After the last blog about home decorating ideas, I thought you’d appreciate some no cost decorating tricks. 

You can attack these decorating tricks today with basic household tools and a little time. Reexamine your existing decor for a new, improved decorating scheme. Think of it as retooling what you already have while correcting some common mistakes.

1/ Art Hung Too High

Art should generally be hung at eye level which is around 57 to 60 inches on average. This provides the optimal height for viewing and enjoyment of the art. There are exceptions, of course, when you have really tall ceilings or when hanging art over a headboard.

2/ Curtain Hardware Hung Too Low

All too often we see the opposite problem to artwork hung too high with curtain rods hung too low. You want your ceiling height to feel maximized, therefore hang the curtain rod as high as possible. In the living room below, we hung the curtain rods just below the crown molding. 

3/ Too Much Stuff

It’s not a bad idea to revist or edit your decor every so often. Maybe three carefully chosen family photos on a side table looks better than ten crammed on top. First of all, remove your small, decorative items and put them in one area. While going through this process, decide which items are the most meaningful and which decor you can let go. Finally, place the remaining items in fresh groupings with like items together and new displays.

4/ Pairs of Everything

Odd numbers work in decorating for a reason. Not to say that there isn’t a time and place for pairs, but a “Noah’s Ark” approach to everything is boring. Take a pair of candlesticks and split them up. Fluff your couch with three mismatched pillows. Why not display “fraternal twins” or things that look similar but aren’t an exact match?

5/ Same Scale for Everything

Aim for furniture with varying heights and scale. If your living area has a lamp on one side of the room, maybe a tall floor lamp adds interest to the other side. If the couch is large, then visually smaller accent chairs provide a break like the chairs with open arms below.

6/ Furniture on the Diagonal

Don’t fall for certain home stager decorating tricks. Professionals generally stage this way to make things interesting or to distract from some really awful feature. A couple of chairs angled across from a sofa is fine but a whole room of diagonal furniture makes me dizzy.

7/ Too Bright Lighting

“Where were you on the night of July 6th, Mrs. F&F?” You don’t want to feel like you’re in a jail house examination room. Swap out ceiling and lamp bulbs for an immediate difference. Aside from task lighting, there needs to be a variety and quantity of lower wattage bulbs to light up a room. This especially rings true after a certain age, ahem.

What is your favorite no cost decorating trick? We would love to know! Martha gives a good primer about art hanging, along with some other solid decorating tricks of the trade.