Braided Rug: my mother made a braided rug for my kitchen by chain-stitching around and round an oval shape with embroidery floss on felt. She used the full 6 strands of floss to give it the braided effect, then once it was large enough finished off the felt border with pinking shears. It's really neat and a little more textured than gluing the thread down, which can end up looking flattened.

Loretta Sniarowski

Beginner's room box: Brenda & others new to designing own room box. Brenda has already decided a Real Estate office is her choice, so I suggest working from the inside out. Desks, chairs& file cabinets will be your largest pieces of furniture. Locate these items first collect some neat accessories along the way. Decide how many desks you want. Make some simple sketches of possibly floor plans. Once you sketch a general idea where the bigger items will be located, then you can get a general idea how big a box will fit your idea. You may want to start a list of items that you might want in your "room". Such as telephones, maps, file folders, brochures, bulletin board for photos of "homes for sale"... a list will help you remember the little important items special to YOUR scene. I hate it when I get mostly finished with a project & remember that the miniature store had that one item I now need, but forgot to get when I was there.

Ann in AZ

Beginner's room box: Have you ever dreamed of a very special bedroom. My daughter always wanted to change something or other about her bedroom. Maybe you could build this special bedroom and then add a dress or other garment you have always wanted to own. This garment can be any of the ones others have already mentioned. A garment makes a bedroom look "lived in", instead of looking like a picture on a decorator's magazine.

**HINT** A chair in any room (except a bathroom) makes that room look more comfortable. The bathroom has its own "throne".

Ann in AZ

Beginner's room box: There are boxes made of plywood. These I have stained with a wood stain and put a clear polyurethane sealer over that. Some I have made of foamcore or wood that was not pretty enough to stain. These I covered with fabric or wrapping paper, the pretty paper you might use to wrap a gift. I usually put a picture frame on the front of my boxes to keep out the dust. This I fasten on with hinges.

Yes you can do the bedroom & bathroom in the same box, just make the box long enough for two rooms and put in a wall. You might want to make the wall shorter ( back to front) than the ends of your box. This way it looks like your girl could move from one room to the other without stepping outside of the box. Like a doorway without the door.

Ann in AZ

Beginner's room box: why not finish your roombox exterior to harmonize with the room where it will be displayed? And the idea in one of this weekend's SS to frame the open side with a picture frame is excellent. I had another suggestion for your teen scene -- Prom Night Through the Ages, with a current teen room, her mom's, and grandma's rooms, all with the same furniture (passed on in the family) but decorated appropriate to each person's time, with a period formal for each time hanging ready to put on.

Loretta.Sniarowski

Beginner's room box: You can make a closet in the corner of your roombox out of foamcore. I can envision being able to catch a glimpse of a jumble of articles in the closet, shoes piled on the floor etc. I don't think that I would have the door open completely. That might draw eyes away from the details of the roombox itself.

Rusty

Braided Rug:

1. I make my rug 3 strands of embroidery thread.
2. There is a special type of turn that you make when making oval rugs so you don't have it kink and buckle the first few inner turns (the first couple hairpin turns), then I braid as normal.
3. Because of this special turn in the braid, I do the whole rug on a pin board with the "gluey" part of the interfacing up to meet the braid.
4. Once the rug is done I gently remove the pins area by area and iron to the interfacing.
5. If it goes into a kids dollhouse, then I also run a few stitches throughout the rug for extra stability.

Yes, it is convoluted, but I like the rugs when they are done. They are flat, flexible (great for cleaning scenes), and sturdy.

Sudie

Valentine box: My suggestion is a sweethearts "Table for two" setting either as a fine dinner, or what I would do is a garden setting under a tree with a small "white wire wicker" set with one of those umbrellas, and two place settings with a bouquet of red roses on the table.

Jacqui in Hilo, HI

PAINTING TIP: I enjoyed all the tips on how to steady your hand and brush while painting, but no one mentioned my favorite. I used it a lot just recently. (See above.) Someone said to relax, and that starts with your face and neck muscles. First loosen your lower jaw.No, you don't have to sit there with your mouth hanging open, just unclamp your teeth. Next, pry your tongue away from the roof of your mouth. Any time you concentrate, it is clamped up there behind your teeth and it does feel very odd if you just let it hang there in the middle of your mouth. But loosening your tongue muscles also loosens them in your neck, shoulder, arm and fingers and helps you paint that perfect delicate line.] I have no idea why this works.

Denise Pritchett/D'leprechaun, Bowie, MD

Wallpaper: wallpaper that is printed out is similar to real paper in that you have to match the pattern as you hang it. then hang the next piece edge to edge. if you use fixer matt or gloss depending on what it is supposed to be such as "tile" looks better slightly glossy. you will still be able to remove it with a wet paper towel and rubbing it. if you have a rough surface sand it first then printout your paper on card stock to help hide the under surface. if you need more of a pattern you can take it to a good printing shop and have them copy it for you such as when you find it in a magazine . if the printout is too short try a chair rail effect. When using floor print outs of wood or tile do the same fixing then matching of the pattern then coat it after instillation with an oilbased polyurethane. it gives it a polished look. and makes the seams less visible. using other papers-- try using fixer on both sided and then try gluing to card stock first then hanging it into the house. when paper gets wet it expands try not to be too zealous about this . if you hung it flat as most of the creases come from over flattening instead of letting the paper dry and contract on its own.

Jane n Arkansas

Wallpaper: I just wanted to let you know that when I use the computer printed wallpaper I spray it with Krylon clear acrylic spray and the only time I had any problem was when I sprayed it on too heavily. A normal to light coat works fine, and I use Elmer's Rubber Cement to apply it to the walls. It removes easily if you want to take the wallpaper off. It just rubs off with no problem. It doesn't hold too quickly, however, so watch it for a couple of minutes. Anyway, I hope this helps somebody to use all of those great printable sites out there.

Sherry, in Arlington, TX

Wallpaper: I have a suggestion for an alternative for wallpaper and it works great. I made a Mexican Roombox for my sister and wanted a rustic type wallcovering.

First, I painted the walls (all before assembling) then I took tissue wrapping paper and rolled it into a ball, then I covered the wall with thinned white glue, then open the rolled ball of tissue and lay it carefully over the glued surface. Dab it with a damp sponge to flatten the paper against the wall. Let dry overnight. Then paint it with acrylic paint. I mixed my paints to give it a weathered look in beiges. It turned out great! I also did this on the outside of another house that I made and painted it in greys...looks terrific.

On the Mexican Roombox exterior I spackled that lightweight spackling and then stippled it with a sea sponge, let it dry overnight, and then painted it with the acrylics. Looks just like the outside of an adobe house.

Anita, Bel Air, MD

Fancy Ceilings: if you want a really elaborate plaster ceiling, get some of those mini findings that teepee crafts (and others) sell. they're not expensive, and the detail is nice and crisp.  Roll out a large sheet of plasticene to the size of your ceiling and build a wall around it. Press in the findings until you're happy with the result. Then make a plaster ceiling!

Alternatively, stick the findings on to a piece of card or thin wood (I like card cos it's smooth) and paint it.  The first way you get to keep the findings for another day.

Lynne Connolly

Textured walls: For a textured wall covering in a room box or house use either Flexstone brand or Stone Creations by Krylon brand spray paint. For interior walls you will need to illustration board the dimensions of your walls with cut outs for doors and windows.  Spray,  let dry 24 hours.  Spray with the clear sealer/ let dry overnight again. Glue to walls using Quick Grab Glue.****

I did the walls in the workshop with this and they came out looking like textured adobe. The box will soon house all my Native American / South Western / Mexican collection of furniture and pottery.Patricia / Redwood City, CA

Design Elements - #1 Proportions:

The Greeks discovered something about the difference between a ho-hum room and a beautiful one that isn't immediately noticeable until you have the secret. They called it "The Golden Mean" and it is like a small recipe. It says that you should think in percentages for color, mass, and even texture. You should have about 70% of any one thing; 25% of a related thing, and just 5% of a contrasting thing. So, if we take color or pattern as an example: If you paper the walls of a room (large percentage), then you can put a related stripe on a bedspread (the 25% item) and then, throw a contrasting color onto a pillow or two (the 5% thing).

It works also with texture: if you have decided to put wood grain on the walls and the floor (75% or more of a texture that's a very strong and dominant one) then put about 20% into a similarly strong texture (oriental rug, rag rug) and then stop with the dominant, strong-speaking textures. Put the upholstery fabrics into smooth. This principle is why English libraries look so grand; they put a lot of chintz with all that wood. By the way, if you have bookcases, the books add immense amounts of texture and line into a room. So, you need to consider calming down on adding more texture to avoid that busy, cluttered look.

This same principle goes for color, for amounts of furniture of the same bulk....you get the picture.

You'll also be able to trust your own instincts if you now look at pictures in House Beautiful versus any other house magazine; they have this principle down; they create brilliant rooms!

Elizabeth, Ann Arbor

Wrapping Paper as Wallpaper: . . . Put a piece of it in a sunny window for a week, if it doesn't fade, you could use it, also see what happens when it gets wet, does it bleed? Does it tear too easily? Some of the better papers, like Current sells, are very strong, but I never see anything with small enough patterns, in the catalog.

MAP in Puyallup

Interior Design Principle #2: Color. Color is and should be fun, but it has a lot of unexplained rules about how to use it that if not articulated, are hard to capture intuitively. It overlaps with the Golden Mean principle; you need to think about it in percentages. A lot of one color, some of a second, related color and a bit, a splash of a contrasting color for interest. So, for instance, if you are doing a room in which you want to use green, let's say, use 70% green (dark for this example), 24% lighter green from the same color way as the dark green, and then, perhaps a blue, cream, or even raspberry for contrast. This color-thinking applies to every place in the room you plan to use color; walls, floors, furniture. So, you could have dark green on the floor (rugs, tiles, painted floor as they do in the Caribbean), on the walls, and then use lighter green for the upholstering or cushions, and then toss your contrasting color on a few sofa cushions, or in a lampshade, or in the pictures on the walls. The curtains could be the lighter green too. Now, you could also use color as follows: The walls painted cream so that the shell of the room is used as museums do, to show off everything else. Museums tend to use neutrals to allow the paintings to pop off the walls at you. Grays, mushrooms, creams, beiges, camels...those kinds of colors. If you do this, you don't count the walls as part of the color selections. Then you can put a lot of your chosen main color on curtains, floors, fabrics, counters; wherever your room wants color.

Elizabeth Baxter, Ann Arbor

Interior Design Principle #3: Wallpaper is fun and yet very limiting. It is best to use the wallpaper as the central item from which all other decisions for the room's colors and patterns is derived. I have a fabulous English hand-painted paper in my bedroom now and it influences every other choice I make. If it weren't so gorgeous and beautifully made, I would change back to neutral walls, just to get back the variety of choice I used to have! Any way, look at the paper you have in mind. Notice the percentages of colors in it; which color is the most predominant? If it's flowers, it usually is the greens used in the stems and leaves. If it's another 'colorway', then maybe the stems and leaves are mostly blues. Then, step back from the paper and which color springs out at you the most? That's the color to use elsewhere in the room for accents at least. Now, the background color in a wallpaper is your 70% color, and is usually the best color to repeat in the trims, the baseboards and anything that directly touches on it. It also is a place to break that rule a bit too, if you want; for instance, if the pop-out color is cranberry let's say, you could do all the trim in that color. Then, you have to stop using the dramatic color anywhere else, because you have come to the edge of what will look dramatic and very tasteful, and when it will begin to look like a kindergarten room. The rest of the color in our 'cranberry' room needs to calm down to neutrals that also come from the paper.

Elizabeth, Ann Arbor

Wrapping Paper as Wallpaper: Good quality gift wrap, protected with a spritz of clear acrylic on both sides, works fine. You can also use the Wonder Under someone else mentioned to IRON fabric onto walls to get that ultra-coordinated Brooke look. Easiest in room boxes, but works if you cut posterboard templates to fit and iron the fabric onto that. Have even used it with "brick" quilt fabric to cover exteriors!

Loretta.Sniarowski

Color: Just to take the color essay a bit further, I often direct people who tell me that have no sense of color to look at fabrics and wallpapers for combinations that are pleasing to them. Notice that the professionals who design these articles seem to know just the right colors to use. Since imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, they won't mind you copying their color combinations. That's another good reason to start with the wallpaper or textiles like drapes, upholstery, bedspread, etc. By using those as your palette, you can hardly go wrong.

Sandra Olsen, Brevard, NC