Make your house sparkle

AGENCIES

These decorating tips will help spruce up your home with the minimum efforts. Work through each room so that the house is left with a warm afterglow.

Kitchen: Paint the walls in bright, fresh colour and change handles on the units. Another trick is to re-do the backsplash with tile mural, mosaic tiles, stainless steel or clear panel.

Living room: One classy

reform is to install an electric fireplace, and paint its frame white with gold highlights for a classy look. Tile the frame area around the fire for a farm-house or Victorian look. You can also hang a mirror or framed prints to extend the focal point upward.

Study: Measure the area to

fill with shelving — floor-to-

ceiling, left-to-right. You can

also purchase inexpensive

flat-pack shelving that fills the space if stacked together. Be sure to trim off any excess from

the legs to get a perfect fit. Bolt the units together, and to the wall, for safety.

Bedroom: Fill the wall space above the bed, dressers, dressing tables and night tables with

mirrors, framed prints, framed quilt pieces or wall-mounted candle-holders.

Bathroom: Freshen it up by applying a fresh layer of

grout between scrubbed tiles. Install mosaic-design waterproof panels around the shower or bath. Tile paint can make old, patterned tiles sparkling mono-colour tiles in a few hours.

Dining room: Wallpaper one wall of the room, and use a

wallpaper mural to transport your dining room to another place or time. You can also hang a country pattern and then shelves to show off country-

objects. Install lighting that highlights that wall, and balance the look with a large piece of

furniture or a painting on the

opposite wall.

Children’s room: Paint an area of the wall with chalkboard paint, with a band around the room at child-level. Use stencils to paint alphabet and numbers along the board or band. Affix stickers to animate the board or ban. Remember to provide lots of coloured chalk, too.