Copyright 2014 Decorated Life

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Decorated Life

DIY

Cheat Sheet

Christine McVeigh| Decorated Life

Doing It Yourself

Basic Tool Set

Tool Set Extras

Quick-Start Home Decorating Tips

Safe Home Improvement

Handy Measurements for Home Decorating

Interior Design Basics

Using Color, Pattern and Texture in Home Decorating

Fixing Color Problem Rooms

Creating and Hanging Wall Décor Collections

Copyright 2014 Decorated Life

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Doing It Yourself

The best part about DIY is that you are making your

home more interesting, comfortable and livable

simply by paying attention to your home’s strengths and weaknesses and taking some action.

And the more interesting, comfortable and livable

your home becomes, the more you, your family and

friends will enjoy it!

Doing it yourself is fun, satisfying and easy, and will

save you a squillion… if you believe everything on

those glitzy home renovating shows!

Well, it can be!

Truth is; it’s all easy for someone with the right tools

and some experience.

And incredibly satisfying.

Even therapeutic.

With the right tools, a little know-how and some time

and patience, you will be surprised how much you

can do to make your home the exciting place you’ve always wanted it to be.

This quick start cheat sheet is just that - a few quick

tips, measurements and guidelines to help you on

your way. There are links to tutorials on the last

page!

Here’s what I recommend:

Skim through the cheat sheet. Save or print it.

Over the weeks decorating ideas and possibilities will

pop into your head. These are like diamonds! Grab a

pen, laptop or phone and make some notes.

Refer to the quick start cheat sheet when you need it

or search the blog to see how you can make these

great ideas real.

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A few pointers before we begin. If you are already an

experienced DIY kinda gal you probably know all this,

so just breeze on ahead… but if you are a newbie…

1. Be realistic about your own abilities and experience. Know when to stop and when to keep going. If you get in a serious pickle; don’t wait call a professional. A mess up can be very expensive and even dangerous.

2. Older homes can seem difficult if the walls, floors and ceilings are a little wobbly and no long straight. But that is also part of their wonderful charm.

3. Leave electrical, gas or water jobs to someone qualified.

You might swap an electrical switch for a dimmer but be careful. Don’t save money here.

4. Always allow enough time, so you don’t cut corners.

5. Home improvement retailers may have free workshops,

advice, leaflets or and staff who can help with specific problems. Don’t be shy to ask.

6. Make sure any work you carry out doesn’t contravene building or planning regulations. Check with authorities if in doubt.

So, where do we begin?

Well, with some tools, of course.

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Basic Tool Set

Use the right tool to save time and get great results!

Basic Tools

Hammer. Pick a size that is comfortable in

your hand and that allows you to hammer

and pry nails out.

Handsaw for smaller jobs.

A set of screwdrivers that includes several

sizes of both standard and Phillips head

(cross-shaped head) screwdrivers. Using the

wrong size or style driver destroys the screw.

Drill preferably cordless

Knife

Level

Chisel – one to begin with

Pliers; that feel comfortable for your hand.

25 foot retractable steel tape measure

Assorted nails and screws. Get sets that

include a variety of sizes for various jobs. Or

assemble your own sets, including fine, long,

short and finishing nails and screws.

An unlined notebook, small enough to fit

inside your tool kit and big enough for

sketching and making notes.

This list is small and basic but a great start. If you

don’t own these, buy a set. From hanging photos on

your new gallery wall to sanding an old table before

you paint it, be DIY ready. Larger items like industrial

sanders for floorboards can be rented.

The items below seem too silly to mention but

annoying when you don’t have them!

Tool Set Extras

Extra Tools

Glue gun for decorating and crafts projects.

Iron-on Magic Hem creates seams without

sewing. It's available at grocery stores and craft

or sewing shops.

Straight pins and safety pins for draping and

shaping.

Velcro for washable items such slipcovers.

Wire for hanging, fixing, and holding things.

Plate hangers in different sizes for both small

and large plates.

Picture hangers to make hanging art easier.

You’ll need a variety of sizes for different weighted objects.

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Quick-Start Home Decorating Tips

1. Set a budget! Stick to it! This isn’t always easy, but

more likely if you sit down and create a plan.

2. Your Action Plan. Decide which room(s) you want

finished, in what order and an approximate end

date to take the pressure off.

3. For bigger jobs create a floor plan using either an

online program or draw it on graph paper.

4. Get all carpentry, wiring and plumbing finished

first, before you paint, cover or decorate your

walls and floors.

5. Hone in on your personal style. Contemporary or

Traditional? Vintage, Classic or Eclectic? This gets

rid of fuzzy thinking and saves time and money so

you can focus on a look you love.

6. Decorate ceilings, walls, and floors before you

bring in furniture.

7. Decide which pieces you want to keep, recover,

paint or just add new hardware. New is nice but

upcycled can be simply gorgeous!

8. Shop! Pick stores that stock a large selection for

quick delivery or carrying home. Shop by mail or

surf the Internet for prices and products.

9. Buy major pieces first and accessories last.

10. Spice up your decor with accessories galore!

Choose only pieces that you love.

Home Safety Starts with Posture

Avoid accidents -

1. Keep your back straight and use your knees when

lifting heavy weights. Get help if you need it.

2. Use the right tools – jobs will get done faster and

the results will look more professional.

3. When renting tools, ask for a demonstration and

get a copy of operating instructions.

4. Cordless power tools are safer to use. If you are

using tools with a cord, make sure the cord is not

worn and always use a circuit breaker.

5. Position ladders on firm, even ground and get

help with extension ladders. Wear shoes with a

good grip, and don’t over reach.

6. Wear protective goggles, a mask and gloves when

necessary, and tie long hair out of the way.

7. Keep a first aid kit handy.

8. Supervise young children and pets around

equipment and store tools out of their way when

not in use.

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Handy Measurements for Home Decorating

Decorating requires taking lots of measurements to

make sure furniture fits where you want it, that

window treatments fit your windows and knowing

how much paint you need.

Getting it right will save you trips to the store, buying

too much ‘anything’, help you paint your rooms with

the same color and make the whole process feel

lighter and simpler.

These tips will help you decide what you need to

measure and how to calculate quantities.

Measuring a room’s square footage To work out your rooms’ square footage, multiply the

room's length by its width (this is the area).

this number is useful in lots of ways such as

whether large pieces of furniture will fit in your

room and

estimates quantities and prices of carpet,

flooring, paint, tiles and more.

Measuring a room for tiles To work out how many tiles you need:

Divide the width of the floor by the width of the

tile (horizontal row) and the length of the floor by

the height of the tile (vertical row) or use the

online calculator for an accurate measurement -

http://www.calculator.com/pantaserv/constructio

n/simpletile.cgi?units=Feet. Easy!

Buy up to 10 percent more tiles than you need for

errors and breakages.

Paint amount to paint a ceiling 1 gallon of paint covers about 350 square feet.

1. Multiply the length of the ceiling times its width to

find its area. (About the same as the floor).

2. Divide that number by 350 (the estimated square

feet covered per gallon) to figure out how many

gallons of paint you need.

You may need more paint for an unpainted surface

and if you want more than one coat of paint.

Paint amount to paint walls Use an online calculator like this one from Lowes –

exclude windows and doors to get a more accurate

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calculation of how much paint you need.

http://www.lowes.com/cd_Paint+Calculator_135222

5126183_

Or use this calculation & example below as a guide –

1. Add together the length of your 4 walls.

14 + 20 + 14 + 20 = 68 feet

2. Multiply the sum by the wall height, to find the

total wall area.

68 × 8 = 544 square feet

3. Subtract 20 square feet for each door (20 × 2 = 40)

and 15 square feet for each window (15 × 2 = 30) to

find the actual amount of wall area you're painting.

544 – 70 = 474 square feet

4. Divide this figure by the paint coverage (350

square feet per gallon), and the result is the number

of gallons to purchase.

If the surface is porous, you may need 25 - 50 % more

paint. Ask your store's paint pro.

Woodwork paint estimator

1 gallon of paint covers about 350 square feet.

1. Determine the total length of molding around the

room by adding together the length of all the walls

that the molding covers.

14 + 20 + 14 + 20 = 68 feet

2. Multiply the sum by .5 for an estimated width of

the molding.

68 × .5 = 34 square feet

3. Divide this number by 350 to estimate the gallons

of paint required to cover the molding.

34 ÷ 350 = .09

This is less than a quart. Keep for patch up work.

Door and window paint estimator

Door coverage is about 20 square feet = one door. To

calculate your door and window paint needed -

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1. Multiply the number of doors by 20.

2 × 20 = 40 square feet

2. Multiply the number of windows by 7.5.

2 Windows × 7.5 = 15 square feet

3. Add these numbers together.

40 + 15 = 55

4. Divide the result by 350 (the estimated square feet

covered per gallon).

54 ÷ 350 = .16

A quart of paint will go a long way on most doors and

window trim.

Ceiling heights – high, average and low Average ceilings are about 8 ft or 2.4 m high.

Tall ceilings are from 10 - 12 ft or 3.04 – 3.65 m

and more.

Low ceilings are less than 8 ft or 2.4m.

Use corrective decorating techniques by using the

right color, texture, or pattern to make the most

of space.

Distances between furniture pieces Be sure to add walk-around space between pieces

of furniture to avoid clutter.

Between chairs and sofas in seating groups, allow

around 2 - 5 ft or 0.609 – 1.52 m.

Leave at least 1 ft or 0.304 m around your bed.

This helps with bed-dressing and sheet changing.

Leave 4 - 5 ft or 1.2 – 1.52 m of walking space for

traffic flow through rooms.

These are a guide and depend on the size and shape

of your rooms.

For a quick guide on making chalk paint or milk paint

and the differences click here.

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Interior Design Basics

What you want to do in your rooms is combine these

five elements so they sit together in harmony.

Color - mood creator

Form - shapes of objects

Line - direction or boundary of an object

Mass - bulk of an object that occupies space

Texture - touch and look of matter

It sounds complicated but these 5 elements are what

interior decorators work with to create visual effects

and form one unified gorgeous look.

As a DIY interior decorator it’s your job to take note,

become aware of what you home can or can’t do,

what you can fake and what you can’t to create

mood, comfort and make it look great!

So let’s focus on just a few things -

Focal point

This is the spot in a room that the eye naturally

returns. It can be created; using a large piece of art,

furniture piece or wall gallery or built in to the room’s architecture like ornate moldings, a fireplace or a

spectacular view.

Every room needs 1 main focal point. If one exists;

maximize it. If it doesn’t; create it.

Minor focal points can exist around a room, like a

small group of frames, a small group of chairs etc.

The main focal point and minor focal points

should be in harmony and balance one another –

not compete.

A room looks flat and bland if it doesn’t contain

one strong focal point and busy if it has too many.

Scale and proportion

Scale refers to overall size, while proportion relates

the size of parts compared to the whole.

Keep these two factors in mind when selecting

furniture pieces for rooms.

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Larger rooms generally need large furniture pieces

to balance them or smaller grouped pieces.

Smaller rooms are often filled with smaller pieces

of furniture but one oversized piece of art can

make the room feel bigger.

Harmony and unity

This is a goal. Keep it in mind as you add furniture

or accessories. Does the piece add to the harmony

and unity of the room or detract from it?

Too much harmony and unity = dull! Add color or

a strong focal point if it looks monochromatic.

Contrast

Contrast is a pattern interruption for the eye. Placing

opposites side by side, like hot and cool colors or

hard and soft textures.

The eye loves contrast because it notices

something out of the ordinary, so make it count.

Positive contrasts make a room memorable.

Negative contrasts make a room feel chaotic and

messy.

Adding contrast without upsetting the room’s sense of harmony and overall unity is a fine

balance.

Variety

Like contrast the goal is to balance variety within a

single room, as well as within a whole-house design.

Think holistic!

Without enough distinct contrast, your room can look

flat and boring.

And like too much contrast, excessive variety creates

a confusing room which is not what you want.

Think in layers. It’s an evolving process.

Find a mix of elements that makes your rooms

interesting, functioning and beautiful.

Revisit your look every few months, remove some

layers, add others and keep most of the elements

you have, but move them around or add them

together in a different or unusual way.

The important thing is to bring these delicious flavors

together to create harmonious rooms full of interest,

surprise and balance.

Color, pattern and texture can help you do just that.

Copyright 2014 Decorated Life

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Using Color, Pattern, and Texture in Home Decorating

Color, pattern, and texture create style, mood, and

ambience in each room in your home. Without them

you have a nicely furnished room, with them you

have ‘WOW’.

Creating mood with color

Test colors by painting large boards with your

new color, moving them from wall to wall at

different times of the day, in your room’s natural

light.

If your room has little natural light your new paint

color will appear dull, muddier or darker.

Light, cool colors make walls seem to fade away

into the distance, making rooms seem spacious.

Dark, warm colors make walls seem to come

closer.

Many recommend painting small spaces in cool,

light colors. The aim is to create the feeling of air

and space.

Watch out - White can be deceiving in small

spaces and often looks gray and dull in a

small room with little natural light, so try a

sample first.

Colors that are too cool can make a room

feel bare and lifeless. You may need to use

accessories to balance the coolness.

Darker colors look richer in small spaces and help

give a room character and mood.

Large spaces can take warm, confident colors

without being overwhelmed or crowded.

Neutral colors schemes are easier to live with and

need replacing less often because they don’t date as quickly.

Check the undertone of you new color scheme.

The undertone is color that makes up the base

color. The best way to discover a color’s undertone is by comparing it to another color in

the same color range. You can easily see whether

the undertone is cooler or warmer and if it will go

with furniture or your room’s natural light. Distribute colors naturally, with dark colors on

the floor, medium colors on the walls, and light

colors on the ceiling.

You can break these rules, but this is a failsafe

plan using the law of chromatic distribution:

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1. Put neutral colors on large surfaces or objects,

such as the floor and sofa.

2. Use stronger shades in smaller amounts on

smaller spaces or items, such as a short wall or a

chair as features.

3. Employ the strongest accent color in the

smallest spaces and places.

4. For impact, scatter accent colors around the

room.

Playing with pattern

Mix patterns such as check with florals or large-

scaled patterns with small-scaled patterns.

Use three different patterns that have different

size patterns and relate in color.

FIVE different patterns. Let one large-scaled

pattern dominate over one medium-scaled floral

and another geometric, and toss in two small-

scaled accent patterns (floral or geometric). Make

sure the colors in the large-scaled pattern are

repeated in all the others.

Place pattern everywhere! This is a great way to

blend your theme throughout your home and

makes a great impact.

Use wall stencils for wall paper patterns.

Too many patterns can be overwhelming.

Choose two or three areas unless you have

larger rooms that can take more.

This can date if your patterns or fabrics are

very modern.

Toying with texture

Traditional rooms like more refined, smooth

textures and subtle rugged textures.

Contemporary spaces like textural interest.

Feminine rooms like elegant, subtle textures.

Masculine rooms like nubby, tweedy & rugged

texture.

The more neutral a color scheme, the more

important texture becomes.

Heavy textures "eat" space, so use them only in

large or cozy rooms.

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Creating Wall Décor Collections

Before you grab your tools and start hanging pieces

remember that wall collections can be photos, plates,

art and even wicker or silver trays. Here’s a blog post

with videos with lots of gallery wall ideas.

Start by finding a space that needs filling. Define

and measure the space. It might be between two

doorways, the length of a sofa or a hallway.

Decide what you would like to hang. From photos

to plates, a street sign or some art. What group of

things would look better on the wall than

collected together on a table?

Buy hardware to secure the pieces to the wall.

Make sure the hardware will support oversized or

heavy items.

Cut shapes from kraft paper to match each of

your pieces.

Decide what shape you would like your collection

to have.

Test your arrangement on the floor or by placing

your paper cut outs on the wall with painter's

tape. Try different shapes until you find the

perfect configuration.

If you're hanging portraits, draw arrows on the

paper to indicate which way the subject is looking.

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Mix contrasting shapes. Instead of the same sized

square frames; add round, rectangle or thin

vertical objects together.

Use color or themes to unite these pieces.

Hanging rule of thumb; place the most prominent

piece at eye level off center and work outward.

Not all collections must be hung. Mount

decorative ledges and prop frames along ledges.

This option makes it easy to switch out art for a

seasonal change or update photos. You can also

add vases, candles or other accessories.

Hanging art too high. As a guide, leave about 6

inches between the top of the sofa and the

bottom of the art piece and adjust according to

your eye.

Pay attention to scale. When hanging art over a

sofa, mantel, or any significant piece, make sure

the piece of art or grouping has a width between

one-half and two-thirds of the item below.

To give art more substance, hang it within a few

inches of a cabinet or table so the two objects

look like one more substantial piece.

Remember, these are rules and rules can be broken.

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The mirror to the right is too big for the sofa beneath

it and the six inch rule has been thrown out the

window, but the four hanging frames and two side

tables and lamps, give it balance. So, all is forgiven.

Now it’s time to collect your ideas and get some of

them into your home!

Good Luck!

More tutorials right here:

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Chalk Paint and Milk Paint – Videos and Tips

Painted Concrete Floors – Videos and More

How to Make Build & Upholster and Ottoman

10 Ways to Use Blue Color of the Year

How to Choose Gray Paint for Your Home

5 Small Room Ideas

6 Small Living Room Ideas

10 Failsafe Decorating Rules

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