Asian Inspired Home Decorating

Asian Inspired Home Decorating

Few home decorating themes capture the imagination quite like an Asian inspired theme. One reason is rich colors, fabrics, and textures that are the hallmark of Asian style decor. Asian décor inspires a simplistic elegance that is almost impossible to imitate with other decorating styles. Isn't it stunning to walk into a room or a home that has been decorated in an Asian inspired motif.

Beware, this is not a bargain style of décor. The simple, almost stark elegance comes at a rather high price for the average consumer. However, the minimalistic aspect of this home decorating style makes it possible when other styles with this sort of price tag would not be possible. Asian style décor relies heavily on color and texture.

Dining rooms are particularly stunning when decorated in an Asian flair. In this room not only can the furniture added to the room serve to improve and enhance the décor but also the placemats and linens on the table can serve as an important to
tool in establishing the theme of this elegant room. Chopsticks and dishes, particularly tea servings are other great accessories which enhance an Asian dining room.

You don't have to decorate every room in your home in the Asian theme. Due to the expense involved in many Asian themed home decorating styles, it is recommended that only one or two rooms in the home should be created based upon an Asian theme. This will keep your costs down as well as make those rooms the focal points in the home rather than having the splendor lost in excess.

Which two rooms? In addition to the dining room, the bathroom is another excellent room in which to incorporate an Asian inspired theme. The bathroom is the room in which people go to relax and wash away the worries and stress of the day. Therefore, it makes perfect sense that some of the more tranquil and relaxing design accents of an Asian décor would be appropriate. Candles, figurines, calligraphy (waterproof of course), and Asian artwork make excellent accessories for a bathroom, as do the more tranquil wall colors of some Asian inspired rooms. Fountains are another beatiful addition to the room for an added sense of relaxation. Be sure that there is plenty of storage space. Clean lines and an uncluttered surface are important for the overall peaceful affect you are hoping to achieve.

If the dining room or bath are not areas of your home in which you desire fan Asian theme you may want to take the theme into your bedroom. In the bedroom use fabrics to create a romantic atmosphere, rice paper window coverings for privacy, and candles throughout the room to finish off the creation. Furnishings in the bedroom should be sparse and uncluttered. Use Asian screens to 'section off' the room or hide the piles of laundry or cluttered areas. Fans make a lovely decoration for the walls in a bedroom as does other types of Oriental art or framed calligraphy in the words of love. Use wall sconces and indirect lighting instead of harsh, glaring overhead lights.

An Asian theme can be one of the most elegant and peaceful in the realm of home decorating if you are truly willing to invest the time and money it takes to do this theme properly. Beware! If you choose cheap and tacky decorations rather than quality accessories, it can also be one of the most gaudy . If you choose to incorporate an Asian theme into your home I hope you will keep that in mind while you are shopping.

If you are interested in more information about decorating in the Asian style, find out more about Feng Shui the art of living in the Asian style. Feng Shui incorporates the art of "placement" or how to place furnishings, artwork, and other pieces in the correct areas of the home for the proper flow of energy through the home, and much more..... This book, Home Design With Feng Shui A-Z (Hay House Lifestyles) is one of the easiest to use, and best that we have found to date. Give it a try!

tag: asian style feng shui home decorating design

Winter Decorating Ideas

Winter Decorating Ideas

Too many people begin the winter home decorating process with a bang only to end with a whimper, while far too few people realize that Christmas is only the beginning of the winter season. Although Christmas decorations are a lovely addition, they are also a temporary decorative addition in most homes lasting no more than a month if that long. This leaves at least two more months of winter with a sparsely decorated home in many cases.

There are many things that are associated with the winter season. However, many of these things have been grouped under the category of Christmas décor and their value as simple hallmarks of winter have been forgotten or relegated to the mere distinction of yet another Christmas decoration. Winter months for much of the world are long and cold. Anything that adds a feeling of warmth and cheer to the home is usually an excellent idea as a winter home decoration.

Believe it or not, hibernating animals for many people inspire a feeling of winter. For example, try using black bears as a home decorating theme to make your home feel a little more cozy and better prepared for the long cold nights of wintertime. Flannel fabrics in warm reds and blues are a great companion to these delightful black bears and can be used in throws, bedding, and curtains in order to complete the look with style and finesse.



In fact, you might want to throw in a few flannel pillows so that you can try to hibernate along with the cuddly black bears. Bears and other animals are popular home decorations these days so you should have no problem finding a bear or two. Another very popular animal motif these days is the penguin. You can find them everywhere unless you happen to be in my neighborhood because I've probably snapped them all up already.


Do you have a fireplace? I can't say enough about the ability of a nice roaring fire to add warmth and a wintertime glow to almost any room. It really isn't winter for many people unless there is a nice fire burning in the grate. The warmth is more than merely physical; it is also soul soothing and comforting to watch a fire burning brightly before your eyes while warming your cold hands, feet, and backside after coming in from a nice afternoon of sledding. fireplace can add a touch of romance to your winter nights so be sure to keep cozy blankets and candles close by as well.



Speaking of candles. Much like a fireplace candles and oil lamps add a warm cheerfulness to the rooms they touch. There are certain fragrances that are perfect for wintertime candle burning. An appropriate fragrance in the winter months provides the soft glow and ambiance that makes the world seem so much smaller and friendlier in the process. Keep this in mind when you go shopping for your winter home decorating accessories as well as the fact that fragrances matter when creating an atmosphere so choose the fragrances appropriately to the season.

The oil lamps pictured here, are handmade, mouth blown glass vessels that may be used as oil lamps, reed diffusers (for fragrance), or vases. I love them because they are so versatile. I have several shapes and sizes that are offered by Coni Art Glass. In the dining room I use several small ones in different shapes and sizes as bud vases. In the bedroom, as reed diffusers, and in my living room as oil lamps to provide soft, beautiful lighting.


Don't forget to use pillows and blankets in your winter decorating to add layers of warmth and comfort as well as visual appeal. Isn't it amazing how these items convince the mind that you that you are warm, safe, and happy when you are surrounded by warmth. However, if blankets and pillows lining your sofas and chairs doesn't convince you there is always the option of just bundling up and letting your body convince your mind. Thereis something so soothing about the comfort and close softness of the pillows and blankets whether you are in perfect health or really feeling the chill of winter down to your bones.

Whatever you do this year, don't let the celebration of winter end when you take the Christmas tree down. Use one of these many ways to incorporate warmth into your home decorating style that only winter can accommodate. Embrace the season with affection and laughter and all that enter your home will be charmed by the charming atmosphere inside.



winter decorating ideas

How Many Wedding Programs to Order?

The "Anna" Wedding Program

"How Many Wedding Programs Should I Order?" This is a question that I'm asked on a daily basis, so I figurred that it's something that people are wanting to know. I normally tell my customers that if they are planning on 250 guests, then they should order around 200 programs. Usually, a couple will get one rather than each person.



If you have program attendants (people handing out programs), you can tell them to only hand out one program per person. But, keep in mind that a lot of women (who have husband's like mine who hate getting dressed up and doing any social), will come to the wedding alone -- so don't cut the number of wedding programs you order in half , or you won't have enough. Also, make sure that you are ordering enough for your wedding party and for keepsakes for yourself.



There is one exception to this -- if you are planning on sitting one wedding program in each seat, then of course, you will need one program for each person that is there. It does look very nice to display your programs this way, but it will cost you more since you will have to order one for each person.



I live in a very small town and they do the strangest thing here -- they don't send wedding invitations locally, but just to out of town guests. Then, they put one invitation in the local newspaper and area church bulletins. This is a great cost-saving thing, but it doesn't help at all when you are planning on a total number of guests! For those of you like that -- my best answer is to ask other brides in your area who have gotten married recently how many guests they had in attendance, so that you will have something to go by...

The Shower Gift that Keeps on Giving!

I heard the best idea last week and right when I heard it, I said to the person "I should blog about that"! So, here it is: my customer was looking for a pre-printed paper that she could put in with the invitations she was sending out for a baby shower. The invitation stated to return the enclosed card with a note on it for the baby. Here's the neat part -- each guest was assigned a year and the baby will get one card per year until they are as old as the number of guests invited.

I thought that this would be a splendid idea for a bridal shower or couple's shower as well -- they could open one card on each anniversary and receive a wish, blessing, prayer, poem or funny story from a dear friend. Depending on circumstances, it may be from a friend that they have lost contact with, or a person who has passed away. I just think that is the neatest idea.

Another customer of mine did a similar thing for her mother's 90th birthday party. They did not want for people to bring gifts, but they knew how much their mother enjoyed receiving cards from friends. So, they provided 4" x 6" cards to each guest to write their favorite memory on and put them together in a photo album that was presented to her at the event.

Ornament Shower or Holiday Shower Theme

Since the holidays just past, I was reminded of one of my favorite shower themes: The Holiday Shower. This could be done at any time of year. Here is how it works - your guests are issued an invitation that has some really cute wording. Something like this:

Each and every holiday is special for different reasons
Let's shower Angie with gifts to celebrate the seasons

Please join us for a
Holiday Shower
in honor of
Angie Willis
Sunday, March 17, 2008
2:00 - 3:30 p.m.
Amy Cox's Home
129 Woodland Cove Drive
Monticello, Florida

Please bring a gift for __________.

(Fill in the blank with different holidays that the honoree recognizes -- Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Fourth of July, etc).

If you really want to go the extra mile, you could go to a stationery shop that has a good selection of invitations and pick out a couple of each holiday and coordinate the paper you use with the holiday they have been assigned.

---

Another idea is the ornament shower. This shower has been incresingly popular in my little town of Elba, Alabama in the past couple of years and is always held in November or December. Since we do live in a tiny town, one of the local shopkeepers will decorate a tree with selections that the bride picked out to decorate "her" tree. The invitation reads something like this:

Please join us for a
Christmas Ornament Shower
in honor of
Miss Meredith Lowery
on Sunday, November 21, 2010
at the home of Amy Cox
129 Woodland Cove Drive
Monticello, Florida

~ Hostesses ~
Christina Hopkins, Pamela Smith, Susan Miller,
Valerie Moorehead and Lynn Robbins

~ Registry ~
The Lowery-Jones Tree is on display at the Strawberry Patch.

How to Word a Traditional Wedding Invitation

Invitations and announcements are usually issued by the parents of the bride, or the surviving parent. If the bride is without parents, invitations may be issued by the closest relative. The accepted order of kinship is as follows:
1. Elder brother
2. Elder sister
3. Both grandparents or surviving grandparent
4. Uncle and aunt
5. Guardian
6. Bride and Groom issue invitations themselves
7. Groom's family

Generally, the parents of the groom are not mentioned unless they are splitting the expense of the wedding.



If the bride's father and mother are issuing the invitations, the conventional form is:

Mr. and Mrs. Larry Dean Cliett
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Laurie Anne
to
Mr. James Walter Chapman, Jr.
on Saturday, the twenty-first of March
Two thousand and ten
at six o'clock in the evening
Fellowship Presbyterian Church
Tallahassee, Florida

If the father or mother is deceased and the surviving parent issues the invitation:

Mrs. (or Mr.) Larry Dean Cliett
requests the honour of your presence
at the marriage of her (his) daughter
Laurie Anne
to
Mr. James Walter Chapman, Jr.
on Saturday, the twenty-first of March
Two thousand and ten
at six o'clock in the evening
Fellowship Presbyterian Church
Tallahassee, Florida

If the father or mother is deceased and the surviving parent has remarried, the remarried mother would use her present husband's name, but the remarried father would use the conventional form:

Mrs. David Lee Carson
requests the honour of your presence
at the marriage of her daughter
Laurie Anne Cliett
(etc...)

If the bride's parents are deceased and the invitation is issued by an older, unmarried sister or brother:

Mr. Thomas Allen Harper
requests the honour of your presence
at the marriage of his sister
(etc...)

If the bride's parents are deceased and the invitation is issued by an older married brother or sister:

Mr. and Mrs. Robert David Thornton
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of his sister
(etc...)

If the bride and groom issue their own invitations, the conventional wording would be:

Miss Laurie Anne Cliett
and
Mr. James Walter Chapman, Jr.
request the honour of your presence
at their marriage
(etc...)

The proper way to word an invitation when the bride's parents are divorced is to list the names of the bride's parents at the top of the invitation. Her mother's name is on the first line and her father's name is on the line beneath it. The lines are not separated by "and". If the bride's mother has not remarried, she uses "Mrs." followed by her first name, maiden name, and married name.

Mrs. Sally Jones Harper

A divorced father who issues the invitation uses the conventional form:

Mr. Matthew Ellis Harper

If the groom's family issues the invitations:

Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Allen Lee
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of
Miss Anne Haley Harper
to their son
Mr. Michael Samuel Lee
(etc...)