Holiday Mantel Magic

All of us love to surround our world with things, which are both beautiful and sentimental. Our homes embrace these things, our feeling, our strengths, our bonds. During the holiday, friends and family visit and this is when we share our home. Decorating for the holidays should not be any different then it is for any other time of the year. Putting items together in an unconventional way will make the holidays interesting and unique.

The spot that can come alive the most with warmth and beauty is the fireplace mantel. Let beautiful mantel arrangements turn your fireplace into the main focal point of your home. Draping an evergreen over the mantel, can create an extraordinary feel. Wire or tie each end to a concealed nail so the greenery remains in place. Place tiny white lights and fruit ornaments through out the evergreen. Another cozy feel would be to go crazy with candles. Tall, short, squat or thin, make sure they are all the same color. Display them lit surrounding a big holiday or sentimental non holiday piece. This is a great way to sparkle and create warmth. My favorite mantel design is the pine cone swag. Fill footed glass compotes with miniature pine cones, then garnish with matte glass ornaments and satin ribbon. This is a wintry wonderland look and can be kept on the mantel through February. Add some cinnamon scent to the pine cones for added ambiance.

Hot chocolate, cozy fires, snowflakes falling, friends and family is the most beautiful thing life can bring. Enjoy your holiday in your style. Do not second guess yourself. Remember, your decorating style comes from your heart, so it can never be wrong and will always be beautiful.

Happy Holiday from your friends at Fabrics and Home Interiors

The Romance of Flowers

More expressive then the loveliest poem, flowers hint at the romantic feelings in all of us.
All cultures develop their own elaborate flower languages with emotions and meaning attached to varieties and colors. Flowers are destined to fade, but they are so beloved that blooms and bouquets can be dried and saved stored in lovely vases, teacups as unique items to be cherished forever.

This season, reinvent your living space and invite nature inside, savor its’ beauty and simplicity. If you could walk into a painting, perhaps the experience would be comparable to a nature lover walking through the forest and exploring the rivers and flowers. The colors and patterns you would encounter could be bought into your home. Seashells, frogs, butterflies with wings of beauty can enhance the assortment of flower arrangements you collect from your garden. Nothing beats the nature’s fresh smell of flowers and the feeling you get when you see them. Spring has sprung and summer is approaching us, treat yourself to the simple pleasure that a flower can bring.

Create Calming Comfort with a Bit of Inspiration

Is there a place at home that always feels calm? Where you go to find peace, think or simply enjoy the warmth of winter’s pure light? This spot is all yours, to make as you wish. It lifts you in sad times and enjoys the comforts of happy times with you. If you have this spot, read on, you may want to create more rooms in your home that has that fluffy feel. If you don’t have your peaceful spot, well, everyone deserves one, maybe its time?

To start this project, you need a bit of inspiration. Inspiration comes from within; it is down in your very gut. Inspiration is something that motivates, calms, drives you to success, or wraps you up with love. Search your home or go to a store and find an object that you absolutely love, that inspires, that calms. It could be a picture in a picture frame, a chair, a child’s framed art piece, a vase, a pillow, a knick knack, anything that you love to look at. The emotion you feel has to be calming, inspired, and lovely.

Once you find your inspirational object, your decorating project can begin. Find a quiet cozy place; grab your writing journal, your favorite pen, a cup of your favorite hot beverage, and get comfy. Place your object down on a table and take a long uninterrupted look at it. Mentally, dissect it. Write down the reasons why you love it, acknowledge all the colors within the object, what is the texture, look at the shapes within the object, uncover all its wondrous details.

This list is all you need to begin designing your calming retreat.

• Choose your paint by picking your favorite color within your object. Use contrasting colors for your moldings. Make use of small detailed crown moldings.
• Choose your fabrics by observing the details within your object. If your favorite detail in your object is a flower, then you’ll love a floral fabric with coordinating stripes, plaids or ginghams. If your favorite detail in your object is geometric shapes, then contemporary fabrics with straight lines and shapes are good fabric choices.
• Romantic style window treatments are a must in this design project. Swooping swags, dramatic shades with a detailed cornice will bring warmth and comfort into your room.

You now have the recipe for decorating success; the elements that you picked will be perfect because it comes from within yourself. They are just right for your room because you picked these elements from an object that truly inspired you from the onset. This process will continue to evolve as you complete each element; the paint, the fabric and window treatment designs. Accessorizing your space with furniture and detailed elements will give your space the finishing touch.

Whether you own your home or rent, creating this peaceful place when you walk into your home can prove to be an essential element to happy living. The first sight of your “peaceful spot” can create amazing effects; your body softens, your blood pressure drops, your mind rests, as you allow only the good part of your day enter this spot with you, leaving the unwanted daily memories outside your front door.