Debbie Travis' Decorating Solutions More Than 65 Paint and Plaster Finishes for Every Room in Your Home

Introduction Just as the windows are the eyes of a house, the walls, floors, and ceilings are the soul. You don't need much to make them beautiful. Decorating is an ongoing process. Each time you change your address, or even if you stay in the same place, the process of adapting your home to suit your changing moods and needs is constant, because, in truth, no room is perfect. It's either too big or too small, too modern for your taste or too old-fashioned; the ceilings are too low or too high, and the floor is old or unfinished. Unless you have had the luxury of planning and building a new home from the bottom up--and maybe even then too--there will always be things about the design and colors you'll want to change. However, when faced with a new set of walls, many of us are stumped. We look around a new home with large expanses of plain white walls or somebody else's color scheme, or an apartment that hasn't been painted in years, and we simply don't know where to start. I imagine that you, like me, wouldn't try to tackle the whole house or apartment at the same time. That could be overwhelming. Instead, you might have a general plan for the whole house but work on one room at a time. Decide what you like and don't like about the room, what its best features are and where the problems lie. It's important to focus on your living space and recognize the individual parts that make up the whole picture. Take some time to think about your home's different features, the good and the bad, the walls, floors, and ceilings that compose each room. Make a list of what you love about your home--it could be as simple as a pretty window that looks out onto a garden, or an impressive skyline, or interesting architectural details such as carved moldings or trim. Perhaps the floors are new or freshly refinished, or there's a fireplace perfectly situated in the family room. Small rooms or extra space under the stairs can also be special features, just the right size for a cozy study or intimate seating arrangement. Or maybe the kitchen is what sold you on the house, offering modern appliances and a clever layout that translates into less work for you. Now go through your home, mentally or physically, and think about what bothers you the most. It could be as simple as changing the color of the walls, or it may go beyond that. What about the choice of building materials? Floors, doors, kitchens, and bathrooms may be serviceable but built with products like veneer paneling, plywood, and stock cabinetry that are economical but don't suit your tastes. Pointy stucco ceilings are an all-too-common sight in new apartments and houses, and in older homes, and the rough texture of this stucco can be an eyesore. Anything in poor repair exudes an aura of neglect. Cracked walls, peeling paint or wallpaper, waterstained ceilings, wood floors, doors or trim that have split or splintered, and built up layers of dirt are negative features you will want to change. Now that you have a good idea of what you have and what you like, as well as what you'd rather not see, you've reached your starting point in the decorating process. In order to be happy with your surroundings, the solution (short of extensive remodeling) is to accentuate the positive and camouflage or at least diminish the negatives with your decorating choices. Most of us use these two methods when we decorate, as it's not feasible to change everything at once, and if you're renting some things can't be changed at all. The combination works every time. If you have a home, you have walls, and whether they're high or low, they are a canvas to dress up any room. Tall walls imbue a room with the airy, luxurious feeling of open space. If you're fortunate enough to have high ceilings, make the most of a good thing. If you have a small room with ordinary furniture, make the walls an interesting design and that is what people will see. Weathered wallboards and stencilTravis, Debbie is the author of 'Debbie Travis' Decorating Solutions More Than 65 Paint and Plaster Finishes for Every Room in Your Home' with ISBN 9781400052639 and ISBN 1400052637.