This summer brings new decorating trends. People are staying home more this season and addingnew touches of comfort and style to their spaces. According to www.design-decor-staging.com,“comfortable design, elegant style, luxurious materials and bright colors are back in favor. People arechoosing exotic materials, unique color combinations and exciting interior design ideas for verypersonal, peaceful and modern home decorating.”

On House & Garden’s inspirations site www.casssugar.com, they give kudos to IKEA for some uniqueand budget-friendly decorating tips, such as:

• Make a canopied tent with bright fabric
• Use a wide swatch of fabric, tacked to the wall, as a “wallpapered” headboard.
• Use tie-back curtains to create a private office nook in a bedroom
• Use multiple industrial pendant lamps, hung low over a dining table, to define the space in anopen-plan living space

On styledstagedsold.blogs.realtor.org they say that flashy painted patterns are back…think 80ssophisticated. “A budget friendly way to decorate a room and still have big impact is painted patterns.Patterned paint will likely be decorating more walls in 2012,” Debbie Zimmer, color expert at the PaintQuality Institute says, “from hound’s-tooth finishes, lacy designs, to bold color blocking techniques.”

And according to 2modern.com, menswear-inspired fabrics and patterns – plaids, houndstooth,herringbone and pinstripes – stand out as a new trend. Pinstriped walls or pinstriped upholstery onfurniture make a big statement, and lends to a streamlined, masculine look almost immediately. Andthey suggest trying pinstripe in more unexpected places, such as an accent wall.

So what’s your style? Check out this cool app on TLC.com that lets you build, color, and arrangefurniture to reveal your style. Whether it’s bold, elegant or exotic, make your decorating choices standout.