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Decorating Rooms

A bare room with its areas of flat andfeatureless plasterwork is a blank canvaswhich can be embellished in manydifferent ways. Paint and wall coveringsobviously play their part, but there is alsoa wide range of other features which canhe added to the room to give it its ownpersonality. Some are purely decorative,but the majority are practical as well.

In the purely decorative departmentcome features such as cornices (crownmoldings) which run around the anglebetween wall and ceiling, friezes and panel mouldings used to frame door andwindow openings or groups of pictures,and even such things as recessedornamental niches for displaying treasures.

In the more practical group comewooden mouldings fitted to protect thefragile plaster surfaces. These includeskirtings (baseboards) fitted around thewalls at floor level, architraves (trims)around flush door and window openings,and dada (chair) rails to prevent furniture - especially chairs - fromdamaging the walls. Picture rails belong in this group too, allowing pictures andmirrors to be hung anywhere withouthaving to make new fixings.

On a larger scale are add-on featuressuch as wall panelling, which can hefixed to wall and ceiling surfaces as analternative to more usual wall coverings,and replacement doors and ornamentallire surrounds. These can set off achimney breast (fireplace projection) toexcellent effect even if the fireplace isnot in use.

The scheme is completed with theright choice of fittings - handles, catchesand so on - for the doors and windows,and also with the selection of hardwareto support curtains and drapes, whetherthis is a simple unobtrusive track or amore decorative pole. There is a hugerange of products to choose from in allof these categories.

Once everything else is in place, wallscan he brought to life by carefully chosenpaintings, photographs or prints. How they are framed makes all the difference to their impact.