Tips for Decorating for Christmas

It is Christmas time and one cannot help but notice the cheerful mood in the air. This feeling of good cheer is always brought into the home by inclusion of appropriately themed holiday décor. Some put up holiday décor by the beginning of December while others wait until a week or a few days to Christmas. Either way holiday décor always sets the home into the holiday mood and cheer. The living room being the window to the home and the most public room in the house should be forefront in enhancing this mood. All the elements in the living room such as the furniture, drapes, lighting as well as surfaces like the floor, wall and ceiling can be used to heighten this season’s mood by adding fitting décor.

Heightening the Christmas Mood

Apart from the usual holiday décor such as garlands and ornaments, the senses can heighten the holiday mood in very interesting ways. The power of music cannot be ignored and playing Christmas carols in the living room as well as lighting scented, Christmas coloured candles that exude Christmas scents fill the senses with the Christmas season. If one can afford it, there can be holiday drapes or a rug that are put up only during Christmas. Alternatively, white drapes with red, green or blue trims will go well with Christmas décor.

Some Christmas décor stays up till mid January and so the type of décor and the technique used to put it up should take this duration into account. In such a case and where the Christmas tree and wreath is live then the necessary care procedures must be in place so that it does not wilt and become an eyesore. The lights and other ornaments put on the tree should be firmly affixed so that they do not come lose.

Living Room Curtains and Drapes

The choice of curtains for the living room windows is an important aspect of interior decorating. The living room is by far the most public of rooms in the house and so the choice of its décor must highlight the lifestyle of the home. Mostly living rooms are endowed with large windows which are ideal to showcase the luxury of elegant curtain fabric. The choice of fabric has to take into account that the living room is in use most of the day and especially in the evening. The fabric has to therefore allow in as much light as possible during the day while create some sort of impact in the room for the evenings.

Elegant and Rich Curtain Fabric

There are a variety of fabrics and textures available for living room draperies and the choice must blend in and complement the rest of the décor in the room. Rich damask and silk curtains will greatly enhance a living room containing family heirlooms, antiques, expensive couches, collections of china and valuable framed pictures. A carpet in good condition, nicely painted walls and upholstery will bring out the full effect of expensive and professionally made curtains. There is no rule of thumb that says draperies must match the window height or width. Raising the pelmet or valance to the ceiling will create a height effect in the room and extending the valance horizontally will add the effect of wider windows.

Double sided fabrics are ideal for French doors that open onto a garden as the curtains will look good both from the inside and outside. Lining curtains helps to preserve their colour from the outside weather effects as well as creating fullness to the drapes, which makes them hang well. A little creativity and good choice of drapes adds elegance to the living room interior decorating.

Focal Points in Interior Décor

Creative Living Room Furniture Arrangement

One of the most crucial dynamics of interior décor is furniture arrangement. Each room has its own key piece of furniture and a focal point. The key piece of furniture is usually arranged in relation to the focal point. For the living room, for example, the key piece of furniture is the sofa and until the recent past the television has been the focal point. In modern times, though, most homes have separate television rooms which double up as family rooms, leaving the living room for receiving and entertaining guests. One may then want to consider living room furniture arrangement around the fire place, a large painting or a spacious window. These focal points create great conversation areas especially if the living room is used for relaxing and entertaining.

However there are several factors to consider as one goes for these contemporary decorating ideas. Chief among them being, the size and shape of the room, which also affects traffic flow. If the room is not limited in space, then dividing the room into two or more separate conversation groupings is ideal. In such a scenario one needs to be very creative in living room furniture arrangement such that the space is well utilized. A path may be created between the groupings and the area rugs used as borders to make them distinct. All these should be done with the aim of adding coziness and warmth to the room.

Still, not all rooms will have a distinct focal point like the fire place, a spacious window or the large painting. In such cases, the decorator has to be able to create a focal point with the living room furniture arrangement. For interior décor, this is likened to a fresh canvas where the decorator is free to explore creativity and individual taste.