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Home › Articles › Bedrooms › All Through the House

All Through the House

10 Fabulous, Quick and Easy Ways to Spiff-Up Your Home

By Jackie Rupp

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Do you crave the look of rooms you see in design magazines, but you don't want to spend the time or money on a major renovation? You're in luck! These 10 steps will let you achieve "the look" without the effort.

In the Bedroom...

1. Drape the bed.
Create drama with a bed surrounded by flowing fabric. "Dramatic effects can be easily achieved by adding bed hangings," says interior designer Nadine Nemec, owner of Nemec Design, a design and organizing firm in suburban Philadelphia.

Here's her tips for getting the job done:

  • Position the bed so that it is the focal point.
  • Install simple 1-inch x 2-inch wood blocking to the ceiling to form L shapes at each corner, measuring approximately 14 inches in length on each side.
  • Attach hook Velcro strips (with adhesive backing) the full length on the outside of each piece of wood.
  • Attach ceiling-to-floor-length sheer fabric, machine hemmed and finished, gathered and sewn, 2 1/2 times the fullness at the top, then sew loop Velcro tape to the top and attach to wood blocking on the ceiling.

"The treatment will add height and elegance to a bedroom," Nemec says.

Michele Seaburg of Ferndale, Wash., improvised upon this idea. "In my daughter's bedroom, I moved her antique iron bed into the corner and placed a corner shelf behind for storage," she says. "I then attached a bed crown to the ceiling and added floor-to-ceiling fabric, thus concealing the corner unit and giving the room an extravagant look."

2. Pile on the pillows.
Add a burst of color or define the room using decorative pillows on the bed, chairs and even large ones on a corner floor. The more pillows, the cozier the room feels.

Add drama with a homemade, bed-width bolster. Simply purchase a thin mattress pad the size of your bed. Lay it flat on the bed and roll it from bottom to the top of the bed. Use a flat sheet, in a solid coordinating color one size larger than your bed. Roll the sheet onto the mattress pad roll. Tie at both ends with decorative ribbon. The sheet can be easily removed for washing or switched for a different look.

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