It’s time to tear up the house. As long as we’re stuck looking at the four walls until spring, redecorating the home is a great idea. However, for those artistically impaired, a task as simple as finding new wallpaper might seem overwhelming.
Enter the Internet to change all that. An increasing number of World Wide Web sites are offering home-decorating advice. There are sites that help you plan your kitchen, show you how to place furniture in the family room, and more than a few sites that suggest weekend projects that won’t blow the budget.
One of the more intrepid new businesses is Goodhome.com (goodhome.com), which offers furniture shopping with a twist. Visitors can chose from hundreds of items and then discover how they will look in different fabrics. Pre-selected fabric, drapery and wallpaper combinations help those who don’t want to try to mix and match. A custom area allows do-it-yourselfers to choose from 1,600 different fabrics.
The byword at Goodhome.com is “consumer friendly.” If it involves technical expertise, the site doesn’t have it.
“We make sure that you don’t have to use a plug-in, for instance, because for many consumers, a plug-in is a scary proposition,” said Marilyn Bellock, a former River Forest resident who now is the co-founder of New York-based site. Plug-ins are downloadable programs that allow computers to move objects or play sounds and movies on-line.
At Goodhome.com, consumers can experiment with new fabrics, view different room settings, save favorite items in a special file and buy items on-line. Soon, the site will allow users to see wood furniture in different finishes.
“We tell people to make their mistakes on-line,” Bellock said. “Don’t let them sit in your living room.”
The Goodhome.com site also has a magazine section with articles on decorating trends and design do’s and don’t’s. Soon, visitors will be able to submit their own room designs, created on-line, to a showcase section.
Living.com also lets visitors play interior designer on-line. Baffled do-it-yourselfers can create a room plan, using the dimensions of their own home, and shift furniture around. It’s fairly simple to use and allows the homeowner to get some idea of how much space that couch will take up in a cramped living room. A gallery section offers ideas and the magazine area has articles on decorating.
The furniture at Living.com can be purchased on-line.
Planning a room on-line is also the concept at Better Homes and Gardens’ Kitchen Arranger. At the BHG Online page (www.bhg.com), the Kitchen Arranger allows homeowners to plot a new kitchen using a grid and a Flash 4.0 plug-in. There’s a gallery of kitchen ideas and tips on materials, fixtures and appliances.
If the kitchen’s not a problem, you can brush up on painting tips at the BHG Decorative Painting Guide or tour show houses at Blueprint 2000. Articles change regularly.
House Beautiful (www.housebeautiful.com) has everything from decorating tips to an Interactive Interiors feature. Once again, the kitchen is the focus of the interactive site. The on-line program allows visitors to choose products from showcases by major manufacturers. Then you can combine them into your own room.
If window shopping is more fun than creating room designs, there are plenty of sites to browse. FurnitureFind.com (www.furniturefind.com) offers views of hundreds of products from rugs to bedroom sets. Buy at Home (www.buyathome.com) is an on-line store for antique items from commodes (honest!) to wine-and-cheese caddies.
View hundreds of sofas, dining room tables, even Austin Powers-inspired, swinging-bachelor furnishings at Furniture.com (www.furniture.com), which also offers a magazine with articles on home design and live chats with design experts.
Home theater systems, home office furniture, mattresses and more are on view at BeHome (www.behome.com). Bored with the usual florals and stripes on most wallpaper? Scan Totally Custom Wallpaper (www.totallycustomwallpaper.com) for something truly unusual. This company will take a favorite photograph or child’s drawing and turn it into a giant wall mural or border.
Well-placed sites
As long as you’re redoing the house, why not arrange the furniture to bring about prosperity, well-being and health? That’s the promise of feng shui (pronounced fung shway), an ancient Chinese art of placement. While it takes years to study the discipline, some on-line sites offer quick fixes for feng shui-impaired environments.
The World of Feng Shui (www.worldoffengshui.com), created by popular feng shui author Lillian Too, has articles, a trivia game, book reviews, a Tip of the Month, and lucky symbols for the year 2000.
Home Arts (www.homearts.com/depts/home/03fengb8.htm). The generally excellent
HomeArts page offers this link to feng shui cures. Pinpoint the problem area with your home office and check out the solutions.
Feng Shui Solutions (www.loop.com/(tilde)kartar/). Check out the Frequently Asked Questions for tips on furniture placement and other decorating dilemmas.
The Feng Shui Web Index (www.hawkfeather.com/fs/). Although it’s “under construction,” this site has links to just about everything feng shui.
