Tag Archives: art

How to Decorate Above Kitchen Cabinets

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One very overlooked place to decorate in your home is just above the kitchen cabinets. Usually between the cupboards and the ceiling is a wonderful opportunity to be artistic. Your first chore would be to install some lighting. You can get lighting bars that are great at creating low lighting.

You can treat this like any shelf. It is a great place to showcase a collection. You can use items that have a particular theme or color. For instance rows of blue glass looks great here. You can also showcase old plates, floral plates or anything that you treasure.

A collection of flower vases or crystal looks nice in this area as does rows of interesting cake pans or candlestick holders. Cake decorations or cookie cutters can also make an intriguing display.

This type of area looks nice if decorated with some unexpected greenery. Try trailing ivy along the window for a beautiful effect. You can as add balls of twine, boxes of grass and charming wicker object.

Do not be afraid to play with color. You can use fresh colors like blue and white or olive and cream to add charm to that space. Keep in mind the appearance of your counter for a great effect. For instance if you have a green and white color scheme line up all of your white and green china with a cream vase with green plants, some ivy, some green glass and some green and white candles.

One way to make this are work is to group objects in different heights. You can line similar objects up all in a row and then play with the odd numbers to arrange objects in different heights. Do not be discouraged if it does not come together the first time. Keep arranging all the objects until they look right to you.

Remember too that although the cluttered look can be tempting it is not always appropriate. Sometimes less is more.

You have a taller ceiling and more space, you want to use items that are larger in scale so that it feels balanced. If you put smaller items in a large space it will just feel cluttered. If you have a smaller area and you try to fit in items that are too large it will feel off balance. However remember too that part of make this work might be using assymettry as well.

Decorating With an Accent Wall

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An accent wall is a great way to transform the look of the room; all it happens to be is one wall in your space that is painted a specific color. You can easily do this yourself
with your chosen accent color paint, a roller and masking tape.
The idea behind the accent wall is that it is markedly more interesting than the other walls in the room. This makes this wall a focal point. Usually the wall is painted a darker, more intense color than the other walls. In fact it is usually the only colored wall in the room. However sometimes it is a wall that is merely darker than others – for instance it might be a dark purple wall in room where the other walls are painted a very light lilac. As it is the first wall to be seen before a room is entered it is also usually nicely decorated with art, mirrors, shelves, moldings or other types of visual interesting touches.

The other purpose of an accent wall is to anchor or define a separate area within a larger space. This can, for example, help define a small area of a room as a reading or sewing area or as an area for watching television or sewing. These types of walls also happen to be near areas of a room that are used a lot. They tend to be near a bed, fireplace, entertainment center or bookcase. Sometimes the accent wall is actually used to frame the television, which is like the contemporary hearth of the home complete with its high definition flickering light. Traditionally accent walls have been used to frame fireplaces with the color of choice being a deep crimson or tomato red. Dark red accented walls go well with touches of black or gold elsewhere in the room as well.

Paint is not the only tool used to make an accent wall. Sometimes they are made of tiles or mirrors. Still the trend in 2011 is to make an accent orange a bright burnt orange.
Other popular colors for accent walls are a burnt crimson, celadon, dark green, olive green and plum.

One nice idea is to reflect the color of the accent wall in other details of your décor. For instance if your accent wall is a bright orange then maybe have orange drapery ties or orange pillows to compliment the look and tie it all together.