Jump Start: Some Secrets To The Decorating Process

Secret # 1. The process of creating anything comes from stimulating the brain. Putting in ideas and stirring them up with your own concepts, viewpoints, preferences and experience. There is no one correct way to decorate your home. Everyone is as different as their fingerprints. Unique is actually the most common thing there is. It is you and everyone else on the planet.

It's easy to be Unique. Unique  is the most common thing there is on the planet.

What is exciting is to see a home that has been created by someone who is confident enough to do what feels right to her or himself.

Chair by Ralph Lauren.

That is not to say putting in a chair by Ralph Lauren is cheating. On the contrary.

Find a good chair and put your spin on it.

Playing with an item and putting your own spin on it is like making your own version of a delicious recipe. Put in the ingredients that are the bones and then spice it up with your own seasonings.

Spice it up.

Patterns and Color can start the process of design

That chair...that picture...the pattern or color, that is the Jump Start, The Ignition, that starts the whole process, that creates the excitement so that your own creativity comes alive and moves you into the realm of acting out your own goals and dreams. A little secret...all and I do mean All artists and designers, except The Great Creator, Jehovah, get their inspiration going by looking through others work in magazines, pictures, or something in their environment that excites and inspires them.
Oh, you say, I tried that and it was a disaster I am just not very good at decorating.
Secret # 2.

You have to expect to be bad at it to begin with. Everyone has to practice to get better.

Start out small if you're scared.

Start out small . 

With a picture or something easy to change. Make a grouping on your coffee table.

Start with something small you can play around with and change easily.

Look up different ideas in magazines or at Pottery Barn

Look up different ideas in magazines or at Pottery Barn online and see how they put together something that you like. Okay buy one piece in the grouping if you want, but chances are if it's something that speaks to you, there will be similar things somewhere in your house. Go on a shopping trip in your own home as well. Notice it has to be something that YOU like. Ask yourself this question...What is it that I like about this? 

Do I like the colors? 

Is it the baskets or shells or plants, like a natural theme? Whatever it is notice the relative sizes, shapes, textures, colors...then make your own. It is not a copy but a representation of your taste, that your hand, eyes and thoughts brought into being.

Maybe something more simple.

It takes time and paying attention to begin to see what you like. Becoming aware of that feeling of satisfaction when it is right to you is important. Trust yourself...Listen to yourself...and do it again and again. You will begin to see something taking shape inside your mind so that you can make it appear outside your head in your home.

Next: What challenges do we run into in many homes and what we can do to fix, hide or even use them in our decor.

7 Ways To Find And Use Glass In Your Decor

Another persons trash is real treasure when looking for glass to accessorize. Garage sales, Goodwill, even a friend or family member can be a source of beautiful glassware to use. But not in the same old boring way. This is a really great secret that you can keep to yourself till you actually have it sitting proudly on your mantel or bookshelf. Then it's finders keepers when everyone wishes they had pick that item up at the flea market themselves.

1.Starting with any bell-shaped item, a chandelier like this for instance. Take out the wiring and fixture and glue or screw the top back on or a lid from something else like a candy jar and you have a unique cloche for mini plants or a lock and key or a shell.

A mini plant cloche from Goodwill and an old microwave plate

Balls made of crystal from a vintage lamp glued together add bamboo 

2.Balls made of crystal from a vintage lamp glued together add bamboo and you have a lovely paperweight.

3.Old Candy jars with a key and padlock or an old wooden stamp make an interesting arrangement when placed together.

Old wine bottles' simple but elegant shapes make a fine display

4.Old wine bottles' simple but elegant shapes make a fine display on your table or entry

5.Glass design is especially useful in small spaces. It doesn't take up visual space the way a piece made of metal or wood can.

6.Gray is so popular today, but it can be somewhat oppressive if not lightened in a room. Glass in the clear form or as a mirrored surface adds sparkle and light in a way no other accessory can.

A glass top on an old sewing machine base lets light shine through to the plants below

7.A glass top on an old sewing machine base lets light shine through to the plants below

Glass and mirrors are real work horses in design, expanding rooms, bringing in light, showcasing art and objects of interest without getting in the way themselves. When used with deliberate care and thought it can make a room look polished. Watch how it is used and you will find a wealth of ways to enhance your home.

14 Ways Baskets Are Amazing Vessels

Woven with a bottom, sides and handle, baskets can be made from any available substance.  The lowly basket is the essence of simple wisdom. The oldest known baskets date back to man's beginning and are valued and treasured to the current day. Some uses are;

Carrying and storing foods

Flower Receptacle

Wearing and carrying

Storing wood and as a side table

Pottery Barn Storage

For sitting on PB

For putting books in

As a wall decoration Finding Home

Storing Pots or Potting Plants PB

Or just storing and organization

World Market

Vintage Style

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Baskets make our lives richer, more beautiful and add so many options to work with. They aren't usually expensive and one basket can be used in multiple ways. They are an excellent way to decorate on a budget. Also, a really stylish and chic way to accessorize an outfit. Check out creative ways to use them. Paint them, tie a bow around them, pack them full of goodies for a gift. There are so many bargain ways to buy them; Flea Markets, Dollar Stores, garage sales, resale shops like Goodwill. Flexible, inexpensive, eternally modern, baskets are the on top of the list when it comes to style.