To the joy and satisfaction of eco-friendly enthusiasts everywhere, bamboo has grown immensely in popularity in recent years. Home accessories and decor of all types and styles have been infected by the bamboo bug, leaving many people wondering what home accessories they can get made from bamboo and what they can’t. Since it is a renewable resource, it’s no surprise that people are finding all kinds of ways to incorporate bamboo into their home decor.

What Makes Bamboo So Great?

Glad you asked! Bamboo is a renewable resource. Some species of bamboo can grow as much as 4 feet in a single day, typically without the need of pesticides, fertilizer or even an excessive amount of water.

In fact, bamboo plants typically mature in less than 10 years (often as soon as 7) whereas a average tree can take up to 50 years to fully mature, which the time varying from species to species (for both bamboo and trees).

This good news for manufacturers of all kinds from furnitures to bedroom sheets, even notebook computers. The home decor market is only one market that benefits immensely thanks to bamboo.

Bamboo Decorated Bedroom

It is actually possible to decorate your entire home using only bamboo products. Let’s take the bedroom room for example, if you’re dedicated enough, you could invest in a custom bed made using bamboo-based fabrics and a bamboo frame. Of if you’re lucky, you can often find bamboo fabrics or a bamboo frame at many local retailers today. You can also find other furniture made from bamboo including tables, chairs, media centers and so forth.

Bamboo Home Decor

Moving on, as mentioned earlier, fabric can be made from bamboo fibers. So you can find rugs, throw pillows, blankets and even curtains made from bamboo. Plus, since bamboo is so versatile, you can often find the right colors and styles to match your home decor tastes.

Bamboo Home Accessories

As for home accessories, there is wall art, framed mirrors, bamboo statues and even living bamboo plants you can utilize. Bamboo shelf’s, baskets, decorative bamboo gongs, bamboo plant stands, bamboo charger plates for your dining table, bamboo wall art, the opportunities are endless when it comes to bamboo home decor.

Other items that can be made from bamboo include bed sheets, cutting boards, bowls, even notebook computers, bicycles and much, much more.

Bamboo Adjusts to any Decor Style

It’s worth noting that things don’t stop there. Bamboo flooring is a hot commodity for home decor today. There are also recent developments making bamboo carpeting available, it’s nearly impossible not to find bamboo in every corner of the home when it’s becoming so prevalent in today’s market.

Furthermore, bamboo does not have to look “tropical,” either. Bamboo can be cut in ways to mimic other woods, giving it a clean lined aesthetic that will blend easily into a variety of decors from ultra modern or contemporary to casual to traditional, even rustic if desired. No home decor style is safe from the bamboo invasion! Images 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Enhance your bamboo design with our selection of home accessories and decor today!

If you’re like many Americans, you’re probably wondering what the trendy hues for 2012 are so that you can start incorporating into your home decor scheme. After all, you can’t purchase new complimentary home accessories if you don’t know what the right colors are, right? Here’s the low down of trendy colors for this year so you can get started shopping for new home accessories and decor.

Creamy Neutrals

Neutrals will never go out of style, but certain tones will wax and wane in popularity. For larger areas of the home, such as painting a full wall or furniture, look for creamy neutral hues such as camel, caramel or sandstone. Avoid beige tones that feature cool undertones, as warm undertones are key for 2012.

Brown tones are the same, meaning you should look for brown tones that feature warm undertones such as reds, yellows and oranges. Avoid browns that feature gray, blue or green undertones.

Luxurious Reds

Red seems to pop up in some form every year no matter what. For 2012, rich, deep tones will be more prevalent than the brilliant poppy red colors of 2011. These deep reds are a perfect choice to mix with the warmer neutral hues. Look for throw pillows to add to your furniture, table decor such as charger plates or placemats and other locations to add small hints of deep, luxurious red to your space.

Hints of Blue

Energizing blue tones are coming back into play for 2012. Last year, turquoise was taboo but as the year ended we started going back to the playful turquoise, teal and other energizing blue tones. These blend well with the deep rich reds of the year and will also compliment the warm neutrals when used sparingly.

Of course, don’t feel you have to mix all these hues together. Use turquoise blue as your personal “neutral” and paint the walls, pair it with neutral colored furniture or mix it with browns and beiges with pops of yellow or green to pull the look together.

Sunshine Yellow, Tango Tangerine

2012 is full of optimism and as you can see, so are the colors. Of course, Pantone’s Color of the Year, Tango Tangerine is bold and vibrant and will pair great as a duo with turquoise, red or warm neutrals.

Other vibrant hues that will be coming into play in 2012 include gold tones and sunny yellows, especially as we draw nearer to the summer months. Fortunately, these tones can also play well into the autumn weather. Add this color to your home in small doses: a small accent table, slipper chair or other small piece of furniture; throw pillows, table decor, charger plates or perhaps a frame around an oval mirror or photograph.

Remember, when it comes to hues for 2012, it’s all about optimistic, happy tones and tones that provoke feelings of luxury. Americans are starting to feel happier about things and our color choices are reflecting that to a T. Images 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Update your home in 2012 with bold-colored home accessories and decor today!

These days you can find a single drapery panel for less than a trip through the drive-thru. The next time you are out shopping for new home accessories or home decor, don’t forget to pick up a couple of plain drapery panels, or ones in a great graphic that you love. They can be used for more than just framing out a window, too. Here are seven ways to use drapery panels that you might not have thought about:

Bathroom Drapery Panels

That’s right, the bathroom. If you have a shower/tub combo, raise your shower curtain rod up higher and use drapery panels to frame out your tub. It makes the ceilings feel taller when you raise the drapery. And, your shower liner won’t be dragging on the tub bottom as well! You can also purchase a double-rod, which allows you to have a shower curtain liner and the drapery on separate rods. This allows you to use them independently and more easily.

Outside Drapery Panels

Drapery panels are wonderful for outside. They create the feeling of privacy and an elegant design layer that is unexpected. If you decide to utilize any type of fabric outdoors, e.g. for table decorations, you should only use fabrics meant for exterior use. These special fabrics resist fading and are more durable than indoor fabrics for the most part.

Dress Up a Bed

Some places sell drapery panel that is extra long (over 100”) and this makes great fabric for draping over a bed. You can do this in a traditional way…or in a more modern draping. Regardless of style, the trick is to work with your ceiling, your bed and the shape of the room.

Divide a Room

Dividing a room with fabric is as simple as using a swag to elaborate an entryway or using fabric to divide a nook from the rest of the main room. Select fabric that fits the lighting in your room. If you have a lot of lighting, use fabric that is wispy and light. It will keep the room open and airy. If you have low natural lighting, you can use lighter or heavier fabrics. The important design layer is to ensure you add the correct amount of lighting in the room for tasks and also for ambient lighting.

Fabrics for Home Accessories and Decor

If you have an extra drapery panel lying around you can use it in many ways. If you need a valance, you can create one out of this panel, but also think about your furnitures and home accessories and decor as well. Do you need coordinating pillows on your bed or on a chair in your living room? Maybe you need a table runner for your dining room or just a nice set of curtains for more coziness? It can be done with a drapery panel or fabrics quite easily! Simply use your panel like you would regular fabric. Consider the material the panel is made of and how to clean it for best selection. Images 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Can your home use some drapery panels or fabrics for an uplifting decor change? Add character and personality to any room with exciting home accessories and decor!

Paint can inspire in so many ways. If you stop by your local paint store, you’ve probably picked up paint chips and taken them home to see if they will work in your room. Chances are, you had to go back several times to find the perfect color for your space. Now that your walls are perfect, have you considered wall art? Maybe you need to keep all of your wall art and decor on a budget? Here are some great tips for any DIY’er with a lot of leftover paint chips!

Wall art is easy to accomplish if you have a few paint cards left over from your past painting projects. If you are handy with scissors, this is a great one made with a stunning graphic.

This one was made from punched out paint chips. They were arranged as modern leaves on a tree. The chips that were used were coordinating colors. Perhaps one of these colors were used in a main living area, another in a kitchen…

Another DIY wall art decor technique is to cut the chips into thin strips and mount them and frame them. The best way to cut strips is to use a scrapbook or photo trimmer/paper cutter. This will ensure you have thin and even cuts.

Entertaining? Maybe you are throwing your “moving in” party? This is a wonderful way to incorporate the colors you painted your home into your party decor. These paint chips make remarkable table decorations!

And don’t let your dinner guests leave without a small token of appreciation! Simply punch a hole in your paint chip and write a sweet message of thanks.

If you need spiced-up furniture in your apartment or your home, consider sliding paint chips under a piece of furniture with a glass top. You can use square chips, cut them into rounds or you can even use your own creativity and cut your own designs to fit the personality of your room! Have fun with these unconventional home accessories!

Note: With any project using paint chips, it is important to be a responsible crafter and utilize paint chips you used, or are using, to decide on paint color for a room. If you are using paint chips solely for a craft, consider purchasing a pint of paint from the manufacturer or retail store. Images 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Feeling crafty? Take a look at these home accessories and decor and imagine all the neat things you can do with them!

The dining room can be as troublesome as a fireplace mantel. It seems like it should be easy to decorate, but the right home accessories always seem to elude you. Accessorizing a dining room involves blending both home accessories and decor to create a look that represents you, your family and perhaps even the rest of your home. With so much pressure in a single room, it can become stressful creating a home decor look that’s the envy of all your guests.

Furniture

Always start with furnitures when decorating a dining room space. The type of dining table and chairs you choose will help to set the tone for the rest of the room. If you have the space, you may want to consider additional storage in the form of bookshelves, a console table or a buffet.

When choosing additional furnitures, such as the console table or buffet table, you don’t necessarily have to match the dining table and chairs. You can easily mix and match styles to create a look that is effortlessly chic. Mixing a contemporary dining set with a mid-century modern buffet table is a perfect example. On a side note, when mixing different types of wood furnitures together, try to match woods or feature start contrasts between the wood such as light red walnut and dark ebony woods.

Overall when choosing different furnitures for a single room such as the dining room, take scale, shape and texture into consideration over color or style; as this will help blend the pieces together in your space, creaming seamless home decor in your dining room that looks effortless.

Color Palette

With your dining room furnitures chosen, it’s time to decide on a color palette for your dining room. Since most dining room furnitures are neutral in color (wood tones or white) it is relatively easy to blend almost any color into the color palette for this space.

Great dining room colors could include warm hues such as red, orange or yellow and cooler hues such as blue or green. You can also opt for more neutral or natural shades such as beige, chocolate brown, moss green or ivory.

Home Accessories

Using your color palette and your chosen furnitures, you can now begin finding the right accessories for your dining room. Sometimes it helps to start from the top and work your way down to the little details, starting with wall art.

Just because it’s a dining room does not mean your wall decor needs to be food-themed. You can use any style of wall art in your room, just be sure to find artwork that blends into your chosen color scheme. The goal is to create a seamless, cohesive look. Even if your wall art only uses one teeny, tiny spot of your color palette, that will still make a difference in tying it all together.

Next, table decor can be seasonal or it can be year round, or it can even be updated on a whim whenever you please. Table decor should be low-key in terms of height, as you don’t want it to block your view of across the table. This makes conversation difficult. Instead, choose smaller (height-wise) displays or choose table decor that can be temporarily relocated when needed.

If you’ve opted for a buffet table, use this space to store your extra supplies: napkins, placements, napkin rings and so forth. A console table can be used for storing table decor temporarily, but if you’re looking for home accessories, keep in mind that the console table is a perfect place to display taller accessories. Lastly, finish up the room with a floor rug if desired and viola! Images 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Get great ideas on home accessories and decor now!

Whether you’re hosting a small luncheon for friends or a full-blown Thanksgiving dinner, there are a few areas of home decor that could probably use some sprucing up. Fortunately, swapping out a few home accessories and a good cleaning can really improve the look of a space. Plus, home accessories and decor are easy to obtain and inexpensive, making it especially easy to update the look of your home for your next dinner party.

Charger Plates

Charger plates are beneficial to a dinner party for a number of reasons. First, they tie in your china or dishes with the home decor style in your dining room. Secondly, they protect wood tables from damage from hot plates. They also protect the table from food spills. So, there’s no reason not to invest in a quality set of charger plates.

Plus, charger plates come in a variety of sizes, colors and shapes, so there’s a set to match everyone’s home decor. Consider combining trends into your charger plates and purchase chunky grass woven charger plates or charger plates in bright, colorful jewel tones.

Enlarge Small Spaces

Just because you have a small space, doesn’t mean you can’t create the illusion of more space—especially if you’re hosting a dinner party. Consider altering your home decor slightly and investing in clear acrylic furnitures, such as dining chairs or a console table to help open up the space.

Another option is to install a large mirror onto one of the walls. Whether you choose a square or oval mirror, find a mirror that fits your space and your home decor style. Large mirrors create the illusion of more space but they also reflect additional natural light into the space, which can help brighten the look and feel of your dining room.

Table Decor

Part of hosting a dinner party or luncheon is having a beautiful centerpiece or other table decor to top off the room. This can be as simple as a few tea lights, a large scale candelabra or holiday themed table decor. Just remember, if you think there may be a lot of talking, choose table decor that is lower so that it does not block people out across the table.

Table decor can also be little details such as cute little place cards, napkin rings and silverware.

Other ideas for table decor include floral arrangements, fresh fruit or vegetable displays, small or large apothecary jars, woven baskets, vases, hurricanes and much more.

Deep Clean

Of course, hosting a dinner party is more than just table decor and pretty place mats. Guests are going to feel more at home if your space is clean and inviting. So, prior to the party, be sure to do all of the normal things you would such as dusting and vacuuming. Be sure to also wipe down your windows, put away any unnecessary clutter and if you have upholstered chairs, be sure to clean those as well. Images 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Are you ready to to host your own?  Make sure you have every thing you need by browsing our large selection of table decor.

Some people get lucky and have a ‘natural’ focal point in their home decor: a large picture window, a fireplace or some other architectural detailing. For those of us who aren’t as lucky, we need to find ways to create artificial focal points through the use of different home accessories. Of course, it can be difficult to create an artificial focal point using home accessories and decor, especially if you’re unsure of where to start. Here are a few tips and tricks on how to create a focal point using bookcases.

A bookcase is a large furniture piece that should be treated like art. Bookcases typically have wonderful linear lines that mimic the look of framed wall art. Therefore, anything that you put into the bookcase becomes a large piece of personal artwork. Keep this in mind when you’re struggling to figure out how to use your bookcases as a focal point.

Where to Start: Make the Purchase

If you don’t already own a set of bookshelves, you’ll obviously need to purchase one (or two, if desired). Before you rush out to make the purchase, you must measure out the space in which you intend to put these furniture pieces. Measure the space and take note of wall plugs, windows and vents, as you won’t want to block these with your bookcases.

Gather Your Home Accessories

Bookshelves aren’t just for books, but if that’s what you’d prefer to display on your furniture, then go for it. You can also consider a mixture of books and other home accessories, such as vases, floral arrangements, pottery, sculptures, oval mirrors and so forth.

Use balance to arrange these items in a way that is visually pleasing. To do this, you’ll want to place items of similar size and shape near one another or flank them on either side of the furniture to help draw attention to the space. Fill the spaces in with smaller items, such as little trinkets, to complete the space.

Finding the Right Home Accessories

If you don’t currently have any home accessories to use, or you simply don’t like the ones you’ve currently got, you’ll need to purchase some new ones. When purchasing new accessories, consider going with a theme or grouping items together by section or by shelf. Theme ideas could include the beach or a nautical theme, astronomy, travel or even fashion.

Stand Back, Arrange, Re-arrange and Repeat

Don’t be afraid to step back and examine your home accessories on the bookshelf. You may even want to walk out of the room and go about your day, come back and see if your eye is naturally drawn to your new furniture focal point. If not, you may need to arrange, re-arrange, step back again and repeat the process until you find that your eyes are drawn to your new focal point.

Using furniture is a great way to create an artificial focal point in a space that lacks a natural focal point. However, it make take a few days to get the arrangement just right. Whatever you do, just be sure that when you enter the room, your eyes fall naturally to your artificial focal point. Images 1 | 2 |  3| 4 | 5

You can put virtually anything in a bookcase. Why not add some beautiful charger plates to it?

The right wall art can take your home decor from boring and predictable to flashy and glamorous with little effort on your part. However, choosing home accessories such as wall art, that really make a room pop, can be a bit difficult. Many people are overly focused on blending their home accessories and decor, often ending up with a space they can tolerate but don’t truly love.

Color Palette

You can choose wall art that matches your existing color palette while still finding wall art that pops. For example, if you’ve done shades of gray in your living room, a large, dramatic black and white photograph can be the perfect pop your space needs. Don’t be afraid to work within your color palette. Of course, you can also choose another set of colors entirely for your wall art, which can really help it pop out, especially against neutral backgrounds.

Bright Colors

Bright colors always pop, period. Trendy colors this year include jewel tones, which can really make a splash. Look for wall art that features hues such as emerald green, sapphire blue or even citrine yellow. Remember, jewel tones are rich, saturated hues but they can also be more muted in tone. Any color you’ve seen on a gemstone qualifies as a jewel tone.

Graphic Prints

Graphic prints are sure to pop in a number of home decor styles. Even simple patterns, such as black and white zig zags, can really pack a punch. Of course, bold, vibrant colors can also stand on their own in graphic prints. Other patterns could include chevrons, damask or floral prints. When choosing floral prints, try to stick to two to three colors and no more, as too many colors can create a look that is too busy and thus, does not pop as well as it should.

Texture

Wall art isn’t all about paintings, photographs or wall decals, it can be the texture itself. You can choose textured wall decor as well. This could include textured wallpaper, grasscloth and even upholstery. Adding texture through fabric covered walls is a great way to make a space pop, plus chances are, you won’t see it in your neighbor’s window.

Of course, you don’t have to cover the entire wall in textured fabric. You can cover canvases using the fabric of your choice and hang them in the same fashion that you would hang any other type of wall art.

Go Naked

Lastly, consider letting your canvas wall art go au natural. You don’t have to frame everything and sometimes, the lack of a frame can help make the artwork stand out more against the walls. You can even use easels to display your wall art rather than hanging it on the wall, which is great for a more eclectic or even an industrial look, depending on both the art and the easel.

Though it may be desirable to find the right wall art that truly ‘pops,’ the number one rule of choosing wall decor is that it should be visually pleasing to you first. Images 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Start decorating your walls with our large selection of wall art!

One of the most difficult parts of home decor is trying to find the right placement for the various home accessories you’ve accumulated. Unfortunately, some home accessories and decor aren’t necessarily what you envisioned when you first started decorating your home. No matter what accessories you’ve got lying around, chances are, you’re not quite sure how to work with them. Here are a few tips and tricks for decorating with home accessories.

Clear It Out

The easiest way to figure out how you want a space to look is to start by clearing it out entirely. If you’re working in a room, empty out all of the home accessories, including the wall decor.

While you’re removing them, sort them into groups: accessories you want to keep, accessories you want to donate and accessories that just need to be thrown out. Certain home accessories may have sentimental value and it’s okay to keep these, but broken pieces or pieces that were impulse purchase or filler pieces should be donated.

Once you’ve removed everything, you can easily start putting things back; though not necessarily in the same place. Only return accessories that have sentimental value or that you felt you needed to keep to complete the space.

Less is More, Bigger is Better

There are two sayings in life that can really apply to home decor. When you take home accessories you really love and then surround them with filler items, those original accessories feel less important. In these instances, less is more.

Don’t overdo things, especially in specific rooms such as the bathroom or kitchen. Too many accessories will feel cluttered and in these spaces, you should opt for functional home accessories rather than decorative accessories. For example, clear jars to store rice, pasta or beans in.

When it comes to size, bigger is always better. Case in point: when you group several small home accessories together, you’ll find that they look cluttered. Meanwhile, if you have a large accessory, it feels more important, more special in the space. It draws attention to itself rather than competing with other home accessories in the same visual space.

Floral Arrangements

Fresh flowers, living plants and so forth can all really pull a space together, making it feel more lived in, comfortable and cozy. These home accessories do require maintenance, but can really pack a punch in any style of home decor whether it be contemporary, traditional or modern.

Home accessories are an important part of the space. From the little details of trinkets to table decor such as charger plates and everything in between, it’s important to bring these pieces into the space to help pull everything together. In the end, often the best way to create a visually appealing arrangement is to clear out your existing accessories and start from scratch; even if you’re reusing the same home accessories in a different arrangement. Images 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Modernize your home with visually enticing home accessories and decor!