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How to Decorate In the Paris Style

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Decorating in the Parisian style simply entails making as many references as you can to Paris, France as you can in a room. A dimple way to accomplish this is to use France’s most iconic and well-known landmark, the Eiffel Tower , as a decorating themed. You can find this symbol on fabric, on throw pillows and also in statuary, posters and paintings. Displaying a collection of mini replicas or Eiffel Towers in snow shakers alludes immediately to “The City of Lights” in your décor.

It helps to paint your place in Parisian colors such as grey, white, black, chocolate and soft orange. Touches of red, aqua and gold also complete the look. This gives the home that cheerful French feel.

You should also search online and in flea markets for vintage furniture from Fence. Typical items that speak of the city are wrought iron and brass headboards, tall armoires with mirrored doors and pictures with elaborate gilded frames. Dress forms are also a French touch as they allude to Parisian Fashion legend Coco Chanel. You can hang scarves and necklaces from the dress form and pin brooches to it to make a lovely but unconventional free-standing jewel box.

You can finds tons of furniture for your new look at Cymax. If you end up ordering from this site make sure you pick up a Cymax coupon code from CouponDisco.com and save some money off your purchase.

Brass and bronze lamps with heavy ornate bases are also very Parisian in look. For that touch of the “French Brothel” choose a lamp with a shade that has a fringe on it. Throwing fringed shawls over regular lamp shades have a similar effect. Just be careful that you do not light any fabric on fire as you drape it over the bulb.

Yet another hallmark of this look is vases of roses everywhere. Tuck dried roses in your picture frames, your mirrors and on top of door frames for a unique Parisian shabby chic look.

In the bathroom you should place white bowls of roses and make sure that the floors are bare and white and that the towel rack is stuffed with fluffy white towels. Soap should be gold or pink in color and be in a charming dish. Shell shaped soap dishes are quite common in France.

A charming antique bookshelf should display the French classics of literature whether they are in English or French.

Displaying French postcards, menus and signage also gives your apartment or home that Parisian flair. Of course nothing says Paris as much as a wine rack filled top to bottom with the best wines from Southern France that you can afford to buy.

How to Decorate Old Serving Trays With Gesso for Christmas

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For centuries gesso has been used as a base for gilding surfaces. You see gesso on everything from antique picture frames to ancient frescoes in Roman Baths. Gesso is made from a mix of glue, plaster, gypsum or chalk. The most authentic type of gesso is made from chalk. Originally the purpose of gesso was to prevent surfaces from absorbing paint.

Gesso is simply a white coating that can be used to paint anything. If you paint an antique tray with gesso it can help “winterize” it for the holiday season. It also looks very much like a tray in fifteenth century Italy when done. For a touch of extra holiday glamour you can also spray the tray with glitter.

The trick to having this work well is to pick your trays carefully. Ones that have handles work nicely and so do ones with details like filigree and ridging look amazing. The plainer the tray is the less likely it is too look nice because Gesso has the effect of making anything that it coats look “iced.”

When picking out a tray you also might want to consider its intended use. If it is for toiletries select something narrow. If it is for serving get something larger that is round or square.

It does not matter whether they are made out of metal, wood or painted, you will need to sand them well before you apply the gesso. You can use the gesso to create patterns such as swirls, swipes and zig zags on the tray. The more coats you apply the better the tray is going to look. It is always better to apply more gesso than you need than less as lots is what is needed to get that frothy snowy effect. If you think it looks too much like an iced cake you can always take some sandpaper and remove some of the gesso. The finer the sandpaper the better –so you do not have to redo the job!

Each time you apply a layer of gesso you should also wait at least an hour for it to dry. Applying wet gesso on a wet previous layer can create unattractive results.

Once you are happy with the design you can then apply glitter by hand or use a spray. Yet another beautiful effect is to treat the gessoed tray with a liquid ice product. This gives the tray a very shiny, multi-rainbowed effect.