If you've just gotten back from an Italian vacation and are wondering encompass the same great style in your own home, it's much easier than you think. With the right pieces of decor and a few coats of paint, your home will feel like a Tuscan getaway in no time. Does this Spark an idea?
A Room's Walls
A simple change in wall color can update any space. It's an easy do-it-yourself trick, and it's not too expensive. A gallon of paint is under $30 and can transform a room. For an Italian-inspired space, choose colors that are warm in tone. Browns, oranges, yellows and olive greens are good choices.
A color isn't the only thing on walls to make a room feel as though its in the middle of Tuscany. The wall's texture is another factor. For a quick fix or a modern-Italian mix room, flat walls will do. However, for the full effect, add a faux finish to the walls as well.
HGTV's "Create a Tuscan Bath Retreat" author, Matt Fox, creates a faux-stucco effect by combining a latex satin base coat with joint compound. Creating a fan pattern with the mixture on the walls with more mixture in some areas than others helps create the stucco look in a room.
Furniture
When one thinks of Italian decor, "Old World" usually comes to mind. Antique-Italian furniture is the perfect addition to an Italian-themed room. However, it's easy to get the Old World look without having to have "old" furniture. Italian style is about warmth and a homey feeling.
Distressed wooden furniture is the key. Sturdy-wooden pieces like end tables that are a little worn on the edges add to the quality of a home that has lived through generations, like many Old-World Italian homes have. Floods of memories and family gatherings embody antique furniture, but even faux-antiques can pull similar thoughts out of guests in a room with this style.
Floor
While furniture is a major component of an Italian-inspired room, what it sits on is as equally important. The usual preferred flooring for an Italian room is terra-cotta tile. However, HGTV's look at "Tuscan Style" reveals that worn-wood and stone with mosaic-inlay are ways to achieve an Italian look as well.
Any of those flooring options, with an aged-looking throw rug, will help achieve an Italian feel to a room. If flooring isn't an option, a throw rug over your current floor will add a bit of Italy anyway.
Accents
The warm look and feel of an Italian-inspired room continue from the wall to the accent pieces. Throw pillows, throws and other decorations with warm hues and attitudes complete a Tuscan space. If you have a brown wall, try adding olive-green throw pillows with a yellow or gold-tone throw or curtains.
Decorative-glass pieces and mosaics are also popular in Italian style. Try a mosaic-table top with wooden or deep-red vases, or put mosaic-glass vases on your antiqued-wooden furniture. Get vases and glass pieces with the same family of colors to enhance the warmth in the room.
Wrought-iron is also a popular style in Italian rooms. Candle holders, lights and table bases can look Old World and antique with iron pieces. It also adds some contrast to the wood texture of the furniture.
Tags: achieve Italian, also popular, Italian style, Italian-inspired room, your home
