Looking for ways to decorate your home that don’t cost a fortune? The Broward County Chapter of the American Red Cross Designers’ Show House may be just the ticket.

Check out these 10 decorating ideas:

1. Door Drama

Your front door looks so 20 years ago, but you don’t want to go through the trouble or expense to install a new one. Sound familiar? Go faux and add some detailing. A.P. Designs of Fort Lauderdale covered the leaded sidelights with custom wooden art from E Coleccion in Wilton Manors. The panels, which feature fluted columns with painted golden globes, is handmade in Mexico of canova wood. They cost $645 each, but you can get the look for less if you’re creative. Faux artist Greg Honner painted the door and surround in what he jokingly calls “Chahogany,” a mixture of cherry and mahogany.

2. Stairwell sizzle

One of the most difficult areas to decorate in a home is the stairway with its soaring ceiling. G. Thomas Catalucci, a designer based in Boca Raton, solved the dilemma with creative use of striped grass cloth. The wallpaper was cut into 31-inch square pieces and applied so it looks like a checkerboard with the squares alternating stripes vertically and horizontally. The result is both subtle and elegant.

More Ideas to use in your home. Page 4E

3. Hanging out

Palm Beach designer Jack Fhillips volunteered to tackle the family room, a space no one wanted to decorate. Notice the large scale of the major pieces — the coffee table from wood reclaimed during the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia, armoire and console table. He selected dark wood to give them even more weight. The sea-blue wall color was matched from the Bahama Imprints fabric that Fhillips designed. But, most of all, notice how the gallery wall diminishes the vast height of the ceiling. Fhillips used a large sailboat to elevate the eye and hung watercolors in a random fashion all the way up to the air conditioning vents. “I wanted my room to appeal to regular people and what I call the Florida lifestyle,” he said.

4. Wizard of drape

Stop complaining about architectural problems. Do something about it. For example, the dining room isn’t what it appears to be. You’d never know it until you pull back the curtain on the right, but the window treatment is an illusion. The window was off center on the wall, creating a design problem. Bernadette Upton of EcoDecor in North Palm Beach created an extended valance and draperies to cover the architectural mishap.

5. Botox for the kitchen

Here’s a lesson for all of you who think you have to spend a lot of money to update your kitchen. This kitchen looks like it was totally redone, but the cabinets, countertops and appliances were already there from the owners’ renovation in the ’80s. Patti Brooks King of Elegant Interiors in Delray Beach transformed the look with paint, faux finishes, a chest, bar stools and a few accessories. She started with the floral fabric that was made into roman shades. Taking colors from the fabric, the small patches of wall above the cabinets were painted with Benjamin Moore Sangria. Brent Miller of Rem-Brent in Coral Springs created the mural, faux finishes and The Coup, a lighthearted painting of flowers with chicken heads. By the way, the dishes that match so perfectly come from Pier 1.

6. High and low

You make think “The Lounge” that cost almost $100,000 to decorate with woven Bergamo fabric wall coverings, hand-painted linen by Nomi Fabrics and design center furniture has nothing to teach someone who shops at discount stores and home centers. But look carefully. Behind that bar made of bird’s-eye maple with black granite top are three glass shelves from The Home Depot. Notice how designer Joseph C. Fava of Fava Design Group in Fort Lauderdale staggered the 48-inch shelves on the wall and used them as extra storage for barware.

7. Lighting the way

The creative four designers from Interiors by Decorating Den: Broward’s Designing Women transformed an ordinary gazebo into a comfortable retreat. They added storage benches inside the perimeter of the gazebo. Using Sunbrella fabric, which resists mold, mildew and sun damage, they covered the pillows and created a tented effect on the ceiling. The light fixture is actually a birdcage that was electrified. Holes were punched into the bottom to defuse the light at night. Another idea? The round outdoor rug by Nourison was embellished with paint to match the pillows.

8. Pretty panels

Typically, cabana-style seating is draped with white fabric on the top and sides for an ethereal look. But the Decorating Den quartet added an inexpensive touch that brings in color and interest. Instead of side panels, they connected 12-inch-square acrylic orange flower patches to add a pop of color. Because you can see through them, they also add a nice frame for the outdoor greenery. Quantities of the Alice partitions are limited, but you can find them through CB2 at 800-606-6252.

9. Wall punch

Who says you have to have a headboard on your bed? Take a tip from designer Joseph Cortes of HomeLife Interiors in West Palm Beach and cover the entire wall behind the bed with vinyl wallpaper printed to look like leather from Koroseal. Cortes says the goal was to create a “monumental headboard” and accent. The wall next to the bed on the left was extended and a soffit with recessed lighting was added to further define the headboard area.

10. Hip to be square

The original floors throughout the show house were wood, but Cortes was going for a sleeker, more contemporary look in the master bedroom. He used removable carpet squares from Interface Flor — ivory in the sleeping area and a circle of cobalt blue in the turret’s seating area. The circle echoes the staircase, and is reflected in the artwork, on the back of the chair and the round coffee table. What’s great about these carpet tiles is they are tacked down on the corners and can be removed without damaging the floor underneath. See them online at interfaceflor.com.

source : www.sun-sentinel.com By Charlyne Varkonyi Schaub

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