Fun Decor Ideas for Christmas

It's happened!  The new colour for 2015 has been announced.  EVERY year since 1990, the Pantone Colour Institute has nominated a Colour of the Year, forecasting which specific hue designers and consumers will all supposedly be using, wearing, and buying for the following 12 months. Last week, Pantone announced that the 2015 Colour of the Year is Marsala.

In a company press release, Pantone described the colour as “a naturally robust and earthy wine red.” While last year’s Colour of the Year, Radiant Orchid, “encouraged creativity and innovation, Marsala enriches our mind, body and soul, exuding confidence and stability,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Colour Institute.

A rich colour, it's red-brown roots emanate a sophisticated, natural earthiness. This hearty, yet stylish tone is universally appealing and translates easily to fashion, beauty, industrial design, home furnishings and interiors,” Pantone proclaimed.

Below are some pictures where this new colour can be found.

Decking your Halls....

I am a little late with this post but since some of us are also a little late in 'decking our halls' I thought it  may help.  It always seems to just creep up on us.  This year I was at a little event where the theme for decorating this year is natural, red and gold.  Well that should be easy to accomplish.

When it comes to decorating, why not just enjoy the fun and anticipation.

Step back in time to when things were much simpler. Come up with new ways to showcase your treasured, current decorations along with adding new, simple refreshing additions. Have fun decorating!

There are many places to purchase décor items where you are not spending large amounts of money. One of the most inexpensive decorating sources can be in your own back yard or nearby parks – pinecones, fallen branches, anything organic is environmentally friendly and looks warm and cozy.  You can re-purpose items you already have in a new and different ways.  Since it is only seasonal, the look or theme can change each year without purchasing an entire new collection of decorations.  What fun!  Here are some different themes to ponder – 

Natural Rustic/Organic Theme 

• Greenery and pillar candles on kitchen counter       
• Tree decorated with fruit in urn on kitchen table      
• Small trees in baskets         
• Grapevine or natural evergreen Wreaths in all windows
• Tray on kitchen counter, which holds a small live Rosemary tree, paper whites and candle
•   Large flat basket of greens filled with green apples, limes and pillar candle.
• Christmas tree decorated with strings of cranberries, gingerbread men, twigs, dried fruit – apple and orange slices, etc.
• Trays with greenery, and small votive & tea lights candles
•  Collect fallen branches, trim your own evergreen bushes and perhaps some thicker birch type pieces and arrange in a tall glass cylinder
• Fill different sizes of glass containers or baskets with pinecones
•  Fill several different size glass containers with cranberries and then add some fresh flowers or branches
• Bowls of fruit, nuts, pinecones
•  Groupings of candles, especially battery operated for safety, among evergreen branches
• 3 large glass candles with greenery, cinnamon sticks and oranges 
• Light Fixture decorated with greenery            
• Burlap wrapped presents in a basket on porch
• Urns filled with greens, sticks, fruit and lights

 If you have a collection of Christmas Items why not showcase them -

Collection based theme – Santas, Nutcrackers, etc. 

• Santas or Nutcrackers grouped with greenery and twigs around them
• Group of Santas or nutcrackers on a bakers rack or shelving
• Christmas Tree with small nutcrackers mixed among the other treasured ornaments you already have
• Greenery on table with large candle    

Natural Elegance

• Sugared fruit on buffet
• Large glass with greens, cranberries and floating candles on Dining Table or Hall table
• Vase of greens, sticks and amaryllis on counter
• Wooden (olive) trough with berries and votive candles
• Amaryllis in glass with moss and cranberries
• Greenery lit up on top of kitchen upper cabinets
• Row of boxes on counter with greens
• Amaryllis, orchids, paper whites, greens and candles in arrangement on kitchen island counter
• Sleigh with greens, soldiers, green moss, trees and balls
• Christmas Tree with a color theme of treasured ornaments you already have with perhaps a few new ones added
• Tray filled with round Christmas Balls with pillar candle in center
• Tall glass cylinders filled with small Christmas Balls 

With the above options you can definitely add the three prominent options for this year - natural, red and gold to enhance your decor.

Try to take a casual and relaxed attitude to your decorating so that you enjoy it and leave leave more time for the fun part of these upcoming celebrations – entertaining family and friends; community events; walks in the woods; sitting by a cozy fire; making cookies with your children; decorating the tree or whatever your heart desires. 

Great Home Decor at Urban Barn

I recently visited the newest Urban Barn which opened a couple of weeks ago in North Oakville, in the Oak Park area and it is just lovely.  Along with all the goodies they have also brought a little of Christmas as well.  I lovvvvve Christmas decorations so I did manage to spend a fair bit of time perusing the offerings.  Their regular lines are great as well.  I absolutely loved this....

Below are a few of the Christmas Themes followed by their all season merchandise

7 Rules for Under Cabinet Lighting - from renovaton bootcamp by Robin Siegerman

7 Rules for Under Cabinet Lighting  
http://renovationbootcamp.com/7-rules-under-cabinet-lighting/

Under cabinet lights keep the counters from being dark

No lighting under the cabinets makes the work surface gloomy

Did you know that poor lighting in a kitchen can cause you to have headaches, neck and shoulder problems and eye strain?  

Did you also know that poorly designed lighting in a kitchen can ruin the whole effect of your costly remodel?

Lighting your kitchen well can make the difference between a room that feels warm and inviting, where friends and family love to gather and linger vs one that feels gloomy and drab or clinical and sterile and makes meal preparation a chore and a depressing experience.

Here are 7 Rules for undercabinet lighting  for your kitchen!

Undercabinet lighting illuminates the work surface 

After the renovation, even undercabinet lighting

UNDER CABINET LIGHTING

My pet peeve is when people refer to this as “undercounter” lighting.  It’s not mounted under the counter, it’s mounted under the wall cabinets to LIGHT UP your COUNTER, therefore it’s UNDER—–>>> CABINET lighting.

Because the tasks you perform often use sharp implements and blades that can lop off a digit or two, lighting up your work area is critical, but there are a few rules of thumb to keep in mind so you can keep your thumb on your hand where it belongs:

1.   The lights should be mounted to the under side of the wall cabinet at the front NOT the back.  The idea is to light your work surface, not the back wall.  Since your wall cabinets are half the depth of your base cabinets, mounting your lights at the front of the cabinet will give you good lighting on the whole counter top, not just at the back.

2.   If you have chosen a highly reflective counter top material like polished black granite, it will look like a mirror when lit from above, bouncing terrible glare off the counter top back into your eyes.  So for this kind of situation, use an under cabinet fixture with a lens that’s frosted which will diffuse the lights so you don’t blind yourself and cut off a digit!

3.   Using individual puck lights for under-cabinet lighting is not the best solution unless you space them very close together so you don’t get “hot” spots under the light and dark spots between the fixtures.  This causes your pupils to constantly be dilating and focusing and can cause eyestrain and headaches.

4.   LED strip lighting will not be as bright as other types like halogen, xenon or fluorescent, so you might want to use two strips side-by-side. This will double your cost, but their life is so long, you’ll virtually never have to replace them, unless you leave them on 24/7. Even then, they should last for a good 15 years or more.

5.   Try to install the light switch that controls your under cabinet lighting in the same place as your general room lighting.  You’ll get aggravated very quickly if you have to run around your kitchen to hit the switches to control various light sources.

6.   Colour temperature of your under cabinet lighting is going to affect how the colours of your backsplash tile and counter top look. If the light is very cool (like a fluorescent with a lot of blue in the spectrum), warm colors like reds and oranges are going to look dead.  On the other hand, a cool light can make green or blue more vivid. Talk to someone who knows lighting before throwing in any old under cabinet lighting if you’ve got a backsplash or counter top you want to highlight.

7.   Unless your cabinets have a face-frame that creates a recessed cavity under your wall cabinets, be sure your kitchen designer specifies a light valance. This is a strip of cabinet-match material of about 2″ high that will hide the under cabinet lights from view so you won’t be hit in the eyes with glare when you sit at a kitchen table.

http://renovationbootcamp.com/7-rules-under-cabinet-lighting/