Friday, April 5, 2013

ENTERTAINING 101: Get your home ready!

Have you noticed that Southwest Florida just might be the home entertainment capital of the world? It is!  Our beautiful climate and friendly people blend together to create the perfect environment for getting together, and what better place than in our homes. 

Is your home ready for entertaining?  We want our house to look as good as possible when we invite our friends to spend an evening or afternoon.  Your home says a lot about you.  You invest a lot of your time and energy to make your home as comfortable and as appealing as possible. 

A large or very small decorating budget shouldn't make a difference if you follow some simple suggestions:

Sometimes just re-arranging or eliminating furniture pieces can make a dramatic difference.  An overly crowded room doesn't do you one bit of good.  You should be able to move around freely, if not make a change.  Sometimes moving furniture from one room to another makes a nice difference.  If your dining room is small, buffet dinners will work just fine.

Formal or casual rooms should look comfortable and not haphazard.  Too many colors,  textures, sizes and scales create chaos making your room feel unfriendly.  Formal arrangements should be symmetrical in your furniture and accessory arrangements with the use of muted or deeper colors.  A casual look is usually asymmetrical and playful with the use of textures and color (but not too many).

A theme will help you unify your decor.  The theme should flow from room to room.  Examples of themes are beach, tropical, country French, Tuscan, Asian, or world traveler,  just to name a few.  If you can't decide on a theme tear pages of pictures of homes you like from decorating and home magazines.  More than likely they will have a similar look or theme, and this will help you develop your theme and style.