If youre looking for a great way to enhance the dcor of your home and highlight certain features, consider decorative molding. Decorative molding can add style and character to your walls, ceilings, and floors. Best of all, it give the room a finished and attractive look. If youre looking for different places in your home to use decorative molding, here are some suggestions.

Use Decorative Molding around the Ceiling
One of the most common areas where decorative molding is used is around the ceiling. The ever popular decorative crown molding gives a sophisticated and polished look to the ceiling and walls. You hang the molding right where the wall meets the ceiling. What it does is add a small decorative touch to an otherwise boring area of the room. You should be able to find this type of molding in a range of sizes, anywhere from 3 to 12 in width.

Use Decorative Molding along the Floor
The flooring space is another common place where decorative molding is used. Just as with the ceiling molding, you place it where the floor meets the wall. What this basically does is finish the wall into the floor, giving the room a polished look. Commonly called baseboard, this type of molding is both decorative and functional, as it protects the walls from those scratches and scrapes made by furniture and other objects.

Use Decorative Molding along a Wall
Another way to use decorative molding is to create what is known as a chair rail. This is a section of molding that is added all around the length of the room at a height thats usually slightly lower than the middle of the wall. People will often then place wainscoting or paint the lower half of the wall. A chair rail is a great way to add some style and interest to a wall without going overboard.

Use Decorative Molding around a Window
Installing decorative molding around a window works to highlight that area and really plays up the beauty of the light coming through. This is also a terrific way to seal any gaps between the window and the wall, preventing air from escaping or entering the house. Most likely you will need to find a sill for the bottom part of the window that matches the rest of the molding.

Use Decorative Molding around a Door
Decorative molding also works great around doors. For those rooms where youve already installed molding on the windows, try to find matching molding for the door. Just like with the windows, the molding will cover any gaps between the door and wall, hiding any blemishes and adding style and appeal to the room as well.

Decorative molding can be used in your home in all these ways and more. Keep in mind, though, that if you use a certain type of molding one place in the room, use that same type of molding elsewhere. You can really pull together a room by using molding with the same color, width, or design, creating a cohesive look for your home.

About the Writer…
Leon Tuberman has been part of the home furnishings and interior decorating business for four decades. He is the owner and manager of popular furniture store in California. They carry a large selection of American made solid wood furniture for your home office, dining room and bedroom. Whether you’re looking for an oak bookshelf for your study area or a solid oak bed for your master bedroomthen they have everything you need.

One of the most popular ways to decorate a home is with artwork, but most people believe it has to be expensive to look good. This is not the case, as inexpensive art can result in a wonderfully decorated room. If you are on a budget and dont have much money to spend, then here are some great ways to add some interest and character to your home with some inexpensive artwork.

Find Free Artwork around the House
Look around your home. You are bound to find all sorts of free artwork that you can easily frame, which will make a beautiful addition to any room. You might find items such as hanging illustrated calendars, postcards, greeting cards, and perhaps even a decorative flag. You can even add something special to some of these pieces to make them look more professional: simply matte them with matting board in the frame.

Look to Nature for Art Pieces
A shadow box or even a matted frame can be used to frame quite a few different things from nature. You can create a great collage out of pressed flowers and leaves for a frame. Other items from nature such as sea shells, seeds, pinecones, branches, and flowers can all be used as pieces of art. It may take a little creativity on your part to come up with a collage of these items, but it is well worth it, for youll end up with artwork that fits your style perfectly.

Take Your Own Photographs for Your Artwork
If you have your own camera or can borrow one from a friend to take your own pictures, then the possibilities are endless for creating art for your home. Anything can become the subject for a photograph, from flowers and trees to houses and the sky. Use a photo editing website to insert your own creative touch. You might even develop the pictures in black and white or sepia. Have the photographs developed in the proper size, regardless of whether you enlarge them or print them in normal size.

A creative way to display them is to buy matching frames in different sizes and arrange the photographs on an empty wall. You you can also collect the photographs into a book and place it as a center piece on end tables or wood coffee tables. You might also enlist the help of a friend to take photos, especially if youre not that creative. Or you can go the traditional route and take pictures of your family to hang on the walls.

With a little creativity, you should be able to come up with any type of artwork for your home to match your budget. Everyday objects can always easily be turned into pieces of art. If you have books with pictures in them, see if theres a picture you can frame and display that fits the style of your room. Items like fabric swatches, buttons, magazine clippings, and other small things you run across can be used to make a collage for a shadowbox or frame. If you take the time to look around your home and use what you have, you will discover many possibilities for inexpensive artwork.

If you’re living in an apartment, chances are that you’re living in the city. If your home is an apartment and you find yourself longing for the warm and cozy atmosphere of a country home, you can certainly have it! You don’t have to give up a welcoming and comfortable atmosphere just because you live in a city, whether big or small. When you walk in the door, you want to feel as though you’ve been transported to the country, where wildflowers are rampant and fresh air flows through every fiber of your being. If you’re currently living in a blank, expressionless apartment, here are some tips on how to turn that space into a real home.

Start with the Furniture

Decorating in country style is going to require a lot of wood. In fact, the more wood you include, the better. Find a sofa, wood dining table, and other large pieces of furniture that are made of knotty pine or other natural looking woods. Find these furnishings doesn’t necessarily have to cost you a fortune, as you can often find used furnishings at flea markets or online.

Another great complement to this look is wood end tables. Lace doilies or checked pattern cloths can then be casually draped over the tables. Then you have a place to display candles in jars scented like cinnamon, vanilla, or apple pie for a country appeal.

Decorate the Walls for Added Interest and Depth

When your walls are bare, they tend to look very stark and blank, lending a cold atmosphere to the room. Rural or black-and-white prints framed in wood are a great way to warm up your walls. Or create a great focal point for the room by hanging a country-style quilt alone on a large wall.

Don’t Forget the Kitchen!

If your apartment kitchen has room for a table, then continue your country theme with a natural or knotty pine one. Top the table off with a checkered or lace cloth for a continuous country feel. Antique-looking bar stools at the counter are another great option if there just any room for a table. You can also enhance the country atmosphere with wildflower arrangements, wooden bowls and spoons, and even some country candles. A wooden spice rack on the countertop or a wicker centerpiece on the table make nice country touches as well.

Add Accessories and Accents You Love

When decorating your apartment in country style, the primary thing you want to remember is to use plenty of natural, exposed, or antique-looking wood and simply patterned cloths for table decoration. When choosing accessories and accents, go with items you truly love, as this will help add a little of your unique personality into the mix. Other items that will add a country flair to your décor include country-style candles, natural flowers, quilts, wicker, and bookcases filled with old or leather-bound books.

Apartments often feel totally uninviting, appearing more or less to be the same. Make your living space your own by warming it up. You will love coming home to a style you adore after a hard day’s work. When it comes to comfort, coziness, and a truly welcoming feeling, country décor is like no other. Create a décor in your apartment that you will love coming home to!

There is a rich and relaxed appeal to Western themed décor. Whether you live in the middle of a big city or a rural area, you can easily alter the feel of your living room. If your house is currently adorned in neutral tones, you can bring it to life by simply adding accessories to compliment the neutral tones. The tips offered in this article will give your home a western flair that will rival the old west. Using the ideas in this article will give you the means to add a touch of western style to your home that will rival the old west.

The authenticity of this style of décor comes from the use of desert hues combined with ample amounts of leather and wood.   Add depth, warmth and appeal to a neutral room by using rich, rustic colors.

Add Southwestern Color
The tones regularly found in this decorating style include cactus green, rust orange, adobe red and yellow shades inspired by the sun. Add depth and warmth to the room by painting the walls in a muted orange or deep yellow shade if the furniture in the room is neutral. Vibrance can be added to the room with throw pillows, accent rugs, ceramic pottery and other accessories. The room can be easily brought to life by using ceramic pottery, accent rugs, and throw pillows.   Tapestries can also be used in wall hangings and throw pillows as well.

Terra Cotta and Ceramics Add a Western Influence
Adding plenty of terra cotta and ceramics will enrich the look. Terra cotta should be considered for tiles on walls, floors or counter tops. An ideal fit for this type of décor is boldly colored ceramic pots filled with cactus and other greenery. Containers adorned in a southwestern pattern are a wonderful addition just as well.

Fabrics Add an Artistic Flair
Western décor has lots of appeal and some of it comes from the lavishly textured patterns that fit into this style. Hand-woven fabrics edged in fringe are grand additions to the room. Create a focal point for the room by hanging a large tapestry decorated with desert scenes on a wall. A burst of color can be added by using textured and colorful throw over a neutral sofa.

The use of natural elements is excellent for the western home. The combination of stone, wood, leather and metal comes together in order to create a comfortable, warm and eye-catching atmosphere. A brown leather sofa or love seat would be a great investment if you have the money to buy one. The western feel can be added to with the inclusion of tables constructed with rough woods. Furniture with a distressed look is just right; wrought iron adds style to the room as well.

If you are interested in adding a bit of the southwestern style to your room, turquoise accents will lend Native American appeal. Southwestern inspired throw rugs and throw pillows should be considered for sofas containing shades of turquoise.

Remember that the look of the Wild West draws from ceramics, natural textures and materials and colors inspired by the desert. If you have too much furniture that is opposite the western style and cannot afford to completely refurnish the area, consider neutral toned slip covers. Most slipcovers that are sold these days are fitted to offer a neat, clean appearance. Keep your home decorated in the spirit of the west!

About the Writer…
Leon Tuberman has been in the furniture and interior decorating industry for four decades. He owns and operates a popular furniture store in California. They have a huge inventory of handcrafted Amish built solid wood furniture for your bedroom, home office and living room. Whether you’re looking for a coffee table or an end table for your family room then they have everything you need.

Interior painting is something that many homeowners dread even though it can easily liven up a home and give it a fresh face. If you have any knowledge of what to do and how to do it efficiently, painting you home’s interior of your home won’t be too bad. Here are some basic tips and pieces of advice for your next home project involving interior decorating.

1. One day of prepping and painting an area isn’t enough. Doing this will make you feel rushed, which can lead to you doing a bad paint job. A day to prep the area for painting should be set aside. You can even do this a few days before painting id the room doesn’t see too much use. You day of preparation should include moving furniture, laying down drop clothes, taping the walls and gathering all necessary supplies in the room.

2. Damaged walls shouldn’t be painted over. Make sure to look over the room’s walls and fix any crack or holes there may be before you try to paint the room. Drywall kits and sanding will easily fix cracks and holes. So that there will be time to sand the area down and time for the drywall plaster to dry, make sure that you do it all a day before you paint.

3. Be sure to use the right brush for the right job. Go with natural bristles on your brush if you are using an oil-based paint. If the paint is water based or latex be sure to buy synthetic bristled brushes, as they will work best with this type of paint. Foam rollers will be necessary for larger painting areas. Paint around the trim and windows with smaller brushes.

4. If the professional look is what you are going for on your walls you will definitely need to use a primer before painting. Your paint will go on much smoother and you will avoid tainting the color with a previous wall color by using a primer. If your base coat color and primer color are tinted to match you may be able to avoid a second coat of base color on the walls.

5.Painter’s blue tape is best for making sure that you don’t get paint on areas such as doorway frames, trim and windows. If you don’t want paint to go in a certain area apply this tape to the surface of the area. If you don’t want paint to seep into an area be sure to apply this tape to the surface of the area. When the paint has dried, simply remove the tape from the area and don’t worry at all about any paint coming with it.

6. Mistakes may happen, and because of that make sure to have plenty of old rags around. It is highly likely that you might drop paint on the trip or that your brush may touch something it wasn’t supposed to.

7. If you want an even coat you have to make sure to paint in even strokes. You’ll need plenty of light to see when you are painting and to see spots you may have missed.

8. Future fixes and touch-ups should be done with any leftover paint you have. Left over paint should be kept for future touch-ups or fixes. Pour your left over paint in a tight lidded glass jar if you don’t want to keep a large paint can around for such a small amount of paint. The date, the room the paint was used in and its exact color should all be labeled on the jar.

You don’t have to be scared of painting the interior of your home. You will soon be on your way to changing your room’s décor if you simple follow these easy tips.

Avo Barsoumian has been in the home flooring and interior design industry for over 25 years. He is the owner of Carpet Wagon, a family owned carpet installation company in Southern California. They have a huge selection of elegant hardwood flooring, beautiful laminate flooring and plush carpeting. Searching for that perfect carpet estimate for your new home or 

It can be easy to get carried away when decorating your childs bathroom. But you do need to be sure that the room is functional as well as fun. It doesnt take a huge remodeling project to create a bathroom thats a perfect fit for a kid. Often, all thats needed in a great decorating plan that makes sense. Here are some great tips for you to keep in mind when you go to decorate a kids bathroom.

Get Your Kid Involved in the Decorating
The more you give your child a say in decorating a room, the more likely it is that he or she will use that room and keep it clean. When it comes to choosing colors and a scheme for the bathroom, consider your childs opinion (if he or she is old enough). See if your child would be interested in helping you paint or making art projects to hang on the walls. They will be much more enthusiastic about the bathroom if they are involved in any aspect of the decorating.

Always Remember Safety First When Decorating
You want to keep your kids safety in mind at all times when decorating the bathroom. After all, its really easy to get caught up in the project, only to later realize that something you did is a safety hazard. This is particularly important for younger kids and toddlers. If there are younger children in the home, remember to add things like a non-slip tub mat and safety latch for the toilet. Its also a good idea to add safety locks to the cabinets to keep medications out of the reach of little hands.

Be Sure to Add Plenty of Storage and Organization Space
Be sure that everything in your childs bathroom has a designated place, especially if you want that room to stay clean. By providing your kids with plenty of storage and organization space, you will make it more likely that theyll clean up than if they dont have a place to put their stuff. Organize the cabinets and drawers with smaller bins and baskets so theres a place to keep small items. When coming up with storage and organizational spaces, remember that they can be decorative as well.

Add Style or a Theme with Small Touches
Kids grow up fast, and thus you might consider decorating the room neutrally, keeping the walls and the flooring plain, and then using smaller dcor items to add a stylish flair. Then these smaller items, such as wallpaper borders and shower curtains, can easily be changed in the future. You might add style with other decor items such as towels, baskets, and artwork.

Get Creative with the Decorating
Remember that this is a kids bathroomnot your dining room or living room. Therefore, you can get creativeeven go a little crazywith the dcor. Dont be afraid to step out of your comfort zone when decorating this room. This is one room that doesnt need to match the style of the rest of the home, especially if only you and your kids are going to go in there.

It can be a lot of fun to decorate a kids bathroom for both parents and their kids. Keep these tips in mind, and you will be well on your way to a great kids bathroom.

About the Writer
Leon Tuberman has four decades of experience in the home furnishings and interior design industry. He owns and operates his family owned furniture store. They offer a huge assortment of solid wood furniture for your living room, home office and dining room that’s built in the Heartland of America. Are you searching for a wooden bookcase or a wood desk for your child’s bedroom then they probably have everything you need.

By any chance, could your home use an update? Perhaps your home is older, or maybe the look is just tired. Nonetheless, it’s possible to make your home look as though it’s been remodeled without spending much money at all. Remember that your home is your castle and you want it to be welcoming, comfortable, and appealing to each and every guest. Here are some super easy tips for giving the interior of your home a much-needed facelift while staying within your budget.

Painting: The Cheapest and Easiest Way to Transform a Room
Although painting isn’t everyone’s favorite chore, you can really create beauty in a room. Paint can liven things up a bit, especially walls that are the average off-white or some other drab color. To really make a statement, paint one or two of the walls a bold or bright color that blends with the overall color scheme. If you have furniture pieces that have seen better days, why not paint them? With a little paint and some stenciling, your old oak coffee tables and end tables will take on an entirely different look.

Take a Good Look at Your Furniture
What state is your furniture in? Perhaps you are tired of things being so congested or just sick of the overall style. Give your room a long, hard look. Could you possibly remove a few pieces that you never use? What this will do is open the room up, giving it a more open and airy feel and appearance.

If it’s not a good time to buy furniture, try using slipcovers instead. These days, you can find a variety of styles that allow you to create entirely new-looking furniture at a much lower cost than buying new. Another option is to repurpose your furniture. Do you have a few of those stray pieces in other rooms that are never used? Why not paint them and reuse them? You might even use them for a place to store games, toys, and other things that often get strewn all over, creating a messy or junky look.

Add Color, and You Add Life
Enough can’t be said about color when it comes to giving the interior of your home new life. Not only does color attract the eye, but it has the ability to create different moods. While bright colors energize, soft colors relax. If you have a monotonous color scheme, consider the addition of exciting color splashes. Throw in some brightly colored and intricately patterned rugs and pillows, and add some attention-grabbing accents to the walls. With splashes of color to break up the boredom, you won’t believe how your room is transformed.

Accessories Make the Difference
As every woman knows, accessories are the “jewelry” of the home. However, it’s important to know how to use them. Too many accessories results in a home that looks cluttered and disorganized. But with too few accessories, you’ll give it a cold, blank, and indifferent tone. Therefore, you need to find a balance.

Large rooms can often use the more personal, intimate look and feel that it gains simply by the addition of more accents. Many accents can be placed together in a grouping on one large wall. If the room is smaller, than just the opposite is true. In this case, use an intricately patterned tapestry or other oversized decoration piece on one wall.

By putting these tips to work, you can totally transform the look of your home. And don’t forget the added bonus that everyone loves—it’s not going to cost you a bundle to create those wonderful spaces!

Do you want your home to look beautiful and stylish but don’t have the budget to hire an interior decorator? In many cases, you’re better off doing it yourself anyway, because then you’ll be sure that your natural style preferences and personality shine through. If you want to know the “do’s and don’ts” of decorating, read on to learn the things you need to keep in mind when decorating your own home.

Good Bets for Success
When decorating, you want to make the most of your home. Therefore, consider your home’s architectural design and location in your planning. The goal is to incorporate your own unique style and personality into the décor while highlighted the architectural assets of the house itself. This way, you can achieve the perfect balance, thereby lessening the need to redecorate on a frequent basis.

Start by using a signature piece to decorate every room. Go with any piece you prefer—modern, abstract, or elegant—and then decorate around it. For instance, if you choose a signature piece of wall art, you can begin to incorporate colors, textures, and design for the rest of the furnishings to complete the look.

Combine Various Design Elements
Do you want your home to be unique and appealing? By blending various design elements, you can accomplish a look that’s totally yours. Combine wood pieces with bold patterns such as stripes, plaids, and florals, and you can really add some interest and depth to the room. Although a wood floor is dazzling on its own, when you throw a couple of boldly hued geometric-patterned rugs down, your floor will come to life. The same goes for solid-colored sofas and other furnishings, where you can add some zip with boldly colored throw pillows and throws with varied patterns.

The scale of the room should also be considered. Keep your furnishings to a similar size and shape. When you repeatedly use shapes, fabrics, and colors, you help bring the design of the room together, making it look as though it was professionally decorated.

A Few Things to Avoid
When decorating your home, there are a few key mistakes to avoid. It’s important that you don’t end up letting a friend or relative telling you how to decorate. Listen to their suggestions, of course, but remember that this is your home. The goal is always for you and your family to feel comfortable and pleased with the décor and design.

It’s also a common practice to place all the furnishings against the wall, spreading everything out in an effort to give the room a more spacious appearance. This can be a mistake! Instead, try arranging your furniture in an intimate grouping away from the walls. By grouping your dining chairs, wood dining tables, and sofa around a large area rug, you give the room a more personal and welcoming look and feel.

Don’t Try to Display Everything You Own
Typically, people will pick up an assortment of collectibles over the years. In fact, you may have an attic, basement, or closet packed with all your favorite accents and accessories. However, when it comes time to decorate a room, you don’t want to try to use them all. What will result is a room with a messy and cluttered look.

Why not put some of these items aside for later use? Then by periodically switching out old collectibles and decorating items, you can keep the room looking fresh. When you use less, each piece displayed takes on a greater significance as well.

Keep these tips in mind the next time you’re looking to update or refresh your home. This way your do-it-yourself décor job will yield professional results.

Ask any interior designer to name the first element to consider when finishing a room, and the answer will likely be flooring. Builders agree, it sets the mood.

Many more professionals these days are bypassing tile and carpeting, and going with wood. There are so many options to choose from: solid hardwood, engineered wood, and reclaimed antique wood all available in a variety of styles. Despite all the options, making the right choice for your tastes and circumstances is easier than it appears. Following are some important factors to consider, as well as advice from the experts.

Which Wood-Flooring Type Should You Choose?
Solid Hardwood: Many shy away from solid hardwood because it expands and contracts and sometimes creaks. But its natural beauty adds value to your home. Even better, it can be re-sanded and refinished, so it retains its value.

Engineered Wood Floors: They construct these floors at the factory, gluing together thin sheets of wood and refinishing them. This results in a more stable product than solid wood, because it resists buckling and warping. Engineered wood floors were developed to be glued over concrete, but they can also be nailed or floated, whereas solid wood can only be nailed to a subfloor.

Reclaimed Antique Wood: This flooring option is custom made one plank at a time according to the customer’s specifications. This flooring type is especially stable, because it can cut from the center section of a beam.

Finished vs. Unfinished
If you go with solid hardwood flooring, it’s available finished or unfinished. This is really helpful if you’re trying to match an adjacent floor. Then you can go with an unfinished option and stain it to blend. By finishing the floor on site, you will insure a more uniform color and finish. Remember, however, that an unfinished wood floor may take several days to install, stain, and finish.

Whether solid or engineered, finished wood is factory sanded, stained and finished, so it’s easier and faster to install, not to mention much less messy because there’s no on-site sanding or finishing. If you’re installing flooring in a high-traffic area, finished wood is the way to go because it’s so durable. Another plus is that it’s less expensive than unfinished wood.

Important Things to Consider
More and more people are installing radiant heating in their homes, where the heat source is under the floor. If this is your heating system, then engineered wood would be a better choice than solid hardwood because of its durability. The National Wood Flooring Association backs up this claim, recommending quarter-sawn or rift-sawn wood in this circumstance, again because of durability. The NWFA claims that strip flooring is preferable over plank flooring, because when there are changes in temperature and humidity, narrow boards expand and contract less than wide ones.

For those homeowners who live at the beach, Stoddard again recommends an engineered wood, because it’s scratch-resistant and therefore less likely to be damaged by sand tracked in from the beach, and it also requires less maintenance. For cottages, summer homes, below-grade installations, and any other interior that’s not environmentally controlled, engineered hardwood flooring is a clear choice.

Some Simple Design Tips
When personalizing a room, understated detail is important. One nice option is to use a lighter wood overall and then add a dark border. Another great idea is to drop in a maple medallion that looks like an area rug.

It’s become more and more popular to mix woods from room to room. Dark woods, like walnut and cherry, work well in cozy rooms such as a den or bedroom, but it’s best to choose a lighter, brighter wood, such as maple or birch, for the kitchen.

Darker wood is a better fit for homes that are formal, traditional, or historic, whereas country, casual, and contemporary homes are better suited to lighter woods. Be sure to choose flooring that will complement all your fabrics, furnishings, and accessories.

Current Trends in Wood Flooring
The latest trends in flooring include hand-scraped wood and “exotics” from far-off lands. Woods such as Brazilian cherry, Santos mahogany, and Amendoim have delightful grains and colors. All are available both in solid hardwood or engineered wood.

Owners of historic homes on the Eastern seaboard are increasingly going for the old look and simplicity of woods such as Old Groove Eastern White Pine. For owners of historic homes on the Eastern seaboard, woods such as Old Groove Eastern White Pine are prized for their old look and simplicity. Likewise, dark woods have definitely become the “in” thing, with walnut being the most preferable option.

DIY and Maintaining Your Wood Floor
Almost 30 percent of homeowners install wood flooring themselves. If you’re handy with a nail gun and saw, then you can do it. Many resources are available to help you with this project, including instruction books and information online.

Once your floor is installed, you’ll be pleased to discover that wood flooring is extremely low maintenance. A regular schedule of sweeping and vacuuming is all you really need, a chore that will be made much easier if you keep a step-off mat at every doorway to collect any incoming dirt. Clean up any standing water immediately; it should never be left on a wood floor. It’s advisable to keep an extra box of wood in case you need to replace a strip.

Fortunately, natural hardwoods survive many household mishaps much better than laminates and synthetics, since the grain and pattern of solid hardwoods go all the way through. Scuffs and burns that would be permanent in a synthetic surface can be repaired with relative ease.

If you want to update your kitchen to give it a modern new look, it can end up costing you a fortune. Anything like counter tops, cabinetry, and flooring tend to be very expensive. Yet it’s updates like these that add the most value to your home. How about giving your kitchen a facelift and completely transforming the look without spending an exorbitant amount of money?

It’s common for families to spend a good deal of time in the kitchen and dining areas. You want a kitchen that’s as warm and appealing as possible without spending a lot of money to do it. Here are several easy ways to refresh your kitchen’s décor while sticking to your budget.

Refresh Your Cabinets
Depending on your budget, you may not be able to afford to buy all new cabinets. Instead, make them look brand-new yourself. One option is to paint them an entirely different color. Or you might sand them down a bit and stain them a different shade. Top it with a protective coat of polyurethane for cabinets with a sparkling shiny new look. All you need is some new hardware, and your cabinets will have an altogether different look.

Add an Island
Adding an island to your kitchen will dramatically change the appearance of things—if you have the floor space, of course. An island can add some much-needed counter space to your kitchen and can also serve to break up the room. If you want to hang a wrought-iron pot rack overhead, this is the perfect place.

Freshen Up Your Appliances
If you try to buy all new appliances, you’re really going to put a strain on your bank account. If you feel that your stove, refrigerator and/or dishwasher are looking a bit outdated, they can be painted as well. They make a special type of appliance paint that can be used for this purpose. If rust spots are starting to develop on any appliance, there is a special product that stops the rusting process that you can purchase as well. Just be sure to apply the rust solution before you paint your appliances.

Perk Up the Walls
Anything is possible when it comes to your walls. You can paint them, add wallpaper, or install paneling. Not only are bright energizing colors like orange, peach, and green perfect for the kitchen, but they lend a real botanical feel to things. You might also hang pictures that include fruit, flowers, herbs, and other natural elements onto any large wall spaces. By transforming your walls, you can really bring a dull kitchen to life.

Don’t Forget the Floor
If you’re not happy with the flooring you have, this can be updated as well. It’s a little known fact that you can actually paint old linoleum. To help the new paint adhere, start by lightly sanding the surface of the linoleum. Once you’ve thoroughly cleaned it, the next step is to apply an oil-based primer. Once dry, the floor will be ready to paint.

You can create your own design on your floor. Use stencil patterns or even paint a “rug” on the floor. This is a great way to use your imagination! Apply about three layers of paint and then wait for them to thoroughly dry. Finish things off by applying three coats of durable polyurethane to protect your new floor and make it shine.

If you want a beautiful new kitchen but need to stay on budget, follow these few easy tips. Although you can spend tens of thousands of dollars completely remodeling a kitchen, you can keep it to just a few hundred by doing it yourself.

About the Author..
Leon Tuberman has been in the furniture and interior decorating industry for four decades. He owns and operates his family owned furniture store. They have a large inventory of handcrafted Amish built solid oak furniture for your bedroom, dining room and living room. Are you searching for a dining chair for your kitchen or night stands for your dorm then they probably have everything you need.