Home Decor Blog

Decorative items in your home can often have a theme. It doesn’t have to be a collection either. Just one or two items can reflect who you are and what you like in life. It serves as a constant reminder to you and to your guests.

This beautiful 4-inch-tall figurine is a great way to express a love for felines, along with an Irish connection. It’s a graceful white cat with what looks almost like a whimsical smile . Made in Ireland from fine Parian China, it is decorated with two hand-painted green shamrocks.

It’s an original Belleek work of art – part of a long line of unique collector’s items that began back in the Nineteenth century. Collectors of china are well familiar with the term “Belleek” and for a good reason too: this is a pottery that’s traditionally committed to high-quality porcelain items, all hand-crafted and made for perfection.

A perfect gift for any cat-loving friend, for St. Patrick’s or just to say you care. And a wonderful addition to your home decor that makes an elegant statement about your and your interests.

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If you are interested in cottage style decorating for your home interior, there are many exciting ways you can design just about any area of your home to capture the perfect authenticity of such a theme.

Cottage style decorating for the home interior carries with it a very warm and inviting feeling. With this in mind you may already be thinking about the types of colors you will be painting your walls, the type of upholstery you will be interested in for your cushions, chairs and couches, as well as the style of furniture that would best suit this fashion.

The one aspect you will need to keep in mind if you have chosen cottage style decorating for your theme is to remember that although cottage designs are similar to country, there are some important differences that make these two styles separate from one another.

For instance, although cottage style decorating has the similar interior simplicity, and warmth as a basic country style, it is altogether more modern.

In order to give you more ideas to think about when using cottage style decorating as your home design, you may wish to take the following tips into consideration:

Think Wicker or Think Wood – When it comes to furniture for cottage style decorating, the most authentic looking pieces are those made of wicker or wood. The reason for this is because these furnishings appear more natural, and rustic, and are often associated with the outdoors.

Floral Patterns and Bright Prints – When it comes to the upholstery of your furnishing pieces, the cottage style decorating theme is all about bold and vibrant colorful patterns, with the most popular patterns often being floral.

Warm Colored Walls – The walls of a room that are based on cottage style decorating should be fashioned in warm colors such as tones of yellow, and terracotta. You may also want to add a stencil or wallpaper border to the top of the wall in another color to add a nice accent to the wall.

Wood Floors and Area Rugs – Hardwood floors are the best look for a cottage themed room. If you cannot afford hardwood floors, you may be interested in using laminate, which is a good substitute in appearance for hardwood floors.

You will also find that area rugs make an excellent addition to the room. Just make sure you pick designs and patterns that will match with the upholstery in the room.

Simple and Sweet Accessories – The best type of cottage style decorating accessories are those that are personal and homemade.

Family photos are perfect for wall hangings, or for dressing up an end or coffee table.

Simple rustic paintings or those of flowers, or vegetables and fruit also add a nice touch. You may also be interested in a coo-coo clock for cottage-like decoration.

There you have it, some great ideas for you to consider when cottage style decorating your home. Keep in mind that you don’t have to limit your cottage theme to one room; you can express this style in your living room, dining room, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and more. The choices truly are endless, and what’s even better is they are all yours to make.

About The Author

Michael Holland is the creator of http://www.kids-rooms-and-crafts.com and http://www.home-decorating-made-easy.com. His web sites offers lots of FREE decorating tips and ideas for decorating your home.

Bedroom decor can be a challenge, but it can also be fun. With large items such as a bed or a chest, budget is a major issue, and those on a limited budget may need to purchase one item at a time, gradually enhancing their bedroom with new items.

However, if you can afford to, you should really start with a quality bedroom set. Here’s an option available on Amazon, that includes everything that make up a bedroom set including a dresser, Mirror, the bed and two night stands:

It’s a gorgeous set, decorated in style with crafted rich details and beautifully finished in rich chocolate cherry laminate accentuated with gold airbrush effects. It looks fantastic, as good as solid wood, and priced at under $1500 at the time of writing this post: an excellent deal for a quality bedroom set!

The manufacturers take great pride in their delivery and assembly options, so check these out as well on the Amazon page here.

Subdued elegance is the term that comes to mind when looking at this particular piece of furniture.

Produced by Pasons, this is a high quality dining chair, with all the comfort one needs for sitting by the table. The microfiber cover is both functional and extremely pleasant to the touch. The colors are neutral and easy to fit in with any color scheme. They are there, elegant and peaceful, grateful to form a beautiful quiet background to your colorful focal points in the room.

Click for more details and price through Amazon’s service

Decorating your home for the holidays does not need be stressful or expensive. Being one of the most popular times of the year to decorate, get your family involved and have fun making your home beautiful for the holiday season.

Here are 15 Christmas decorating ideas:

1. Display your favorite Christmas collections. If you don’t have a collection, now is a great time to start! My son and I collect nutcrackers and every year we have a wonderful time selecting just the right one. With a permanent marker, I write the year on the bottom of the nutcracker. Not only do we enjoy looking at the nutcrackers during the holidays, we also enjoying the fond memories of selecting them.

2. Make simple bows out of Christmas ribbons and attach them to your curtains with pins. This is a very charming look.

3. Decorate your house plants by hanging small Christmas ornaments on them.

4. Place a collection of Christmas books on your coffee table.

5. Fill a glass bowl with pine cones and Christmas balls and place on a shelf or table.

6. Wrap your staircase banister with indoor Christmas lights, garland, and bows.

7. To add scent throughout your home, tie 5 or 6 cinnamon sticks together in a bundle using Christmas ribbon. Make as many bundles as you wish and place around your home in baskets or bowls.

8. To decorate your table, tie Christmas ribbon to the stems of glasses and/or handles of cutlery

9. To dress up your chairs, tie Christmas bows around the chair so that the bow is on the back of the chair.

10. Using a small brush or q-tip, paint the edges of pine cones with glittery gold craft paint. After the pine cones dry, place them in a decorative basket.

11. Add Christmas garland to door frames, window frames and mirrors. You can use tape to secure the garland to the surfaces.

12. Tie bows around door knobs using festive and colorful Christmas ribbon.

13. Attach garland and Christmas bows to your chandelier. You can also weave strings of red beads in the garland that will dangle down from your chandelier and reflect the light, which will add sparkle.

14. If you live in a milder climate, consider decorating with Amaryllis plants. These beautiful plants come in red and white, grow tall, and provide a very elegant look.

15. Don’t forget to decorate your fireplace mantel and hang your Christmas stockings. A few fireplace mantel decorating ideas are adding garland, different styles and sizes of Santas, teddy bears, and candles. You can also display your favorite nativity scene if you have a large enough mantel.

Be creative with your fireplace mantel because most mantels are the focal point during the holiday season. Another decorating idea for your mantel is to purchase a bunch of miniature rosemary trees shaped like Christmas trees, add mini ornaments to them and line them up across your mantel. These miniature rosemary trees are readily available during the holidays and come in festive containers.

Christmas decorating is a great time to create traditions and spend quality time with your family. Get out some snacks and drinks and create a little “decorating party” that you’re family will love and look forward to year after year.

Happy Holidays!

About The Author
Lesley Dietschy is a writer, jewelry designer, and the founder of a network of popular websites including http://www.HomeDecorExchange.com and http://www.HomeGardenExchange.com . Both of these websites feature valuable information and resources to assist you in decorating your home and garden.

For beautiful beaded bracelets, please visit: http://www.BeadedBraceletBoutique.com

Old country roses is a well known decor theme. Introduced in 1962, hundreds of millions of items in this unique sample design have been sold all over the world. Here’s another addition to the collection, this time a gorgeous Royal Albert vase, perfect for the Holidays.

This fairly large vase, 10 inches high, is made of bone china with a regal 22-carat gold trim. It may look very expensive, but this timeless collector’s piece is actually priced at under $50 at Amazon at the time of writing these lines. As an addition to an exiting set, or as a beautiful vase in its own right, this delicate vessel makes an awesome gift for a dear friend, or even for yourself!

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I love quilts. I think they’re the ultimate bedroom decor item. Handmade quilts even more so. They provide a sense of “home” like few other items do. I really like this one, with its simple design of stars and squares – simple and crafted by hand in warm reddish tones. I like how they added the checkered pattern into this quilt. It just screams out “home”, well in a mellow quiet tone

This quilt is gorgeous and very affordable at $49 at the time of writing these lines. With so much work put into it and such a detailed wonderful finish, this is an awesome price for a piece of home decor that can really add a special touch to any room. An awesome gift for winter time and the holidays:

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Candles have been used in home settings for centuries. Originally used for illumination, they were very utilitarian in function, with no thought of appearance or scent. But with electricity becoming commonplace, the candles role began to change.

Candles became more decorative and were recognized for their ability to achieve a certain ambiance, or mood, in any room. Candles went from being exclusively for tabletop settings to more designer-oriented sconces and multi-candle wall displays. But for the traditionalist, a formal dinner table is still not complete without at least a couple of tall tapered candles.

Scented Candles

Scented candles are just wonderful for decorating your home. Most are offered in attractive styles and decorative shapes, making them easy and fun to use around the house. Scented candles, especially the ones made rich with scented oils, emit their aromatic fragrance whether lit or not.

Placing scented pillar candles or jar candles in hallways, bathrooms and even kitchens can help freshen the air and eliminate unwanted odors. These types of candles are offered in a myriad of fragrances, sizes and shapes to meet every candle lovers needs.

Dinner Candles

Long tapered candles on a dining room table are classic. However, the newest candle displays have taken a different twist. A table decorated with a collection of small votives in matching holders can be quite a stunning addition to the dinner table. Try the same idea with an assorted mix of candle containers for a more eclectic look.

Having a dinner party?

Candleholders that also function as place card holders are available and allow you to dazzle your guests with your creativity. And whether your preference is traditional tapered candles or a grouping of votives, either will cast a special glow over the dinner table at your next party or festive event.

Other Decorative Candles

There is a multitude of specialty candles and candleholders on the market. Some are very creative with designs in the shapes of your favorite animals, others with more modern or abstract designs. Whatever your taste in candles, you can almost be assured that a candle is designed with your decorating tastes in mind.

Candle Do’s and Don’ts

Uses for modern day candles are only restricted by one’s own imagination. But decorating with candles can have its pitfalls, too. To help you avoid these decorating “faux pas”, the following tips will get you started on the road to becoming a candle aficionado.

§ If you like grouping your candles, remember to match the scents of all the candles to avoid creating a combined scent that is either too strong or unpleasant.

§ Consider mixing like-scented candles with unscented candles in your grouping to help control the overall strength of the scent.

§ Never use scented candles on a dinner table. The scent of the candles will compete with and interfere with the sumptuous aroma of the meal. Researchers have found that the aromatic smell of food actually is one of the most important elements of the dining experience.

§ Candles on a dining room table should always be smokeless. Be sure to trim the candle wick if it exceeds ¼ “ to reduce the potential of unwanted smoke.

§ Burning a scented candle in your bathroom, or “powder” room, will eliminate unpleasant odors. This is a nice touch for your next party or gathering of special friends.

§ Always burn your candles in a secure, fireproof holder made especially for candles. Also, ensure that there are no paper products or hand towels in close proximity to the candle’s flame. Using a tall candleholder with a shorter candle is just plain smart and keeps the flame away from flammable items.

§ If the candle holder is an open vessel, like a candle stick, always opt for dripless candles. Who wants a puddle of wax on your nice table linens?

§ When placing lower-flamed candles around a table, make sure it is done in such a pattern that a person’s shirt sleeve or clothing cannot pass through or over the flame.

§ Don’t place your candles too close to flower arrangements. Candles have been known to wilt or ruin flowers if the flame overheats their petals.

Remember – always practice safe candle burning! The most important aspect of using and enjoying your candles is to never leave them burning unattended, or where a child could be drawn to the candle and potentially be burned.

Keep it safe and enjoy the magical benefits of decorating your home with candles!

About The Author

Bill Wilson is a writer for decorating publications and online services. For more information about decorating with candles visit: http://www.crazy-for-candles.com.