Redesign a Room...Celebrity-Style! :

Ever wonder how celebrities get their amazing bodies? There's really no secret -- it's a healthy diet and an effective fitness routine. Let eDiets show you the way to a Hollywood-hot body! You can lose 10 lbs. in just 5 weeks! Click here to get started today!

I suffer from celebrity envy. Oh, it’s not just the money. And it’s definitely not the fame (which too often lapses into infamy – hi, Paris Hilton!). But I sigh with jealousy over those picturesque magazine spreads of celebrity homes. They usually portray The Famous One casually lounging on a pristine white couch in the midst of a spacious, fabulously decorated, oh-so-chic living room. Then they show the bathroom that’s always bigger than my living room….and I'm filled with longing.

The problem trying to emulate such grandeur on your own: It's as dangerous as an amateur magician attempting an underwater-wrapped-in-chains trick. You just may drown in your own ambition. I recognized the dangers only after almost suffocating myself with contact paper. It seemed like such a simple solution. And the pattern almost perfectly matched the exquisite wallpaper (but not so exquisite price) that I had seen in one of those celebrity magazine articles on homes of the rich and famous. But putting it up wasn't so easy: First, I had difficulties separating the paper lining from the adhesive, and then when I did, it all snarled up. As I attempted to unsnarl it, I somehow snared my hair, and in seeking to free my tresses, I snaked the contact paper around my neck. Not a pretty sight.

After many such trials and even more errors, here are my solutions for a successful do-it-yourself celebrity-style home improvement project:

Solution One: KISS the Celebrity.
"Keep It Simple, Sweetheart," when it comes to copying a celebrity's estate. Use their homes for ideas and don't try to create a cheap copy. For example, if you love the sea-green and sky-blue color scheme of your favorite actress's living room, go with those colors for painting the walls. Then look for furniture and accessories in those colors. That way, you're freed from going to the extreme of trying to find the exact matches for their $5,000 teal couch with the silk-covered pillows.

Solution Two: Limit Yourself to One Really Expensive "I Always Wanted It" Purchase
I have a friend who decided to take her kitchen for her DIY project. Initially, she wanted to create an exact low-budget version of a movie producer's huge kitchen, which had accessories that Julia Child would have envied. Halfway through her project, she realized that all her purchases looked, well, cheap. That supposedly "perfect" plastic version of the celebrity's ornate counter, for example, would have made a great dollar-store type of product. But it wasn't anything she wanted to live with long-term.

Continue reading »