I need decorating help

[Liesje]

I woke up and decided to redecorate my room. The catch: I have nasty wood panelling. I rent so painting is not an option because 1) it's probably not allowed and 2) it's too much work for a house that's not mine. I just inherited a bunch of cool antique pieces from my grandparents that I'd like to use. I have lots of fabrics from Africa that I can hang on the walls, but I don't want it to look too cheap or tacky. The floor is ugly too, but it will be less of an issue because I'd like to get some nice area rugs.

This is my room now:
http://www.calvin.edu/~lar3/room4.JPG

I like the bright colors and PopMart stuff, but I need to pack it all up eventually anyway, I'm in the process of selling most of my stuff, and I'm just plain bored so I figured I could practice redecorating as a fun project.

Any ideas on how to hide, or work with the panelling?

 

[Angela Harlem]

perhaps get rid of all the posters and things on your walls. they make a room look enclosed. brighten the room with white. hang white fabric or canvas panels on the walls to cover the wood and make the room appear brighter and bigger. then remove the pictures from the shelves and so on and use limited complimentary colours you really like - whatever they may be.

less is more.

 

[Lila64]

do you want to hide the panelling or cover it up with art or what? You could do some sort of hanging fabrics in front of the walls/panelling you want covered, no? Or those room divider screen type things

Do you have any idea of how you want it to look, or a color or item that inspires you?


<<<Watches HGTV regularly but still has no decorating talent

If you need to get rid of any posters... I'd be happy to take them off your hands

 

[neutral]

You could "wallpaper" that fabric to the wall pretty easily, I think starch would still work on the wood panelling. I read this site for decorating ideas sometimes, you might like it:

http://www.rentaldecorating.com/walldecorating.htm


Or make some huge wall hangings from nice images you like and cover a wall with it. It might be cool to make a big print of that One logo that you've posted for making t-shirts.
http://homokaasu.org/rasterbator/

I am completely addicted to that site, I'm making an enormous Atari set right now.


And get one of those antique pieces in there to replace the plastic crates.

 

[Lila64]

I want a personal home decorator
Berkus - paging Nate Berkus

 

[anitram]

Consider changing your bed linen, if you can. People often don't realize just what a focal piece that is in a bedroom - it's one of the first things people actually notice, sometimes before the colours on the wall even. That can really set the mood for what kind of room you want to have.

 

[Liesje]

Consider changing your bed linen, if you can. People often don't realize just what a focal piece that is in a bedroom - it's one of the first things people actually notice, sometimes before the colours on the wall even. That can really set the mood for what kind of room you want to have.

I did that tonight and it does really help! It's not quite where I want it to be yet; I didn't have enough money for a new comforter or duvet cover, so I'm using a duvet cover a friend left behind, but it's better than the big stars and colorful stripes.

We went to the Meijer outlet store and I scored big time. For $124 I got four candles (one is huge, it looks like a blue vase), two 4"x6" frames, one larger frame for three pics, a 4'x6' beige wool woven rug, a set of two extra pillowcases (I have 5 pillows on my bed), and a new set of 400 thread count linens (they only had full and I have a queen so I'm giving the fitted sheet to my mom, the rest fits). It's starting to come together nicely.

I'm not going to treat the panelling since it's too much money and work (I'm moving out in 4 months). I'm hanging some photos in black frames with white matting. The simplicity and contrast help distract your eyes from the wood grain on the panelling. I also hung my favorite kanga from Tanzania (a big patterned fabric with a saying in Kiswahili) and also a simple antique table cloth one of my great-relatives made.

I'll post some pics when it's more done and you guys can let me know what you think.

 

[Lila64]

can't wait to see

 

[mdw3935]

<<<Watches HGTV regularly but still has no decorating talent

sounds like me.

Since you rent you really can't go with painting which would be the cheapest and fastest way to change a room. I seem to repaint my house all the time. I usually repaint rooms every couple of years or so. I get bored easy with wall color. It drives my husband nuts, and that is a fun thing to do.

Can't wait to see how it looks.

 

[neutral]

It drives my husband nuts, and that is a fun thing to do.

Sounds nice Liv, can't wait to see it. Redecorating...

 

[JanuaryStar]

I hope your room looks great!!

 

[JCOSTER]

Heres an idea,

Move your bed to under the window.
Since you said you have fabrics from Africa, you can incorporate the wood paneling.
With the bed under the window I would take some of the fabrics and hang them on or over a rod on each side of the window so it looks like long curtains and then you can even tie them back if you want too. I would also get like cheap bamboo shades for the window. You can also toss just some fabric over the compforter and toss the pillow on the bed. Then just rearrange some of the other pieces.

You can always throw an animal print area rug on the floor.

 

[redkat]

alldecorating.htm[/url]

Or make some huge wall hangings from nice images you like and cover a wall with it. It might be cool to make a big print of that One logo that you've posted for making t-shirts.
http://homokaasu.org/rasterbator/

I am completely addicted to that site, I'm making an enormous Atari set right now.

I'm moving soon and I'll want to do this. What seems to work best. It says lots of contrast in the pic. Browsing through some look sooo much better or more like "art" than others.

Any other tips?

Also, are you just printing with your home printer on regular paper?

I was searching through for U2 images and I haven't found any yet. Did find an In n Out burger though

 

[neutral]

I'm moving soon and I'll want to do this. What seems to work best. It says lots of contrast in the pic. Browsing through some look sooo much better or more like "art" than others.

Any other tips?

Also, are you just printing with your home printer on regular paper?

I print on my home printer (a Canon i900D) and on glossy photo paper. That stuff is not cheap but it makes a BIG difference in the quality of the final output, especially if you're doing color. I was going to get Kinko's to print out the Atari things to save ink, but I called and it's $2 page to get color printing on glossy paper.

I like to load my image into Photoshop first and at least adjust brightness/contrast to up the contrast. Also I think the images look a lot better with the margins trimmed, some people like the "grid" look the borders leave though.

 

[SunBloc]

Go with the earthy, ethnic colors if you can't paint. I like the idea of centering the bed under the window. Hang objects/fabric on the walls rather than posters.

I say all this & MAN, do I ever need to work on my own place!!!

 

[Liesje]

*bumps*

Update: I redecorated my old room. Then I went to Florida. Then while I was in Florida, my roomies decided to move. Now I've redecorated my new room. I like my new room better because: the walls are white (not nasty panelling), the wood floors are gorgeous old school style (not that fake looking pergo stuff), it's not in a basement, and it's a bit smaller My old room was so big it was hard to make it look right.

Anyway, this is what I've done. Please let me know what you all think because I'll do something like this again after we get married.

I should say, many of these things are antiques given to me recently by my grandma (the white dresser, fruit boxes and crates, white chair, and shelf thing). The ugly dark dresser was supposed to go in the closet but it doesn't fit. The bed looks funny because I sold mine, so I'm sleeping on an air mattress set on top of a box spring and mattress belonging to the future owner of my room. The two large fabrics and the dresser runner I bought in Africa, the third (above bed) is an old table cloth made by my great-gran. The photos are all either cheetahs or scenes from Africa (some I took, others from friends). Anyway, I hope it doesn't look too cluttered. Everything means something to me.

 

[Cleasai]

Very nice improvement Livluv

 

[Cleasai]

For those who want to add graphics on their walls check out http://www.whatisblik.com The look is a lot cleaner and professional than anything you print out of your printer.

 

[Bono's Betty]

Very nice. It looks very classy and cozy. Very nice job. Framed pictures look much nicer than posters.

 

[Lila64]

I like it

 

[neutral]

Wow it looks great, and much much better walls/floor than the old room. Nice.

 

[Spanisheyes74]

your room looks so cozy! good job!

 

[SunBloc]

Holy moly, LivLuv! You did good! Does not even look like the same room..

 

[Liesje]

Holy moly, LivLuv! You did good! Does not even look like the same room..

Hehe, it's not, I moved. I like it WAY better.

The only thing I'd do different is not put the bed in the corner. I'll have to change that once Phil and I move in together for good, but it works fine for just me getting in and out. I don't have a desk for my laptop, so I sit on my bed to use the computer and watch TV, so I like to lean against the wall sitting cross-wise (like under that big picture) and turn the TV towards me. I don't sit on the armchair because it's not mine (belongs to the new tennant, I just thought it looked OK there) and it's too far from the TV to hear with all my fans going.

My closet didn't have a door (dunno), that's why I hung that curtain.

The only bad thing about this room is that our house, while being really cute and sturdy, is very old, so the walls are like actual plaster, not drywall. I tried to hang my small frames with Command strips, but since it's like 100 degrees in there all day, they basically melted off (so much for holding 2 kg). I finally broke down and put in nails, but you have to do it perfectly or the wall literally crumbles and there's a 1-inch hole where a tiny nail was.

 

[Cleasai]

If you have to have the bed in a coner angle it out so it's diagonally across the room as opposed to being lined against one wall. Doing that will make the room feel less boxed in.

 

[Eliv8]

http://www.fengshuiweb.co.uk/advice/bedroom.htm

 

[Liesje]

http://www.fengshuiweb.co.uk/advice/bedroom.htm

Wierd!

Lies' Bedroom Decorating Advice

- Arrange large furniture based on availablity and accessibilty of power outlets, co-ax, and ethernet jacks (if applicable)

- Put the bed where it fits and where it allows for straight-on TV viewage

- Put the rug where it fits

- Cover the nasty white blinds with a curtain, or something, anything

- Accessorize!

 

[neutral]

For those who want to add graphics on their walls check out http://www.whatisblik.com The look is a lot cleaner and professional than anything you print out of your printer.

Do you have any of these and if so what do you think of them? I've been eyeing a few sets of them for awhile, just haven't been able to decide I guess. Kinda wanting the Eames crosspatch ones.

 

[Cleasai]

I do not have any myself but I have seen them in action as it were. Basically it looks a bit like a vinyl cling... something you see in store windows. I have a rough plaster technique on my walls so I'm not exactly sure how it'll do on an uneven surface like that. I should get the cheapest one on there and test it out.