A little idea can spark a big project, so here are some helpful household ideas to get you on your way.
Do you have an old dresser ready for the trash? Don't throw it away just yet. The drawers can be used for decoration. First empty them, clean them out, then mount one or more drawers on the wall and use them as shadow boxes to display artifacts or collections. Mount one drawer in the bathroom and fill with rolled washcloths. Or mount another in the family room by a window and put potted plants in it.
Fall is just around the corner, and even though it's still hot out, planning ahead is always a great idea. Have you ever considered a fireplace on the porch? Adding an outdoor fireplace or fire pit allows you to relax outside for a few extra months each year. A cozy dinner outside on a cool evening can be a nice change from indoor dining.
Some ceilings start to peel after years of just hanging there. If you have messy, peeling ceilings, try this simple trick. Sand them down and apply textured wallpaper. There are papers that are plain white with embossed designs such as squares, swirls and other "ceiling-correct" patterns that will not only hide imperfections, but will also enhance the look. Even if there aren't messy, peeling ceilings in your house, you can still utilize this idea to spruce them up.
Have you ever been writing while sitting in a leather chair or sofa and accidentally made a mark on the leather with the pen? Not to worry. Get a cotton ball and put some rubbing alcohol on it. Rub the wet cotton ball over the ink stain, then dry the spot with a blow dryer. That should do the trick. If that doesn't get it all out, clean again with non-gel cuticle remover and leave it overnight. Wipe the next day with a damp cloth. But test a small area in an inconspicuous spot on the chair or sofa with the alcohol and/or the cuticle remover to be sure your particular kind of leather handles the chemicals.
On carpeted areas, when you move a heavy piece of furniture from one spot to another, there will always be a dent or crushed carpet fibers that are hard to fluff up. Here's a trick that should work. Place ice cubes along the dented areas and let them sit until melted. Let the area dry completely and then vacuum. The crushed carpet should then fluff back up. If the dent is really deep, the process might need to be repeated. Again, as in the caveat above, test this in a small and inconspicuous area of the carpet first. Also, when testing, lift the carpet after the ice has melted and dried to be sure the floor underneath hasn't been affected.
Hope one of these ideas has made your day!
(Rosemary Sadez Friedmann, an interior designer in Naples, Fla., is author of "Mystery of Color." For design inquiries, write to Rosemary at DsgnQuest(at)aol.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)
Creative Environments
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