Home Decor Accessories – The Finishing Touch in Home Interiors

You already know how to accessorize your clothing suits. Now, let’s accessorize your furniture suites.

It’s All About Personal Style.

Wardrobe outfits are completed by accessorizing with the right shoes, jewelry, a scarf, maybe a hat. Home decor is completed by accessorizing your furniture with decorating items such as area rugs, lamps, candle holders, wall hangings, vases, and plants.

As with your wardrobe, accessorizing your home reflects your personal style. Your home decor should be an expression of yourself, not a display of current trends, or an image out of a home interiors magazine. Others have purchased the same furniture; how it looks in your home, with your choice of lamps and other home décor accessories, is unique.

Accessories Fill the Empty Spaces.

You’ve purchased and placed your furniture. Now, look at the “spaces” on the floor and walls surrounding your furniture. Decide what home décor accessories would best fit those spaces.

Choose An Accent Color or a Color Scheme.

Use of color in home decor unites the items in a particular room. The eye is drawn toward a splash of color, and your accent color, or various values of it, appearing in strategic places around the room, will tie your furniture and accessories together to create a coordinated look. Oftentimes, your furniture and carpeting will be in neutral colors, to make them more timeless, and your accessories will contain your accent colors, which can be “trendy” and easily changed when you desire a new look. You may decide to carry a color scheme throughout several rooms, or a full floor of your home, so that the eye sees a smooth transition as you walk from room to room.

Establish a Focal Point.

A room’s focal point is any unique item that catches the eye or defines your room’s color scheme. Examples: wall clock, framed art, fabric art, bedspread, chandelier. A vivid color or pattern in an upholstered furniture item, like a sofa or chair, can also set the color scheme, or serve as the focal point in a room.

Lighting.

According to how you use a particular room, decide what types of lamps are appropriate.

Reading lamps are placed next to or behind a reading chair. Accent lamps for watching TV or socializing provide softer lighting and are placed on any surface, on the floor, or hanging from the ceiling.

The very softest lighting — for bathing, dining, meditation, romance — is provided by candles. Candle lamps, wall sconces, chandeliers, and table-top candle holders provide a variety of options for bringing the alluring light of candles into your home decor. Having candles in designated candle holders in every room also provides a convenient and safe source of lighting at times when the electric power goes out. (Keep matches handy in each room for lighting candles!)

Wall Hangings.

Observe the wall space left between and above your furniture pieces. Determine the size of the item that would best fit that space. Or, you may wish to assemble a montage of items across a large wall space; over the sofa, for instance. A recessed wall is a perfect space for a montage of framed photos.

Plants, Vases, Figurines or Specialty Candles. These items fill spaces on the floor, on table tops, on shelves, and on pedestals.

Books, Collectibles and Miscellaneous Treasures. These serve as conversation pieces that tell a story about who you are, your special interests, and where you’ve been in your travels. Don’t overdue; less is more. Allow sufficient space for your unique items to stand out and be noticed.

To Summarize … We accessorize in home decor for two main reasons. One is to complete a room that is just being set up, say, in a new home. The second is to update a room to change the look and feel, without having to purchase new furniture. In either instance, you are creating a home decor environment that comforts and pleases you.

Enjoy the process of choosing your rugs, wall hangings, lamps, candles and candleholders, vases and other home décor accessories. Make a list of the type, size and color of items that will fit in particular spaces, then shop for those home décor items specifically.

Be daring! Be confident! Follow your instincts! Surround yourself with things you consider beautiful. In doing so, you will create an environment in your home decor that expresses your individual style — a place that you can truly call your own.

Celebrating Halloween – Tips and Tricks for a Fun and not so Scary Event!

Halloween isn’t just for kids anymore. In fact it seems that more and more adults – young and old – and especially singles, are celebrating this holiday. It’s a great opportunity to meet new friends and a possible date while disguised! So for a truly awesome, no not gruesome, Halloween get-together, follow the tips and tricks here.

Set the mood! Yes, you do need to decorate for the season. And like most other major holidays, a tree is in order, only this one is more twiggy, and black in appearance, and bedecked and festooned with spider webs, (yes, you can used the left over Christmas angel hair), ghostly goblins, pumpkin ornaments, and howling witches. There is a large assortment of Halloween ornaments readily available and you can always make your own. Just check in with Pier 1 Imports, Bed Bath and Beyond, Linen’s and Things, Seasonal Concepts, and even your local Hallmark Store. Beyond the Halloween Tree, you’ll want to consider adding some festive lights (ghosts and pumpkins are most popular) to an outside railing or surrounding the door, you can even run these up a stair rail inside and around windows. You aren’t going for elegant, this is Halloween.

Okay, so you’ve got the tree planned, the lights ready, now add a Halloween wreath to the door or better yet, a favorite skeleton that glows in the dark to really add some spook. Certainly strategically placed webs with large black spiders are effective, and it isn’t complete without jack o lanterns lining the walkway and greeting visitors at the door. Make it interactive, and ask everyone to bring a carved pumpkin, you can supply the candles. It is a great ice breaker, and you can always come up with a prize for the scariest, most creative, most recognizeable, biggest and more.

Of course, you will need invitations, and in this high tech age, it’s a lot more fun and unusual to get an invite by snail mail with a follow up by email, rather than just another evite. Why not include a set of pumpkin seeds and roasting instructions. You can either provide the food, or do it pot luck style, but make it easy and ask for specific types of dishes.

Not interested in sponsoring a pumpkin carving contest? How about a mask decorating soiree and you provide the goodies and masks to decorate with (order in bulk from an online party source.) You could even include a cape decorating festivity, ordering a dozen or more from a local party supply store. You could ask guests to bring a Halloween ornament for the tree. It’s important to make this interactive and a good way to mingle. Be sure to award favors and prizes liberally, so everyone goes home a winner.

How to Arrange Frames and Collages for Decor

Hanging frames or collages on walls in the home not only adds a nice touch to entire room, it is also an essential part of interior decorating. Rooms with nothing on the walls tend to be boring and bland. Other people visiting the home might then consider the personality of the person to be the same as the feeling of the home. It is easy to add a little excitement to walls of the home. Creating picture collages is a fun way to spruce up the walls. Collages can be playful or sophisticated. Determining how to arrange them is the key.

Picture frames come in a variety of sizes and shapes. If on a strict budget, it is even possible to make the picture frames. Depending on how the collage will be grouped, frames can all be matching colors or they can be mixed. It really depends on personal choice. Some people prefer one way or the other, but there is no definite correct answer. Matching frames tend to have a more sophisticated look, but mixed frames that are arranged just right can produce the same look as well.

Generally, hang frames at eye level. If the home has very high ceilings, it may be necessary to hang them a little bit higher. There are many great ideas for how the frames can be arranged. A large variety of family photos is an excellent way to add a warm, homey feeling to any room. Place the photos in different sizes and shapes of picture frames. Then create a mosaic pattern or other shape with the photos. Using all black photo frames will really make this design stand out. Keep in mind how adding new photos might fit into the pattern.

Photos can also be placed on ledges or shelves to create an attractive look. If hanging photos in a stairwell, adjust the photos with angle of the stairs. Generally, photos look better if they are grouped or placed in collages. Single photos that are placed throughout the home tend to disappear into the wall. Placing one small frame on a huge wall is not recommended. If photos are not available, artwork can be used in a similar fashion. Framing artwork in all the same size photo frames and placing the photos close together can create the illusion of one huge piece of art. This can be an interesting addition to any home decor.