Idea Houses

3 Amazing Idea Houses

Tour these houses and get valuable design tips and decorating secrets from the experts at Southern Living.

Photo: Van Chaplin

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Paint a Rug

Idea 4: Love a rug's color and sophistication, but hate having to vacuum and mop in the same room? Paint a design on your hardwoods.

Our Louisiana Idea House is just a few months old, but it's built of aged cypress, copper, and brick. Designer Connie Smith Howard and assistant Jessica Gilmore achieved a wonderful balance of comfort and style.

To give the dining room its own masterpiece, Connie designed a painted "rug" that lets the color and grain of the wood floor shine through. By applying wood stain and paint to the bare pine boards, decorative painters Marsha Nealy and Shelley Edgerton created an ornate center medallion surrounded by trailing vines and a scalloped border.

Take a virtual tour of the dining room.

Next: Sweet Summer Dreams

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