The Joy of Home: How To Begin

The interest in interior design and putting together the furniture look you like, has lead to the trend to spend lots more time at home.  Furniture alone does not create that warm, comfortable feeling you desire. Filling your rooms with the latest, greatest trend furnishings that look fabulous on slick magazine pages will not make your home your own space.
  
I recommend that if you want to get that heart-filled feeling of home in your own interior, a little bit of homework will go along way to get you in the correct direction. If you want to save yourself lots of time and budget mistakes, take a minute to sit and think about the rooms you have been in your life that had made you feel the best being in them. What homes did you look forward to going back to again and again because of the way you felt there? Think about the colors, placement of furnishings, fabrics, textures, light, fragrance and style.  Further, compare these various homes and what is the commonality to the room décor?

If you spend this time you will begin to get a theme for what you love to be surrounded by in your home.  Your goal is to create your home interior to be what gives you the most joy when you see it the first thing in the morning. And at the end of the day when you open the door to your home, the space should make you feel like it's your retreat and relaxing refuge.

This is the first in a series of The Joy Of Home---to create your own home of joy.

Faux Finish Paints Trend for Home

Are you looking for more glamour in your home interior? Do you want what's new in décor with an elegant splash? Is your room painted a great color but needs more "wow"? If you answered "yes", then I'd recommend going with the revived trend for faux painted texture for your walls.

There are new patterns and techniques.  And the paint companies have developed new products for a new look to the wall finishes. These are not like the faux finishes of the past.  Think of this a liquid wallcovering.

Lots of metallic for richness. Tone-on-tone effects with color, shine and matte finish.  There are smooth or brushed finishes with multi-layer.  The look is luxury, sophistication, richness and glamour.  The idea is to create fashionable, classic interiors with drama.

An ideal area for this is the entry which is the first impression of your home so make a statement.  A powder room is a smaller space and faux finishes made the room special.  I always like dining rooms to have a feeling of romance and a wall with dimension, pattern and shine helps to create this mood.

Unless you are a great DIYer, I'd recommend a professional painter who has a specialty with faux finishes to do this work for you. However, if you give it a try yourself, you or a painter can always paint over it successfully.