SPOTS BEFORE YOUR EYES

No your eyes are not decieving you! There are spots all over these days...Spots...leopard spots.

If you notice the fashion trends and decorator trends reflect each other. One of the still popular, and seemingly always popular prints is leopard. It does not take much to add a little class to what you might aready have. Accessories can change the look of a room with minimal cost. Take a look at some of the ideas.

The warm tones of the leopard prints are always a nice addition to any décor in small amounts, as for accents and little detail trims.

Add a leopard throw or pillow to any neutral sofa and you have instant chic!

Paint a little leopard pattern on the front of a drawer or a tray and you have a unique piece of furniture or accessory. (This was an old chest of drawers from my high school days and an armoire top someone had thrown in the trash.The dummies had sawed off the top of an armoire, but then....one person's trash is another person's treasure!!!) Yes, the new armoire was hand painted by me.

Just for a little fun you might visit Horchow and see how leopard is used on upholstered furniture. Not that most of us could afford a fine piece from Horchow, but we can always dream and DIY. A leopard chair definitely makes a big statement.

My master suite bath. I love leopard! >

Painting spots are very simple and time consuming. All you need is a nice warm tan base coast like Maple Sugar Tan. Let it dry, use your brush and make irregular dots in a dark brown like Burnt Umber. Let it dry, using a smaller brush put smaller irregular dots in a mix of the 2 colors or use a medium tone on top of the dark brown dots. Then I usually do a wash over them to antique and soften the edges.

Change the seats on a chair for a more exotic look. Low cost and big pay off!

Before and After

A LITTLE CATCH UP FOR MY FRIENDS

In August my daughter moved back to her house. I decided that I would move my bedroom downstairs and turn it into a suite for myself.

The house is an old split level and the lower level is always warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. This should definitely be an energy saving for me, since I spend most of my home time in this room. The Chi's will have to wear their coats this winter, as the heat will be set low.

Soon as the last of Amanda's things were out, I painted the walls and ceiling, tore out the old carpet and laid new carpeting. (I want to thank my young friend, Dustin, for helping me carry the carpeting down and getting it rolled out.)

By going with a rubber back carpeting, I was able to cut it to fit myself and saved about $300 on having to have someone install padding and carpeting. It is adhered to the floor with double sided tape, as the last carpeting. The sub floor is cement and always dry, so this works well. It is not very expensive, but it is only me and the Chihuahuas who use the room.

The windows are horizontal and very long and narrow, which was not easy to work around. Because I wanted a more formal room, I chose to hang long drapes. (They were purchased a few years ago on sale at Kmart for $10/ panel.) Unfortunately I had to work around a 3" wide ledge. By using curtain rods which protrude out from the wall about 3" the drapes hang very well.

For 29 years I lived with the same bedroom furniture, so when I moved to the lower level it all stayed upstairs in the "new" guest bedroom. Most of my "new" bedroom furniture is from other areas of the house, altho I bought a chaise, a round end table and decorator screen when I worked at the furniture store...f course, all of the pieces were at or below cost from the clearance area. For my birthday Amanda paid for a new matt and box, which was also a kind of a spiff from the furniture store. As it turned out it cost about 1/3 of the retail.

There is still alot of work to be done, but that will happen as the money is available and after all... decorating is an ongoing process.