If you’re like most families, you probably spend quite a bit of time in the kitchen. So why not make it more interesting by adding some color to the room? You probably don’t want your kitchen to be dreary and drab, but you may not be sure how to add the right touch. Consider some of these easy ways in which you can add color to your kitchen, making it go from boring to beautiful.

Add Color by Dressing Up Your Table
Dress up your kitchen table as an easy way to add color to your kitchen. Add a colorful tablecloth or placemat set, or display some colorful dishware. Add flowers in a vase or basket to the center of your wood dining table to add some instant color to the room. Try to find colors that will add some interest but also complement your kitchen’s décor.

Add Color with a Backsplash
Don’t let your kitchen backsplash be boring. Although you can always keep it simple with a neutral-colored tile or laminate, why not choose a colorful backsplash instead? You should be able to find tile and laminates for your backsplash in a variety of different colors. If you want a totally unique look, try arranging colored glass that’s been broken up in a random pattern on the wall. Whichever way you decide to go, not only will you add some color to the décor, but you’ll end up with a personalized, one-of-a-kind backsplash.

Paint an Accent Wall a Different Color
Is your kitchen painted a neutral color? Paint an accent wall a different color to add some more color to the room. Choose the wall that’s the least covered with cabinets or appliances. When you select the accent color, be sure it will work well with the rest of your kitchen’s décor. For a more subtle look, go with a matching color. But if you want the wall to really stand out, pick a color that’s complementary.

Take the Doors Off the Cabinets
Showcase your colorful dishes and other tableware by taking the doors off your kitchen cabinets. If you have neutral dishes, add some pop by painting the insides of the cabinets a contrasting color. This doesn’t mean you need to take every cabinet door off. But choose a couple of prominent cabinets about the countertops to be your “color cabinets.”

Use Window Treatments to Add Interest
Chances are, your kitchen has at least one window. Why not utilize that window area to add color? For your valance or drapes, choose a color that will really stand out in the décor. Red or purple window treatments would be a great way to add color to the room if you have, for example, a black-and-white or otherwise neutral kitchen.

You don’t need to redecorate the entire room in order to add color to your kitchen. Rather, build upon what you already have to add your own colorful touches here and there.

About the Writer….
Leon Tuberman has four decades of experience in the furniture and interior decorating industry. He owns and manages his family owned furniture store. They carry a large selection of Amish made solid oak furniture for your living room, bedroom and dining room furniture. It doesn’t matter whether you’re shopping for a dining set for your dining room or a love seat for your family room then they carry everything you need.

Murals are a fabulous way to add some interest and style to a room’s décor. A mural can be incorporated into the décor of all different types of rooms, from the kitchen to a bedroom. This is a very popular way to add some design to a large area. Here are some tips to help you use murals to decorate your home.

What Is a Mural?
Any type of design or picture that’s painted or drawn directly on the wall is called a mural. You can create a mural depicting almost anything, from a beach scene or other landscape to a pattern of dots or stripes on the wall. Murals can be painted or drawn, or even nowadays they can be stuck on the wall.

Tips for Painting or Drawing a Mural on the Wall
Be sure to properly research your supplies first if you are going to attempt to paint or draw your own mural on the wall. Only use paint that is suitable for wall murals. You also need to be sure that it can go over whatever surface you may be painting on. If you’re not confident in your artistic abilities, there are other ways to create your own mural. For instance, many home décor and arts and crafts stores offer stencils and also pictures that you can blow up and trace on the wall. Most people are not going to be able to freehand a large mural, so a stencil can really be a good decision.

Sticking Your Mural on the Wall
If you are not able to draw or paint very well, you can always use decals or wallpaper murals instead. Basically, you hang these types of murals on the walls, and they are intended to look just like real painted-on murals. Wallpaper murals are hung just like regular wallpaper, with glue and water. Decals are more like stickers and come with an adhesive already on the back of them.

Hire a Professional to Make Your Mural
A professional artist is always an option for creating a mural, especially if you’re not working within a tight budget. This is a great option, particularly if you have a very large mural you want done or if you’re not artistic at all. However, remember that if the mural is large and/or intricate, this can get rather expensive. Depending on the size of the space and the level of detail, some murals may take a few days. Thus, be sure that you budget accordingly.

Where to Add Murals in Your Home
Murals will make a great addition to just about any room in your home. You might consider adding a great nursery mural to welcome a new little one. Or you might want to add a mural to that large empty wall in your dining room that fits the style of the room. Other great places to put murals are bathrooms and kitchens. Wherever you decide to put a wall mural, remember that it doesn’t have to be huge and it doesn’t have to be the only thing on the wall. Just be sure that’s it’s highlighted in the design of the room.

Fortunately, if you’re looking to add a mural to your home, you don’t necessarily need to rely on your artistic abilities. If you have the budget, you can always hire a professional artist. Or you can choose to go the wallpaper or decal route instead. Not only do murals add some design style to a room, but they are a great way to let your personality shine through your home’s décor.

About the Author…
For over forty years Leon Tuberman has helped people with their furniture and interior design needs. He owns and manages a popular furniture store in Los Angeles. They have a large inventory of handcrafted solid amish furniture for your bedroom, home office and living room. Are you looking for bookcases for your student study area or a oak dining table for your dining room then they probably have everything you need.

Many homeowners like to do their own decorating projects themselves. This is a great way to ensure that your style and personality always come through your decorating. Here are 5 great DIY decorating projects that you can do for your home.

1. Paint the Walls
The easiest yet most effective way to give room a whole new look is by painting. It’s important to remember that the color of the walls will always influence the décor of the entire room. If you decide to paint the walls, be sure that you do it properly and prepare the walls as needed. You may need to fill in any cracks and then sand them down, as you want the wall to be crack-free and smooth. You also need to be sure to put on a coat of primer. You may have to put on a few coats of paint as well, depending on the color and the saturation of the wall.

2. Install Molding on the Walls
Molding instantly adds a new touch to your walls. If your wall is boring, molding will give it some interest and appeal. You might install crown molding to the top of the wall or go a different route and install a chair rail in the middle. Before nailing it to the wall, paint or stain the molding first. Then you can go back and touch up the nail holes later.

3. Personalize the Lampshades
If you can’t find the exact lampshade you’ve envisioned or just want to create something that shows your style, then consider designing your own lampshade. This is easier than it sounds. Simply take a white or cream-colored lampshade and cut figures or designs out of a dark paper such as black or red. All you need do is to tape the paper to the inside of the lampshade. What will result is a designer lampshade that reflects your own personal style. Another way to personalize the lampshade is by adding embellishments and ribbon to it. This is wonderful way to accent a wooden end table in your living room.

4. Make Your Own Artwork for the Walls
Even if you can’t paint or draw very well, that doesn’t mean you can’t come up with your very own artwork to hang on the walls or to place in wood bookcases. With a little creativity, you can use items you already have. You might hang photographs, postcards, and book images on the wall. Collages of items like those found in nature also make great pieces of art. Another simple project is to take a frame or blank canvas and wrap it in a patterned fabric that fits in with the room’s décor. Choose two or three different patterns and attach them to different sized frames. Then you can hang them in a cluster on the wall.

5. Make Your Own Window Treatments
For those who aren’t handy with a needle and thread or a sewing machine, there are many other techniques you can use to make your own curtains that don’t involve sewing. By taking a long silk scarf and draping it over a window curtain, you can create instant interest around any window. You might also consider using such things as placemats and tablecloths to create instant window treatments. If you do sew, then find a pattern you like, pick out the fabric, and create the window treatments you’ve always envisioned for your home.

Great DIY decorating projects don’t have to be difficult. If you’re looking to decorate your house in your own personal style, these are just 5 of the many different projects you can do for your home.

In the UK, various methods to texture a variety of stunning patterns & designs straight onto the ceiling & walls using tools such as fingers, rollers, sponges, rags, brushes, trowels, etc: where creating designs with texture is concerned, your only limit is your imagination; but in this article I want to talk about using ‘texturing’ combs, to create some amazing affects onto your interior surfaces; if you want to see footage visit www.diy-ceiling-wall-texture.com for instructions. Texturing comb’s are very reasonably priced & now widely available to you thanks to the internet: plus, the methods for applying the texture coating to the desired surface is usually ‘rolled on, sometimes brushed on, or even trowel’d on’ instead of ‘sprayed on.’

As you can imagine, the cost for applying texture coating to your ceiling & walls this way makes it possible for the home ‘DIY’ enthusiast to ‘have a go yourself’ because all you will need is a bucket to mix the texture powder in, the tool for mixing, (either an attachment to the power drill, or a plastic texture mixing tool that you attach to a wooden handle,) the texture powder, a roller & tray to hold the mixture & of course, the texture comb;

Some texturing combs consist of a moulded ‘all in one’ design, (almost resembling that of a plastic tile adhesive spreader, but the serrated ‘comb’ edge is slightly tighter together/not spaced as wide apart from each other) whereas, the handle, and the serrated (patterning) edge are made from a moulded, plastic material, the usual length of the comb is around 10 inches long (this is ideal for creating designs onto your larger, as well as smaller ceilings & walls;) whilst other texturing combs consist of a wooden handle, with a slit cut through it, whereas a piece, or two, of flexible plastic (containing the serrated patterning edge,) is inserted;

Texturing combs, if looked after correctly could serve you a long time, but please be aware, do not wash out the combs in boiling water as this could shrivel up the serrated edges, plus also remember that, after texturing many surfaces, the serrated edge could become quite worn down, thus giving you a thinner, and more undesirable pattern depth;

To pattern the ceiling, first of all, make sure that the surface is correctly sealed and that the room is cool (no central heating on), you must mix enough texture to cover the whole surface area to be textured; secondly, after you decided which pattern/design your going to attempt, stand at the entrance to your desired room and look up to the ceiling, it is quite normal to actually start patterning alongside the wall, running across the narrow width of the ceiling, viewing from the door entrance, (but this depends entirely upon yours, or your customers personal preference.)

So, for instance, let us say that we are going to start our pattern from the door entrance wall, whereas, the pattern (once completed) will run down the (longer & narrower) length of the ceiling.

Stand with your back against the wall (in which you intend to start the pattern) & look up; this is how your going to work the pattern; as you pattern, the pattern is always behind you, and your working away from it/across the narrow width, & down the length of the ceiling; now with your back against the wall, hold your comb in the hand that feels the most comfortable for you to texture with; if you hold the comb in your left hand, slide across the wall, to the far corner of the right side of the room, this is the corner that, once you apply your band of texture, your going to start your comb pattern, & run it the width of that wall/edge, if you use your right hand, you start at the far left corner of the ceiling.

In summary, using your paint roller, roll on a band of texture, around half/three quarter inch thick depth, across the narrowest width of your ceiling, right across, from one wall edge to the other, the band of texture should be around two roller widths wide, pattern this with your comb, then continue this method throughout the whole ceiling, continuing right down the length of the area.

Everything here is fully broken down and covered in ‘Texture Revival;’ at www.lookreadlearn.com to help you more, look out for my articles concerning mixing texture & also surface preparation.

When you attempt any texturing tasks, always practice on a small area first for best results.

Thank you for reading, I hope that this article will help you further with your quest in learning to use combs to texture with.

Dale Ovenstone, creator of the most unique ‘diy’ DVD’s & downloadable ‘How to’s’ www.lookreadlearn.com www.diy-ceiling-wall-texture.com www.unbelievable-internet-income.com