Easy Ideas to Enhance a Room

You have all your furniture and rugs and lamps - all the general things you want in you room. But after a year or so, you just want to freshen up the room and maybe add some small details to make the room seem to pop with a new look. There are some very easy and inexpensive ways to go about doing that, and it won't require a decorator, either. Here are some suggestions for you to use, mix and match what you like, and there are ways to save money while you're doing it.

In the living room, or front of the house: Is your floor carpeted or not? Whichever, look around the stores in your area and see if there are any throw size rugs on sale with some different colors in them, but that would still match your present décor. Get 3 or 4 depending on how big your space, while keeping the whole front of the house in mind. You can put them at the doors, under coffee tables, etc. and this will give more depth to the room and while it brings in the "new" it will also pull all the rooms and halls together.

If you want to do more, change your drapes or put vales on the ones you have. Vales are simply long pieces of material that are draped at the top of the drapes themselves. This adds accent color that you can pick up elsewhere in the room in other ways.

Next, do you presently have plants - either live or silk? If not, try adding some - a nice banana tree or Palm in the corner and one in the entrance way. Bamboo plants are extremely easy to take care of and they come in many different containers and some are formed into different shapes like hearts and twists which add a touch of fun and are not too expensive.

If you have a half bath, or a full, downstairs, consider filling it with plants, tall and short to just fill it up. This not only looks fresh and alive, but the chlorophyll in the live plants will help keep the air fresh!

Use candles, different sizes grouped together, or a large one by itself to pick up some of the color in the added rugs or in the vale on the drapes.

To enhance the walls, try picking up some frames at a yard sale or on clearance in a store and clean them up. Then dig into all your photos and fill the frames with them - collage style. You can make several of these and scatter them around the room or line the walls of your dining room or hall with them. (BTW - these always make a good gift for Mom and Dad, Grandma, and Grandpa, for any occasion.)

If you want to go further, you can cover the couch or chair. Many department stores have pre-made covers; just find your size and color scheme, or you can add a throw on the couch for winter, etc.

If you don't have a magazine/book basket to keep things in order, this is a nice time to get one
and a basket for all the remotes is great so that you can find them at a glance.

A runner down the coffee table is always a nice accent. Remember to choose a color from the rugs or drapes, or matching the candles. You want to tie items and colors together to bring in the feel that everything is connected in that area. You can totally change colors and themes when you go into another room.

If your dining room and living room are one big room, you might want to make a centerpiece, or spread for the dining room table. I like to go seasonal on this - things are much easier to find; or you can pick up the same colors that you are using in the candles, or highlighting in the rugs by adding cloth napkins, placemats, etc. For the centerpiece, save money by finding little things in matching themes at the dollar store or craft store. Things like little toys, or ornaments, or school supplies for the Back-to-school crowd just to name a few.

You can take a basket and fill it with your trinkets, or find pinecones which you can paint/or not, or sea shells, or for the Holidays you can wrap up some empty boxes as Christmas presents. There's no need to spend a lot to change your environment and spice it up. Just let your mind go and get as creative as you want. You'll find lots of fun and variety in sprucing up your house or apartment. And you can change it as often as you like. After all it is your house and you can make it anyway you choose!