You often see periods of time described as ‘charming’, the 1950s is a good example, as everything which comes from that era seems to be considered soft and sweet and elegant, and as a result many homes and designs are emulated on that famous 1950s charm.

The charm of 20th century decorating also tends to precede the 1950s, but few eras after the 50s are coveted for their charming decorating styles. So is this because the earlier periods really were more decorative and glamorous, or is a decorating style actually made charming?

When you can choose to rip out the floors and knock down walls of a 1950s home, but keep the exterior architecture because of its charm, is the 1950s really that charming, or is it just that you are able to choose the best parts of the decorating style, add your own style, and forget about the decorating disasters which must have been around at the time?

Do you ever buy things to decorate your home online? The internet is a fantastic tool and online shopping can save you a lot of time and money, not to mention allowing you to avoid the frustration of waiting in line, fighting with other shoppers, or making the trip to your favourite home wares store only to find they have run out of the stock you wanted.

So what are your tips for shopping for home wares online? How do you make up for the fact that you can’t touch and feel the fabrics and textures of throw cushions, rugs and sofas, to know that they will fit the style of your home decorating? Have you gone through trial and error with certain online home wares websites, and you now know that their ‘suede’ description is really more corduroy?

And how do you commit to a color you have seen online, without worrying that your monitor may not be calibrated to represent the true color of your purchase? Share your advice with us here.

When you have been following the basic decorating rules of keeping to a simple color palette of base color + accent, then you can reward your restraint by adding a brand new color to the mix.

It is important to remember to still remember your restraint in using your new color and stay strong in your base and accent color. However, when you are adding a brand new color to your home, make sure it really will have an impact. For example, if you have followed the charcoal base color and yellow accent color example, you will have a lot of whites, neutrals and wooden tones already.

Therefore, choose a color like hot pink to add to the mix. You could incorporate your new color through a wall art print featuring the new color, or choose a hot pink vase and fill it with equally hot pink tulips for the complete effect.

When we choose wall art for our home we like to choose art prints which mean something to us and generally that feeling is gained from simply studying the print and having it remind us of a time or a place which is important to our lives.

However, sometimes we are lucky enough to find out a bit more about the story behind a piece of wall art and this can often give us an even stronger connection to the piece. For example, the artist may have been suffering a loss similar to one you have experienced at the time they painted a piece of wall art you are admiring. Or perhaps you are admiring a giclee print of a painting the artist created for their bride-to-be, and you too are looking for a gift for your fiancée.

But there are some people out there who revel in the story behind the story, and this was proven to me recently upon hearing a wine maker tell me the history of his winery and its founders, and how it subsequently got its name – only to finish the story by telling me all of that was untrue and a story he told for the tourists who wanted to hear a bit of intrigue.

So while it’s interesting to hear a story about your wall art, do you care if it’s true?

When does an era become charming when looking at its decorating style? The 1950s is a good example of a time which is always described as charming, when talking about the architecture, the art, the colors…

And many eras before the 1950s are also described as charming, so is it simply that an era needs to be more than 60 years ago to be considered charming, because the decorating styles from the decades following the 1950s are certainly not yet considered charming. The decorating styles from the 1960s and ’70s for example, are things which most people would rather forget about, than try to emulate in their own homes.

Or is it simply that the people who made the decorating decisions in the 1950s and earlier are generally not around anymore, to cringe at the decisions of their youth – after all, haven’t we all looked back at old photos and video of ourselves to wonder what on earth we were thinking?

Now comes the really fun part of your colourful home decorating project because you get to add colorful and unique accessories in your bright accent color – this is why it’s important to choose colors you really love, because chances are at this stage you’ll find you already have a few accessories in your accent color.

In this case the accent color is yellow, and you’re not restricted to just one shade of yellow – go out and use the same tone of yellow, but in both lighter and darker shades. This means if you’ve chosen an orangey-yellow, don’t add a baby yellow vase.

But anything and everything can display your accent color so choose yellow flowers, in a yellow vase, and the green of the stems adds another neutral color and softens the impact of the bright accent. Bring out books with covers and spines in your accent color and drape a string of yellow beads over the corner of a mirror.

Yellow has a reputation as a bit of an ‘airy fairy’ color and typically is reserved for decorating a child’s room, or as the favourite color in a woman’s wardrobe. However, yellow also has the ability to be a strong color and is perfect for creating a hunting lodge style feel to your home.

Start in the lounge room and just add a few yellow accessories. Yes a yellow flower or two, as well as wallpaper with a black and yellow pattern perhaps? This then gives you a color pallet to work with which is very accepting of natural tones like any shade of brown, and a cream or two thrown in as a throw cushion.

This color pallet also allows you to use other natural influences like wooden furniture and photo frame, but stop short of adding wooden panelling and floorboards as well, instead go for polished concrete floors, and exposed brick walls.

I have a friend who is famous for unwrapping her presents painfully slowly so as to salvage the wrapping paper. I’m not entirely sure what she does with her collection of wrapping paper, but she is an artist of sorts and very creative.

Of course this bedroom decorating idea can be done with brand new wrapping paper just as easily as with a collection of previously wrapped paper, the choice is yours, but you do want to make sure at least some of the patterns match the existing room’s decor.

What you are doing is wrapping up your bed head. You may have a plain white gloss bed head, or an old laminate wood one, but whatever you have now needs an update right? Well in heading out to choose some wrapping paper which appeals to your style, you can easily cover over what you have with something colourful and personal, not to mention creative and fun – and affordable!

When adding color and redecorating your home, commit to the colors you have chosen and really use them. This means no feature walls!

Also, in keeping all of your walls the same charcoal color we have already chosen, you have a lot more freedom to decorate and can make anything into a feature in your home. Also, while you’re painting the walls, you may also like to continue onto the ceiling. Not only will you save yourself time on masking off your architraves, but the continuous color will make the ceilings appear higher.

You should also make sure you take note of the color of your flooring at this point, as well as major furniture items like your lounge suite set and your dining room setting. These are part of your base color scheme too, so keep to a neutral theme with similar wood grain in your floorboards and your dining table, and a bright white sofa will look great against your charcoal walls.

A giclee print is one which has been reprinted from an original artwork by taking a high resolution photo of the original wall art print, and reprinting it onto canvas to create a very authentic looking reproduction art print.

This is a great way for artists to sell more of their work because it is a lot quicker to reprint and sell  giclee print than to paint and sell an original from scratch. Plus, an artists’ work becomes more widely known as giclees are generally a lot more affordable than an original art print.

However, there are people who will always want an original piece of wall art for their home and are willing to pay whatever they have to to get it. But how many of those people are really out there and what do you think of giclee prints? Do you support artists sharing their work with more people in this way, or would you not display a giclee print out of principle?