15 Elegant Ways to Decorate with Lace

When you think of lace, you might also think of wedding dresses, sheer window treatments, or your grandmother’s doilies. I know I do. But I never could have imagined how versatile lace really can be if you just use a little imagination. For a truly elegant decorative look that’s not overly feminine or frilly, check out some of these incredibly creative ideas for using lace all around your home.

Tabletop-with-lace-stencil-design-217x155

From the Ceiling to the Floor

There are lots of ways you can dress up a bland ceiling, but if you’re looking for something more subtle than a big mural, a skylight, or a bold color of paint, you could consider giving it a design treatment — like this lacey example featured on Bella Tucker that dazzles in the chandelier light.

Lace ceiling treatment lit up with chandelier

On the other hand, you could take the opposite route by giving a similar effect to your floors! Take a look at the blue lace floor treatment in this bedroom featured on HomeTalk.

Elegant Wall Art

You could use a simple square of lace fabric or a simple stencil design directly on the wall to create a fabulous area to hang your jewelry, like this example from House to Home. Alternatively, doilies make wonderful wall art solutions! Use them to make your own dreamcatchers, attach them right onto your walls, or frame them.

Don’t forget the windows! Rather than turning to typical lace sheers or curtains, try adding lace stencil designs to your windows for something a bit different — like this gorgeous example from Design Inspiration.

Lighting That Dazzles

Still have a bunch of doilies on hand? All you need is a balloon to create your own doily disco ball that lights up the entire room. Perfect for kids’ bedrooms, maybe the dining room, or anywhere else that can use a little dazzling mood lighting. Emmy Lizzy has the tutorial for this DIY project on her blog.

Doily lace lamp that projects designs on walls

If you’re looking for a stunning (but easy and cheap) way to dress up some regular tea light candles, you have to have a look at how the Budget Decorator does it, especially if you’d rather not spend any dough on expensive candle holders.

Dressing Up Garden & Kitchen

You don’t have to keep lace inside! In fact, doilies make perfect little planter holders — as demonstrated by these great hanging planters on Homedit. Similarly, A Beautiful Mess shows you how to dress up some boring old planters with lace design to give them more of a decorative, refined look.

Why stop there? Have a look at these tin kitchen supplies that have been decorated with lace and given a whole new look.

Lace tape used to dress up rustic kitchen accessories

Exquisitely Stenciled Furniture

So far, most of these examples have proven that you can put lace on almost anything else, so why not furniture too? Lace stencils and paint will be your best friend for this type of project, and the best part is that you don’t need much talent to get the job done! Have a look at this amazing dresser with lace stenciled on the drawers from Uniquely Chic Mosaics.

You could even opt for a super simple lace design, and add bolder colors to make them stand out. This plain chair from My Vintage Verve gets a nice upgraded look with just a simple golden streak of lace.

And lastly, what better way to spice up a bland table? Turn the tabletop into something that’s much more pleasing to the eye with a large piece of lace stencil and the paint color of your choice. Salvaged Inspirations has the right idea here.