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Arts and crafts

Although many people only think of arts and crafts as fun things to do on a rainy day, the fact of the matter is that they can be (and often are) used for decorating as well.

What is known as the arts and crafts period lasted from the time of the late 1800s until the early 1900s. This is a style that is probably best known for the influence given to it from Medieval, Gothic and Oriental styles.

In general, arts and crafts-era furniture is handmade and includes carvings and natural colors. They can be made from materials like ceramic, pewter, copper and iron.

If you want to be able to decorate in the arts and crafts style, here are a few tips:

• Plan the color palate – Arts and crafts-era decorations are most often subdued tones that are taken from the middle-ages and are earthy and warm. A good idea is to have some kind of an ivory or cream base and then embellish that base by including colors like sapphire blue, mossy green, deep red or burnished brown.

• Use hardwood floors – Hardwood floors have a kind of arts and crafts feel to them. You can use either long boards or parquet squares. When creating an arts and crafts-era feel, you may want to stain the wood a dark color.

• Look for furniture – Any of the furniture that you want to use that is designed to look like it is from the arts and crafts era should have broad, high backs and arms that are set far apart. This furniture often takes on some kind of a rectangular or a boxed shape.

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