Create a Tuscan-Inspired Decorating Theme for any Room

In the past couple of years a Tuscan style of decorating has
become very popular in home decor. It's easy to see why...a
Tuscan inspired room stirs up visions of rural Italian
countrysides, worn wood furniture, old pottery, wrought iron
accessories, and warm earthy colors.

You can spend a lot of money buying beautiful Tuscan accessories
for your home. I have found that if you select a few choice
pieces and spend a little more on those, you can spend less on
other accessories, which is easier on your budget and no one will
be able to tell the difference.

My Tuscan decorating theme began with a large tapestry I
purchased for my family room. I found it at a local landscaping
nursery that also specializes in home decor. They happen to have
a large selection of beautiful Tuscan-inspired items. I also
purchased a smaller one for our master bedroom. The larger one
is hanging on a rod, and the smaller one is framed in an iron
frame that is shaped like a shuttered window (see picture).
These pieces cost between $100-$200 each, but that is the most I
have spent on any of my Tuscan decor. They are the focal pieces
for my other decorating accents. For smaller art pieces, I have
actually created my own with photos I have taken of flowers and
plants in our yard.

In our family room I have a small metal three-shelf bookcase that
looks rustic and garden themed. I purchased it several years ago
at Big Lots for about $20. I am using it as a plant stand and it
fits in well with the Tuscan theme.

One easy way to add some Italian feel to a room is to buy some
interesting pots and urns. I have found Pier One Imports to be a
good source for these. You can often find them at season-end
clearance sales. I have several in different shapes and colors.
Large ones you can place on the floor and smaller ones are great
for shelves, dressers, and entertainment centers.

One fairly inexpensive way to add some Tuscan decor to your room
is to update your curtain rods and drawer pulls. Curtain rods
you can replace one by one, as money allows. You can find some
beautiful wrought iron curtain rods that really add to a room. I
was getting ready to get rid of my old bedroom dressers I've had
since I was a teenager because they didn't match anything else in
our room when my husband came up with the idea to change the
drawer pulls on the drawers. We found some old rustic looking
pulls at Home Depot that changed the whole look of the dressers.

Curtains are another way to change the look of your room. I
bought some very inexpensive, beautiful bedroom curtains at Fred
Meyer that matched perfectly in our bedroom.

You can accessorize your Tuscan decor with lots of greenery. I
have vases of sunflowers set around the house, and grapevines set
here and there. You can find a variety of inexpensive greenery
at Walmart and Joann's. I have framed dried flower art hanging
in our bathrooms.

Old wood furniture is easy to come by. Shop at estate sales and
you will find some really great old pieces. One of my favorites
is a small cabinet that we paid about $10 for.

We didn't do any painting to update our rooms, but chose to work
with what we have. Our family room is a light tan, and our
bedroom a deep peach color. Both of these colors worked well
with the decorating scheme.

Fountains add a lot ambience to a room. One of the key
characteristics of a Tuscan inspired room is to bring the feel of
outdoors indoors, and one of the ways you can accomplish this is
with an indoor fountain. I found a small fountain that is
wrought iron with several little pots hanging on it that pour
into each other. It makes a beautiful sound, and finishes off
the overall look I was imagining for our Tuscan themed family
room.

Article by:

Pictures of rooms decorated with a Tuscan-inspired theme: www.creativehomemaking.com/home_decorating/tuscan-decor.shtml Rachel Paxton is a freelance writer and mom who is the author of What's for Dinner?, an e-cookbook containing more than 250 quick easy dinner ideas. For more recipes, gardening, organizing tips, home decorating, holiday hints, and more, visit Creative Homemaking at www.creativehomemaking.com.

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