Tag Archives: contemporary

How to Decorate a Room With French Finery for Christmas

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There are a lot of festive trends for 2011 that are worth noting if you want your home to look festive and contemporary but one of the most popular this year is going to be the “decorating in French Finery” trend. This is a very formal and opulent look that is a bit retro but also very classic.

Technically it is a shabby chic look. Most things are painted white but walls should be a pea green or a very light yellow. Second hand crystal chandeliers are part of the look as are tall mirrors with window pains. Lace, white chenille and curtains with tiny fringes or prints are also part of the look.

Objects are also showcased on tall Greek columns, that are also painted white and interspersed through the room. Faded chintz chairs and tall painted cabinets help this look come for life. Candles, in white metal lantern cases, also complete this vintage look as do gilded framed portraits of deceased members of the family and pillar candles surrounded by boughs of greenery.

It is also very traditional with this look to place plaster or ceramic busts about the place. To make these busts look more in tune with the holidays try wrapping green and red velvet Christmas ribbons around the subject’s necks.

Rooms done up in French Finery very often feature a Fainting Couch. This is as chaise lounge with a floral print that has a side table that is also covered in the same floral print. A crocheted throw and a few Christmas cushions in green and red complete the look. Usually a framed mirror is hung over the fainting couch and augmented with a big Christmas leaf.

The best Christmas tree for this look is the spiniest and most skeletal spruce you can find that is then gently flocked with fake white now. Decorate it with many yards of thick sheer gold ribbon that are intertwined with very tiny white Christmas lights. You can h harmonize the entire effect with a natural cedar garland that has been spray painted gold. This tree does not have the usual ornaments on it. The idea is that the tree looks wrapped in gold ribbon.

This type of room should have its own formal wrapping dining table. This can be a table that is rate and old and shabby chic in style but painted all in white with touches of gold.

How to Decorate Basic White Gift Boxes

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One of the most fashionable things you can do for Christmas 2011 is decorating your own basic black boxes in florescent hues. All you need is scissors, and strong glue plus the white boxes and ribbons. For best results, use a glue gun.

Fluorescent green ribbons, beads and fluffy feathers can be used to decorate round boxes. This has the effect of making them look like giant green striped peppermints. The spearmint green color is very festive and looks fantastic against the white of any box. Find little green round baubles or Christmas balls to decorate the top. If you have any type of lime green stickers fasten them in an attractive pattern along the side. You can also make designs in glue and then roll the white box in glitter or sequins to create designs.

Another contemporary and fashionable Christmas color for 2011 is an intense teal blue. Sheer blue ribbons look nice wrapped around a white box. You can also buy metallic blue ribbon and ribbon speckled with silver dots. Polka dot blue ribbons also make a box look very festive.

Another unusual color that looks great wrapped around a white box is neon pink. Neon pink ribbons come in many pleasing hues that can be combined to create a very unique look. The effect is very “strawberry cream soda.” You can find pink pom poms, balls, sheer ribbbons and ribbons cut in the shape of animals or flower motifs.

Dark purple is another interesting choice for decorating plain white gift boxes. You can get fake violets and fake purple eucalyptus at craft stores that looks very nice attached to the top of the parcel. You can get pin-striped purple ribbon, grape colored purple ribbon and very light fuchsia ribbon that looks very nice later together to make a glamorous striping on the box.

A very modern effect is to wrap the boxes in bright orange ribbon. This is very funky and unusual and perfect to give to someone younger in your life. You can get ribbon in orange and green plaid, bright orange, dull orange, tangerine and pink-orange hues. There is nothing quite so happy looking as a giant bow made out of orange silk ribbon tied to the top of a parcel.

You can do the same to a white box with the traditional tomato red, emerald green and white ribbon colors associated with Christmas but in 2011 most of the hipsters are being a bit more offbeat.