Slipcovers Make Decorating Easy

!±8± Slipcovers Make Decorating Easy

If you've spent several hundred dollars for a matching set of furniture for your living room (otherwise known as a suite, and consisting of two chairs and a couch), the last thing you want is for one of those three items to become stained by drink, food, or pet accidents.

The logical thing to do is put slipcovers on them.

Slipcovers of the past - made from plastic or vinyl - are definitely in the past! These days, slipcovers come in a vast variety of designs and colors, as well as fabrics, so that you are sure to find something you like. So, you'll be able to protect your suite with these slipcovers, maintaining that matching upholstery look, while the overall design of the furniture matches as well.

What kind of slipcovers should you get?

Well, that depends entirely on how much use your living room suite will have to bear. If you have a lot of visitors who use the living room, or kids that spend a lot of time jumping up from the chair or couch, you'll want a sturdier fabric than if the room is used in a sedate manner.

Fabrics

Fitted slipcovers come in a vast array of fabrics. Cotton, denim, damask and leather are only a few of the choices. Visit your local home furnishing stores to see and feel these fabrics in person, but if you don't see anything you like don't hesitate to surf the web to see what's available.

Colors and Patterns

Slipcovers are so popular that there are a great many colors and patterns available. So much so that it's highly doubtful that you won't be able to find something you like. Again, if you don't see anything you like in your local stores (and you should always support your local stores if possible) then surf the web, as you're sure to find something.

Color and pattern are important considerations, of course, as you want them to blend in with the decor in your living room.

Why slipcovers

You may be asking yourself why, if you just purchased a brand new suite because you liked the pattern and color of the fabric, you should cover it up. Well, you might be able to get that fabric in a slipcover as well, so you'll just be putting an extra layer on those pieces of furniture!

It's not necessary to put your slipcovers on your new suite and leave them there. Slipcovers are made to be removable, after all. Use them only at certain times - when you're having a party, for example, and take them off when done. In that way you'll protect your new furniture and keep it safe for a long time to come.

Slipcovers Make Decorating Easy

Frigidaire Dishwasher Purchase Electric Grills Indoor Sale Off Best Reviews Of Whole House Surge Suppressors

Decorating Your Home With a Designer Look

!±8± Decorating Your Home With a Designer Look

When you have settled on the color scheme and designs of your home, the next step is to look at your samples in their intended surroundings. This is particularly important because you may find that when you see the shades and patterns in your room's natural light, they look completely different. Making changes to your selection could involve nothing more than a minor adjustment, swapping one pattern for another perhaps, or you may find you have to re-think the entire color scheme.

If you feel that the patterns work well together but the colors just don't gel, consider another color scheme from the same design. Alternatively, if you love the colors but feel the designs don't do anything for each other after all, look at other product lines from the same manufacturer. Often a designer or manufacturer works with the same palette of colors for several collections and one of them may well provide you with the ideal combination of color and design.

Mixing and Matching

Although some designers believe that you should never mix more than four different designs in one plan, you can use a larger selection if they are totally compatible. To get the best mix, aim to include one large-scale pattern with one or two smaller patterns that are related in color and style: geometric designs such as stripes, checks or trellis, stars or spots are a good choice of smaller pattern.

If the main pattern is a traditional floral, blend it with an all-over leaf design or a sprig pattern. If it is a bold oriental print, a small paisley or French country pattern works as a more subtle contrast.

The opportunities for using different patterns side by side are enormous. In a living room, for example, a wing chair covered in a checked fabric contrasts well with a floral sofa, while matching curtains could be lined with a toning sprig or stripe. The wainscoting region offers scope for teaming one or two complementary wallpaper designs with a decorative border. Cushions, armcovers, and tiebacks open up further scope for building the complexity of the coordinated plan.

Sometimes, you can add pattern in less obvious ways to give an individual look. One method favored by some designers is to repeat a design motif throughout the scheme. For example, a trellis wallpaper could be echoed in a textured fabric with a diamond weave and again in the sculptured texture of a rug. Used sparingly, this device can make a room seem perfectly integrated. Repeating the motif in a stenciled border, using a reversible jacquard fabric, or hanging printed, sheer curtains at the window reinforces the look.

The art of mixing and matching lies in knowing when to stop. Avoid becoming a slave to coordination at all costs. Once you have set up the pattern and color linkages, you can start including some of your own accessories and decorations, not identical to the other designs but carefully chosen to go well with the rest of the plan.

In the Bedroom

If any one room is an ideal testing ground for coordinating designs, it must be the bedroom. Ready-made curtains and matching bed linen proliferate in every possible color and style. Then if you want to carry your chosen pattern further, some designs also offer wallpapers, borders, and fabrics by the yard or meter for making your own accessories.

When you choose bedroom coordinates from a design that includes fabric, the scope for originality increases enormously. You can make a focal point of the bed by covering a padded headboard, or create bed drapes for a canopy, half-tester, or coronet. On a less ambitious scale, you can make a customized window treatment with valance or pelmet, tiebacks or blinds to go with the curtains, or pile cushions on the bed or chair.

Decorating Your Home With a Designer Look

Dial Soap Printable Coupons 2011 Guide