Choose a few beautiful accessories for a simple, elegant look.

Have you grown tired of your home's interior design? Are decorating choices that seemed great ten years ago starting to look a little outdated? If you're ready to give your rooms a new look, but not up to the task of a complete remodeling job, adding a few choice design elements can help you create new moods and shift your home's style without tearing down the walls.

Vickey Ward holds a B.S. in Interiors from Texas Christian University and specializes in whole-house design. She has more than 25 years in the business and has been with Expo Design Center for more than three years. Vickey's design style trends more to the classics, and her past accomplishments include winning Best of Show at the 1997 Kaleidoscope Home Show, where she and her team won 1st place in 7 out of 8 categories. Here she offers some easy and potentially inexpensive ideas for giving your home a fresh new look:

• Add an area rug to give a room focus.
  Start by sprucing up your floors. Adding a nice area rug could give a room just the focus it needs. Use color, pattern and size to create the motif.
  
• Layer rugs for a European look.
  Layering area rugs over carpet can help conceal problem areas and give your home a sophisticated, European look and feel.
  
• Transform walls with artwork.
  Add interest to walls with framed art. Whether it's classic or contemporary, originals or replicas, the right choice of both artwork and frame can transform a room.
  
• Change mood with new window treatments.
  You can completely change the feel of a space by simply changing your window treatments. By choosing from different materials, you can make the room more cozy or light and airy.
  
• Choose quality accessories.
  Be selective with your accessories. One or two quality pieces will make a strong statement and set the tone for the room. Overdoing it, on the other hand, can create too many competing ideas and lead to a cluttered appearance.

For more about home design, check out the following websites:

Expo Design Center
www.expo.com

The Home Depot
www.homedepot.com