Top decorating ideas from Sunset Magazine

With the new year upon us, glancing around my home is a new beginning for me, an opportunity to change things up, freshen, enlighten, re-position things, create vignettes galore.  For me, this is always a good time for change-a cleansing. Sunset Magazine shares these tips for a renewal in your home.(This is gonna be a long winded one so settle in with a cup 'o cocoa, put your feet up and stay awhile!)  Little by little, I will begin to incorporate these into my daily living space so I can breathe...

1.  Choose meaningful pieces to have in your home.
     I always feel that family pictures around my home make me feel all warm inside.  I love it as I walk into  my rooms and spot a favorite pic of someone in my family!  A souvenir from a fab vacation is also great to spark a past memory to remember!
2.  Layer colors and textures.
     I love using a neutral as my backdrop and add splashes of color to warm a space up.  My ivory living       room has pops of blues and I love the clean, fresh feeling it inspires!
3.  Design your home for gathering.
     No matter how much I try to change things up, my kitchen remains the gathering place whenever we have a get together.  So because of that, I always try to make my kitchen feel extra warm and inviting by displaying pictures and favorite tchotchkes that I adore!
4.  Use practical items as accents
     I like the idea of placing items that go with a particular room, on display.  For instance, in my dining room I like to display a plate server with attractive dessert plates that match my decor.  Not only is this pretty to the eye but it can be used at a moment's notice!
5.  Integrate workspaces.
     I love having a desk area in my kitchen.  The majority of my home time is spent either in the kitchen or in my bedroom.  I'm sure many of you can agree on that.  The desk is a perfect place to blog, email, check out recipes, do some "social networking"!, and pay bills.  The desk area probably gets more activity than my stove!!
6.  Carry your style outdoors.
     I am lucky enough to have a screened porch through the sliders in my dining room.  I extended the color scheme of the blue from that room and added green to incorporate nature's great outdoors.. I have even continued the colors out to my patio because it really is an extension of the porch area and the cohesiveness make me happy!
7.  Create flow.
     I do try to keep the flow moving in a circular pattern.  One room blends into another as you go from room to room, as well as heading outdoors to the porch and then to the patio-I like a good flow of color and decor- it tends to make things have an order to them versus stunting and chopping up into little rooms.
8.  Find fabric you love.
     One of my happiest shopping times is when I am in a fabric store.  There are very few left in my area and that saddens me.  I could spend days picking out fabric for curtains, upholstery and remnants for cute little projects.
9.  Create interesting groupings.
      Nothing makes me as happy as setting up little vignettes all around my home.  In every vignette, I usually place a bird which puts a smile on my face!!
10.  Try a grid.
     I have never used  a grid until recently when I was introduced to the feng shui ways of home decor.  This is a truly innovative concept which intrigues me as I attempt to center my home little by little around this teaching-If I could only get my husband to go along with painting my front door red!
11. Use a base of white.
     I have used an ivory white as the base in both my living room, dining room and front hallway.  My kitchen cabinets, island and appliances are all white as well.  This clean ,fresh look keeps the flow going!
12.  Keep it clean and flexible.
     Using lots of variations of white really help to clean things up and best of all, you can use all cleaning products with bleach in them to get it really clean and white!
13.  Dramatic backdrops.
     A dramatic backdrop gives a room pizzaz as well as a real focal point to decorate around!
 14.Use art displays for interest.
     Last but of course not least, art is the key.  This can be fine art, poster art, sculpture, drawings, black and white photography,candle sconces or really anything that attaches to your wall, catches your eye, makes you feel really good and adds to the flow of the decor!


Hope these ideas help you in your quest to bring a new freshness for the new year-well, gotta fly-Claire


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