Refresh your décor for the holidays
Preparing a home for holiday entertaining needn’t require an entire season — or budget. You can easily put your house in order in just one weekend with the right approach, said Davis Remignanti, lead design consultant at Furniture.com.
He offers these tips to ready any home for festive gatherings of friends and family.
* Start fresh. Before beginning, take a fresh look. Have you outgrown your décor from five, 10 or 20 years ago? Ask a trusted friend for the honest truth. Then, take action.
* Go with the flow. Rearrange furniture to increase floor space and allow guests freer movement. Continue your party’s theme from room to room for an uninterrupted flow to the ambience.
* Make small nooks for small talk. Create cozy conversation areas by arranging nesting tables to hold guests’ food and drinks. And after the festivities, these space-saving tables will serve a million more uses, for snacks, games, craft projects and more.
* Don’t crowd. Face the facts: Ten guests won’t fit around a dining table made to seat four, no matter how you try. Either upgrade to a larger table, or spread out with a more casual buffet. Or, consider a bistro-style dining set to evoke a social atmosphere. The taller-than-standard table height makes it easy for guests to serve themselves drinks, buffet dinner or even make their own desserts.
* Mix and mix. Matching all the furnishings within a room is design passé. Experiment. Mix sizes, scales and textures to give your rooms a unique — rather than a retail showroom — style.
* Create walls of inspiration: Give the walls a fresh new color, border or mix of textures for visual interest. Express who you are with a new piece of artwork that encourages conversation. The most harmonious arrangements take cues from the room. For instance, try hanging pictures in a rolling up and down grouping over a camelback sofa.
* Add color. A little bit of color can go a long way. Bright accent pillows, bold frames and coordinated candles in decorative candleholders can make a dull or sterile room more attractive and welcoming.
* Light up your life. Bring a new look to a room by updating the lighting. Coordinate the look by making sure lamp heights are equal throughout and all have the same color shade.
* Accessorize, accessorize, accessorize. Arrange accessories symmetrically for a formal look or asymmetrically to get creative. Highlight a special item by placing it against a contrasting surface. Reflect the seasons and bring nature indoors with arrangements of leaves, stones and fresh flowers.
* Don’t stress. Forget perfection. Anything “out of place” makes a home more cozy and charming. Go for what feels right. It’s your house — above all else, enjoy the party.
Furniture.com merges the convenience, accessibility and ease of online shopping with North America’s largest furniture retailers allowing consumers to browse, compare and buy brand-name furniture and accessories, find decorating advice and product information, and utilize interactive design tools.
Information courtesy Furniture.com
