How to Decorate a Dragon Room

Paint the wall the background color of the fabric swatch or picture you have selected. When the paint is dry, grid the wall into even sections, using a tape measure and yardstick. Pencil the grid lines very lightly.

Lay the picture or fabric out flat and fasten to a clipboard. Draw a grid to match the wall grid on a sheet of translucent paper, in exact proportion but smaller, obviously. Place the paper grid over the design.

Tape the baseboard and ceiling edge with painter's tape and begin sketching the contents of one block in the grid on its matching block on the wall. Start in one corner and work out and down -- or up. Sketch all the blocks surrounding that first block, using the pencil. Keep the lines light so they will disappear when you paint over them.

Paint the design in the first grid. Sketch the grids next to the surrounding grids and then paint the grids next to the first one. By keeping a border of sketched grids around the ones you are painting, you avoid accidentally smearing wet paint while you sketch each succeeding series of grids.

Stand back now and then to view the wall and make sure the design is transferring accurately. If you paint the wall in stages, begin each new session by adding a second coat to any dry design details that need stronger color. Seal the wall once it is finished with a coat of clear, non-yellowing lacquer.

Hang a large red silk lantern as a pendant lamp and place a red lacquered Chinese cabinet against a solid-color wall. Furnish the room with simple lines -- you can mix styles or go for all Chinese reproduction and antique pieces. Simple furniture will not compete with the dragon wall. Use embroidered silk throw pillows to balance the wall pattern, and hunt for a Chinese design carpet for the floor.