2013 Decorating Direction With Easy Ideas

Give your home an easy update with one of these decorating trends . These ideas are easy to implement and are timeless enough to keep around for more than one season. I hope to be suitable enough for you to begin update your home decor.

Whether your look is cottage, vintage, modern, or somewhere in between, raw wood can have a place in your decor. Shop architectural salvage stores for pieces to add as accents or to use as shelves or mantels. And you'll find a lot of accessories and accent furniture pieces on the market that are made to look like raw wood, providing another way to capture this hot look.

For so long, silver and its cohorts have been the first place metal in home decor. But more recently, yellow metals are inching back into the spotlight. Embrace the trend with gold accents that have a little softer finish, rather than metals with a full on shine. And for a less glitzy take, try antique brass finishes, which tend to be more matte.

Forget everything you know about wallpaper. Yes, it can be cringe-worthy, but the market continues to be flooded with more good than bad. With so many colorways, patterns, and styles available, you'll be sure to find something you love now and will love later. Rather than wallpapering a whole room, try it on just an accent wall or in a small space, such as an entryway or powder room.

Speaking to both the nautical and industrial design crazes, rope can introduce an earthy texture to a polished room, or it can meld perfectly into a cottage or beach-style space. Look for rope-wrapped accessories, such as this tray, to add to your decor. Or pick up some yardage at your local home center and get creative. For starters, use rope to hang picture frames or display it in a sculpturelike fashion inside a clear cylindrical vase.

School is in session in the decorating world. Repurposed schoolhouse furniture, beakers used as vases, and vintage flashcards as art will add a bit of flea market whimsy to your home. In this kitchen, an old table mined from a science classroom now serves as a fun island.

It's all over Pinterest, and has long been one of our favorite DIY projects: Painted furniture is now taking a new twist. Those old, awful pieces you see sitting forlorn in the corners of secondhand shops are no longer being ignored. Innovative homeowners are seeing past the tacky finishes and dated hardware and, with just white paint, retro (the bad kind of retro) pieces like this sideboard are revived for the 21st century.

These once awful pieces can look gorgeous with more color. Picture this massive buffet with an overbearing honey colored, tiger striped stain. Not so current, right? Soft latte-colored paint brought the piece into a more current state and an extra kick of blue around the frame gives the piece a one of a kind look.

Soft and romantic, watercolor works as art, but also as a pattern on fabrics and accessories. Plus, it's an easy technique to DIY. Pick up watercolors at a local crafts store and give it a try on lampshades, fabrics, and more.

From wallpapers to fabrics, lattice or trellis prints introduce sophisticated style inspired by garden settings. The intertwining motif is usually portrayed as a colored pattern on a white background, or the inverse.

A color on color variation takes a more graphic approach to the motif. Try a lattice pattern on throw pillows or window treatments. Or if your really love lattice, use the pattern on your walls via wallpaper or a stencil.

This look became popular in Europe in the 18th century and is a western interpretation of Chinese motifs and designs. It has since maintained a quiet presence in traditional decor and antique collections. Lately, the style is being brought mainstream. If the look is for you, try adding one or two Chinoiserie pieces, such as a gorgeous painting and a piece of accent furniture, in colors that pick up on what you already have in your room. Here, this ornately carved desk is an interpretation of the style and the pink painted finish gives it a modern update and matches the chair cushion.

Curvaceous and colorful, these gourd-shape lamps add shape and visual weight to side tables and nightstands. They are most commonly found in a solid color, which allows the shape to be the eye-catcher. Plus, the variety of colors available makes it easy to find a model that coordinates with your current decor.

Also hot in the lighting world: statement installed fixtures. Good lighting is essential to any room, but now it can be more stylish, thanks to gorgeously executed fixtures available everywhere from home centers to lighting show rooms. We are especially in love with circular pendants with industrial details, like the brass one over the island in this kitchen.

Ripe with global appeal, block prints offer an exotic edge to any room. Textiles and linens that are block printed by hand can get pricey, but the trend is popping up in more mass made goods, making it more affordable to bring the look home.