country pattern over those ugly plastic cabinets. First I primed the doors with water based primer. Next I used ordinary latex paint to faux paint the unique pattern. See the pictures and instructions so you can make your home beautiful in this unique way. And, if you want to save your old kitchen hardware, paint it with hammered metal spray paints as I did (here's how).

#10. A Secret Garden from Hell

My garden was huge, overgrown and was quickly becoming its own weedy ecosystem. So the last thing I had to do to make my home beautiful was blast the weeds out of my garden. Yeah, right. My back was aching just thinking about it. So I came up with the idea of a mulch garden makeover. Using garden sheets I covered all the areas I wanted to clear of weeds, then I mulched over them. The transformation was so amazing, neighbors kept coming by to comment on it. If you want to make your home beautiful with the same gardening trick, just follow the instructions for my mulch garden makeover.

For more inspiration, here are 80 home improvement projects for women, which are basically all the projects I used throughout the years, in this home and in others. In addition, here are 63 home decorating ideas and projects to give your home its unique character and soothing atmosphere. Finally, to add beauty to your home through your own creations, here are 15 unique home decorating crafts.