Fall Holiday Seasonal Decorating

Fall Holiday Seasonal Decorating 

These fall seasonal holiday decorating - ideas include several no-hassle projects that are full of fall textures and colors. We love to share wonderful - seasonal holiday decorating ideas from Better Homes & Gardens.

Twist on - Traditional Holiday Seasonal Decorating
Festive tablescape sets the scene for fall holiday entertaining. Give your typical tableaux a twist by incorporating a non-fall color. Here, the bright sky blue plate breaks up the rich reds and vibrant oranges typically used in fall decorating. Try pairing plum or Bordeaux hues with golden yellows or sage or olive greens with chocolate browns.

Seasonal Tablescape Decorating
Embrace the bounty of beautiful fall colors with a seasonal tablescape. The star of this table is a stunning arrangement of late-blooming flowers mixed with bold red-orange leaves. Small gourds and pumpkins are also randomly placed around the table, creating a laid-back vibe perfect for fall entertaining.

Festive Holiday Seasonal Dishware
One of the easiest ways to bring a touch of fall character into your home is through dishware and table linens. This pretty table setting features fall favorite hues, including pumpkin oranges, maple reds, and straw yellows. A tiny gourd topped with an oversize bow functions as a festive place card. The gingham-print bow and napkin tie together all of the colors and add a splash of seasonal pattern.

For the Holidays Use a Leafy Table Runner
Easily transform an ordinary table runner into playful fall decor using nothing more than felt and hot glue. Purchase felt in autumn-inspired colors from your local crafts store. Trace different sizes of leaves and twigs onto the felt, cut them out, and place the pieces in a pleasing pattern onto the table runner. Adhere the twigs onto the surface first using a hot-glue gun to ensure correct placement of the leaves. Then glue down each leaf onto the top of one of the tiny twigs. The result is a festive table runner perfectly suited to fall entertaining & holiday events.

Natural Beauty
Creating a bold centerpiece can be done on a dime. In fact, you can re-create this fall seasonal - arrangement by just stepping outside. Simply comb your backyard for fallen leafy twigs and place the collection in a wide vase filled with water. Natural imperfections in the leaves, such as tiny holes or rumpled edges, add texture and create an authentic natural look.

Festive Furniture
Dress up your furniture with cozy items in seasonal colors. Here, a wicker chair is draped with a warm orange throw, and a maple leaf pillow sits comfortably on top. Perk up a plain pillow by enlarging a leaf using a copier to make a pattern. Cut the pattern out of wool felt and attach it to the pillow cover using iron-on fusible backing. Blanket-stitch around the edges.

Seasonal Shelf Display
Fill old jars with fall berries to bring the colors of fall to any shelf in your home. Comb your lawn for fallen branches or snip a collection of twigs off of a nearby tree and place a couple in each jar, scattering a few berry sprays along the surface of the mantel. Tiny white gourds add another dimension of seasonal decorating - textures.

Bookcase Beauty
Transform your everyday bookshelf into a fall display with a few simple tweaks. First, to create a consistent and graphic look, cover books with festive paper we love these tree- and floral-inspired prints. Then incorporate natural elements and accessories in fall hues.

Bookshelf Scenario
Artfully arrange fall decorating - items on a bookshelf or in an open cabinet. Put platters on their sides, fill vases with colorful flowers, and pile bowls with mini gourds to create a diverse display. Try heaping small items, such as acorns, bright berries, and sweet gum seedpods, into glass bowls. Adhere a dried fern frond to a platter with spray adhesive to embellish a simple plate.

Article Courtesy of Better Homes & Gardens

Charlotte NC Professional Decorating Company - providing Residential - Commercial Interior Design, Redesign, Home Staging, Color Consulting, Seasonal Holiday- Event Decorating, Decor Shopping Services. Mecklenburg – Iredell – Catawba – Cabarrus – Gaston – Forsyth – Union NC – York SC

Bathroom Design for Two

Creating a Bathroom for Two

A couple’s home should be a space built to meet

the wants and needs of each partner; by ensuring the living area, kitchen and bedrooms are fully stocked with the items each of you would have in your own space, you can create a happy medium that is fulfilling for both of you.

 
There is however one room in the home that is often overlooked when it comes to our ‘equal shares’: the bathroom. This should be a space in which you can feel completely comfortable and relaxed and therefore the idea of incorporating individual ideas will not only help create a unique interior but also provide a sanctuary that you can both escape to.

A Fight for Space
The bathroom is often fairly small in comparison to other rooms in the house, so packing the room with your respective toiletries and bathroom products can cause unnecessary clutter and prove frustrating when your partner needs space to unwind.

By adding some simple storage solutions to your bathroom, you can each have an assigned space in which to tidy away your hair gel and deodorants from the windowsill or eyelash curlers and tweezers from by the mirror. Bathroom cabinets are great for storing away smaller items such as toothbrushes and razors, whereas a small set of draws may be more practical for larger essentials like wash bags, makeup kits and hairdryers.

Styles that Blend Well
By blending style preferences, you can be sure the bathroom will become a fashionable space that both of you feel comfortable in. It’s fair to say the everyday man won’t feel comfortable in a purely pink bathroom, where as a woman is unlikely to feel relaxed in a space filled with shaving utensils and marks of a clumsy man (let’s not get into the toilet seat debate).

A quick fix to this problem is by encouraging color with the use of accessories, whilst keeping the main colors in your bathroom fairly neutral and agreed upon. Pale tones such as white and cream can act as a luxuriously blank canvas for each of you to add personal touches to, whereas naturally inspired tones such as greens and blues are equally as versatile yet add a more interesting appeal to an otherwise bland room. The use of vividly colored towels, robes, flowers and wall decorations are a great way to further enhance an individual style and also add eye catching elements within your design.

Space to Enjoy
Make sure the bathroom is clutter-free and spacious enough for the two of you is one thing, but creating a room that two can enjoy simultaneously is another task all together. Many couples like the idea of taking a hot bath or shower together, but often find the experience unpleasant and difficult due to the lack of space. By adding a larger, deeper tub such as a corner fitted unit or a more spacious shower enclosure, you can both enjoy a nice start to the day together, or even a steamy and ultimately romantic end before bed.

Couple’s Extras
There are some items on the market specifically designed for the couple’s bathroom; ‘his & hers’ basin sets are a unit which features two basins, and space for each of your toiletries. This can be a fantastic addition to your home, should your bathroom be large enough, and is sure to add that aesthetic value to the space should you ever come to sell the house.

Putting up two pegs on the back of the bathroom door creates a nice space to hang your bathrobes, and finishing off with some ‘his & hers’ towels or washcloths can make for an endearing aspect and a definite sense of unity.

 

This article was written by Alexandra an experienced blogger and enthusiastic about creating harmony in the home through interior design on behalf of Bathshop321 who provide the ultimate in shower baths and many other luxurious but practical pieces of bathroom fittings.

Welcome Spring: Longer Days, Cleaner Home

Spring Into Action With a Clean Sweep of Your Home

By Craig Tomashoff, Contributor

When you think of the four seasons, certain images immediately come to mind. For summer, it’s barbecue grills, swimming pools and lawnmowers. For fall, it’s pumpkins, turkeys and footballs. Winter is hot chocolate, snowmen and stockings. And spring? How about buckets, brushes and a mop? While the season is a sign of new birth, it's also when most people take the time to clean up.

“It’s a good thing to get in the habit of," said Newell Turner, editor-in-chief of "House Beautiful." "It’s out with the old, in with the new, a fresh start. Spring connotes all those things.”

Brightening Things Up Inside

For centuries, spring has been the season for cleaning. In Chinese culture, they have traditionally swept their floors and cleaned out their houses to purge any bad luck and prepare for the coming of a new year. According to Jewish lore, Passover is a time to clear out the home of all leavened products. This led to a full spring cleaning of the home.

Meanwhile, in America, the idea of spring cleaning has become a tradition for very practical reasons. The cold and darkness that trapped you in your house all winter fade away and are replaced by longer days and warmer weather.

“Spring cleaning is psychologically important,” said Danny Lipford, a veteran remodeling contractor and frequent contributor to CBS’ "The Early Show." “We’re ingrained with the idea of cleaning up once we’re unleashed from the house in the spring.”

For Peggy Johnson, a North Carolina-based specialist in budget-friendly redesign, spring cleaning is more than just tidying things up. It’s about change and shaking things up for a whole new look around the house that suits the spirit of the season. For instance, she suggests using bright baskets rather than plastic containers to organize items like newspapers and keepsakes. It’s a way to clean up and “create texture, as well as adding another element to the room, something fun.”

If your cleaning is mostly about changing the look of your place, it does not have to be expensive. Something as simple as moving artwork to different walls can give your home a different look.

“Rearranging your furniture is good,” Johnson said. “Or you can take that large, dark piece you have and give it a light-colored paint job to make the room feel fresh and clean.”

After all the gray gloominess of winter, painting a chair, table or plant stand a sunny color, or getting new pillows for the sofa, is the perfect way “to do something bright and cheery,” Turner said. “These things elevate the mood of a room, and they aren’t big projects.”

The same goes for the bedroom, where Turner recommends just buying new sheets or a duvet to alter the look of the space. The dining room can get a spring facelift, too. It’s getting brighter outside, so try the same inside by doing what Johnson likes to do: put a bowl filled with colorful, seasonal fruits like oranges and lemons apples on your dining room table.

While it may be a little more time consuming and expensive, spring is also the best time of year to install ceiling fans.

“Without a doubt, they help you save energy but also have a cooling effect in the summer,” Lipford said. “They can keep fresh air circulating and make a room feel seven or eight degrees cooler. So March or April are the perfect months to install ceiling fans, before the heat of summer sets in.”

The Great, and Clean, Outdoors

As the weather warms up, you know you will leave the windows open to catch a nice breeze. That makes spring the time to free the screens of dust and grime. Lipford creates what he calls “a screen bath" for the job. He fills a watertight object like a kiddie pool with soap and water, then places the screens in the mix. They only need to soak for several minutes before they're ready to go back in the window.

Spring also offers the first chance in months to get out and spruce up your yard. Lipford suggests starting with improving the curb appeal of your home by working on the first thing you see when you come home and the last thing you see when you leave -- your mailbox.

“Straighten it up, plant a plant there, put some new numbers on it,” he said. “You’re looking at it every day, and with just a little work, you’ll have a big impact.”

Spring is traditionally the time for planting, but you also need to get the soil healthy enough for flowers like the summer hydrangeas. According to Lipford, pH testing kits are cheap and available at most home and garden stores. They’ll let you determine if your yard has an acceptable level of lime to allow plants to thrive. They must be used early in spring so you have plenty of time to improve the situation if your soil isn’t healthy.

“If necessary, you can help by aerating the yard,” Lipford said. “You can rent a machine for $25 or so, and it well help loosen the soil in spring so the grass has more avenues to flourish and not choke.”

The earlier you can start on spring cleaning projects, the longer you’ll have to enjoy your handiwork.
“It’s good to start all this in the spring so you can enjoy the work you’ve done through the fall,” Johnson said. “Do it all now, and you’ll have it behind you.”

Read more: Welcome Spring: Longer Days, Cleaner Home | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/feature_12221718_welcome-spring-longer-days-cleaner-home.html#ixzz21ClAcYm3

Charlotte NC Professional Decorating Company - providing Residential - Commercial Interior Design, Redesign, Home Staging, Color Consulting, Seasonal Holiday- Event Decorating, Decor Shopping Services. Mecklenburg – Iredell – Catawba – Cabarrus – Gaston – Forsyth – Union NC – York SC

Sam Marquits Experience with Hiring a Professional Stager

In 2011, I placed my home on the market because I had anticipated a move to East Hampton, New York.  Shortly thereafter, my real estate agent began showing my home to potential buyers. Although several people had shown an interest, I had yet to receive any offers for my property. Since the time for my move to be complete was vastly approaching, I was becoming desperate to sell my house.

I talked to my realtor about dropping the asking price to help to spur interest.  Instead, she came up with another solution. My realtor asked me to consider hiring a professional stager to help me sell my property, and advised that if this failed, I could still lower the asking price if I thought it necessary.

Hiring the professional stager was like a dream come true. In the end, I was able to sell my home within a month and received $10,000 above the price I original set for the property. It seems that my home was so attractive that two buyers began a bidding war on my home.

The professional stager I hired helped me sell my property quickly and at a tremendous profit. Three things made his efforts pay great dividends when it came to selling my home:

#1.  Accentuating the Positive

One of the most attractive features of my home was its wide windows. Unfortunately, I had collected quite a few pieces of antique furniture, which I had then placed in front of these windows.  My stager asked me to remove some of this furniture and place it in the basement instead. The result was that plenty of natural light was able to shine through, making the rooms seem larger and brighter.

My decorating scheme also changed in order to accentuate my home’s positive features. I painted the walls a neutral color throughout and added colorful throw rugs in many rooms. These added color to my hardwood floors, helping to draw further attention to my home’s positive aspects.

#2.  Eliminating the Negative

There was a lack of countertop and cabinet space in the kitchen area, so my professional stager went to work on this issue.  By eliminating clutter on the counter, this made it appear more spacious. My professional stager also suggested easy renovations to increase the amount of storage space in the kitchen.

#3. Understanding Buyers

Likewise, the Hamptons Real Estate market contains a surprisingly large handful of meticulous and somewhat picky buyers. My professional stager helped me realize how important it was to let my realtor take control of showing the home. In the past, I had demonstrated a tendency to monopolize the situation, which could have scared away potential buyers. - Once I realized this, I made a vow to stay out of the way whenever the home was being shown.

The stager’s efforts took just over a week, but during that time, I learned a great deal. While it was an investment to hire this professional, it resulted in a very quick sale thereafter. I would definitely recommend hiring a professional stager to anyone who is struggling to sell his or her home.

Sam Marquit

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These ten tips for improving your home's curb appeal can have you 

on the road to a sale in no time.

 

10 Ways to Impact Your Curb Appeal

POSTED ON APRIL 15, 2012 BY ADMIN

Selling a home is more difficult right now that it’s been in quite some time; the market is struggling enough that simply keeping the lawn trimmed is not adequate in drawing in prospective buyers. In order to successfully sell a home in a down market, it’s absolutely imperative to boost your house’s curb appeal as much as possible. These ten tips for improving your home’s curb appeal can have you on the road to a sale in no time.

1. Paint or Replace Shutters – Peeling and dilapidated windows can negatively affect a potential buyer’s first impression, even if the rest of the home’s exterior is impeccable. In addition to replacing any damaged shutters, it’s also a good idea to throw a fresh coat of paint on them. This is a quick and relatively cheap way to give the exterior a good visual boost.
2. Replace or Power-Wash Siding – Dingy and damaged siding is another curb appeal-killer; if power-washing doesn't do the trick, it might be a good idea to look into replacing your existing siding. If there’s no room in the budget for complete replacement, repairing any damaged sections will help bolster up the appearance.
3. Paint Stucco Exteriors – If the exterior of your home is a stucco coating that’s seen better days, a coat of paint is the equivalent of a face-lift. If you’re thinking of changing the color altogether, it’s best to check with your homeowners’ association before tackling the project; some HOA’s have a list of pre-approved colors that owners are allowed to choose from, and you don’t want to paint the whole house just to have the HOA tell you that color won’t work.
4. Re-Sod Sparse Lawns – A patchy lawn can make even a well-kept home seem a bit forlorn; sowing grass seed or having the area re-sodded is certainly one of the most effective ways of enhancing the desirability of your home.
5. Repave Driveways – Cracked driveways with oil stains and other signs of disrepair will not do you any favors in helping your home sell. Resurfacing driveways can assist in making your house seem almost like a brand new one.
6. Repair or Replace Sidewalks – Just like a cracked or damaged driveway, sidewalks that have fallen into disrepair can affect the way your home is perceived in the minds of potential buyers. Replacing them or having them resurfaced can do wonders for the overall appeal of your home.
7. Plant Shrubs and Flowers – Landscaping is one of the best ways to elevate the appearance of your home, and to make it one of the most desirable ones on the block. For homeowners with a brown thumb, there are dozens of low-maintenance shrub options that look beautiful without requiring the attention that finicky flowers can demand.
8. Take Care of Existing Trees – Mature trees can increase the selling price of a home by thousands of dollars, as long as those trees are properly cared for. While well-maintained trees can be a major plus, those with precarious-looking branches can turn a buyer off. The potential for storm damage from neglected trees can be a deal-breaker.
9. Upgrade the Front Door – The entryway to your home should be as inviting as possible, especially if you’re looking to sell. Replacing or even sprucing up your existing door with a new coat of paint can add to the welcoming quality, as well as positively influence the perceptions of buyers.
10. Keep Kids’ Clutter to a Minimum – While signs of happy and active children send a great message to newlyweds or young families, it’s important to keep the toy clutter to a minimum. Fading plastic playhouses and smaller toys strewn everywhere seem chaotic, rather than charming. On the front lawn especially, homeowners should pay particular attention to keeping things as neat as possible.

Many homebuyers will do a ‘drive-by’ with homes that they’re interested in before scheduling a tour of the interior of the house. If they don’t like what they see on the outside, they may never schedule a look at the inside, which makes creating great curb appeal an essential step in the selling process.

Article by Door Fly

http://blog.doorfly.com/articles/2012/10-ways-to-impact-your-curb-appeal/

Charlotte NC Professional Decorating Company - providing Residential - Commercial Interior Design, Redesign, Home Staging, Color Consulting, Seasonal Holiday- Event Decorating, Decor Shopping Services. Mecklenburg – Iredell – Catawba – Cabarrus – Gaston – Forsyth – Union NC – York SC

Small interior design touches that make a big difference

When most people think of re-decorating the house, they think of fitting a new bathroom, kitchen or living room suite. However, this type of large scale interior design can be very costly and time consuming.

So, if you want to breathe some new life into your home and shake up the design, without it costing an arm and a leg, what can you do? Well there are lots of small touches and changes you can make around the home that will make a big difference.

Art work
Putting up new art work is a great way to make a big change to a room. A large piece of art work can be quick and simple to put up yet will make a big difference to the style and focus of a room. What’s more, if you frame the piece yourself or buy it from a second hand store, it can be incredibly cheap yet make a big difference.

Finishing touches
There are also lots of other little touches you can make that don’t take a lot of effort, money or time but can completely re-vamp your home. Putting simple things out on display, such as fresh flowers, fruit or candles can have a big impact on a room’s aesthetics.

Maintenance
If you are looking to make a big change to your home but don’t have too much time or money there is still lots you can do. Rather than having a whole new kitchen fitted, why not simply replace the cabinet doors. This could completely transform your kitchen and make it look brand new with hardly any effort. Most cabinet doors will un-screw simply and can be easily replaced, without having to change the whole cabinet or counter tops.

Similarly, rather than replacing your carpets you can make a big difference to a room by simply having them cleaned. Carpet cleaning is quite affordable and quick, especially compared to replacing them, yet can make a room look a lot more fresh and new. You could also try a new colour of paint on the walls or just some fresh sealant around the bathroom fittings.

So there you have it, all of these simple, quick and easy ideas can have a big impact on the style of a room without costing you a lot of time and money. However, one thing to keep in mind when you are revamping a room is to check to see if it will impact on your home insurance coverage as you might have to declare any changes.

Guest Post
Written By Matthew Read
Fresh Insurance Group

Inspiring Color Groups

Understanding Color Groups

 “Often we are not aware of the effects the visual world has on our senses and our feelings.”

Certain colors can evoke a strong emotional response, and clever use of light can enhance or subdue a mood. So before you decorate, take the time to first consider how you want to feel in the room, and spend some time there before you decide on the final palette.

Purchase paint samples and view the colors on the walls. Take the time to observe how they change from day to night, and lay some fabric over a chair in front of the painted wall to see how the two colors and surfaces react with each other.

For example, in a home office that benefits from lots of natural daylight, you may wish to use a cool sky blue as the main color in order to stimulate clear thinking and a peaceful atmosphere. Yellow is a great color to use in a kitchen, and creates a citrus fresh wake-up, or if a warmer tone is used, a cozy family space.

If you decide on a passionate, hot scheme of red tones for the living room, then consider surfaces and fabrics that will enhance this sensual mood. Choose a high-gloss lipstick color for the woodwork and sumptuous velvets and smooth satins for the upholstery. Low level candlelight is sure to finish this mood off perfectly.

Pinks are fun, lively, positive and feminine.

Reds are passionate, daring, intimate and comforting.

Oranges stimulate creativity and are warming and cozy.

Yellow are welcoming and sunny. Strong yellows are said to help the brain work better.

Greens represent nature and are both tranquil and invigorating as well as restful and balancing.

Blues are connected to the sky and to water, and they are associated with clear thinking and calm, meditative environments.

Violets can be stimulating, while blue violets can be cooling and spiritual.

Charlotte NC Professional Decorating Company - providing Residential - Commercial Interior Design, Redesign, Home Staging, Color Consulting, Seasonal Holiday- Event Decorating, Decor Shopping Services. Mecklenburg – Iredell – Catawba – Cabarrus – Gaston – Forsyth – Union NC – York SC