... to your new (or your first!) issue of Dream Home Decorating News.
This month's issue comes with a novelty - an Ideas Video. I hope you'll enjoy it!

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Thanks for joining me today, and enjoy this issue!
Renate Hering-Shepherd

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1. Publisher's Note
2. New On The Site: Get Your Own Dream Home Decorating Page!
3. Featured Article: VIDEO: 30 Interior Decorating Ideas from the South of France
4. Legal Stuff

Publisher's Note

Get Your Own Page
On Dream Home Decorating.com!

• Read Cyndy's humorous "Tale of a Timid Remodeler",
• Take a peek into Maureen's superbly decorated lakeside log cabin in Canada,
• See how beautifully Lesley's bedroom turned out in the end,
• Find out how Stella transformed her family's bathroom with just a lick of fresh paint, and how
• Mary turned her small galley kitchen into a white dream space,
• or how Jinny re-created India in her living room!

The 30 Ideas Video

1. Adorn interior doors with unorthodox items: a beautiful tassel, a small decorative item dangling from the key or doorknob (e.g. a fine antique key on a colorful ribbon), or a framed & mounted antiques-shop find (fasten securely!)
2. Place a large ornamental pot (with or without a plant) near the foot of a flight of stairs.
3. Paint your light switches the same color as your wall to 'disappear' them visually.
4. Hang extra long curtains that drop into 'puddles' on the floor.
5. Create a small washbasin/splashback with mosaic tiles (great for uneven walls!)
6. Assemble a collection of treasures on a small side table for display in a hallway (underneath a mirror or picture) or in a corner of the room.
7. Display beautiful things above doorways (porcelain plates, pictures, ornaments).
8. A crystal chandelier is not for every type of room, but you could hang single glass crystals in a window (use translucent ribbon)to have them catch the sunlight and sparkle up the room.
9. Show off one fine piece (e.g. a porcelain vase) against a plain background, or combine it with several inexpensive, single-color ones to show off the 'star'.
10. Group similar things: colors, shapes, themes. (One matchbox on its own may not be desperately convincing, but 30 different ones, all colorful, presented in a box frame, amount to genuine wall art.
11. Use unusual items to hold up a wall shelf, or as bookends, or as doorstops.
12. Use beautiful things in your daily life: special bowls or plates, a fine spoon. Surround yourself with beauty – particularly in small things – as much as you can.
13. Have something on your table that rises above the rest – a footed bowl, a crystal cakestand.
14. If you make food preserves to give away or use at home, give them poetic labels.
15. If you have white crockery, throw in a few colored pieces that are not part of the set. Don't be slavish about matching colors.
16. A flat sheet that ends in a big knot doth a fine curtain make.
17. Find an antique garden gate to use as metal wall art on the back patio. (If it looks unremarkable, hang flowerpots from it, Italian-style).
18. Create a daybed from a single mattress wrapped in an old quilt or covered in a rugged, textured fabric. Accessorize with overstuffed cushions in loosely matching fabrics. Err on the side of simplicity.
19. Not everyone has outside space to their homes. Create an 'outsidey' space inside - with garden furniture, modular decking tiles, and plants.
20. Have your nicest china on view always. Hang some plates on the wall if you can.
21. Use interesting light sources – experiment with wire and suitable, strong papers to create your own, one-of-a-kind lighting designs. Surround these objects with space to enhance their perceived value.
22. Use some gold in a room – a stripe at chair rail height, or under the crown moulding (Caution: do NOT do this if the dominant metal color in the room is silver!)
23. Instead of buying a headboard, paint one on the wall behind a simple bedframe.
24. Exhibit beautiful kitchen objects in the kitchen or dining room.
25. If you have loads of pictures that could be grouped together, turn them into a display that reaches all the way to the ceiling.
26. Turn unusual items or materials into "headboards": a mirror, a wall hanging, a piece of fencing.
27. For a beautiful Mediterranean-style floor (e.g. in the conservatory), use a central 'area rug' of encaustic tiles surrounded by stained concrete flooring.
28. Plant an indoor 'flowerbed' in a large, securely lined wicker basket.
29. Create oases of tranquility by keeping surfaces largely free of clutter.
30. Mount antique light fixtures (or other fine antique pieces) on raw, natural backgrounds: an old tile, a slab of slate or wood. The contrast makes them look even more refined.

• French provincial bedrooms in the South & East of France
• French provincial bedroom decor on the Northern & Western coast, and in the Region of Paris
• Provençal 'designer' bedrooms
• French wall art
• French country bathrooms

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Legal Stuff