Tag Archives: antique

How to Decorate Place Settings in A Cranberries and Cream Themes for Xmas

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The secret to decorating your home in a cranberries and cream theme for Christmas is to combine rich red accents with cream colored linens and bone colored china. You can get beautiful linen tablecloths made out of red striped grain bags that have been recycled from McInnis Antiques and similar online places that recycle this type of fabric. The idea is that your entire table-setting is created from white and crimson colors.

When setting a table be sure to add tall cranberry colored candles. Make them be in the scent of cranberries if you can get them. Liz Beloton and Rebecca Tanquera who have written a book called Table style use repurposed rustic linens as table cloths and add recycled tart molds to create this type of look.

If you collect ruby red glassware now is the time to showcase it on your table. Heavy porcelain goblets also look nice as part of this type of décor.

One nice touch is to freeze a ring of cranberries inside a tubular cake mold. You then set candles in the ice and let it melt slowly on the table. If you like you can just sprinkle cranberries across the table in a random pattern.

Another innovative centerpiece is to take tall vases and simply fill them to the hilt with sugar and cranberries. This is a sexy centerpiece that also looks great with a crimson poinsettia cutting or bundle of crimson or green calla lilies sticking out of the top.
Invu Drapery and Ikea are companies that sell very nice drapes and curtains in cream and cranberry colored patterns. You can also mix and match drapes. Try pairing velvet cranberry hued panels with cream colored chiffon drapes. The opposite effect also works well. Pair crimson colored sheers with heavy cotton or satin drapes in a cream color.

Cream colored lace pillows interspersed with cranberry colored ones also look lovely and help update a couch to make it look more Christmas-like.

There are all kinds of place settings on the market that have that crimson red handle. Mother of pearl handled table ware also goes nicely on crimson colored napkins.

You can easily make cranberry garlands and string them from a chandelier. Cranberry garlands can also be used as tie backs on curtains. You can also burn cranberry and vanilla scented incense to make your home smell even more like a luscious cranberry and cream dessert.

Decorating a Small Powder Room in the Sumptuous Style

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Many old houses have very small powder rooms in them that can be decorated so that they look very luxurious. Bold colors, busy patterns and sparkling accents can make even the smallest of rooms look very luxurious.

One key is to paint the walls a dark color such as chocolate, midnight blue or a dark cherry. The darker the room the more regal it seems. Flocked wallpaper, especially if it is a pattern flocked with gold or silver is also very rich looking. Just make sure that it does not look too old fashioned as sometimes this sort of effect can make a room look quite old. Black and white flocked wallpaper can also look great if the designer has a flair for the contemporary; Vivienne Westwood makes a few nice wall paper patterns that look great in a bathroom.

Lavish wall sconces dripping with large crystals gives powder rooms a very opulent feel.

Go for shiny nickel and gold plated mirrors and side tables. Silver wastebaskets also give the powder room a more glamorous feel. Pounded metal also looks quite luxuriant. The idea is to mix gold and silver accents. Use bowls and perfume flacons filled with soaps and pot pours with silver bottles and other touches for a very rich effect.

Towels that are white look much more luxuriant than ones that are patterned. Get the thickest nicest hand towels you can find; the large the pile the better. Ones lined or striped with gold or silver detail can also be quite impressive.

The most elegant of bathrooms do not have much clutter. Look for bowls or cups made out of old sea glass or metal. White china also works in this type of bathroom but it is not as chic. Blue glass or red glass accessories make this type of room look impressive as well.

If you do have a bit of clutter then look for antique style jars with copper tops as are found at anthropologie. Anthropolgie also makes a great soapdish that is silver and shaped like a serving tray. For the ultimate in luxury you can creatie nstant ambience by adding a chest in a dark cherry wood.

One way to add instant ambience to a powder room is to put dimmer switches on the lights to change the mood. Nice smelling candles in black or white glass jars, such as the ones made by Diptyqe Paris, are also a fashionable way to add glamor to a guest powder room.