|
Choosing A Theme & Color For You Holiday Decorating by Bonnie P Carrier
No matter what part of the country you live in or what size your home is; everyone loves to decorate for the holidays.
This year when you begin planning your holiday decorating why not create something really special and decorate around a theme or a specific color.
Base your theme around a special collection you have and carry it through out the home or tie a specific theme to a particular room.
Picking A Theme:
In the kitchen items like faux fruit, miniature kitchen utensils or home baked cookies. For example: A gingerbread men theme would fit nicely into a kitchen. For the tree, hang homemade gingerbread men cookies tied with a festive plaid ribbons, add tiny utensils like rolling pins and cookie cutters.
If a tree is not possible due to space limitations, spread the theme buy using hot mats, dish towels, placemats etc with a gingerbread man motif on them. The cookies and tiny utensils can be incorporated onto a wreath that is hung on the door, wall or window in the room.
Get the kids involved by setting up a tabletop tree in their room and decorate with items like miniature dolls, toy trucks or sports items.
A much-loved collection is another way to incorporate a theme into your holiday décor. A former co-worker collected Boyd’s Bears, which were displayed though out her home all year. During the holidays she decorated a tree in her family room with miniature bears and tiny white lights.
The barn star has become a very popular decorating item today. I recently read an article in the Country Sampler magazine about a home that uses a star theme though out the year.
The homeowner adds simple greenery, pinecones, berries and primitive looking snowmen to her everyday displays to play up the holidays.
Anything you love can become a theme and incorporated into your holiday décor.
Choosing A Color:
Holiday color is not limited to the basic red and green hues anymore. Below are a few ideas on choosing a holiday color.
Base your choice on your homes color scheme. Using the color you have all year bring in complimentary colors to accent the holidays. For example: In my own home various shades of brown are used so I’ve chosen copper, ivory and gold to accent our tree. The decorations are in a matte finish instead of shiny.
A childhood memory is another way to choose a color theme. A red and white theme might remind you of shiny, sweet yummy candy canes or shimmering silver could bring to mind visions of tinsel hanging from the tree.
If bright jewel tones are your favorite incorporate lots of beaded fruit and luscious colored ribbon. You may have a favorite fabric on a piece of furniture or tablecloth that you could pull a color from and incorporate thought you décor.
Decorating magazines are a great way to come up with ideas. Right now they are filled with holiday photos, so why not pick up a few settle back with your favorite warm beverage and browse.
Remember most of the pictures your going to see have been professionally staged for the photo shoot, so don’t feel you must recreate the room.
If you come across something that catches your eye, pick out elements that would fit into your lifestyle and budget.
I’ll let you in on a little secret – That’s what I’m doing after looking through the current edition of Country Sampler. Remember I mentioned earlier the barn star theme, well some of the displays from the photos would work great for my holiday décor this year.
Keep in mind the idea here is to be creative and have fun. Enjoy the upcoming Holiday Season.
About the author: Bonnie P. Carrier is the creator of Savvy Home Decorating - The Information Center. She is the mother to two grown daughters and two very spoiled Shelties - Sebastian & Oliver. www.savvy-home-decorating.com
This is a share ware article. Give this article away for free on your site, or include it as part of any paid package as long as the entire article is left intact including this notice. Copyright © 2010 bonnie carrier
Note: Several of the wonderful items pictured above are from one of my favorite on-line stores Piper Classics. If you love primitives Piper has a terrific line with everything from decorative accessories to kitchen items. Stop by for a look even if your not into primitives, you just might be surprised at what you find.
|
