6 Home Decorating Tips For the DIYer in You

While 2020 décor trends have been all about creating an office space at home, 2021 looks to be moving toward two big concepts. Minimalism continues, but so does essentialism. Rather than going all white, strive to create a home where the big pieces have multiple functions.

1) Decorate with Potted Plants

Since we need to continue to shelter in place for at least a short time, potted plants work as living sources of variety and color.

In addition to adding fresh oxygen and beauty, choose plants that will define the space. Hang a big Boston fern and add a hammock chair under it to create a reading or study nook. Strive to develop small areas inside and outside your home where people can get a break from one another and ambient noise.

2) Boost Storage Options

The wide variety of living room storage chests can turn your search for the ideal piece of furniture, into an entertaining treasure hunt; you just need to know where to look for the elements that will make your spaces unique and stylish.

If your home is small, or if you need to carve an office out of a closet, these cabinets can make a world of difference. There’s nothing that says you can’t store linens in the living room or even keep out-of-season clothes in one of these fun chests. Best of all, the top can be used as a display shelf, sideboard, or buffet.

3) Brighten Your Home on a Budget

If you want some new art on the wall, treat yourself to a shadow box or glass on a glass frame, then use it to swap out art created by each child. Suggest a color scheme if that’s important, or recommend a particular image. Encourage a wide variety of mediums; sponge painting, crayon, and colored pencil works will work in this frame.

Best of all, these frames are easy to take apart and re-fill, so freshly flattened artwork can be easily stacked in a trunk or drawer to save for future use. Swap out the piece, tighten down the glass, and hang it back up until the next burst of creativity.

4) Treat Yourself to New Fabrics

If your home has sheers or blinds but little color, pick up a simple café curtain rod and treat yourself to a pack of multicolored bandanas. If you have sewing skills, fold a corner of the bandana over the rod and stitch a leftover button on the flap until the rod is fluffy with bright color.

If that’s too much fabric for your taste, fold the bandanas diagonally, so they’re a long triangle. Lay them over the rod sequentially, so there are just a few inches of color visible before the next layer starts.

For those who prefer a monochromatic look, the same can be done with cotton dinner napkins to significant effect.

5) Make a Floor Cloth

Pick up a canvas drop cloth from a hardware store and some plastic sheeting. Layout the canvas on top of the plastic and roll it flat. Extra wall paint can work well for this. Let it air dry.

Now, get creative. Lay silk flowers and leaves on the canvas and spray paint them in various colors for some shadow. Take a long bristled brush and thin water-based paint in contrasting choices and spatter the canvas on a nice day when you can work outside. Drizzle paint in splotches and blurbs for a different look. Let it dry and seal it with a polyurethane product appropriate for wood floors in a clear semi-gloss or matte finish.

6) Add a Little Insulation

If you’ve got a spot in your home that’s always chilly, treat yourself to a large scarf or mandala fabric that makes you smile. Get a DIY fleece blanket kit from a fabric store and use one section of it as a throw. Take the other section and staple it to a 1×2 piece of pine.

Hang the pine from the wall in the draftiest space, or mount it above a chilly window. Pin the fabric you love to the fleece and enjoy a warm, cozy wall-hanging that you can reuse just by pulling a couple of pins.

A small burst of color in any room can brighten your day. Improving your storage options makes everything in life a little easier. Do your best to improve your living situation with new decorative items, and enjoy the fruits of your labor!

About The Author: Stephanie Caroline Snyder graduated from The University of Florida in 2018; she majored in Communications with a minor in mass media. Currently, she is an Author and a Freelance Internet Writer, and a Blogger. She was born and raised in Panama City, Florida, where her family still lives. The oldest of four children moved out to Utah to pursue her professional interests in early 2019 and worked on content creation, blogging, and internet articles since then.  She enjoys storytelling, painting, dancing, and swimming with her fiancé Marcus and their beloved dog Pluto. She is currently engaged to be married in Spring 2021 and is determined to finish writing her first book by 2023. When looking for Furniture in Lawton Ok , Stephanie recommends Darby Furniture.

Photo by Element5 Digital from Pexels