Brighten Up Winter Days
5/18/2005 5:05:50 PM
Doesn’t it seem like when the weather is gray and gloomy your home feels gloomy inside too? Some quick tips for darker days:
• Make sure each room has at least 2 strong light sources
• Keep your windows clean
• Strive for a cleared, simple, uncluttered feel
• Stash the trash! Hide your messes behind closed cabinet doors
• Breathe life and add color with blooming plants – they clean your air too!
• Have a plateful of candles ready to light for instant sparkle!
• Up-lights, picture lights, mini-spots, wall-sconces and wall-mounted lights are all good options to throw light on special objects
Check out your home carefully trying to see it through a visitor’s eye. This often points you toward design faux-paux that you’re numb to as you pass by each day. Be critical enough to notice each room’s style and color story!
Now take action for a more inviting interior. Energize yourself and your home with color. Change your old wallcovering or re-paint your walls. This is a satisfying and inexpensive project for an instant new look! Consider new window treatments, area rugs, accent pillows for your sofa, and larger artwork. These accessories will add the pattern and color your rooms are missing and are affordable design elements adding punch and pizzazz to each room.
A bunch of bright yellow sunflowers (yes, good silks are fine) sitting on your kitchen counter or on the table will instantly bring color and cheer to your room. Mirrors to reflect the light also help to open up a room. Try a collection of mirrors at the end of a dark hallway, or a large mirror opposite a window to reflect the outside.
If you have a seldom-used fireplace, fill it with candles in various sizes. These flicker and light up an otherwise dark hole for a fabulous focal point that’s inviting and warm on a gloomy night.
Re-think your pieces of furniture: “loan” your console table or chest to the master bedroom for use as a higher nightstand. Place a bookcase next to the other side of the bed with a lamp on top. This keeps your magazines and books nearby if you read in bed. Pull the rocking chair out of your bedroom to put near a window in the kitchen to bird watch on a winter day. Remember to feed the birds all winter to enjoy their company!