5 Decorating Secrets to Make Your Home Look Like a Model

 

SECRET # 1 CREATING A THEME, MOOD & STYLE

Having a unified interior flows from area to area with a sense of comfort and well-being. It is pleasing to the senses and not shocking or disturbing. To create a unified interior, you need to establish a theme, mood and style before you begin your decorating.

A THEME is one central motivating idea that repeats itself in a variety of ways throughout your home.

If you love the great outdoors of the west, you could go with a Cowboy theme. This can be repeated through your home by using a boot fabric, branding iron bar stools, rustic frames, cowboy pictures, cowboy hats, boots and horses as accessories. You could theme your powder bath after the Grand Ole Opry, Kitchen – chili peppers and your daughters room – horses.

A MOOD is the way you want to feel in your home. The theme and mood must flow to be successful. For example, you couldn’t have a Formal Western Home. But you could have a Formal Traditional Home or a Comfortable Western Home.

A STYLE reflects your personal preference and should fit the way you live. Some examples of Western Style could be; Americana, Rustic, Cowboy or Indian.

Some examples of theme, mood & style are:

 

SECRET # 2 CREATING A COLOR SCHEME

COLOR is the first thing we respond to when we enter a room. It affects the way we feel and is the most powerful decorating tool we can use.

COLOR HARMONY is essential in the flow of your theme, mood and style throughout your home. Color harmony includes the mixture of color, patterns and texture in a well-balance scheme.

A COLOR SCHEME can be created from the following:

Colors we like

The colors in our furniture

A piece of artwork

A special fabric

The mood we want to project

Color should be distributed in the following way:

• Dominant Color – largest area of color, walls & floor
• Secondary Color – window treatments, bedding, large upholstery
• Accent Color – small chairs, pillows, lamps and accessories

 Some color scheme guidelines:

• Fewer colors are easier to work with
• Carry a key color throughout the home
• Use all of the colors in your scheme in the entry
• Use color to define a focal point
• Do not use equal amounts of color in each room. A dominate color should be 60% of a room.
• Connecting rooms should have a common color.
• Repeat colors in wallpaper, fabrics and accessories.

 The main goal is for your color scheme to flow harmoniously from area to area in a well balance fashion.

Your color scheme must also flow with your theme, mood & style. For Example; Black & Gold is great for Contemporary but it would be difficult for it to work for Country. As well as Salmon and Aqua can be a Desert Southwest, but not Western.

SECRET # 3 – ACCESSORIZING

Accessories make a house into YOUR HOME. They personalize a home and bring unity to your theme, mood, style and color scheme.

Some Accessory Guidelines

• -  Remember to continue your color scheme into your accessories.
• -  With the matting and framing of artwork, floral arrangements, lighting bases, candles, and bedding.
• -  Place your largest items first. Always consider the focal point of the room and do not let your accessories over-power it.
• -  Never underestimate the use of greens. They soften any area and bring life into your home. But if you do not have a green thumb, use silks.

How do we accessorize in models?

• First and foremost, all of the accessories coordinate with the theme, mood, style and color scheme. A Traditional Theme will have gold frames where a Western Theme will have rustic wood frames. Traditional may have brass swans and Western may have a Fredric Remington Sculpture. Traditional may have crystal boxes and Western may have clay pots.

 

• We also use LOTS and LOTS of CUSTOM Floral Arrangements. Coffee tables, Dining, Kitchen Island Dressers and Baths.
• We use Larger more impressive pieces which repeat the theme & color scheme. Such as plates, pots, vases or boxes.
• We also love Tablescaping. We look at horizontal surfaces as a total picture versus just placing individual pieces. We set the dining and kitchen tables.
• And for fillers we love frames and books.

Keep in mind, while all of these things look great in model homes, they may not be functional in your home.

SECRET # 4 – HOW TO USE FABRICS

Fabrics play an integral part of your homes theme, mood and style and their patterns add immeasurably to the character of your rooms.

As with your color scheme and accessories, your fabrics must also follow suit with your theme. You wouldn’t have silk damask in a Western Home, nor would you have burlap in a Traditional.

Guidelines in selecting patterns:

• -  If you want one pattern to dominate, choose the major pattern first, then coordinate the colors, textures and other patterns around it. Make sure a very dominate pattern is not over whelming a focal point.
• -  Invest in a large swatch and live with it for at least 30 days.
• -  A good way to coordinate prints is to choose secondary ones that are less intense, but in the same color scheme. Make sure that your patterns have a kinship. It is easier to have either formal or informal fabrics, not both.
• -  If you are unsure about selecting secondary prints, stripes, dots, checks, and plaids make natural secondary patterns.

HOW TO USE FABRICS EFFECTIVELY

How to use one fabric in a room

• Living Room – Use the same fabric on 2 chairs, 3 sofa accent pillows, window valance and drape tie backs.
• Dining Room – Use the same fabric on the chair seats, table runner, window valance and drape tie backs
• Kitchen – Use the same fabric on the chair cushions, place mats and window valance.
• Bedroom – Use the same fabric on the duster, 2 shams, 3 accent pillows, window valance and drape tie backs.

How to use more than one fabric in a room.

• Living Room – 2 accents pillows, table topper and on the window treatment.
• Dining Room – 2 arm chairs and window treatment.
• Kitchen – Napkins, Ruffle on cushion seats and window treatment.
• Bedroom – Bedspread, inserts in duster, 2 shams, 1 accent pillow and window treatment.

Don’t forget about adding the extras of contrast welting, ruffles, fringe, tassels, and covered buttons to pillows, furniture, window treatments and bedding.

Budget Model Secrets

• Use matching sheets on custom window treatments & pillows. It will give the whole room a professional look.
• If a fabric is very expensive, only cover one side of the pillow with it, use a less expensive fabric for the back.
• Use extra pieces to make runners for tables & dressers.

 

SECRET # 5 – FRAME YOUR ROOMS WITH BEAUTIFUL WALLS

Walls take up more space than any other single element in a room, so their treatment is important. A variety of materials is available to add interest to your walls.

Be adventurous with paint – Paint is the most popular choice for wall treatments because it is inexpensive and easily and quickly applied. Paint can change the look and feel of a room in one day.

1. -  Use paint as a back-drop for a bed or a focal point of a room.
2. -  Be bold and add color. If you don’t like it, just paint over it.
3. -  Try faux finishes. They can add an expensive professional look.
4. -  If you have a small wall border, paint a 12″ stripe and place the border in the middle.
5. -  Paint wood moldings a dramatic color and use as a chair rail, crown molding or frame a wall for a wall gallery.

Wallpaper ideas:

1. Wallpaper behind a bed or even just two walls.
2. Do something wild and crazy in your powder bath.
3. You can paper above, below or both when it comes to chair rail. Just keep in mind the scale and boldness of the patterns.
4. Use a border as chair rail.
5. Border around a wall to frame it as a focal point.
6. Borders can be placed at the ceiling, floor, chair rail, around a wall, window or door. Even above the back-splash in the kitchen. Borders are your most versatile and economical paper treatment.

Mirrors – Mirrors and the illusions they create are the grand magicians of wall coverings. You can visually double the size of a room be mirroring one wall and expand it almost infinitely by putting mirrors on two or more walls.Mirrors also add light into a dark room from their reflective quality. But, before you decide to mirror a wall, make sure you know what you will be reflecting. Is the view that will be reflected a good one? You wouldn’t want a double exposure of your kitchen or bath.

Wall Decals, Stencils and Wall Words - These are three great ways to add punch and interest to your walls and artwork galleries.  As well as being perfect DIY projects.

So now that you know the 5 secrets to decorating model homes, it’s time to decorate your home to look like a model!