QNE_p039

QC03172016

 AT HOME By Tresa Erickson Take a look around your home. What do you see? Furniture, artwork and plants? Beyond that, what do you see? If you live in an older home, you might see a lot from the wainscoting in the dining room to the coffered ceiling in the living room. Generally, the older the home, the more charm and character it has. While newer homes are nice and tend to come with fewer problems, they often lack in character. Today’s construction methods and materials are different, and the homes being built reflect that. Fortunately, there are some easy ways to put back some charm into a newer home. Molding can do wonders for adding character, and it doesn’t have to break the bank. Crown molding is fairly inexpensive, easy to install and can bring substantial charm to a room. So can chair rails, panel molding and decorative molding. If you have a larger budget, a coffered ceiling will instantly add charm to any room. Walk into any historic home, and you’ll see a lot of wood. You can make a big difference in your home simply by adding more wood with wainscoting, molding and more. You can upgrade the newel posts on stairs, replace fireplace mantels with vintage ones and trade out carpet for hardwood. If hardwood is too expensive, consider laminate. It is budget-friendly, very durable and many brands resemble real hardwood. Hardware and lighting are two more areas where you can easily and inexpensively add some charm. Shop around for vintage hardware and lighting as well as reproductions and install whatever you find. Trade out those cheap brass doorknobs for crystal doorknobs and those ceiling fans for chandeliers. Add some medallions above the chandeliers and some sconces to the wall for even more character. Not too handy? No problem. You can add charm with accessories. You’ll uncover many unique finds at antique stores, consignment shops and thrift stores. You’ll also find some great vintage reproductions at big box stores. Check with family and friends as well. Who knows what heirlooms they might be willing to part with. Imagine how much more character you could add to your guest room with your aunt’s old antique brass bed and a colorful, old quilt on top. There are dozens of things you can do to make a new home more charming. Consult design magazines and blogs for further tips. Have a look online. You’re sure to come up with all kinds of ideas in addition to the ones listed here. Character & Charm


QC03172016
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