Build Your D

When it comes to home decorating, it's difficult to know where to begin. Like an artist with a blank canvas, you look at the room you've chosen to decorate and try to envision the finished masterpiece. However, with a plethora of home decorating styles from which to choose, that vision can be fuzzy. You may even feel overwhelmed by the possibilities and paralyzed by the thought that you'll make choices you won't be able to live with. When that's the case, it's time to go back to the drawing board. The first step in home decorating is to define your personal taste and style. Invest your time in looking through magazines and cutting out pictures of home decorating styles, furniture, and accessories that appeal to you. Once you have a collection of several dozen pictures, lay them out in front of you. You'll begin to notice a pattern of the style that appeals to you. Are you attracted to the dark wood of antique furniture, or to the minimalist lines of modern furniture? Do you imagine yourself surrounded by the muted colors and furniture that remind you of a beach house, or by rich colors and the ornate elegance of the Victorian era? Once you've defined your personal taste and home decorating style, choose a room in your home to redecorate. Although you may want to tackle every room in your house, choosing only one will keep you from becoming overwhelmed. Once you've selected a room, it's time to choose the one item upon which you'll build the remainder of the design. This may be a single piece of furniture that already own and love, an antique reproduction that you treasure, or something as simple as a handcrafted piece that you purchased while on vacation. The item you choose may not be the centerpiece of the finished room, but it will serve as your inspiration for the room's d