Freshen up your decorations by moving them around!

You can redecorate for FREE! How? Instead of purchasing new items, you may just need to move things around a bit. I always get inspired by magazines and blogs. It makes me look at my current arrangements in a different way. I basically have a few rules I use when decorating.

-Have a common thread of an accent color. Use it throughout your room/house. It can be slightly different shades, but keep it to one color. Mine is red.

-You should try and paint your entire house (kids rooms excluded) with a common color family so it flows. It lends a cohesive look that isn't choppy. I use golds and gold-greens throughout my house. It makes it easy to buy accessories that can moved from room to room.

-Layer your accessories. Making sure accessories touch makes everything flow. It makes your eye move from one object to the other. A smaller picture placed in front of a larger picture or mirror is wonderful. See how I used a smaller family picture placed in front of the larger picture on the mantle.


The round face on the scale balances the round clock face.
The rectangle on the frame balances the rectangle shape of the lantern.

-Use common shapes to balance your design. Using round shapes with square/rectangle shapes. Use tall with short. Check out my mantle for instance. There are taller objects on the ends. There are also round and rectangle on each side of the mantle. It all leads to a balance that pleases the eye.

-Use books in your design. Every room looks cozy with a pile of old books. You can use them under shorter objects to raise them to the level you need. You can tie them with twine. Think about displaying them with the pages out (instead of the spine out).



old baseballs from my kids childhood are displayed in a party punch
dispenser that mimics a preserve jar. An old metal lunchbox is a nice complement.

-Hunt around your house for unusual objects. For instance, I used baseballs from my kids childhood in a party punch dispenser that looks like an old fashioned preserve jar. I found a cool old metal lunchbox at an antique store that lends a nostalgic air to the entire vignette. Dig around in the closets, garage and garden.

The urn is from the garden outside. Its grey color
looked beautiful with the base of the topiary.
When I put all my accessories together on a table,
I saw the possible union.

-Metal objects blend well with wood and glass objects.

-Don't leave clear glass jars or containers empty. It makes your design look cold. Fill it with whatever you have a lot of. Use your imagination. On my hutch I used some old spools of thread, baseballs and some metal childhood toys.



-Keep your collections together. Don't spread a collection throughout different rooms of your house. It gives more of an impact if they are all together. You also don't have to display your entire collection at one time. Put a few pieces together and later bring out some different ones. People will enjoy seeing your different pieces at different times.

-Keep a space somewhere on the wall that doesn't have anything. It gives your eye a place to rest. You don't have to cover every area of the wall with a knick-knack or picture.

-"Light to walk toward". Give the room a lamp or some other light source at the end of it that draws you through the room to the light source. It is an amazing concept and works to finish off any design.

-Remove accessories you are tired of or have been around for a long time. You don't have to keep everything forever or because cousin Mary gave it to you. Believe me, she doesn't even remember she gave it to you. You can always sell them or give them to your local charity.

-If you are stumped and don't know where to begin, remove all the accessories from the rooms in your house and put them in one place. Look at the shapes, sizes and colors. Now start to place them in one area you want to decorate (like a mantle). Don't be afraid to remove objects or move them around. Don't over-accessories. Easy does it. You will see your objects in a new way and appreciate them more in their new place. Continue to decorate in different areas of your home. You may not use up all your accessories. That's OK.