Home Decorating For Dummies
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Wall-to-wall carpeting fills the floor area with pattern, color, and texture. An area rug is an accessory that defines a special spot in a room. Both can be used to update a room. Sometimes, just changing your floor covering can give a room a whole new look.

Carpeting has many advantages. When properly padded, it’s extremely comfortable and among the least expensive floorcoverings. As if that weren’t enough, carpeting muffles noise and doubles as a sound controller.

Carpeting can assume either a very laid-back or a very in-your-face role. If you pick a show-off pattern, keep the upholstery and window treatments in a solid or all-over pattern or texture that doesn’t compete with the carpeting.

Commercial-grade carpeting is slightly more expensive than residential-grade carpeting, but it’s well worth the price if you intend to keep it for a long time.

Don’t use ordinary carpeting in baths and kitchens. Look for bathroom carpeting (which can be laundered) and kitchen carpeting (which doesn’t allow water to pass through to the floor beneath). If you’re happier scrubbing hard-wear areas, combining kitchen carpeting in the kitchen/dining area with ceramic or vinyl tile in a sink and stove work area can be a great idea.

Be sure to use the correct padding with the carpeting you choose. Ask the salesperson for guidance in choosing the right one. And, to protect your investment, ask your carpet dealer about a stain-resistant protective coating to prolong your carpet’s life.

Rugs come in many different sizes. But generally, a rug covers most of the floor, while an area rug defines a smaller area.

Wood and carpeting or wood and an area rug are great for a dining room. Generally, the busier a wal
Credit: Photograph courtesy Brewster Wallcoverings, Toile Impressions collection
Wood and carpeting or wood and an area rug are great for a dining room. Generally, the busier a wallcovering, the quieter the floor.

Rugs are manufactured in several different ways: machine-made, handmade, and homemade. Machine-made rugs are the most plentiful and least expensive. Handmade rugs are costly but may increase in value over time. Homemade rugs have tremendous charm perfect for Country and Cottage interiors.

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Katharine Kaye McMillan, former senior editor of a New York City-based national magazine, is a writer whose work appears regularly in magazines and newspapers. She is a contributing writer to internationally circulated Florida Design Magazine. She is the co-author of several books on decorating and design, including Sun Country Style, which is the basis for licensed signature collections of furniture and accessories by three leading American manufacturers and importers. A graduate of the University of Texas in Austin, she holds a masters degree in psychology and is a doctoral student in psychology at Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida.

Patricia Hart McMillan is a nationally known interior designer, whose interior design work for private clients, designer showcases, and corporations has appeared in publications worldwide, including the New York Times and USA Today. Known as a trend spotter and for clearly articulated views on design, she is quoted frequently and extensively in both trade and consumer publications. She a ppears on TV and talk radio. A prolific writer, she is coauthor and author of seven books on interior design and decoration, with Sun Country Style signature collections of furniture based on two books. She has taught decorating courses at several colleges and conducted numerous seminars across the U.S. She is decorating editor for Christian Woman Magazine and reports on design trends for The Sun-Sentinel, a Tribune newspaper based in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. She has been editor-in-chief of two publications and was head of a New York City-based public relations firm representing some of the most prestigious names in home furnishing and building products. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, with a minor in art history (with an emphasis in architecture), from the State University of New York (New Paltz). She was awarded a certificate from The New York School of Interior Design.

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