Christmas decoration goes back to the boxes after the holidays. The „emptiness” can be odd in the first few days because our home was resplendent in colors and lights for a month. However, the Christmas decoration can be transformed to a winter decoration with some clever tricks, this way the mood can stay until spring.
Firstly, take the red color out of the palette, because this reminds us to the feasts mostly. Let’s work with neutral colors. Plain evergreens should be placed in the vases instead of holy berry and other berry-branches. Cotton sprigs or just bare branches can be added to them.
Potted mini thujas/pines sprayed with faux-snow look good instead of Christmas table centerpieces. Color bubble ornaments in a bowl should be changed to whitened pine cones, for example. Fairy lights, Christmas ornaments and bows should be taken away from pine garlands. Let’s change the door wreath to a more neutral and simpler one. This can be made of pine cones, ivy, pine-branches etc.
Blankets and cushions made of checked flannel or knitted material have a winter atmosphere also instead of seasonal pieces. The red color can be kept in this case if it fits for the mood of our home.
We don’t have to get rid of fairy lights also. They are nice mood lightings, for example in a big glass vase, in a bowl with full of apples, in the fireplace (during out of order) or fixed to the curtain rod, in these early darkening days. The same is true in the case of candles and tea lights.
The red poinsettia should be replaced with a white one. Any kind of faux-snowed decoration can stay if it is divested from its Christmas features, namely less glittering and colorful accessories are given to it.
Ask for help of an interior designer for decorating your home also.
Archives
My project 25.
Designed for a competition: house in the style of an english country manor
More pictures: https://classicinteriors.hu/en/references/21-references/67-references17
My project 24.
Black Friday
Magnolia
Silhouettes
Silhouette was a popular piece of fine arts in the 18-19th century. It is a silhouette on a light – usually white – base, cut out of black cardboard or painted with black paint. Most often it is a human profile portrait (vignette) but the theme can be also a genre or animals.
This was the cheaper and faster version of portrait miniatures. The most talented artists made a silhouette by freehand in a few minutes, just looking the model sitting in front of them. The inner part of the silhouette is simply black without details, neither the eyes nor other characteristics were illustrated. Their sizes were between 7 and 13 cm. Making it was a kind of show at fairs and even the poorer could afford paying for one thanks to the cheap material. The artists not necessarily had to have a wealthy patron for their job.
Making silhouettes was a popular pastime among nobles also. The easier way was to hang a tensed paper on a mount between the model and the drawer, while the model was lighted by a candle from behind. The shadow on the paper was drawn around and that was used as a stencil for cutting the final one of black cardboard. The painted version was usually also pre-drawn and filled later with black ink.
The silhouettes were framed and put on the wall. Later variations appeared on glass, gypsum and ivory.
They can be easily fitted into fashionable, minimal color palettes thanks to their black-and-white basic colors. Ask for help of an interior designer placing your collection in a proper way.
My project 22.
Seaside colors
Although summer is over, seaside style is popular independently from seasons. It means travelling, mental and physical freedom, serenity and calmness for most people. However, the question arises in interior design: which beach is desired to be evoked at home? Although the accessories specific to the style(s) (seashells, cord, objects connected to sailing, driftwood etc.) are the same, there is a significant difference in color usage among beaches of various places.
In the case of Mediterranean countries commonly white is the basic color but very light sand and hues of beige can be used for the base also. The leading colors paired to this are turquoise blue and green, cobalt blue and sky blue – all of them are bright shades.
It reflects well the cooler weather of the North-European sea-sides that mostly the primary colors are chosen besides the white or off-white base: navy blue, red, bright yellow, probably supplemented with dark orange and grass green.
Light grey is the basic color in Canada and in the northern counties of USA, following the austere weather. It can be both warm and cold hue. The colors paired with this are much more moderated: steel-blue, storm-grey, greyish brown, dark red, navy blue and less often blue water.
Really warm seaside of Florida and California are favorite holiday destinations also. The base can be white but some kind of light beige too. The colors used are quite subdued: blue water, mint green, coral, light yellow, light turquoise, maybe pink.
Warm weather and rich vegetation of Indian Ocean’s archipelago is reflected in that the basic color is frequently among the warm but dark browns of tropical woods. White accompanies to this as contrast and freshening element. Bright greens, pink, turquoise and canary yellow are the pop of colors (exotic flowers).
Of course, listing could be continued. The mentioned above shows well that seaside style has many faces, so it is important to make it clear before implementing, what this style really means to us. Mostly a nice memory is the basis which indicates the place also. Ask for help of an interior designer for reaching the desired result.
Art Deco
Art Deco was the determinative style of the 1920-30s. It was named after the abbreviation of Exposition des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes exhibition in 1925.
The style included almost all innovations of the age (e.g. aviation, electricity) but willingly used ancient cultures’ symbols as a source (e.g. rising sun, pyramid). These appeared as stylized geometrical figures. The human bodies on statues and relieves were a bit angular, masculine (even the women!) and dynamic. In architecture, skyscrapers were the breakthrough (e.g. Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, Chrysler Building).
Chrome and bakelite – the new materials – specified the interiors. Extra shiny surfaces could be created by both. At the same time, they were combined with very expensive materials: ivory and silver on furniture, diamonds and platinum on jewelry. Black, white and yellow were dominant colors of the strong and high contrast palette. The style itself embodied luxury and elegance. Both mass production and unique manual production had a role.
Renowned artists were requested for furnishing not only private houses and public buildings, but for example the interiors of ocean liners and luxury trains. The style became simpler after the world-wide economic crisis, but still remained extravagant.
Art Deco is popular again. Accessories, wallpapers, furniture in the style can be bought in several shops. Take care not to overdose the used patterns. Ask for help of an interior designer for this.