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If you've thought about moving to another house, think again. Consider improving the house you have with enhancements that make it a special place for you and your family. With today's high quality materials and tools, even first-time do-it-yourselfers can make their house a showplace. Here are some good ideas:
Paneling Wainscoting
If you'd like to transform a room from ordinary to extraordinary, add wainscoting which is wooden paneling that covers the lower third of a wall. The rich look of wood enhances any decor and you can decorate the wall above it with paint or wallpaper. It's easy to do especially with 1/4 inch pre-finished panels which have the look of traditional paneling. Purchase enough eight-foot long sheets of paneling to cover the walls with 30-inch wide sections.
Remove the baseboard molding and attach the panels to the wall with construction adhesive. To finish off the top edge of the panels, use chair rail molding.
Change a Chair
For a quick decorating facelift that adds pizzazz to the dining room reupholster the chairs with a colorful splash of fabric. This do-it-yourself reupholster project works best on straight back chairs with a hardwood seat covered with padding and fabric. To find out how much fabric and padding you'll need remove the old materials and measure them. Buy a little extra just to be on the safe side.
Glue the padding to the seat and secure the fabric with a staple gun. Smooth the fabric on the front of the seat so that it is centered and there's an equal amount that hangs over the sides. Turn over the seat so the face of the fabric is on the work surface. Working around the seat, pull the fabric up and hold it in place on the backside of the seat with one hand. With the other hand drive heavy duty staples into the backside of the seat.
Use a Granite Spray Paint
If you have a home office or kid's room with a dull computer desk, here's how to transform it with a high tech, high style look. Spray on a stone-textured faux granite finish and don't stop with the desk, coordinate a hodgepodge of accessories to match
it. Sand all surfaces smooth, remove the dust and then spray on the multi-hued base coat and allow it to dry. Next spray on the clear acrylic topcoat for protection.
Add a Mini-blind
A mini-blind is one of the most versatile window treatments because it compliments any decor while controlling light and ventilation. Mounted outside the window frame, it's a stand alone treatment. Mounted inside the frame it can be teamed with a window topper, valance or full panels of draperies.
Use a steel tape for accurate measurements and record these dimensions to the nearest 1/8 inch. If you're doing more than one window, measure each individually.
To mount a mini-blind outside the window frame decide where you want the brackets and measure the distance between them. Next, measure the distance from the top of the blind to the window sill, which is the length.
Border Magic
Short of time but want to revitalize a ho-hum room? Call attention to doors and windows by outlining them with pre-pasted wallpaper borders or a new peel and stick border for an almost instant decorating trick.
Pre-pasted border paper is ready to hang after it is soaked in water to activate the paste; the peel and stick goes up on the spot. Measure the distance around the room and allow a little extra for matching patterns.
For a professional looking job, make 45-degree miter cuts at corners that reach around windows and doors. Overlap the ends of two border strips and make a diagonal cut with a straight edge and razor knife through both pieces. Peel away the excess by lifting and removing the trim under the overlap. Then press the two mitered pieces back in place.
Crown Molding Upgrade
To add formal elegance to a room with crown molding, use a molding system that takes the worry out of making miter cuts with all-in-one inside/outside pre-mitered corner pieces. Each piece of molding has pre-drilled holes for alignment dowels to assure
precise alignment and perfect pattern match end to end.
To add crown molding to a room, measure each wall, round up the measurement to the next foot then total the walls. Then count the inside corners to determine the number of pre-mitered sections to order.
Install the pre-mitered corner pieces first then the sections between the corners. Fill all joints or cracks with adhesive filler and wipe smooth with a damp sponge. When dry, it's ready to paint.