Moving & Decorating

Moving In and Decorating

Here’s How to Approach Decorating Projects:

• Before you move, if you know you will be redecorating, talk with painters, carpenters and craftspeople to get ballpark estimates so that you can budget and prioritize your projects appropriately.
• Look for ways to freshen the windows, walls and floors of your new home before investing a lot of time or money — particularly if you’re not ready to make a long-term decorating commitment.
• Be prepared to change window treatments that won’t fit the dimensions or color scheme of your new home. If the fabric or color is part of an overall room decor, look for ways to adapt your current treatments. Add inexpensive, ready-made sheers in a coordinating color or in crisp white. Shutters, woven shades, or mini-blinds help create new effects. Add tiebacks, decorative trim, or ribbon to complete a new look.
• Change the curtain or drapery hardware for a new image. Wooden rods can be painted and brass and chrome rods add accent.
• Consider the exposure of each window. Those that receive excessive sunlight may require extra coverage.

Try these Tips to Add New Looks to your Walls
There’s nothing like paint for a fast and inexpensive pick-me-up for walls. Paint can be an important bridge and help tie in the colors of your upholstery fabric or a bedspread.

• Paint one wall a different color for a dramatic effect. Or, paint the ceiling and/or molding a color that contrasts with the walls.
• Try texture paint, which resembles a stucco treatment, to add visual and tactile interest to a room. It’s perfect for hiding uneven wall surfaces, hairline cracks and small holes.
• Try “stippling,” a method of applying paint with a sponge in small points to achieve a decorative look. Consider hand stenciling a decorative border, or design a free-spirited wall graphic for a child’s room.
• Instead of painting, apply a wallpaper to add pattern, texture and color to a room.

Floors
Floor treatments have become increasingly important in the realm of decorating. Hard-surfaced floors are popular, while a myriad styles of carpeting make it a choice in almost any room. For a fresh look, add an area rug. Area rugs are stunning against hardwood floors and can give a rich, plush feel when placed over existing carpeting.

Get Advice, and Think Twice
Even if you’ve moved into a home that you think is a decorator’s disaster, don’t dive in right away.

• Don’t be too anxious to make final decorating decisions. Live in your home at least a few weeks to help you make sure furniture will go and what color the walls should be.
• Get recommendation about local craftsmen.
• Contact those craftsmen, but be sure to get references – and call them.