Holiday Decorating & Entertaining
by Trish Knight
December 29th, 2010 10:11 AM
With winter upon us, the holidays are right around the corner. This is the time of year we love to entertain in our homes, and the perfect excuse to decorate! Whether you are hosting the family Christmas this year, a cookie exchange with the girls or an open house on Boxing Day, the thought of decorating can be overwhelming. To simplify your life this year, try following the basic principles of design to create a cohesive festive look throughout your home.
Colour is the easiest starting point for any holiday decorating. Pick a colour or any combination of colours. Some of the obvious choices would be red, green, gold, silver or white. But maybe your house lends itself better to black, pink or orange. You decide but take into consideration the style of your house, furniture and fabrics you already have, your art and accessories. The colour will dictate the “theme” to a certain extent as well. So if you want a rustic country Christmas your best colours would be red, green and brown, whereas if you want a contemporary Christmas a monochromatic colour scheme would be better. In a monochromatic colour scheme only one colour is used but you choose shades from light to dark for example with blue you would use shades from light icy blue to dark midnight blue.
Proportion - Once you have your colour scheme and/or theme you should start to consider the proportions of the decorations you are using. For example, if you are doing an all blue colour scheme you might fill a large vase with small, medium and large ornaments, for a garland framing your window or running along your mantel mix two different types of greenery with varying sizes. When decorating with patterned fabrics the rules are same as with fashion have one larger scale dominant pattern, a second smaller tighter pattern and mix in solids in the colours in your patterns.
Repetition - Designers use repetition to create emphasis and balance for the eye. By sticking with the colour scheme you have chosen for your home this season you will naturally be following this basic principle. Use varying amounts of the colours in different rooms to create more interest for example if you have a red and gold colour scheme, your living room may have a stronger emphasis on the gold and in the adjoining dining room a stronger emphasis on the red. Repeat these colours in the wrapping paper and ribbons as well. The paper doesn't have to be all the same pattern, just the same colours. Also remember what you have heard from designers over and over again things look good in odd numbers! This means when you put candles together on your mantel or in a centerpiece plan to arrange them in varying heights in threes.
Texture - is an especially useful technique for creating interest in a room with a monochromatic colour scheme. Combine matte and shiny ornaments, soft silky fabrics with thick boucle, or sparkly textured candles with smooth candles. Another example of a great use of texture is with natural materials such as pine cones and twigs. A smooth glass bowl or metal bowl full of large rough pinecones places the emphasis on the pinecones and is more effective than placing them in something equally rustic such as a woven basket.
Focal Point - Consider what you would like people to notice and create a focal point in each room. This can be done with colour, proportion, repetition, texture or lighting. We naturally notice the brightest colour in a room first so if you have a white dining room with a large bowl of bright red ornaments on the table this is what your family and friends will see. You can use lighting to achieve a focal point easily by focusing light on objects for emphasis. For example, to focus on the Christmas tree, dim the rest of the lights in the room; to focus on the mantel, light it with a spot light.
Have a wonderful holiday and a happy new year!
Feb./March issue:
Kitchen Styles and Materials
SUGGESTIONS FOR BEING THE HOSTESS WITH THE MOSTEST
Throw two parties on the same weekend. If you are planning a gathering for business and one for family and friends do both on the same weekend to save time and energy cleaning, preparing, buying fresh flowers etc.,
Play Christmas movies such as “It's a Wonderful Life” on the television on “mute” especially in a room with a large TV.
The invitations will set the tone for the theme so be sure to include them.
Always assign seating with place cards at the table. This makes for more interesting conversations and the place cards can be the take home gift for your guests (i.e./ a personalized ornament or cookie).
Create a signature cocktail for the evening.
Trish Knight, Design Consultant, Interior Solutions Design Group 604.922.8311 www.interiorsolutionsdesigngroup.com
Copyright North Shore Magazine Issue Dec 05 - Jan 06
Colour is the easiest starting point for any holiday decorating. Pick a colour or any combination of colours. Some of the obvious choices would be red, green, gold, silver or white. But maybe your house lends itself better to black, pink or orange. You decide but take into consideration the style of your house, furniture and fabrics you already have, your art and accessories. The colour will dictate the “theme” to a certain extent as well. So if you want a rustic country Christmas your best colours would be red, green and brown, whereas if you want a contemporary Christmas a monochromatic colour scheme would be better. In a monochromatic colour scheme only one colour is used but you choose shades from light to dark for example with blue you would use shades from light icy blue to dark midnight blue.
Proportion - Once you have your colour scheme and/or theme you should start to consider the proportions of the decorations you are using. For example, if you are doing an all blue colour scheme you might fill a large vase with small, medium and large ornaments, for a garland framing your window or running along your mantel mix two different types of greenery with varying sizes. When decorating with patterned fabrics the rules are same as with fashion have one larger scale dominant pattern, a second smaller tighter pattern and mix in solids in the colours in your patterns.
Repetition - Designers use repetition to create emphasis and balance for the eye. By sticking with the colour scheme you have chosen for your home this season you will naturally be following this basic principle. Use varying amounts of the colours in different rooms to create more interest for example if you have a red and gold colour scheme, your living room may have a stronger emphasis on the gold and in the adjoining dining room a stronger emphasis on the red. Repeat these colours in the wrapping paper and ribbons as well. The paper doesn't have to be all the same pattern, just the same colours. Also remember what you have heard from designers over and over again things look good in odd numbers! This means when you put candles together on your mantel or in a centerpiece plan to arrange them in varying heights in threes.
Texture - is an especially useful technique for creating interest in a room with a monochromatic colour scheme. Combine matte and shiny ornaments, soft silky fabrics with thick boucle, or sparkly textured candles with smooth candles. Another example of a great use of texture is with natural materials such as pine cones and twigs. A smooth glass bowl or metal bowl full of large rough pinecones places the emphasis on the pinecones and is more effective than placing them in something equally rustic such as a woven basket.
Focal Point - Consider what you would like people to notice and create a focal point in each room. This can be done with colour, proportion, repetition, texture or lighting. We naturally notice the brightest colour in a room first so if you have a white dining room with a large bowl of bright red ornaments on the table this is what your family and friends will see. You can use lighting to achieve a focal point easily by focusing light on objects for emphasis. For example, to focus on the Christmas tree, dim the rest of the lights in the room; to focus on the mantel, light it with a spot light.
Have a wonderful holiday and a happy new year!
Feb./March issue:
Kitchen Styles and Materials
SUGGESTIONS FOR BEING THE HOSTESS WITH THE MOSTEST
Throw two parties on the same weekend. If you are planning a gathering for business and one for family and friends do both on the same weekend to save time and energy cleaning, preparing, buying fresh flowers etc.,
Play Christmas movies such as “It's a Wonderful Life” on the television on “mute” especially in a room with a large TV.
The invitations will set the tone for the theme so be sure to include them.
Always assign seating with place cards at the table. This makes for more interesting conversations and the place cards can be the take home gift for your guests (i.e./ a personalized ornament or cookie).
Create a signature cocktail for the evening.
Trish Knight, Design Consultant, Interior Solutions Design Group 604.922.8311 www.interiorsolutionsdesigngroup.com
Copyright North Shore Magazine Issue Dec 05 - Jan 06
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