28 Weekend Home Decorating Projects

While a fresh coat of colorful paint can revive a piece of furniture, you can take it a step further by adding pattern, too. Use paint pens to draw designs on drawer fronts, tabletops, and more.

Craft a simple entryway table from logs. Simply prop table-height sections of logs against a wall. Apply a clear coat to the logs to seal the wood.

Secondhand stores and flea markets are often chock-full of artwork. While the art may not be up your style alley, if the frames catch your eye, you have the makings of an art display you'll love. Simply discard the art and paint the frames fun colors that match your decor. Arrange the ensemble on a blank wall.

Give a plain lampshade a watercolor makeover. Moisten a large paintbrush with water, and sweep a wavelike pattern around the bottom of the shade. Tap wet paint into the pattern with a soft, round watercolor brush. (Use watercolor paint for paper lampshades and fabric paint for fabric shades.) The paint will bleed to the edges of the moistened area. After the paint dries, dot the wave with more paint in alternating colors. For dots that blend, paint them with edges touching.

Go global with your planters. Carefully cut an old globe in half with a utility knife. (Ours was coming apart at the equator, which made it easier to split.) Lift the base with plastic, and fill with soil and plants. Rest the globe on a plant stand or in a drainage dish to keep it upright.

With just bias tape, pushpins, and a few basic tools, you can weave this trellislike bulletin board.

Marbleizing is hot, and it's an easy DIY technique. For these canvases, we marbleized paper, then scanned it and sent the designs to a print center to be printed on canvases.

Give one wall in a room a dose of pattern with a stencil. It's less time-consuming than stenciling a whole room, and you'll need less paint. For subtle contrast, use a color for the pattern that is just a few shades lighter than the background.

Transform a tired hutch with paint and wallpaper. To start the makeover, remove all hardware and lightly sand the hutch to remove any flaking varnish and give the surface a texture that will help the paint adhere. Remove all drawers and doors, and tape off exposed glass. Paint the inside and outside of the hutch. Next, clean the hardware and give it a few coats of high-gloss spray paint. Let dry and reattach. For a finishing touch, trim wallpaper to fit the back of the cabinet. Mount according to wallpaper packaging or use spray adhesive. After wallpapering, reinstall the doors.

Rescue thrift-store frames with white paint and punchy paper. Paint the frames white and showcase pretty papers inside the frames. Choose coordinating patterns in different scales (small prints and large prints) to create a balanced look. Let the paper be the star, or top it with a wooden letter, a photo, or any object you love.

Add extra seating or a footrest to any room with a pretty pouf. Poufs can be pricey in stores, but this DIY version can be made for about $50 with our step-by-step instructions and free pattern.

Whether in an entryway or at the end of a hallway, a ledge table makes a graceful statement. Up the elegance by embellishing a table with embossed wallpaper (available at home centers). The paper on this table was given a DIY marble look by dipping crushed plastic wrap in gray paint, then gently daubing it onto the white-painted top. Draw the eye up with a trompe l'oeil ribbon. Paint a ribbon shape on the wall above the table, with a "bow" at the top. Hang a small mirror or series of frames inside the ribbon.

Kick up your walls with curvy circles. Arrange circular pieces on a wall, starting with the object you want to be in the middle. From there, build out your arrangement, ensuring that each piece touches an adjacent piece. This wall-art installment features a mix of round mirrors and painted embroidery hoops, some of which have fabric stretched inside of them.

Give a favorite photo prime placement in a room. Enlarge the photo and place it in an oversize frame. Surrounded by a crisp white mat and striking black frame, this textural photo of peonies commands attention.

Give a lamp a one-two punch of shine with ribbon and spray paint. Coat the base in a metallic-finish spray paint, and wrap shiny satin ribbon around the shade, securing in place with hot glue or pins.

Look at everyday items as potential masterpieces. Take photographs of a few interesting objects, and adjust the exposure, saturation, and color with a photo-editing program. Order large prints, and frame them on black mats in white frames. A black-and-white display like this looks sleek against a white wall but would also look chic hanging on a wall painted with a saturated hue.

Brighten a room without sacrificing privacy. Apply patterned window film to glass-front doors (or windows) to allow light from adjoining spaces to fill a dim room.

Rethink how you use curtain rods and plates to create a pretty wall display. Mount a curtain rod on a wall, and hang plates with ribbons woven through the pierced designs on the edges.

Dress a dresser with a large poster to give a plain piece punch. Prep the dresser front with a coat of primer and let dry. Measure the width and height of the chest, including the legs. Trim the artwork to size, making sure the design falls where you want it to. Cut out the pieces that will go on the legs (you'll apply them separately). Remove drawers and adhere the artwork to the dresser front using spray adhesive. Press the artwork to the dresser, starting at one edge and working your way across the piece. Let dry. Trim the paper along the drawer openings. Spray the drawers with adhesive, and apply the artwork to the drawer fronts. Trim and place the leg pieces on the dresser. Use a nail to poke the knob holes through the paper, and add decorative knobs.

Put a little zing in your powder room with wall decals. Easy to apply and affordable, these pockets of pattern give this bathroom just the right amount of shimmer.

Hide the contents of a console with pretty fabric panels. Cut pieces of fabric to fit the openings of your console, including seam allowances on all sides and enough fabric for a rod pocket. Hem the fabric on all sides, and make a rod pocket on the top edge. Put a tension rod through the pocket, and mount the rod inside the console cubby.

Accent plain roller shades with fabric. Have a retailer cut the shades to fit your windows. For each shade, remove the weight from the bottom pocket. Cut fusible web to fit the width of the shade, and iron it onto the back of fabric. Cut out the fabric and iron it into place on the shade. Spray-paint a cafe curtain rod, and insert it into the bottom pocket.

Add unique flair to a basic arrangement of photos with a tree motif. Achieve the silhouette with a wall decal, a stencil, or freehand painting. Hang family pictures in the "branches" for a whimsical look.