Using Fabric in your Home Decorating: Inexpensive Ways to Transform a Room!
By Kathy Wilson
TheBudgetDecorator
Using fabric to decorate a room is an inexpensive way to add color, pattern and charm. Use fabric to soften a room, add romance, and give a room a finished feel. Fabric can be used in any room style, and on any budget! Follow these great guidelines for using fabric in home decorating without breaking your budget!
1.Inexpensive sources for fabric for decorating a room include using flat sheets from discount stores, quilts and tablecloths from yard sales (or your own linen closet!) or the discount table at any fabric store.
2.If you want to add pattern to a room with fabric, here is a no fail guideline. Use a solid, and stripe, and a small-medium scale pattern. Let each of the three fabrics share at least one color. Finally, distribute the pattern throughout the room following the 60/30/10 rule…Use your primary fabric, (usually the solid) in 60% of the room, the next fabric in 30% of the room, and the last fabric throughout 10% of the room.
3.Heavy pinch pleat draperies are long since passé. Use lighter rod pocket curtains to soften your windows. Twin flat sheets can fit most average windows with nothing more than a rod pocket sewn in! Make sure the curtains draw completely clear of the windows to let the most possible amount of light into the room. Also, consider hanging the curtain rod near the ceiling line instead of right above the window…it adds height and dimension to a room, making it look larger!
4.Simple throw pillows are easy and cheap to make, and can even be changed out with the seasons! Use them to add comfort to any room in your home…even the outdoor ones! Add a simple throw, and any corner of your room becomes a hideaway.
5.Stitch up placemats, tablecloths, and runners to soften the hard furniture in the room. If you don’t sew, you can use iron on hem tape to make your creations. It’s inexpensive, and can be found in the sewing aisle of any discount store, or at your local fabric shop.
6.Use existing fabrics such as pretty quilts and unused sheets to create layered table covers. It adds instant romance to any room! Check out thrift shops and yard sales, or learn to make them on your own. Do a google search and find dozens of sites ready to help you learn to sew and quilt.
7.Use cheap muslin to add natural and romantic statements in a room. Twist and wrap yards of muslin around a curtain rod and let drape to the floor for a wonderful organic window treatment. You can simply tie a knot in the end to finish. If your budget is really pinched, you can use muslin to make your window treatments, then just add borders of your favorite fabric to save on yardage.
Use creative sources for fabric, develop a plan, and add romance, color and style to any room using fabric!
Kathy Wilson is an author, columnist, and editor of The Budget Decorator and other popular websites. For hundreds of free budget decorating ideas, visit her at http://www.TheBudgetDecorator.com. Also visit her other website at http://www.Women-on-the-Net.com.
