The end of the last century and the beginning of this one has seen a rise in the interest in remodeling, flipping, and diy decorating. The popularity of home and garden and diy television networks has led viewers to embrace the notion that anyone could remodel and decorate their own house. Well, most can, but there are some in every group who's individual style is just this side of tacky. - not that tacky is bad. it's just . . . tacky.

Today I shudder to remember some regrettable trends that television redecorating shows have spawned. Here are four that immediately come to mind:

1. The idea you can stick anything on the wall and call it beautiful - hay, plastic bags, newspaper, or egg cartons. No matter what Hildy says, some things are just plain ugly.
2. The idea that every stick of furniture has to be painted. Sometimes natural wood is the best finish you can find..
3. The idea that you can;t live or have a perfectly beautiful and functional kitchen without "stainless steel appliances and granite countertops." There are any number of materials that can transform your space for less money and less upkeep.
4. The idea that all you have to do is buy an old house and slap some paint on it, plus add those "stainless steel appliances and granite countertops" to make a fortune in real estate. When you finish, sometimes all you have is a painted old money pit.

So watch home and garden shows as much as you would like, just remember that every idea they give you isn't a good one. Now on to put up my Christmas wreath - lovingly made from aluminum foil, paper clips and plastic cups. I got the idea on TV.

If you are decorating your room, it is important to remember that you need to avoid making your room look cluttered. One way is to make certain that each piece has importance. Of course, it has importance, you say. Why else would I put the freaking stuff out?

Well, dear freaking-out reader, there is a difference between importance and IMPORTANCE. You want each piece to mean something and hold it's own in the decor. That means placing each piece in such a way that it doesn't compete for attention with other pieces. If you have smaller pieces place them together so the whole can be seen as a major piece.

The object is to avoid having so much out that the eye has no place to rest and doesn't know where to look first. In other words, if your guests are cross-eyed and cranky by the time they leave your home, you might consider clearing out a few things.

There are ways to make your home even more personalized than favorite colors and furniture pieces. How! Letters. Wooden or plastic letters placed artfully on the walls or on shelves can be decorative and add a bit of whimsey to your décor. Think about organizing letters on a shelf as words that resonate in your life - like peace or overcome. Or use your initials on the wall, or the names of your children or spouse. Overdone they can be hokey, but used sparingly as an accent in your décor, they can be just the right touch to add interest.

For those of you who don't know, I am a privacy freak - especially at night. The thought of all those uncovered windows which let others look in without your knowledge give me the willies. Yet I love light in the daytime - lots of light. So the perfect solution for my kitchen window (the one across from the table where I sit and drink my tea at night) is cafe shutters. They give privacy by blocking the lower window and yet, with the top uncovered, they let in lots of light. The bonus? They were cheap and easy to make. If this sounds like a solution for you, visit my newest article and find out more about how to make your own.