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Decorative Accessories

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How To Use Decorative Accessories To Enhance Your Living Room

Your decorating effort is not totally complete without putting in appropriate decorative accessories. It is like wearing an evening gown without putting on your jewelry that goes with the gown. Finding the right finishing touches for a room is actually a very interesting decorating process. The items you use usually reflect your personality, help you to make your unique statement.

Here are some ideas that may help you in your decorating ideas:

Plants and Flowers

It's amazing what a quick transformation can be made with fresh plants and flowers. You don't need to find something dramatic and expensive. A simple plant potted in a decorative pot set on a coffee table, bookshelf, on top of a cabinet, almost anywhere, adds life and color instantly. Be sure to keep fresh plants shiny and dusted. You might even want to have two plants for each location, one for display, one "on the mend." If a plant gets scraggly or droopy, get rid of it! You might nurse it back to health, but not in your living space! If you just don't have time to tend plants or if your room is dark, find some new artificial plants. These work great for out-of-reach spaces. But be sure to keep them dusted and perky, too.

Expand on a Theme

Everyone has a special interest. Traveling, sports, pets, flowers, children, and even a favorite book or movie can all provide focus for a room and offer ideas for adding finishing touches. By choosing a theme for your room, you'll know what to zero in on and be able to select accessories, art, and colors to expand and enrich the theme.

Deck the Walls

Bare, boring walls get a real lift with a painting, colorful poster, collection of prints, or family photos. When working with art, try to focus on a color scheme or theme. Unify the works with common mat colors, similar colored frames, and size and shape. One large piece can create a focal point in a room, while a small collection of pieces draw the eye for a closer look.

Get Grounded

A hardwood floor looks sleek and smooth, while wall to wall carpet adds softness and unifies large spaces. But an area rug, placed on top of the flooring, can create a special focus, provide a boundary for furniture, and even divide a room into several spaces without walls. Classic oriental rugs can be found to fit almost any decorating scheme and contemporary patterned or color-blocked rugs add color and character to the floor and the room.

Gather Together Some of Your Favorite Things

If you collect anything such as dolls, books, teapots, cameras, or sporting equipment, use the collection as a point of interest. Gather the whole collection into one place or arrange the items around the room. Celadon plates, blue and white porcelain, carved wooden pieces all offer themselves as works of art for a room.

Combine Textures and Feel

Contemporary interiors are often sleek and smooth, while cottage style rooms are usually soft and snuggly. For a really interesting look and a comfortable feeling for a room, combine smooth and rough, shiny and matte, hard and soft in one room. The contrasts will add interest and help to avoid a boring room.

One Piece to Stand Out

Neutral walls and fabrics look clean and neat in a room. But to really draw someone's eye, add a punch of color with lime pillows, orange mats on black and white photos, a hand-painted piece of furniture on the main wall, an animal print ottoman. Just one interesting accessory or piece of furniture will help make the room spectacular.