Easy, cost-effective decor upgrades to 'wow' your holiday guests

<h2 style="margin: 10pt 0in 0pt"><font size="3" color="#990000">Easy, cost-effective decor upgrades to ‘wow’ your holiday guests</font></h2><p><span style="line-height: 200%; font-family: ‘Verdana’,’sans-serif’; letter-spacing: 1pt; font-size: 10pt">(ARA) – Will this year’s holiday house guests be seeing the same drapes, throw pillows and wall decor they saw in your home last year? Or even the year before that?</span></p><span style="line-height: 200%; font-family: ‘Verdana’,’sans-serif’; letter-spacing: 1pt; font-size: 10pt"><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal">If your decor is looking tired – or you’re just plain tired of it – the holiday season is a good time to gift yourself with a few new items that will also refresh your home for guests. It’s easy to make a big decorating impact if you focus on sprucing up areas like windows, furnishings and walls. Consider these helpful hints:</p>  <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><strong>Windows</strong> </p>  <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal">The cheapest, most high-impact way to make windows look better is to wash them. Seriously. For the price of a roll of paper towels and some window cleaner – and some elbow grease – you can make your windows look great, not to mention brighten the entire room.</p>  <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal">Once your windows are sparkling, reward yourself for your hard work with some new window treatments. If the holiday hustle and bustle leaves little time for a run to the home decor store, online resources like <a href="http://SeventhAvenue.com" target="_blank">SeventhAvenue.com</a> make it fast and easy to shop for curtains. Whether you opt for traditional or contemporary, replace curtains in rooms where guests are most likely to gather, such as the kitchen, living room or family room. To top off the holiday spirit of your new curtains, replace standard tie-backs with some festive holiday bows.</p>  <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><strong>Furnishings</strong></p>  <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal">Replacing every stick of worn-looking furniture in your home’s "public areas" probably isn’t practical for your budget with the expenses of the holiday season looming. But you can refresh the furniture you have with a few simple steps:</p>  <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal">* Make sure it’s clean. Polish wood surfaces and vacuum upholstery. Dust and dirt will never be a designer statement.</p>  <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal">* Dress up older pieces with new cushions and pillows in eye-catching colors and patterns. A fresh pop of color can draw the eye away from less attractive surfaces.</p>  <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal">* If your furniture is just too tired-looking and replacing it is not in the budget, consider concealment. Slip covers and colorful throws are cost-effective ways to refresh older couches, loveseats, dining room chairs, armchairs and even recliners. Choose ones that accentuate your holiday theme, such as "Snowball" slip covers that offer a plush feel and bright colors in a material with a raised, snowball-like pattern. </p>  <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><strong>Walls</strong></p>  <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal">Walls are usually the largest design element in any room, and updating them can completely rewrite the profile of a space. </p>  <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal">Painting walls is a low-cost, low-labor way to refresh a room’s atmosphere and set the stage for a whole new look – even if you just put the same furniture back into the freshly painted room. Giving walls a fresh coat of paint is well within the capabilities for most do-it-yourselfers, but if you’ve never painted before or are hesitant to take on the project just before the holidays, there are other ways to liven up your walls.</p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"> </p><div style="text-align: center"><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,29,0" width="425" height="282"><param name="movie" value="../images/banners/10b.swf" /><param name="quality" value="high" /><param name="menu" value="false" /><param name="wmode" value="" /><embed src="../images/banners/10b.swf" wmode="" quality="high" menu="false" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="282"></embed></object></div>  <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal">Changing wall decor can be fast, effective and fun. Sometimes simply moving a well-loved piece of art from one room to another is enough to make you see the piece – and the room – in a new light. Or, if you crave something new without the hassle of in-store shopping during the holiday season, you can find wall decor from framed art and mirrors to wall hangings and tapestries online at websites like <a href="http://SeventhAvenue.com" target="_blank">SeventhAvenue.com</a>.</p>  <p><span style="line-height: 200%; font-family: ‘Verdana’,’sans-serif’; letter-spacing: 1pt; font-size: 10pt">The holidays and their hectic pace may make it hard to fight your own fatigue, but you don’t have to face the season – and all your house guests – with tired home decor. A few simple, cost-effective upgrades can make your home bright again this holiday season.</span></p></span>