Great Ideas for Your Home

Give your home a makeover so it can face 2004 in style Today, home interiors emphasize comfort and reflect personal style. The new interior design has evolved from styles popular in the past. Three basic interior decorating styles are now popular: The style of the Orient has filtered into many American homes. The Asian look is subtle and blends uniquely with Western style. Bamboo night stands and mirror frames enhance Asian theme interiors. Tapestries and framed wall decorations with Chinese calligraphy add an air of Asian magic to a room. Lacquered furnishings suggest a strongly Eastern influence. Try placing a treasure chest with a lacquered lid at the foot of your bed. Try a refined color scheme with your oriental pieces such as shades of gray and green. The French country style, which rarely goes out of fashion, is the antithesis of minimalism. To achieve the look, you need heavy, dark wood and ornately carved furniture that curves in elegant lines. Accessorize with fringed and tasseled pillows in rich, dark colored fabrics such as velvet and chintz. Contrast rough and refined textures by hanging silk fabric curtains on iron curtain rods. The look also embraces painted floors. Modernism, first popular in the 1950s, creates the sleek, almost classical look that is so appealing to city dwellers. Clean lines characterize the style. Modernistic sofas are elegantly square, not boxy. Chairs have "S" curve backs. Buy this furniture upholstered in richly simple fabrics such as brushed velvet and textured cotton of earth tones or retro acid hues. Accentuate the streamlined furniture with mirrors, coffee tables, end tables and other accessories in strong geometric chrome and glass shapes. Whichever style you choose, accentuate it with popular fabrics and materials. Today's interior designers use stainless steel, cork and chrome. Rather then ruffles and frills, simplicity is key. Courser textures and open weaves such as rattan and wicker are popular. Also try woven sisal rugs and twig furniture. Leather, suede and damask lead other fabrics in the current trend.