14th of February is Valentine day and celebrated worldwide. This is the day of love. Its origin is not clear. The mating period of birds starts at the middle of Februery, maybe this observation led to the emergence of this feast. Traditionally love is assigned to this day, but we can give surprises not only our love, but our family and friends as well.
Its traditional decoration motives are rose, heart, Amor, arrow and pigeon. Customized colors are red and all shades of pink. Celebrate this day with a complete home decoration, not only a romantic dinner. Hang a heart shaped decoration on the front door made of red roses or pink paper flowers. Place colourful candles, garlands made of hearts and small puttos on the mantle. In the bedroom, we can change the blankets and the cushions to red, the lampshades can be decorated by boas, cushions can be scattered with flower petals and a heart can be formed by candles on the floor. In the bathroom, place candles to the bathtub and shelves. Hang out red or red edged towels. Pour rose scented bubble bath into the bath water. Dinner table should be decorated by candles and red plates, which can be part of the everyday, other coloured dinner set. Red glasses and damask nepkins are also decorative. A bucket of rose looks good everywhere. If you feel red color too dominant, combine it with lot of white, thus only the important motifs will strike your eyes. For a less formal, youthful mood let’s apply the hues of pink instead of red.
If you would like to surprise your loved ones with a special Valentine’s Day mood, ask help from an interior designer for decoration.
Archives
Carnival
The carnival season starts at Epiphany and lasts to Ash Wednesday, its end is also a winter farewell. This is the traditional period of carnivals and masquerades. In Hungary, it’s used to be celebrated mostly in schools and kindergartens, but costume parties are more and more popular at the adults also. Let’s organize a light and funny evening for our friends in carnival spirit.
We can use many of the New Years scenery: caps, masks, serpentines. As the carnival is also about the cavalcade of colors, we can be quite daring in this topic. Let’s choose three powerful color hues and use it as a base of decoration. They can be e.g. deep purple, turquoise and lime green. The best if we purchase decorations made of shimmering material. Their concentrated effect can be compensated using white, black and silver colors. When having a masquerade party, we can ask our guests to wear the same, ambient colors in clothing (e.g.: white, black, gray), but their masks should reflect the above main colors. If the party will be a costume event, the complete costume should be designed with the given three colors regardless to the theme.
For this occasion, Swedish buffet fits the best. Sweet and salty snacks can be eaten while standing, they also can be decorated fitting the color scheme. Cookies can be colored by frosting or marzipan decorations. Sandwiches can be topped by lime slices, or butter crème roses tinted by food coloring. Napkins, straws and cocktail sticks are easy to be purchased in lots of different colors.
To plan and select the colors for a real elegant style of serving, ask for help from a style expert before sending out the invitations.
Knockers
Shutters
Door wreaths 2.
For Santa Claus Day
Windows
Door wreaths 1.
Curtaining
Curtain is practically the clothes of the window. It can highlight or hide the forms the same way as our clothing. Beyond this, it has important role in shading and closing out the outside world. In case of bedrooms, alcoves or storing facilities, it can take over the role of the door also.
When designing curtains, not only the color and fabric should be carefully considered, but also the style of the room, the amount of incoming light and the size and shape of the window. By using a curtain, we can apply visual tricks by which the rate of the room and window can be improved. If the window is too narrow, a cornice overhanging both sides with a curtain hanging on it can result the feeling if the window behind the fabric would be much wider. If the window is located too low, the cornice has to be placed much higher and the wall should be hidden by a lambrequin, generating a feeling of a high window.
In case of special shaped windows (e.g.: semi-circular, diamond-shaped or round) the unusual form can be highlighted or hidden by the curtain. The fabric can follow the lines of the window frame and the curtain wings as they reach the floor near the window can show the beauty of the window itself. For this, more fabric is required, but in case of classic interiors this elements should be emphasized anyway.
Most important role of the curtain is to block sunlight. In case of a bedroom, black-out fabric is advised – which provides total elimination of light during sleeping even daylight. Transparent fabrics (e.g.: voile, organza or lace) can prevent people watching our life from out the street in daylight, but in the evening, when interior lights are turned on, they can easily look inside. These should be paired with non-transparent curtains, which provide a decorative living side view.
Cornice can be part of the view or can be hidden behind a decoration element or the drapery. The method of hanging the curtain itself can be also different: rings, hidden clamps, sewing, textile tabs, etc.
Curtains have to be organic part of the room in harmony with the style and mood. If there is a problem choosing the optimal solution or design, ask help from an interior designer.