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PAGE 8 - PLAINDE ALER - FRIDAY, MARCH 18,1883 Look to wallcoverings to give room whole new mood By LIS KING Yes. you can redecorate a room without going broke. The trick is to spend your money where it counts, and according to designer Jerry Pappia that place is the walls! "The walls represent the largest surface of most any room." explains Pappia, who designs wall and fabric fash­ ions for the Thomas Strahan Company. "So it's hardly sur­ prising that wallcoverings can work decorating miracles. Expanding space in small rooms, refreshing tired ones, and adding interest where needed are just a few of their talents. "As a matter of fact, it's enough to just put up a new wallcovering if your budget is really strained. Even if you leave everything else the way it was. the room will have an en­ tirely new look." But choosing among the thousands of designs and col­ ors may confuse first-time wallcovering shoppers, so Pappia offers some hints to narrow the choices: • To get started, you might look at patterns in the same style as your room. That is an almost foolproof method, if not terribly exciting. For more chic, try a design in the same period as your furniture, but in an unexpected color. Today's popular grid designs are de­ cidedly contemporary, for example, but in a soft color they will suit more traditional and country rooms as well. • If you don't have much furniture, go with a really dramatic wallcovering. It will help the room look furnished. • Coordinated wallcover­ ings are a boon to insecure do-it-yourself decorators. Lots of collections today offer a va­ riety of patterns and colors, all planned to go together, for use in the same or adjoining rooms. These groups often in­ clude fabrics, for draperies. pillows and such, automat­ ically giving you a profession- ally designed scheme. "Chelsea House" by Strahan and "Good Neighbors" by Style-Tex are good examples of collections featuring groups of go-together designs. • Got a tiny room you would like to save from its feeling of claustrophobia? Try a small- scaled pattern in light colors, a metallic wallcovering that will act almost as a mirror, or cer­ tain large-scaled designs that will lead the eye beyond the walls, thus creating an illusion of space Trellis-type patterns are among the designs that open up a room. • A too large room will look LENDER (JptitMi With Help From The First. If high interest rates are making you think twice before selling your home, a Home Improvement Loan from the First National Bank of McHenry may be your answer. A Home Improvement Loan secured by the equity in your home leaves your current first mortgage intact, so there's no need to refinance your current low-rate mortgage to a higher rate. Plus...Spring is a good time of the year to find construction and remodeling bargains. And with summer only months away you can complete your home improvement projects in time to relax and enjoy the warm weather. Whether your plans include paneling the family room, adding a fireplace, an extra bedroom or remodeling the ^ kitchen the First can make that "dream castle" come true. Our Loan Officers will be happy to discuss any of your home improvement plans. Serving the Banking Needs of the McHenry Area. MaTlOlNiaL BaiMK OF Vl'HBNRY , , V,M<'MfSTJw STREET V„ .MCHENRY... 385.5400 N WALLCOVERINGS from Stra ban's Brownstone collection add chic to inexpensive fur| ni(things from bargain basements and garage sales. «|fi 1) lllllllllllllli •HlftllllllllUIII MEMBER FD1C "cozier" if treated to a wall­ covering with dominant colors and design. A rousing plaid in the warmest of colors. and j | floral motif on a dark blue, green or burgundy back­ ground are good example- 01 designs that would minimize rooms of ball park pro­ portions. • Choose a pattern thai leads the eye upward, if your problem is low ceilings. A ver tical stripe would be perfect • To "lower the ceiling "of a too lofty room, break the height with a dado about half­ way up the wall, or find a wallcovering with horizontal stripes. • Any over-all design, from checks to florals, will do a lot to cover up the "broken-up" appearance of rooms with too many windows, doors and other irregularities. Also, use valances and draperies to match the walls to disguise an over-abundance of win­ dows, and paper the door* to match the walls. If the doors are the paneled type, cover up the inside of each panel, and paint the "frame" of each panel to co­ ordinate with the wallcover­ ing. • Old houses and apart­ ments may have exposed pipes. Cover them to match the rest of the room, and they will disappear right into the walls. • It helps to check out de­ signs right in the room to be decorated. For the light at home is often different than that of the store, and even ex­ perienced shoppers tend to suffer from amnesia when it 's time to match new patterns with carpets, pillows and other elements of the room. Mini-book versions of the usual bulky wallcovering col­ lections are Strahan's answer to this problem. The mini- book'can be purchased from retailers, or mail-ordered from Strahan. The first mail-order collec­ tion of this type is "Compo­ sitions," which features 128 styles, all handsomely tex­ tured and very versatile. De­ signs range from small coun­ try prints and perky plaids to grasscloths and linens. To mail-order the Compo­ sitions collection, send $5.95 to Strahan Wallcoverings, 10 New England Executive Park, Burlington, MA 01803. VARIETY: SPICE OF LIFE FOR MORTGAGES The Federal Home Loan Bank Board has added a new open end variable rate mort­ gage to its already burgeoning arsenal of mortgage types. Although the open end var­ iable rate mortgage gives sav­ ings and loan associations un­ limited power to vary interest rates, terms and monthly pay­ ments during the life of a mortgage, competition should keep payments within reason­ able bounds.