Many homeowners like to do their own decorating projects themselves. By doing your own decorating projects, you can ensure that your own style and personality come through your decorating. Here are 5 great DIY decorating projects that you can do for your home.

1. Paint the Walls
The easiest yet most effective way to give room a whole new look is by painting. Remember, the color of the walls is going to influence the entire room’s décor. If you begin a painting project, you want to be sure you do it properly and prepare the walls as needed. You may need to fill in any cracks and then sand them down, as you want the wall to be crack-free and smooth. You will need to first put on a coat of primer, and depending on the color and the saturation of the wall, you may have to put on a few coats of paint.

2. Install Molding on the Walls
With molding, you can instantly add a new touch to the walls. Molding will lend some interest and appeal to an otherwise boring wall. You have many choices of what type of molding you want. You might go with crown molding, which is installed at the top of the wall, or go a different route with a chair rail, which is installed in the middle. Before nailing it to the wall, paint or stain the molding first. The nail holes can then be touched up with paint afterward.

3. Personalize the Lampshades
If you can’t find the exact lampshade you’ve envisioned or just want to create something that shows your style, then consider designing your own lampshade. This is easier than it sounds. Simply take a white or cream-colored lampshade and cut figures or designs out of a dark paper such as black or red. Then tape the paper to the inside of the lampshade and you will have created a designer lampshade that reflects your own personal style. Add items to your lampshade such as embellishments and ribbon to personalize it as well.

4. Make Your Own Artwork for the Walls
Even if you can’t paint or draw very well, that doesn’t mean you can’t come up with your very own artwork to hang on the walls or to place on a shelf in one of your bookcases. You just need to get creative. You can look around and use items you already have. Look around for photographs, postcards, and book images that you can hang on the wall. Another easy idea is to put together a collage of items found in nature. Another simple project is to take a frame or blank canvas and wrap it in a patterned fabric that fits in with the room’s décor. If you choose two or three different patterns and different sized frames, you can hang them together in a cluster on the wall.

5. Make Your Own Window Treatments
If you aren’t handy with a sewing machine or a needle and thread, there are many different non-sewing techniques you can use to make your own curtains. To create instant interest around a window, simply take a long silk scarf and drape it over a window curtain. You might also consider using such things as placemats and tablecloths to create instant window treatments. If you do sew, then find a pattern you like, pick out the fabric, and create the window treatments you’ve always envisioned for your home.

A DIY decorating project doesn’t have to necessarily be difficult. If you’re looking to decorate your house in your own personal style, these are just 5 of the many different projects you can do for your home.

People often prefer painted walls over wallpaper. But those people may be missing out on some of wallpaper’s advantages. In terms of design trends, wallpaper tends to go in and out of style. But no matter its popularity, here are 5 reasons to choose wallpaper for your walls.

1. Wallpaper Offers a Variety of Styles
When you use paint, all you can choose is the color of the walls. And if you are not handy with a paintbrush, you can usually choose only one color. On the other hand, wallpaper gives you much more variety to choose from. Wallpaper not only varies in color, but also in terms of patterns and textures as well. With paint you are quite limited, whereas with wallpaper you have thousands of options to pick from. In terms of wallpaper, the options are endless in terms of what you can choose for your home. You’ll be surprised at all the different types of wallpaper they make nowadays.

2. Wallpaper Can Help Disguise Imperfections
Wallpaper provides a great way to hide any imperfections or uneven surfaces on your walls. Since wallpaper covers the wall, a crack or dent won’t be visible anymore. Compared to paint, wallpaper does a much better job at disguising and imperfections.

3. Wallpaper Displays Your Real Personality and Interests
No matter what you happen to love, be it trees or boats, you can easily express that interest in your life with wallpaper. Wallpaper truly allows you to express your personality and showcase what interests you. No matter what hobby you want to show off, you will most likely be able to find wallpaper to go with it.

4. Wallpaper Can Improve the Appearance of the Room
Wallpaper can make a room look much better than it did before. Wallpaper can work wonders at bringing together different elements of the room into a more cohesive style. Or you can use wallpaper to remedy other circumstances, such as making a small room look larger. Putting wallpaper on the walls is one of the biggest things you can do to change the style of a room. When wallpaper is pleasing to the eye and fits well with the style of the décor, it can actually look much more appealing than just paint on the walls.

5. Wallpaper Borders Are a Great Option for Extra Style
If you can’t decide whether to paint or wallpaper a room, try painting and adding a wallpaper border to the walls. This way, you can have the personalized style and added character wallpaper brings to the room without the big commitment wallpapering the whole wall entails. With a wallpaper border in the middle or at the top of the wall, you can incorporate more of your sense of style into the room.

As a home decorating tool, wallpaper is not going anywhere. Although according to décor trends it may come and go, there are permanent benefits to having wallpaper on your walls at all times.