By Relocation.com
In today’s modern world, we are obsessed with stuff and amassing more and more things. Especially before moving do we notice the amount of stuff that we have. However, as a contrast and even perhaps, a rebellion against this consumerist thinking, people are turning into a “zen” lifestyle. What is zen exactly? While many people define it differently, most can agree it’s about scaling back and minimizing down to the things that you need rather than just buying more stuff.
So, minimalist or zen decorating could be just that – going back to the basics and just rally having what you need. There are some benefits to cutting back on stuff: saving money, less clutter, and some may even say it’s good for the mind and soul. So, if you want to be minimalist in your home decorating, here are some tips to help you.
1) Scale back to what you need. You should pare down to the essentials. In your bedroom, maybe just have a bed, side tables and one dresser. In your kitchen, you can have a few chairs for having breakfast around your table. In your living room, it may mean just having a couch and coffee table. While it’s nice to maybe have a china cabinet or an entertainment center, you don’t really need all those things.
2) Go clutter free. The other important part of minimalist decorating is freeing your space of clutter! Don’t leave things on your table or on the back of your chair. Instead, you’ll have to be disciplined and put them away and really work on creating storage for your items. For example, if you have a desk, you maybe should keep it to the bare minimum – a laptop or desktop and maybe a picture frame. Store your pens, papers, and other supplies away.
3) Balance. This is the key to minimalist decorating. You don’t want to overwhelm your space with stuff, but you don’t want it to look drab either. Also, try to achieve visual balance – put things pair or in asymmetrical order.
4) Don’t forget your focal point. A focal point will allow you to create a center for visual activity, so it’s important you have one. For example, if you have a minimalist living room decorated in pale or neutral tone, you might want to create a focal point by adding a sofa on a bright, solid color.
5) Use only accents. One or two accent pieces can make an area interesting without overpowering it. For example, you can put up two pictures on your walls, or maybe add one or two plants in the corner of your room.
Keeping things to the minimum can help you focus on the more important things in life. It also can help keep your life in order, and help you become less stressed.
By Relocation.com
Now that we are a few months into 2012 we have been thinking about our resolutions – both for moving and our home. We all promise to get in shape, quit smoking, spend more time with the family etc., but perhaps we should also make some home decorating resolutions for the coming year. These are some of the promises we should keep in 2012 when it comes to our homes.
Resolution #1: Reduce Clutter:
Clutter makes your home look messy and crowded. There’s nothing like keys, receipts, unopened mail, and other various knickknacks to make a beautifully decorated home look untidy an unkempt. The problem with clutter is that it stems from our habits, our attitudes of “I’ll clean that up later” and before we know it, there’s a big pile of stuff in every corner of our room. We have to train ourselves not to do this, or at least make it easy for us. Hang a key caddy near the door or the garage so you immediately put your keys there when you go home instead of tossing them on the counter. Give yourself no more than 48 hours to sort out mail. These things will make a difference when it comes to your home.
Resolution #2: Break out of your comfort zone:
Symmetry can create an orderly look, but it can be too boring. The same goes for neutral palettes and even patterns. This year, do something daring, even if it’s just in your living room or bedroom. Why not rearrange the furniture to break up the monotony of your room? Or have a bright-colored bed spread to contrast to your neutral colored walls. If you’re feeling daring, add color to a room by painting it with a color you’d never think of. This is the new year, so it’s time to shake things up.
Resolution #3: Adjust your lighting:
Lighting can really can the mood of the room. Perhaps all you think of light are the bright lights overhead that you switch on and off. You can change the look and feel of the room by adding some low lamps with soft lighting. Also, think of the environment and change your old high-wattage lamp into energy-saving bulb (you’ll save a bundle too!)
Resolution #4: Reduce your stuff:
Is your garage so filled with things that you can’t even fit a car in there? If you have a lot of things lying around that you don’t need and always tell yourself you’ll get around to cleaning it out eventually, stop everything you’re doing and get to it NOW! This is the best time to get rid of all the stuff you have, like the pair of skis you bought but never used, or the old lawnmower that you’ve replaced. Start by removing everything you have in your garage or storage area and divide it into things you want to keep, throw or you can give away. Be ruthless – if you haven’t used or seen it in a year, then you don’t need it. Throw out old trash and have a pile that you can give to Goodwill or sell at garage sale or eBay.
The secret to keeping New Year’s Resolutions are to make it easy for yourself and have concrete goals. With these decorating resolutions, you can keep your home clean, tidy and beautiful throughout the year.
Showcase your pumpkin carving and decorating skills this Halloween.
By Faith Teel
Special to Relocation.com
Halloween isn’t just a time for people to dress up… houses like costumes, too! This year, why not try a few spooky decorating ideas that will scare your friends and flex your crafty muscles, without putting too many holes in your pocketbook.
Pumpkin Alternatives
Carved pumpkins are the classic Halloween decoration, but who has the time and really, who wants to clean up that mess? Luckily, there are lots of easy alternatives that won’t require you to threaten an innocent pumpkin with a huge, serial-killer-style knife.
Painted Pumpkins – All you need is a little bit of black paint to make silly or spooky faces… or get a can of glittery spray paint and paint the whole pumpkin to make the ultimate statement in Halloween glam. This is great for small kids, too, who can use as much paint or as little as possible and go wild with their Halloween pumpkin.
Squash – Next time you’re in the supermarket, look for a few pumpkin alternatives. Painted butternut squashes make fantastic ghosts and goblins… and if you keep them in a cool, dry place, they could last until it’s time to make squash casserole for Thanksgiving.
Lumpkins – Many supermarkets offer pumpkins and squashes that are so strange that they don’t need carving. Look for “peanut pumpkins,” which are covered in funny “warts” resembling peanut hulls.
Balloons – Your local card store, gift shop or florist probably sells helium balloons. Skip the pricey, shiny Mylar balloons and opt for inexpensive orange, white or green rubber balloons instead. Take them home and draw faces on them: jack-o-lantern faces for the orange ones, mummies or ghosts for the white ones and witches for the green ones.
Scarecrows – Creating a crafty scarecrow is a great way to showcase your decor skills, while also enhancing your front lawn.
Subtle Scares
One of the best kinds of Halloween decorations are the subtle ones that take a minute to notice, but really creep your friends out when they finally see them.
Things Under Glass – Save your old spaghetti jars, wash them out and remove the labels. Now fill them with mysterious-looking things and add a stick-on label with a scary name on it. For example, you could put an old rubber mask in a large jar and label it “Granny’s Pickled Heads.” Or try spiny chestnuts labeled “Poison Urchins” or dried leaves labeled “Deadly Nightshade.”
Are You Going to Eat That? – Try the same trick with jars still full of food. Tomato pesto, black olives and pickled garlic take on new meanings when labeled “Frog Hearts,” “Eye of Newt” and “Werewolf Teeth.”
Apple Crones – Peel a few apples and carve them to look like an old woman, with slits for eyes, a big nose, and a straight line for a mouth. Let the apples wither for a few days, and soon you’ll have a row of little witch faces.
Weird Family Photos – Scour the internet for old film stills of Dracula, the Mummy or Frankenstein. (Try to get high-resolution pictures.) Print them out in black and white and slip them in with other family photos. You can even make a game out of this where the first person to notice will receive a Halloween treat.
Mysterious Bloodstains – Fake blood aren’t just for costumes anymore. Squirt it on old pillowcase and then pull the pillowcase over a throw pillow. Put it on your couch for a scary touch. Just be sure to use fabric that you don’t mind putting a few stains onto!
Graveyard Trees – Now that your container garden is dying back, why not pull out a few dead annual plants and replace them with bare branches stuck into the soil like trees? You can use them as-is or drape them with cobwebs and plastic spiders.
Big Statements
Subtle can be fun, but if you’re hosting a party, you’ll want to make big changes that affect the whole atmosphere of your home. Here are a few ways to make the whole room look delightfully spooky.
Orange or Red Christmas Lights – Now is a good time to raid your bucket of Christmas lights. Orange, red or white lights all make great lighting for haunted Halloween homes.
Paint It Black – Need to make a major statement? Raid your attic, closet, garage or local yard sale for anything that you can spray paint black. Old chandeliers are great for this, and so are candlesticks and artificial flowers.
Black Bed Sheets – Are you planning to buy more bed linens soon? Why not get black or red bed sheets? They can double as quick covers for chairs and small sofas whose floral prints or bright colors might otherwise distract from your scary décor.
Cheesecloth, Cheesecloth, Cheesecloth – Cheesecloth is another inexpensive alternative for covering large furniture. It has a white, ghostlike color and an open weave that makes it look like a shroud. It’s also good for covering a Halloween table, wrapping over a mop head for an improvised ghost, or bandaging over an old hat form to make a mummy head.
Silhouettes – Black paper is your friend! Your local craft store may offer it in sheets or even big rolls. Use it to make silhouettes of mice, bats and cats, or cut larger shapes such as witches, werewolves, vampires or ghouls. Don’t limit yourself to the wall; try putting them in your baseboards, climbing up your steps or peering out of the windows.
In the Bathroom – Why not write something scary on the mirror in red lipstick, or use your spooky silhouettes or fake blood to make a great effect behind a translucent shower curtain?
Invitations – For inexpensive (yet scary) invitations, pick up some parchment paper from the same craft store and use a scary font to make your invite. (Or try a handwriting font and make your invitations look like a letter from Dracula!) Seal them up with the stick-on red wax seals used for wedding invitations.
Food Centerpieces – Halloween food is another subject entirely, but we couldn’t resist mentioning a few of our favorites. For a great centerpiece on the food table, try a mysterious green punch labeled “Love Potion.” If you’ve got a little time on your hands, adapt the classic gingerbread house with black frosting, licorice, candy corn, pumpkin candies and gummy worms to make a “haunted house.”
There’s no holiday like Halloween to bring out your inner decorator. Give a few of these tips a try… you’re sure to have a screaming good time!
