"Great Room" Edition
1. Add updated accessories.
Tired of your old furniture, but can't justify or afford to get new? Revive it with new throw pillows, lampshades, art, well-edited home accessories, rug. Stay neutral on big-ticket items. Add pops of color and pattern with accessories. Shop in your own home. What looks tired in one room could look ah-mazing in another!
2. Paint something.
Give the room a new color on the walls, trim, ceiling -- or all three.
Not up to painting a room? Paint a piece of furniture.
Or
glaze a piece of painted furniture to add instant character and age.
3. Add an accent wall with paint or wallpaper.
Like a graphic patterned wallpaper, but don't feel brave enough to cover every wall? Try it on an accent wall. The same goes for bolder or brighter colors. Don't shy away from it, just take it in smaller doses.
4. Window treatments -- add or take away.
Window treatments are the finishing touch to every room. When I say "window treatments," the definition can vary from a simple wood blind to a more elaborate silk panel with tassels and embellishments du jour. Whatever your style or mood, window treatments add warmth, texture and color to any room.
5. Turn everyday objects into objects' d' art.
Have a collection of glass ducks? I don't, but it's the first thing that popped into my mind. Ha! That's not to say that I don't have other collections. Regardless, rather than spreading them out all around the house -- group them together. Showing a collection en masse makes a bigger design statement. Group those glass ducks on a silver tray and display them on your coffee table or bookshelf. What are you waiting for?
6. Rearrange the furniture in the room.
Tired of the way your room looks? Move furniture around. It seems that whenever my sister (also an interior designer) comes to visit, we are moving furniture from one room to the next. It's what we do and it's fun. I may be tired of a chair in one room, but it looks totally different in another. Best of all? It didn't cost a thing. Oh, except maybe a sore back.
Do you call the room where your family gathers most comfortably and casually a "great room" or a "family room" or something else? Just wondering….
Let me know!
Positively yours,
Paula Chamblin Aulino
Associate ASID
Note: Interior shots courtesy of Houzz.
