Decorating With Class

Foam Architecture Saves Money and Looks Fabulous!

Visit the VictoriaLarsen.com website for fabulous ideas to decorate your home with NO experience and very little expense.

Foam Architecture Saves Money and Looks Fabulous!

We're always looking for ways to add interest and detail to our homes without spending wads of money. Right?

Do as even some of the high end builders do and consider foam!

Companies now put out Architectural Foam pieces for interior and exterior use that look like stone, wood beams, concrete...yet they are light weight, inexpensive versions of the real thing. But no one can tell!
Check out the following website. You're in for a treat!

The Foam Center
This company seems to have it all. Corbels, doorway arches, trims and moldings and even ceiling medallions. GREAT prices! Bring you coffee and possibly your lunch! You will be here awhile, perusing some awesome things that will give you ideas galore!

Successfully Decorating in Contrasting Colors

Visit the VictoriaLarsen.com website for fabulous ideas to decorate your home with NO experience and very little expense.

Successfully Decorating in Contrasting Colors

OK, so I'm not real big on bright colors on walls (unless it's a single focal wall) but many are. It makes them feel a bit more "alive", a bit more "excited" and certainly more "cheerful". And with the economy worrying us all, what easier way to find a bit of cheer than to re-decorate a room.

On my last trip to see my family in Albuquerque, my Mother, Fay Forsythe, told me before I arrived that she'd painted her bathroom in purple and green. She didn't hear my inner thoughts as I said to myself: "Good grief Mother, what are you thinking!".

Once I arrived and she'd shown me what she did, I felt differently about it, nearly ashamed of myself for my instant judgment of her achievement merely because bright colors aren't my style.

I actually fell in love with her re-decorating because of "how" she did it. It wasn't the colors, it was the combination of them (soft with harsh) and her merchandising (her choice and display of decorative items). It was these things that really made the room come together elegantly.

Like "sweet and salty" together, she combined a very soft sage green with a brilliant and harsh deep purple.

Accents in gold and purple on opposing paint colors really draws you to the over all coordination of the room.

Pale cream paint on the wood work further contrasts yet helps to bring the color of the porcelain in to the over all decorating picture.


I didn't expect it to be so lovely....like a garden blooming in the midst of summer sun....it actually made me feel "good" in that room.

Simple coordinating touches like deep purple candle holders clustered together on an ornate gold shelf made the two colors seem to coordinate, rather than contrast.

OK Mom, I'm impressed......

So if you are considering contrasting colors in your decorating scheme, remember to accent only a little with the same colors on the contrasting painted wall, and to bring in a third or fourth accent color (gold, silver, bronze metalics are wonderful to add that feeling of elegance without having to match the existing colors) and to remember to include colors sparingly in your display items.

Make an Ornate Ceiling or Wall Medallion out of Foam and Plaster

Visit the VictoriaLarsen.com website for fabulous ideas to decorate your home with NO experience and very little expense.

Make an Ornate Ceiling or Wall Medallion out of foam and plaster



It was easy! I just took a round of foam from the craft store, covered it in joint compound, sanded it smooth, added a raised design and cast plaster center piece, stained it and painted the raised areas gold then added plastic crystals from the cast store.

See the full project:

Create beautiful Ceiling or Wall Medallion with Foam and Plaster

Use this technique to create removable wall art, attached ceiling or wall medallions, or do the same thing on a foam rectangle to create large wall panels. It's a kick in the pants!

For a medallion that's more durable (but much heavier), purchase raw wooden table rounds from your local Home Depot or Lowe's store and then do exactly the same technique. You don't even have to prime first!