Read on to find out how to choose the best picture frame for your home decor.

Whether enclosing a precious work of art or a prized family photograph, a picture frame is a design element not to be overlooked. A carefully chosen frame adds to the aesthetics and overall harmony of a well-decorated room, while a bad frame can ruin the entire effect of the artwork.

Before shopping for frames, visit art galleries and museums in your area to see how different frames are used to enhance photographs and paintings. Browse decorating books and magazines to see framed pictures displayed in homes. Next, consider the type of picture and the style in which the room is decorated to determine what type of frame would best fit.

Above all, the frame must complement the image it holds. When searching for a frame, keep in mind the painting or photo and find a frame that will enhance it. For example, an ornate gold frame looks wonderful with a traditional oil painting, while a natural wood frame suits a painting of a lush forest, and a soft blue frame could be used to accentuate a color from the picture it encloses.

The size and shape of the frame also make an impact on the art. A small picture can have greater presence matted in a larger, elaborate frame. A frame with thick sides can also keep a small painting from going unnoticed, while a large painting is often set off to best effect by a plain, thin frame.

The decorating style and function of the room where the picture will be hung must also be considered when choosing a frame. For a child’s bedroom or playroom, frames in primary colors or those featuring cartoon characters often work best. A spare, modern room calls for sleek contemporary frames. Old-fashioned gold colored frames or beautifully carved wood ones complement a traditional home, while simple, natural wood frames look great in rooms decorated in the country style. Also consider the wall where the painting will hang. A white frame against a white wall can get lost, where a green frame will stand out. If the painting will be hung on busy wallpaper, make sure the frame contrasts with the background.

The frame must fit the artwork for which it is meant. If framing an oil painting on stretcher bars, make sure the frame is deep enough to accommodate the bars. If using a metal frame on a large picture, see that it is strong and will not buckle.

If you are hanging a collection of photos or prints together, use similar frames to visually link them. The frames could be all of the same style, or perhaps different shapes and sizes, but all in the same color. These frames should be simple in order to focus attention on the pictures.

You can find photo frames in most home decorating shops, and many arts and crafts supply stores sell frames for paintings and photos. Professional framing shops naturally have a great selection of frames, and the employees, who have handled hundreds of pictures, can offer expert advice for choosing a frame. Alternatively, check out thrift shops for old pictures in great frames. The picture can always be discarded. You can also buy inexpensive wooden frames and spruce them up with paint.

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How to Decorate Your Interior Without Spending a Cent

In thecurrent world financial situation, money no longer grows on trees! Did it ever?

Money is a lot harder to come by, people are afraid of losing their jobs, worried about their financial future and less likely to be committing to making major changes to their home interiors, but that doesn’t mean we have to sit back and put up with the status quo. We can have fun and change our interiors without having to spend a cent. We just need to get a little creative! Here are some ideas on how you can make your home feel like it has had a makeover without spending a cent.

1. Shift furniture into different rooms, it’s amazing how a change of environment can make a piece of furniture look completely different.

2. Rearrange your artwork on the walls, reposition mirrors - these help change the light in your room and depending on where you place them, can make a room feel larger.

3. Clean your walls. I know this sounds too simple, but over time all the little knocks and bumps leave marks, from experience your existing walls can look like they have just been repainted if you give them a good scrub. I use sugar soap - brilliant stuff.

4. Take down your curtains and give them a vacuum (Hoover - or whatever you call it in your country) Spot clean them, and as for above, they will look much brighter and look as good as new.

5. Have a chat with your neighbor and see if they want to swap any home decor for a few months until you both tire of it again. This could be an area rug, artificial flower arrangement, decorative pots, sculpture, wall hanging, vases, coat stands, foot stools, cushions, basically anything that you are sick of looking at. Instead of storing it in the garage or throwing it away, share it and when it comes time to swap back, you may have created new feelings for it!

6. Some banks, stores and credit card companies offer rewards points or dollars. Have you thought about using those to get a few new decorative items for your home. An easy way to have the feel good factor of something new without having to part with any money.

7. Dig to the back of your linen cupboard and pull out the towels that never get used, bring them to the front and it will feel like you have new towels for your bathroom.

8. The same can be said for bed linen, sheets, duvet covers, pillow slips, cushion covers and bedspreads. We often have more than one but forget about them stuffed down the back of the cupboard, clean out the cupboards and see what you can drag out, mix and match them in your different rooms and you have a new look! Check for throw rugs and cushions that may have been stored away, drag them out give them a dust and find them a new home and store your existing ones back in the cupboard!

9. Look in the garage for things that have been put away. Pack up things in the house that you have had enough of looking at, and swap them over. These could be floor standing lamps, side table lamps, collections of glass figurines, children’s crafts that you just couldn’t part with, and could provide a talking point now they have grown up, a stack of vintage suitcases that you didn’t know what to do with, place a linen cover on top and use them as a side table, similar thing with old hat boxes.

10. Paint the outdoor pots a different color, let’s face it we all have paint lying around in our garage, take it out and give the outside a revamp, perhaps paint the front door a new color, or the letterbox.

11. Make a feature wall from spare wallpaper, if it’s textured you could always paint it to add color, or just paint a wall and make it a feature.

Well those are just a few ideas to get you started. You can take on the challenge and give your home a quick makeover by using some of these ideas, I bet you will start to think of more as you get started. If you do, add them to the comments at the bottom of this post and share them with us.

Have fun!

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Rumah Art Deco dan Modern Minimalis

Agar terlihat serasi dan enak dipandang, menata interior rumah sebaiknya diselaraskan dengan fasad bangunannya. Jika tampak mukanya memakai art deco, penataan interiornya juga tidak lari dari gaya itu. Demikian pula untuk model rumah minimalis, interiornya pun didesain dengan gaya yang senada. Meskipun dalam penerapannya, tidak bulat-bulat memakai kedua gaya itu.

Front View - Desain Rumah Modern Art Deco

Axonometric View - Desain Rumah Minimalis Modern

Untuk interior ruang tamu, penerapan gaya art deco yang banyak memakai ornamen bulat, kotak-kotak, atau bentuk geometris lainnya, cukup dijadikan aksen saja. Misalnya, hanya dipakai untuk lemari TV atau lemari display lainnya.

Sedangkan perabot lainnya, seperti meja dan kursi, dipilih model yang simpel dan finishingnya memakai warna cocoa brown (cokelat gelap). Bila perlu, diberi aksen warna hitam agar terlihat lebih mewah.

Sementara, jika memakai konsep minimalis, karena semuanya dibuat serba minimal, supaya ruang tidak terkesan kosong perlu diberikan sedikit aksen. Misalnya, ada satu meja atau kursi yang desainnya tradisional.

Material aksen lainnya bisa juga dipakai, seperti benda-benda hasil kerajinan seperti patung (statue), sculpture, dan aksesoris lain yang diperoleh ketika berkunjung ke daerah atau hasil melancong ke luar negeri.

Realis-Contemporer Statue belongs to Architectaria

Ruang keluarga, untuk rumah model art deco atau minimalis, akan lebih cocok memakai permainan warna cokelat dan serat-serat kayu.

Selain itu, orang juga banyak yang menyukai kayu nyantoh, karena seratnya lurus-lurus, atau kayu mahoni yang warnanya agak kemerah-merahan. Sementara model-model furniturenya juga dipilih yang simpel, tidak memakai ukir-ukiran maupun profil.

Sementara di bagian kamar tidur, dinding kamar tidur juga disarankan memakai warna-warna cerah minimalis. Kalaupun diberi aksen, biasanya untuk dinding di belakang headboard ranjang. Sementara bila memakai wallpaper, dipilih corak daun-daunan, anyam-anyaman bambu, dan sebagainya.

Model tempat tidurnya juga dibuat sederhana, mirip furniture Jepang. Dibuat pendek dengan dipan lurus memakai kaki. Untuk itu, agar kelihatan mewah, head-board ranjangnya perlu dilapisi dengan bahan yang terbuat dari kulit atau kayu bergelombang.

Finishing kayunya memakai warna gelap cocoa brown atau maple. Bisa juga bahan kulit tersebut dianyam agar mengesankan tradisional. Bahan kulit juga bagus dipakai untuk pelapis kursi yang ditaruh di kamar.

Sedangkan meja dan kursi di ruang makan, juga dipilih yang modelnya simpel. Top table-nya bisa memakai kayu, dapat pula memakai kaca. Dinding ruang makannya diberi ornamen, misalnya batu paras Yogyakarta, dan kaca cermin kotak-kotak (kaca patri).

Kemudian untuk penerangannya memakai lampu gantung berbentuk geometris, bulat, kotak, atau prisma.

Sementara untuk kursi makannya, kebanyakan dengan high backing dan bahan yang dipakai biasanya ‘chenille’ warna coklat, krem atau hitam kulit (ram).

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