home decor

So you have an armoire and you are eying that space between the top of it and the ceiling.  Do you or don't you put anything on top of it?   You might want to consider the following: How much space do you have to work with? If you have less than 24 inches  I suggest forgetting about adding something above it. Here's why: This is a lovely  armoire, but the flowers are squished in, and they would be so much  prettier in a different spot. The arrangement looks awkward.  The scale of the flowers and pan are perfect if only the armoire were a little shorter. If you choose to put something smaller in scale on top it would be difficult to see and you would have to stand back quite a bit to see it.  BUT sometimes you can make it work.  There's always an exception to every  rule.   Bosworth Hoedemaker Even though these baskets touch the ceiling in places, their colour, scale and random/exciting arrangement  make them appear as if they are an...

  Are you challenged when it comes to arranging  accessories? Do you look at details in  decorating magazines and marvel at how everything  looks just right? Many people think the final touches are the most difficult part of home decor, but they don't have to be.  There are all kinds of tips and tricks of the trade.  One of the simplest design tips I can offer is the use  of  letter formations to organize interesting accessory vignettes. I'm calling on my background in visual art and floral arrangement to offer you this advice.  Other decorators may have different ways of describing their approach.  The most useful letters for designing vignettes are ....  A, V,  O, C, L, and M.   Here goes... A Niche Interiors This is a very tight A line of design.  The visual height is always through the middle and the base is wider, but the bottom width can vary.  My eye wants to see something slightly taller than the dish -...

When someone says dining room, what picture appears in your mind?  Try  it.  List the elements. For many of us these words conjure up a dining room set with everything matching, a chandelier and some sort of hutch or maybe buffet.  Probably a picture of some sort will be included.  I bet matching is the most obvious characteristic. It doesn't have to be that way unless that's what you like.  Here are 5 ways you can  make your dining space stand out a little. Mix and match your chairs and table The days of dining sets have moved behind us.  In many magazines you will see all sorts of mixing of styles, materials and colours. I love the look of upholstered chairs with a wood table. They soften the hard edges and provide some relief in the "wood" department. Some adventurous types will go for two different styles of chairs.  Adore magazine  Another option if you aren't too adventurous is to upholster each of your wooden chairs with a differe...

And continuing with thoughts of spring decorating.... When you enter my house the dining table is in full view from the entry.   In a desperation move while babysitting my 3 granddaughters, I  stuck some fake lavender in a glass jar and thought that I could get away with it.  I was called out on that move by a family member who was a little horrified I had fake flowers.  I admit they were not good fakes.  I defensively pointed out I had beautiful fresh, pink tulips on my kitchen table, but I was caught.  Time to make amends. Something green  Nothing denotes spring like new growth, green and/or plants. Lately I've been seeing live plants in lanterns.  I like the look and feel, but my place is not a lantern kind of home.  I already tried the plainest one I could find, and moved it all over the downstairs rooms to no avail.  It went back to Pier 1. I love repetition as a design statement so it's little wonder I'm attracted to these ferns. L...

I don't know about you, but around this time of year my decor starts to look a little like I feel after a long, cold winter.  Tired and worse for wear.  I had the urge to bring some spring to my house; I tried, I really did, but mother nature had other ideas.   I had visions  of something  like this  for my front containers with a bit of fake thrown in until the real thing is possible - that means late June here. Source    I bought pussy willows and some  short, purple flowers to  add to the greenery that is there.  Unfortunately the current items from Christmas are still frozen solid.   I have  what survived the raging winds and snow of winter .... I guess it will be red dogwood, Spanish Broom and pine for a little longer! The berries are long gone. Then I thought what about a new wreath to hang over the containers.  I wracked my brains.  Do you know a spring motif that would look great with Christmas planters? ...

Large can have a lot of meanings, but in Newfoundland large often  mean great or good or the best as in " it's a large day".   Given that understanding here's  a "large" dining room and a closer look at why it merits that rating. Liz Levin Interiors  This room has a lot packed into a very small space.    Just imagine this space with a matched dining set.  It would blend into the floor and be totally blah.  How did the designer achieve this look? Perhaps there's something in her kit of tricks that you could use.   Upholstered chairs   If you have a dining table you love, and hate the chairs, consider changing them  to coloured leather or fully upholstered ones.  It helps break up all the wood that you tend to get in dining rooms.  This approach usually means you can get away without the area rug that many people have to resort to so their set doesn't disappear into a similar wood floor. Mixing styles I know this isn't for e...