30 Days, 30 Tips to Budget Friendly Home Decor - Day 2

Hey it's Day 2 in my "30 Days, 30 Tips" segment. The feedback from yesterday's post is great! It's nice to see that so many of you have already found the magic of furniture rearrangement. Today I am going to talk about paint. Color is the second easiest way to add budget friendly style to your room. Day 2 - Tip 2:

Accent Color

Color is amazing! Even the slightest variation of white can change the mood of your room, effect your lighting and show-off your furnishings in a new way. It's like make-up! Us ladies know that a little blush or bronzer can give us that healthy glow we long for. Well, the same is true with your wall color. Choosing color wisely can make a big impact for a little money. Depending on the paint you purchase, you are looking at $12-$50 per gallon. Most quality paints will run around $30.

Rooms dressed in warm colors like yellow, peach, chocolate and beigey-neutrals send out an inviting welcome to come in and visit. Cool shades like blue, green, aqua and cool grays allow us to rest and relax as they embrace us in tranquility. The firey tones of red and oranage promote happiness, excitement and conversation and are perfect colors for any areas of your home where you want to promote socializing.

With today's wide range of modern neutrals, even the color phobic have an unlimited palette of "whites" to choose from. These new whites are tinted with ever so soft shades that lean toward warm or cool. A word of caution though, test your color in the room before committing. Natural and incandescent lighting will change the color once it's on your walls. Other colors can also be reflected from flooring, furnishings and window treatments.

I once made a terrible mistake by choosing wall color without testing it in the room. The room had 4 large west facing windows. At sunset the yellow-orange glow streaming through the windows changed my yellow-green wall paint to a shade that was harsh and unbearable. Repainting isn't that hard to do but it certainly is a time drain so pick wisely.

At $30 per gallon, adding accent color is an inexpensive way to add big impact. Even a quart of color on a small accent wall can be just the lift you need. I'd like to hear from you. Are you a color fanatic or color-phobic? What colors or neutrals do you use most? What's your favorite wall color? Tomorrow is Day 3 and I'll post another tip so check it out and don't forget to comment. Until then,

Happy Decorating!

~Alisa

Powder Room Power - Our Design Board

Happy New Year Everyone! What a great year this is going to be! I am really excited about the new projects we will get accomplished, the tricks and tips we will learn, and most importantly the inspiration that will be shared in "blog-land". To kick of our first project of 2009, I wanted to feature a Powder Room "re-do". That's my term for reworking a space that is tired and outdated. About three years ago we bought the house we currently live in. The ONLY room in the house that the previous owner had decorated was the Powder Room. Go figure! Every other room still looked like the turn-key finish of the builder - creamy beige walls, white glossy trim, sandy white carpeting - but the Powder Room was not so neutral. Dark eggplant walls, a Paris street scene border and textural tan wallpaper on the lower portion of the wall. Let's take a look:

See what I mean? A little tired. The features that are redeeming are the pedestal sink - always a classic, the hardwood floors- still in excellent shape, and the white fixtures - no crazy decorator colors that would be hard to work with. So, basically this little room just needs a cosmetic makeover! With a little creativity, punches of color that will connect with the rest of the house, and a few thoughtful accessories, we will give this Powder Room panache!

Powder Rooms usually get overlooked in the decorating process. But they are the perfect place to add "over the top" drama! Because Powder Rooms are usually small and used infrequently, you needn't be afraid to go a little "wild" here. Bright or bold color will not be unlivable. It's also alot of fun to really add an element of surprise to this room. You want your guests to be "wow"ed! As I started to conceptualize the new design, the first thing that I looked for was an inspiration piece. I wanted to create a dramatic focal point on the first wall you see which is the back wall. Well, I found it and I will show you that in a moment. Having the inspiration and color scheme now in mind, I first began to shop for a mirror to replace the awkward square frame with the round center mirror. I wanted something chunky - a statement piece. I knew we were going to go with an "antique bronze" or "antique gold" finish.
Here's just a peek at the frame of the mirror that was chosen.



I also knew I wanted to get rid of the towel holder. The silver with white accent was too "cottage-y" for the new scheme. We will replace this with something more dramatic
and save this to recycle later.


Lighting was our next concern. This fixture was in good shape but the wrong style,
finish and size for the space. In the recycle bin it will go!

Below is a possibility for the new lighting fixture. It has an antique bronzey-gold finish and the size and span of the arms will work nicely in the space above the new mirror. This fixture is from Lowe's Home Improvement and is currently on mark-down.
Hey, I'm all for saving money!

Since we were changing the mirror and lighting we needed to change out the hardware on the toilet. The white tank and bowl are in great condition and will stay but the flush lever will be changed out.

The one we selected was the rubbed bronze lever shown below. Another find at our local Lowe's store. It is just a little darker than our light fixture and works well with our design scheme.

Next up, the faucet. The one below will be replaced. The shiny chrome just isn't what is needed. This is by far our greatest expense in the re-do. Faucets can get very pricey but if you shop on-line, check vintage hardware stores and do your research, you sometimes can score a real bargain. Unfortunately, after exhausting several sources, I could not find what I wanted, so back to Lowe's I go to find the right faucet for the Powder Room.

Here is the one we selected. As you see the rubbed bronze finish ties in with the new hardware on the toilet. The line of the curved faucet neck and the handles play off the line and curve of the light fixture that has been selected.

Next we turned our attention to the walls. Remember me telling you that I found my inspiration? Well, from that inspiration I came up with a Red and Chocolate Brown color scheme. Red, gold, black, brown and cream are used throughout the formal spaces of the house and the Powder Room is in close proximity to those areas and the Entry Hall.

Seen here are the two paints that will be used.

Both of these colors are from the Eddie Bauer Home collection of paints.

The red is called GRENADINE (EB38-3) and the brown is called CANOE (EB46-1).

The red will be painted over the current eggplant walls and the brown will be used on a new decorative molding that will be installed. Now for the inspiration piece - go on, take a look below.

I LOVE this border! What punches of color and pattern! A very strong and dramatic statement in a very small space. Most of the time I stay away from using wallpaper and borders because I hate having to strip them when it's time to "re-do" a room. However, in small spaces like a Powder Room, I'm game! The border features a cheetah, lion and zebra - Oh my!

The plan is to replace the existing border and reposition the new border slightly. A decorative molding will be added below the border and painted brown. The wall above the border will be painted red and the wall below the molding will be left as is - wallpapered in the textural tan paper currently used. It's a perfect match to the tones in the body of the lion and the texture adds interest and depth to the wall.

Lastly, we will add layers of color, pattern and texture with hand towels in red, cream and cheetah print. Wicker baskets will give us some needed storage

for extra bathroom tissue, soap and lotions.

I think I'm gonna love the finished result. It's British Colombian meets the Ritz Carlton.

Taping off the space and painting will begin this weekend. It will take a day or two to treat the walls, then another day to change out the hardware, lighting fixture, faucet and to accessorize the space. I'll post the finished product as soon as possible!

I hope you have enjoyed reviewing my "design board". It's always fun to pull the pieces together and work the decor puzzle. Starting with the border helped me to define my color pallet and theme for the room. Once that was established, the rest was easy.

Tomorrow I will share a post about decorating with mirrors. I hope you will join me.

For more inspiration go on over to http://southernhospitality-rhoda.blogspot.com/ and check out a Powder Room makeover that Rhoda completed for a client!

Happy Decorating!

~ Alisa