Interior design news & notes: The shapes and sizes of affordable advice; creating a stylish childproof apartment ...
Interior design from various sources; united a split apartment; "Sex And The City 2"; and the best use of wasted space.

Read more on The Oregonian

The art of home furnishing and decorating your abode is really quite a big undertaking. Since your home is the place where you spend the most amount of time, a lot of effort and care should go into furnishing and decorating your home. It is an opportunity to infuse your unique personality and talents into your home. Other than the creative challenge and opportunity, home furnishing is a fun pastime. Home furnishing and decorating does not have to be an expensive endeavor as even small or inexpensive items can turn your home into an attractive, warm and comfortable abode. On the other hand, you can decide to hire an interior designer to help you create a stunning and beautiful living space, though of course that can get quite expensive.

You can always start by choosing a theme for your new home decorating effort. Depending on your individual tastes and preferences, you can furnish and decorate your home with American, French, Swedish, English or Southwest home furnishing styles. You can decorate your interior with an oriental touch or you can go for a Native American look. In the case of oriental furnishings, you can have fun with oriental screens, paper lanterns, porcelain knickknacks, bookcases, fans, cabinets, tables and more. Or if you decide to go with the Victorian look, you can furnish and decorate your home in earthy tones and search some antique stores to purchase Victorian rugs, chairs, couches, lamps, roll top desks etc. to showcase the Victorian charm. Options are also there to mix and match themes, with ultra-sophisticated, ultra-elegant, ultra-modern décor with an antique touch to it.

Here are a few more ideas and tips for successful home furnishing and interior decorating. The best way to start home furnishing is to ask yourself some basic questions. Would you be living in the same house for long or is it a temporary stay? What are the essential furnishings that you must have? When your home decorating ideas become clear, start preparing the items you need to transform the ideas into reality.

You should shop in stores where you can find unique home furnishing items that are inexpensive. There are plenty of home furnishing items such as figurines, paintings, curtains, light shades, furniture, cabinets etc that can be purchased through discount home furnishing outlets. Some bargain deals are also available at consignment stores where people sell off their used furniture, and furniture warehouses that carry slightly damaged models to choose from.

To be the one room in a  home that brings the entire family together is the ultimate purpose of the feng shui living room. This particular room also serves as the place where you may entertain guests. So as to make it more inviting and be an area where people gather and socialize, the space has to be transformed in a way that promotes conversation and brings people together. Basic feng shui principles should be utilized to do exactly that. A variety of techniques may be applied to this area for the aim of connecting you to the people that are important to you.

The main piece of furniture in the living room is the sofa. The sofa is where you, your loved ones and your guests sit. The position of a sofa is critical in determining how 'qi' or energy will flow in the living room. You will find certain positions that aren't ideal for the sofa. In particular, if the front entrance of the home leads into the living room and is directly in line with the windows of that room, it is never a good idea to position the sofa directly in between the two. Avoid placing the back of the sofa against windows or facing a door. Also be sure there are no exposed beams on the ceiling right above where you happen to be sitting. The very best position for any sofa should be to have its back against the wall and diagonally across the door. If there happens to be other sofas and chairs in the room, arrange them together in a semi-circular shape so that the people sitting there will be able to talk amongst each other.

There happens to be many other solutions to optimize the living room to your benefit. Lighting is another important part of this room, it must be bright so make sure that there will be lots of lights besides the natural lighting that comes through the windows. Good places for lights include corners and dark areas. Since the living room is associated with the family, this should be the perfect room to display lots of family photographs. Other great home decor items that needs to be included in this area of the home are artwork and live plants. Use the bagua map to discover the best locations to place these items. Finally, besides creating a prime location for the sofa, there should be a distinct centerpiece in the living room. Typically if your house is included with a fireplace, that is required to be the centerpiece of the room. If you don't have a fireplace however, be sure to reserve that spot for the television or home entertainment center.

Use all of these great feng shui living room tips to make the most out of this family friendly room. Besides the important techniques discussed above, you must also remember to keep the area clutter free as you would for any other important room of the house. Clutter tends to make the 'qi' of a room stagnant so removing unnecessary items out of the living room is necessary to free up that energy.