Welcome

First thigns first... decor styles available on this site: Rustic Decor - Scandinavian Decor - Japanese Style Decor - Decor of Tuscany - French Home Decor - English Decor - Scottish Decor - Tropical Decor - Caribbean Decor - Southern Style Home Decor - African Decor - Asian Decor

Why does anyone bother with a particular style when decorating a room? Why don't people simply throw together any collection of furniture and artwork?

The answer is that we are more able to relax in an environment which is harmonious. When a room's decor elements blend well rather than clash, we feel more at ease. Being able to rest in our homes is very important.

This harmony can be created in a number of ways. You can stick to the decor of a region, a period of history, or to a color theme. When your decor theme is based on a color, you can get away with mixing regions and time periods. The use of very different textures actually helps keep a monochrome room from looking too flat.

If you want more variety in color, it is suggested that you follow a particular region or period's style in order to create the continuity. This is not to say that you ignore color when planning such a room; you wouldn't mix jewel tones with pastels, or black and rusty metals with shiny gilded ones, but you can still include a range of colors in one room.

Your decor theme can also be based on a particular material or set of them, such as stone, wood, and ceramics. Texture can bring a room into a state of equilibrium, even if the period and region is not consistent. For instance, combining silks from many lands with wooden furniture that is rustic rather than planed, or collecting lacquered boxes from around the world and placing them on stone table tops, creates both continuity and contrast.

Some people have an innate sense for how to combine objects, fabrics, and furniture in an aesthetically pleasing way. These folk can play around and break the decor rules, because they know where and when to break them, and they don't over do it to the point of losing the room's clarity. They have artistic licence.

If you don't have this inborn sense of style, use the resources available to "decorate by numbers". People with degrees in art history, design, and interior decor explain in great detail how you can turn a room into a beautifully styled shrine to a particular decor style. Relying on the tried and true decor styles is no shame. They have stood the test of time, and those looks were made popular because they made a great many people comfortable. Anyone can follow formulas to create a home environment that is stylish. With our help, you'll be proud to entertain guests, and happy to come home after a long day of work. Welcome!