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Using fabric to decorate a room is an inexpensive way to add color, pattern and charm. Use fabric to soften a room, add romance, and give a room a finished feel. Fabric can be used in any room style, and on any budget! Follow these great guidelines for using fabric in home decorating without breaking your budget!

1. Inexpensive sources for fabric for decorating a room include using flat sheets from discount stores, quilts and tablecloths from yard sales (or your own linen closet!) or the discount table at any fabric store.

2. If you want to add pattern to a room with fabric, here is a no fail guideline. Use a solid, and stripe, and a small-medium scale pattern. Let each of the three fabrics share at least one color. Finally, distribute the pattern throughout the room following the 60/30/10 rule…Use your primary fabric, (usually the solid) in 60% of the room, the next fabric in 30% of the room, and the last fabric throughout 10% of the room.

3. Heavy pinch pleat draperies are long since passé. Use lighter rod pocket curtains to soften your windows. Twin flat sheets can fit most average windows with nothing more than a rod pocket sewn in! Make sure the curtains draw completely clear of the windows to let the most possible amount of light into the room. Also, consider hanging the curtain rod near the ceiling line instead of right above the window…it adds height and dimension to a room, making it look larger!

4. Simple throw pillows are easy and cheap to make, and can even be changed out with the seasons! Use them to add comfort to any room in your home…even the outdoor ones! Add a simple throw, and any corner of your room becomes a hideaway.

5. Stitch up placemats, tablecloths, and runners to soften the hard furniture in the room. If you don’t sew, you can use iron on hem tape to make your creations. It’s inexpensive, and can be found in the sewing aisle of any discount store, or at your local fabric shop.

6. Use existing fabrics such as pretty quilts and unused sheets to create layered table covers. It adds instant romance to any room! Check out thrift shops and yard sales, or learn to make them on your own. Do a google search and find dozens of sites ready to help you learn to sew and quilt.

7. Use cheap muslin to add natural and romantic statements in a room. Twist and wrap yards of muslin around a curtain rod and let drape to the floor for a wonderful organic window treatment. You can simply tie a knot in the end to finish. If your budget is really pinched, you can use muslin to make your window treatments, then just add borders of your favorite fabric to save on yardage.

Use creative sources for fabric, develop a plan, and add romance, color and style to any room using fabric!

Drapery Decorating from 1920-1939

Victorian decorating is considered one of the most inticate of all the different interior decorating styles that you can choose from. The reason for this is because the colors, fabrics, furniture and decorations are all elaborate and full.

Victorian decorating is based on the period during the 19th century in jolly old England. So, the more authentic you want your Victorian room to be, you can expect that the furnishings and other decorative items can be quite expensive.

You will need to be very creative and crafty if you wish to make the most of this theme. But, it’s possible to makeover a room with a Victorian style, even if you are on a tight budget.

Following is an example of how you can use Victorian decorating to transform the look of your living room:

Step 1 – So that you know the size of the area you have to work with, the first thing you should do before beginning your Victorian decorating is to measure the space of the room.

Step 2 – Use colors such as deep green, red, dark pink, mauve, burgundy, and purple for walls, rugs, upholstery and other accessory colors. These were the most popular colors of the Victorian period.

It’s also a great idea to add crown molding and wallpaper borders around the top of walls. And don’t be afraid to use more than one color when decorating the room.

Step 3 – You can choose rich wooden furnishings such as sofas and chairs when selecting furniture for Victorian decorating. The legs, backs and arms of these furnishings are carved to stand out, while the upholstery is usually velvet, embroidered fabrics, and brocade.

Accompanying these pieces are pillows that are created with similar fabrics, and trimmed with lace, frills, beading, ribbons or bows. The other furnishings in the room for Victorian decorating are various marbletop tables or they could be made of wood such as bamboo.

Step 4 – Decorations that are placed on the tables, such as candleholders, crystal lamps, porcelain figurines, or a vase of dried flowers, should be set on embroidered doilies to add affect.

All paintings are usually in gold or wooden frames. Other exciting Victorian pieces that can be added to the living room are a grandfather clock, porcelain dolls and decorative plates.

Other Victorian decorating accessories that you can add to the room to give it authenticity include paintings of young maidens, children, a portrait of your family, or perhaps of your ancestors.

Step 5 – When Victorian decorating windows, you need to make them elaborate with draperies, swags and braided tiebacks. Popular fabrics for the window are also brocades and velvet.

Step 6 – The floors of the living room can either be hardwood floors or wall-to-wall carpeting. But, no matter which flooring type you choose, it is a good idea to add an area rug that is fashioned in an oriental style to complete the authenticity of the Victorian decorating look.

As you can see, Victorian decorating is very involved and comes with a heavy feel to it. That being the case, make sure you pick a room that can handle this décor. That way, you can enjoy it to its fullest.

Drapery Decorating from 1920-1939