• When choosing from luxury home plans, these interior design decorating tips will help you to solve household issues and improve the overall appearance of your new dream home.

• Starting in your kitchen, avoid using paper light shades or fabric that will harbor cooking odors and grease.  Choosing glass and metal fittings is more practical in the kitchen.

• For a small room, avoid painting it white to make it appear larger.  Rather, go with the architecture of the smaller space and paint it a warm, rich color so it is more cozy and intimate.  Your large rooms can expand with light while your small rooms should wrap around you by using warm color tones.

• When you select locations to hang artwork or photography, figure out if sunlight will directly hit it or if it will be under another direct source of light.  Without lighting it is difficult to appreciate art or photography but indirect lighting is less harmful to framed items.  Avoid hot spotlights when displaying artwork because they can cause overall deterioration and quicker fading of a cherished piece.

• The artwork and photography hung in high traffic areas often gets jostled with all the activity, becoming misaligned and crooked.  To alleviate this problem, use Velcro® circles on the back of the picture.  You can find these Velcro circles at the local hardware store and all you need to do is stick one side of the circle on the picture and the other on the wall, keeping them level.  The next time a basketball bounces down the hall your pictures will stay in place.

• While floral decorations and furnishings create a distinctive look, fresh plants and flowers really bring a room to life.  Try displaying colorful spring blooms in french country house plans, green foliage in colonial house plans, or potted orchids in oriental themed or in contemporary house plans.

• By mixing outdoor and indoor furniture and accessories on a covered patio or porch you can effectively combine the interior and exterior designs.  This will allow your decorating scheme to flow smoothly from the indoor spaces into the seasonal spaces without the two areas appearing disconnected.

• When it comes to window treatments, scarves and swags are a striking accent to curtains.  Layering a printed scarf or swag over coordinating curtains brings the colors of your room together and creates a romantic focal point.  If privacy is not an issue, you can hang scarves and swags alone on a rod or through a sconce for a truly distinctive look.

• If you don’t really like to decorate your windows with draperies, shutters may be a viable alternative.  Classically stylish and uncluttered, shutters are available in a range of choices in depth, style and color. Further, shutters look fabulous in any home style from a traditional house plans to a contemporary house plans.

• Although elegantly arched windows are beautiful, they can be challenging to dress.  A rounded rod or track can be installed to follow the line of the arch and then you hang curtains from the fixed track that will meet in the middle and be gathered on each side.  Alternatively, a rod can be fixed across the window below the semicircular area.  Leave the arched portion bare or fill it with a fixed, shaped shade or a fan-shaped curtain.

• Café curtains are short curtains hung from a rod suspended halfway across a window and are often seen in French cafés. This sort of curtaining is sometimes hung in a double tier and is an ideal treatment for windows that face directly onto a street or open inward because the tier system offers privacy yet minimal light is lost.

• If you have a room that features a natural palette, inexpensive bamboo blinds or canvas Roman shades may be all you need.  Another alternative is leaving the windows bare because natural interiors embrace light.

• Setting up a single wall shelf or a collection of corner shelves offers an appealing opportunity to show off collectibles in an interesting new way.  This is an ideal solution for small ranch house plans with smaller rooms.

• The style and shape of a dining room table impacts the entire look of the room.  Many designers suggest that you purchase a table that mimics the shape of the dining room for clean lines that appeal to the eye.

• Consider the “rule of threes” and apply it to home decorating projects.  Basically, odd numbers of objects when you decorate are more interestingly eye-catching than even numbers of objects.

• Add interest to a room with a colored ceiling.  If the walls are painted and the ceiling remains white, the eye is drawn to the contrasting white ceiling.  You can make the contrast an unexpected color to complement the space and create an element of surprise in the room.

• Having flexible lighting in your living room is essential.  Try to include three different types of light sources including ambient, decorative and task lamps.  Ambient lighting is for general illumination, decorative lighting introduces attractive effects and task lamps are to focus on activities such as reading or sewing.

• You can further emphasize your favorite pictures and accessories by giving them their own special lighting.  Spotlights fitted on top of niches or display boxes and wall lamps that shine down onto paintings increase their decorative impact.

• If you have a small spare room, don’t overcrowd it with a double bed, especially if you need to place one of its sides against a wall.  A single bed and futon frees up floor space and provides more flexibility for sleeping arrangements.

• Feng Shui and other Eastern philosophies have guided builders since ancient times. Today, these principles are becoming increasingly popular in the Western world.  Believers say that when you practice these Eastern philosophies such as Feng Shui, you will start to feel positive effects in your life.

• For a sense of feng shui, don’t place your furniture against the walls to create straight lines with a boxy feel.  Rather, put your furniture at 45-degree angles to the walls along with a rug for a fresh look.

• The principles of feng shui indicate you should choose linens and bedding in solid colors.  If they have patterns, you should avoid angular designs and geometrics that emanate negative energy that can disturb your peaceful rest.

• The techniques of feng shui indicate it is a good idea to keep a bowl or arrangement of fruit on your dining room table to represent continuous sustenance for your family.  Add a mirror on the northwest or west wall of the dining room to “double” the food on your table.

• When you hang wallpaper, place pieces of tape over switches and outlets to minimize exposure to water and paste.  Remember, tape will not protect you if the electricity is still on.

• If you are looking for a color spectrum, consider coastal colors from watery pale aquamarine to dark blue-green because they are refreshing and invigorating.  This color palate has renewing properties and a variety of marine hues are a crisp, clean and popular way to decorate bedrooms and bathrooms in many styles of homes including ranch home plans.

• A cool palette of colors is nurturing, mood enhancing and creates tranquil interiors.  Also, a cool palette blends well with an assortment of furnishings and usually features a variety of green tones, one of nature’s most peaceful and abundant colors.

• Colors that represent prosperity, family, harmony, growth, strength, nutrition, vitality, spring and youth are tan, beige and brown.

• Combine classic blue with sage greens, purply blues and creamy oatmeal hues to create a decorating mix that’s not only historic but refreshingly modern.

• The color of luxury is violet, ranging from pale lilac to saturated purple.  This exotic, magical and regal color scheme creates an atmosphere of richness.  Illuminate the jewel tones with strategically placed lamps and candles in your custom luxury home plan.

• Avoid darkening your hallway with an over abundance of artwork and family photographs. Keep a balance of hanging objects and empty spaces.

• When painting expansive interiors with multiple windows, use light tints.  For example, you can paint a great room a very light blue to create a spacious daily living environment.

• A common mistake made by many homeowners is to push all the pieces of furniture up against the wall.  It is more inviting to create separate conversation areas within a space.

• Incorporate spicy hues ranging from chili red to sari pink to blend organic shapes, well-worn books and objects collected on your travels.  Try coordinating these seasoned colors with your cherished collections for eye-catching appeal.

• If you have a stunning fireplace or gorgeous painting, accent it with lighting and furniture arrangements to draw the eye to this family room feature and create a main focal point.

• Try preserving your memories in a shadow box rather than a photo album for a great three-dimensional approach to your family mementos.

• Mix up different fabrics on upholstered furniture to add a whimsical touch to any room.  Use the “squint” test to see if one pattern stands out a lot more than the others because it is probably better to choose another.

• Avoid canvas paintings in the bathroom because the high humidity often causes the canvas to shrink or warp.

• We all love using a chalkboard for jotting down notes and for kids to draw.  An affordable, easy way to make your own chalkboard is with chalkboard paint.  It looks like regular spray paint but dries to a chalkboard finish so you can write on it and wipe it away.

• Decorate with a dynamic mix, including colorful accessories that recall the middle of the twentieth century such as arrows, big dots and psychedelics.  Adding well-placed dashes of vibrant color gives décor vigor and energy to your contemporary house plans.

• Painting your kitchen cabinets with high gloss paint bounces even more light around making the space appear larger and offers the added benefit of making the cabinets easier to wipe clean.

• To distress wooden furniture, paint it a light color first.  When it dries, rub a candle on areas where natural wear would occur, such as panel edges.  Paint with a deeper color.  When the deeper color dries, rub the waxed areas with steel wool to expose patches of the base coat for an authentic distressed look.

• Having distressed flooring or cabinetry has become a popular trend recently. Artificially antiquing the wood by adding deliberate marks of wear and tear creates a custom look with timeless appeal.

• A paint technique that can transform an ordinary piece of furniture into a treasure is combing.  Apply a base coat and then apply a glaze in a contrasting or complementary color.  While still wet, drag the teeth of a comb over the glaze to reveal the base coat.

• If there are too many parallel hard surfaces in a room, it can be unpleasant to watch a movie, listen to music or even have a conversation.  Add soft surfaces and texture including cozy seating and carpet for a full sound to acoustics so you can enjoy watching movies and listening to music.

• Illuminate your home by decorating with mirrors hung strategically to capture the light of glowing candles, chandeliers and sconces.

• To increase the size of volume in a room, hang floor-to-ceiling mirrors.  This style is perfect when you want a room to look bigger than its actual size especially in cottage house plans.

• Garden furniture is available in a wide variety of materials.  Weigh the pros and cons of each material before making your final selection.  Wicker has a traditional appearance and moderate cost but requires protection from the weather.  Metal is very durable but needs cushions and can be cold to the touch.  Resin is a light, inexpensive material that is easily washed with soap and water.  Weather-resistant hardwood can be left natural for low maintenance and is durable but can be pricey.  Treated softwood and regular hardwood is inexpensive but requires regular staining or painting.

• By following simple decorating tips, your luxury home plans can be an alluring, comfortable place you are proud to share.