From My Desktop

I absolutely love fabric. As a long time sewer, quilter and fabricholic, I am the neighborhood "go to" person when anyone needs a quick costume or a splash of color in their home for a special occasion. I've worked many years in the fabric area of a large well-known home decorating/furniture store. That is where I got my name, "The Home Dec Lady" From this experience, I know first-hand the anguish people suffer when they must choose fabrics for their home decorating schemes. This was the inspiration for my Creative Workshop exercise this month.

Even if you have never been in a fabric store in your life, and never intend to sew a thing, take the time to do this exercise. The findings may surprise you and bring another part of yourself out into the light of day. Who knows, you may even enjoy the experience and find a new shopping haunt to hang out in!

Your friendly neighborhood (even if you are halfway around the world) Home Dec Lady,
Gloria

The Creative Workshop:
The Wonderful World of Fabric

For our creative exercise this month we will focus on the fabrics you have in your home. You will be discovering if you really chose them, or did they choose you? If you are keeping a home dec journal, get it out and take notes as you go through these exercises. You can do this with just one room, or if you'd like, take the time to go through the entire home.

Check out your living room sofa. What type of fabric is it upholstered in? Is it leather? Did you buy it because your spouse loved it? Did you like the feel? Did you like the smell? Do you hate sitting on it because it's sticky in the heat and stiff in the cold? If it's covered in fabric, does it feel soft and smooth? Maybe it's hard and knobby. Did you buy it because you loved it or because you didn't want to wait six weeks to have it covered in the fabric of your choice? Do you really like the color or pattern?

Run through this exercise with all the fabrics in your living room. Rugs, draperies, pillows and tablecloths. Feel the fabrics. What do you like? What do you dislike? If you could go back and make other choices, what would they be?

Now visit a fabric store or the home dec area of a large furniture store. Walk around the area looking at and feeling the fabrics. Are you a tactile person? This is someone who cannot buy something without feeling it. It has to feel right and good before you buy it. That is the type of person that I am. I have a really hard time in museums that display sculptures with 'Don't Touch" signs on them. Perhaps you are a perceiving person. You are attracted to colors and patterns. You aren't as fussy about feel as you are involved in how something looks. You will always choose looks over feel.The third type of fabric shopper (and don't laugh at this because it is true!), is attracted or distracted by how the fabric smells. You are ruled by your olfactory (nose) sense. This type of person would probably never willingly walk into a leather store.

Do you like fabrics with a nap (they feel different and are a different color when you run your hand up or down the length of the fabric), such a velvets and corduroys? Maybe you prefer nubby textures such as tweeds and basket weaves. Do silks and chiffons send shivers up your spine? Do you find yourself constantly choosing prints over solids or vice versa? Are you consistently drawn to the same color family? Are you fussy about the way fabrics hang? Do you find yourself walking away from fabrics that have an odor such as leathers and suedes? Some fabrics have a slight odor from processing solutions. Do you get a whiff of these and walk away?

As you roam the aisles, take notes of your preferences, likes and dislikes. See what patterns develop. You may find that even though you choose sturdy fabrics such as denim and duck because you have several small children, you really are a closet romantic.

Maybe your home is cluttered and cozy because people keep giving you stuff and you are too nice to refuse things and hurt their feelings. As you roam through the fabric store, you are finding out you really prefer clean, contemporary fabrics and solid colors.

When you return home, compare your notes to what you actually have around you. Did you learn anything new? Do you see some conflicting information here? You may find you have discovered a totally different dimension about yourself. Great. This is what creativity is all about, "Discovering and Expressing Yourself."

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Classy Groundcovers was a featured supplier in the February 2007 issue of Garden Gate Magazine and on the HGTV episode "Mondo Man" (airing July 11, 2007).

The Creative Dozen:
Tips to Brighten a Dark Room

1. Scatter uplights around the room, especially in gloomy corners

2. Throw some large, brightly colored area rugs over a dark existing carpeting

3. Repaint a room using light pastel colors and use a crisp white for the trim and moldings

4. Install recessed lighting with dimmers to always have just the amount of light you desire

5. Bring light into your room by removing dark or fussy curtains from your windows. Replace them with white blinds or shutters that let in and control the light

6. Paint the back wall of bookcases a bright white

7. Brighten a dark corner by placing a large white vase filled with an arrangement of branches painted white in the area

8. Transform a dark paneled room by painting the paneling a light color (yes you can paint paneling)

9. Hang a piece of stained glass in the window to catch the sunlight and send a prisim of color through the room

10. Use glossy paint in dark rooms. Glossy paint reflects light while flat paint absorbs it

11.Replace dull carpeting with bright, shiny tile flooring

12. Shop lawn sales and flea markets for odd and unusual mirrors. Paint the frames all one color and make a large outstanding wall arrangement with them. The best place for this would be on a wall opposite a window to reflect light into the room

Dare to Dream, Dare to Hope, Dare to Believe, Dare to Live!

About the Home Dec Lady:

If you enjoyed this newsletter, visit my website and learn to develop your creativity and create the home you dream of by using my **free** online home decorating workbook.

To find out why and how I am building a web business visit the Mysite/Myself page on my website. I am having fun and building a good income at the same time. If you would like to do the same, check out this page while you are visiting my online home

Take the time to visit this site if you can use an extra $500 to $1000 a month

Do you already own a website? Is it producing income for you? If you would like some hints to increase the income from your site download this *free* Affiliate Masters course. Read what other website owners are doing to increase their monthly income.

All products recommended on this site have been actively researched and used by me. I only recommend products and services I use myself, and hope you find some new and interesting ideas for developing and using your God given talents and creativity.

Your feedback is always welcome and appreciated! Feel free to email me and let me know of your comments and suggestions now while your thoughts are fresh in your mind.

Please feel free to pass on this issue to friends and associates --just keep the entire message intact and unaltered.

Published Monthly “Creative Home Decorating" is a newsletter geared to the individual who dreams of creating the perfect home atmosphere of peace, harmony, comfort and relaxation.

Designed to help the frustrated decorator and creatively challenged, this ezine will inspire you to jump in and take a chance on your inborn talents. By doing this you will grow from the inside out.

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Gloria Daniels, Publisher
http://www.home-decorating-room-by-room.com