Decorating Tip 101 - "Using What You've Got"

Number one, if you are on a limited budget or do not choose to strip a room and start from scratch, here is a suggestion.

When “using what you’ve got”, you can work with focal points. Here is an example: The art piece pictured will be my focal point. I will pull colors from this picture. You could let the picture be your inspiration for your entire room, or if limited, just decorate one area pulling together colors.

If I were to use this as my inspiration, I would hang it over my large wall over my black piano. On top of the piano, I would use my tall gold metal candle holders that would come slightly into the picture area. I would place the tallest candle on the right and beside it, the shorter candle holder on the left. Use dark red colored candles.

If you can pretend that all objects on the piano would form a triangle shape, that will help you design your stuff on the piano. The triangle shape I am using to illustrate is one with the right line being the tallest and going straight up, bottom line, straight left, following the top of the piano, and the angle going from left bottom to top right.

I use books a lot to help pull in colors. You can go to any thrift store and peek behind the paper covers and find wonderful colored fabric hardback books you can purchase for 1 - 2 dollars.

Find three books in colors that you can pull from the picture. For example: deep red or the deep gold in the left bottom corner. Moving to the left of the candle holders, in the center of the piano, stack the books laying down in a neat stack with something black on top, for example a pair of black gloves.

Now go one step lower and to your left place one single object such as a piece of red pottery.

If this were in an office, you could use black pencils in a holder, red binders, etc. Just let your inspiration piece help you pull other colors in your room i.e., rugs, pillows, etc.

Have fun. Let me know if you use this idea and succeed. donna_r_madden@yahoo.com

Enjoy more art inspirations from my sister, Judy on her site: www.judywalston.com