Tip of the Month Archive
January 2007 Hang up that new calendar its a New Year!
Many of us use the arrival of a New Year as an opportunity for change and a fresh start. I use this time to set goals for the rest of the year. These goals often include home improvement projects. My list varies from rooms that simply need a fresh coat of paint to areas that need a whole new look. Setting decorating goals early in the year can help ensure you stay focused. Making a list is a great way to help keep you on track while avoiding impulse buys.
A good rule of thumb is to focus your attention on a different part of your home each year. This helps keep your dιcor fresh and interesting while avoiding the need to spend excessive time and money every several years for a complete and costly redo.
Happy New Year!
December 2006 Holiday Decorating
The Holiday Season has once again arrived. If you are like most people you probably spend much of your holiday time preparing for the actual holiday that all too often it seems to pass before you know it. Standard decorations for Thanksgiving and Christmas come in the bright colors of yellow, orange, red and green. I find that incorporating more muted tones gives holiday decorations more longevity.
Bright greens and reds say Christmas whereas sage green and maroon say Winter. The same is true for Thanksgiving. Bright yellow and orange say Halloween where as burnt orange and gold say Fall and Thanksgiving. Using some of these more muted colors allows you to edit out the bright colors once the holiday passes while keeping the warm feeling of the season for a longer period of time. These warmer and more muted tones can help extend the season and help bridge the gap until the next holiday.
November 2006 Managing Collections
Collections represent who we are and can often make a dramatic addition to the decoration and style of your home. I find the most difficult part of managing a collection is not the hunt for the missing piece needed to make it complete. Instead, the challenge is managing your collection as it grows. It is important to periodically redefine your collection and edit out pieces that no longer fit.
I once worked with a client that was overwhelmed with hundreds of cooking magazines. Each magazine was prized because it contained a recipe or two that the client enjoyed. We were able to pull the treasured recipes out of the magazines and preserve them by adding them to protective sheets in an easy to read binder. The client then created an index making the recipes much more useful and the collection became manageable. The space created by discarding the bulk of the magazines eliminated the need for more bookcases, which was the original design issue in the kitchen.
