Introducing Our New Video Of the Day

We have added a new feature to the Home Decor Exchange website - home decorating and home improvement videos.  Be sure to check them out!  They are great videos from DIY Network, HGTV and many more.

Easy Tips For Throwing a Fun and Safe Holiday Party

Whether you're planning a small, intimate gathering or throwing a large-scale get-together, these entertaining tips will help keep the holidays happy and safe for all of your party guests.

Improve the mood with food

When serving alcohol beverages, offer a variety of foods throughout the celebration. Enjoying food with alcohol can help slow its absorption into the bloodstream.

Think "To drink, or not to drink?"

Remember that some guests may prefer non-alcohol beverages or may be acting as designated drivers, so provide plenty of non-alcohol beverage options.

Understand all drinks are not consumed equally

The amount of time it takes a guest to drink one alcohol beverage greatly impacts how that alcohol is absorbed in their body. Even though a 12-ounce beer may contain the same amount of alcohol as a 1.5-ounce shot of 80-proof liquor, a beer is enjoyed leisurely, while a shot usually is consumed in one swallow.

Remember the party's not over until it's over

A successful party is one that's both fun and safe. Designate a driver, provide cab rides home or offer to let guests stay the night if they have had too much to drink.  Coutesy of ARA Content

How To Decorate a Child's Room and Love the Results

Parents and children rarely have the same decorating tastes when the time comes to redo a child’s room. But don't worry – with a few tricks, you can create a stylish bedroom that is fun and functional for your child.

"Your child's bedroom is the one room in the house they call their own," says Jeff Nokkeo, academic director for Interior Design at The Art Institute of California – San Francisco. "Allowing your child to create a sense of identity and personal space will help both of you to love the new decor."

Here are some decorating tips that will help keep the whole family happy:

* Talk to your child about his or her vision for the room. Then select a color palette and theme together. What are her likes and dislikes? Does he have a favorite hobby or activity he likes to do? Incorporating some of the child's design ideas into the room will help make it feel like his or her own.

* Does she want overpowering or bright colors? “Compromise by using a neutral wall color in the room and adding punch and color with accessories and accents like bedding, lamps, wall art and other decorations,” Nokkeo suggests.

* Likewise, keep window shades neutral, but add a fun, colorful valance. The neutral base will make it easy for you to change the room when your child’s tastes change again in a couple years.

Both furniture manufacturers and home decor companies have special sections for children, so there are plenty of options to choose from. You’ll notice color trends as you start to shop – most major retailers will stock similar colors in any given season, making it easy to mix and match products from different stores. Here’s a look at some of the hottest trends for children's bedrooms:

For girls

It’s all about bright colors for girls, from purple to lime green to the ever-popular pink.  Retro patterns are making a comeback, and they may look familiar to moms who had something similar when they were young. But make no mistake: These patterns are updated with a twist for a fun, funky look.

For example, Montgomery Ward features a personalized Sweetheart Pillow and Throw that will keep your daughter cozy while sleeping, enjoying a book, or simply lounging around her room. The set includes a throw (49 by 60 inch) that's soft plush on one side and silky smooth on the other and a matching 15-inch square pillow. Adding items that can be personalized with a name or favorite phrase, like this blanket, is a way to make your child feel like the room truly is her special place. Choose pink with black embroidery or black with pink embroidery. The throw is machine washable, a good thing to note when choosing items for a child's room since little hands can be messy.

For boys

If your little guy loves sports, choose accessories that have his favorite professional logo on them, such as a bedspread or poster. If your son isn't a sports nut, you can incorporate any interest into affordable decor that will personalize the room. For example, if your son loves to play Army, add some camouflage curtains. Does he like science? Add a wall mural of the solar system. And if you don't have a theme to work with, just choose his favorite colors and find accessories that incorporate that color.

For both

Functionality is important in a child's room. Adding items like a desk or table to work on is a great idea. Montgomery Ward has a great option for younger children called the ABC Table and Chair Set that gives little ones a special place for drawing, snacking and other activities. Educational letters and images capture the imagination.

Organization is also important in a child's room. Consider adding a decorative toy chest, closet organizers and storage bins to your child's room to help avoid clutter. Encourage children to only take out one or two toys at a time so their room remains stylish and clean. Once they have a system to follow and know that their favorite teddy bear is in the chest at the end of the bed, they'll be more likely to put it away when they’re done using it for easy access later.
Courtesy of ARAcontent

Forget Spring - Fall Is the Season To Refresh and Organize Your Home

With the turn of the season, your home may need some freshening after the sand, sweat and fun of summer guests. According to the recent Glade Sense & Spray Fresh Facts survey, more than 75 percent of women are embarrassed by odors in their home. As families make their way indoors and begin closing up the windows, moms turn to smart and easy solutions for keeping our homes fresh, inviting and smelling great. In fact, 32 percent of women admit to noticing scent first when they enter the home, according to the survey.

The majority of women (64 percent) say a clean smell means a clean home, according the Fresh Facts survey. Keep the bathroom smelling fresh with new Glade Sense & Spray Clear Springs. It is specially formulated to eliminate unwelcome odors while freshening the air and has a built-in motion sensor with a 30-minute lockout mode, so it automatically freshens only when you need it.

As the weather turns cooler, make sure your home is clean, organized and refreshed. For more tips on how to help make your home more inviting, visit http://www.glade.com/.

Space-saving Hardwood Storage

"There probably isn't a room in the house where we don't store something," writes Mervyn Kaufman in his new book, "Store It!" from Filipacchi Publishing. "Lack of space is certainly a challenge, but it is superseded in every instance by how best to use that space."

But before adding or rearranging storage in any room, Kaufman suggests you examine and evaluate. Keep what's needed. Then, begin your space-saving journey. The American Hardwood Information Center, www.HardwoodInfo.com, recommends you consider the following creative tips for practical, yet beautiful, ways to increase storage potential throughout your home.

First impressions are lasting ones, so if totes and umbrellas, shoes and boots are cluttering the entrance of your home, make them disappear without becoming inaccessible. Consider a bench with added storage space under a lift-up seat as a convenient clutter catcher, complete with niches for stashing caps, gloves and scarves yet a handy spot for shoe-boot exchanges. Splurge on a wall-mounted hardwood cabinet or a handsome hardwood storage piece to hide keys, garage door openers, newspapers and mail, keeping them out of sight yet close at hand as needed.  More >>

Decorating For the Real World

We are all guilty of it. We stare longingly at those perfect room layouts in magazines and wish that we could transport ourselves onto those pages and into the world. We try to duplicate those results in our own home and then berate ourselves when our efforts fail to create the same effect. This vicious cycle keeps us tuned to our home improvement television shows and surfing the internet for answers. It is time to stop the madness, accept the fact that we don’t live in a magazine, and adjust our decorating ideas for reality.
Storage

One of the most appealing aspects of those magazine photographs is the complete order that they represent. In those pictures, there is nothing out of place no homework scattered across the table, no mail laying about, no children’s toys to trip over, and no pets dragging trash across the carpets.

Well, it pretty easy to accomplish that look. Just get rid of the spouse, the kids, the pets, and all of that day to day stuff that makes your life worth living. Since that isn’t going to happen, rethink the furniture that is in the room. The addition of bookcases not only gives you shelves to display beautiful home accents, but with a few coordinating storage baskets, a place to store some of that clutter that overtakes even the best design ideas.

Why stop there? Without making a huge investment, you can purchase storage ottomans, decorative baskets or bowls for keys and change, or a bench with extra storage space under the seat. The point is when you are decorating a room, that clutter that you move out so that you can paint or rearrange the furniture will not go away. Turn your back for just a day or two and it will be all over your tabletops and floor. Instead of fighting the inevitable, accept it and find a way to organize.

Comfort

Have you ever noticed that there are rarely any people pictured in those decorating magazines and on the off chance that there are a few token people, they are perched tensely on the edge of that silk sofa or chair? Is that really what you want in your home? Is that really how you want to feel when you sit in a particular piece of furniture?

Your home should be your retreat, your sanctuary, make it as comfortable as possible. When you go to purchase a chair or sofa, give it the ultimate test. If you enjoy taking an afternoon nap on your couch, stretch out on the new one and make sure that it will sleep well. If your pets join you on the furniture, make sure that the fabric is something that pet hair will be easy to vacuum. If your pet has black hair, a white sofa would be a poor choice. If you have kids, make sure that it is something that they will be able to climb on without you worrying about crushed fabric and such. You want to make your surroundings fit into your life, not the other way around.

Easy to Clean

Many of the photographs that we see in magazines features rich fabrics for furniture and window treatments. Again, in a perfect world our homes would be free of dust, dirt, and odors, but since we live in this world the simple fact is that those lush fabrics are just not practical. Now we could all try to use this as an excuse to never have to cook again, but what are the odds that your family would accept that?

When selecting fabrics for your home, keep in mind that many require dry cleaning which could really hit your wallet. A better and more practical choice is to make sure that your window treatments, table linens, and pillow covers are machine washable. There have been many new fabric developments over the past few years including micro fiber and washable silk that still give you the same effect without the hefty dry cleaning bill.

Apply this same logic to your carpets and area rugs. While that pale carpet may be beautiful and eye catching, are you really going to remember to take your shoes off every time before walking on it? You may want to opt for a slightly darker shade or at the minimum invest in an at home carpet cleaning system. Again, thanks to recent developments and mass production, these carpet cleaners can be purchased for nearly the same price as a standard vacuum cleaner.

The more cleaning options you have, be it selecting products that will hide dirt or purchasing the right tools to clean it yourself, the more likely it is that you will truly enjoy your home.

Color it Up

One of the first things that catch our eyes in those design layouts is the stunning color choices for the walls. This is an easy change that anyone can add into their decorating plan. Color can be of a practical use as well since darker walls tend to hide blemishes, fingerprints, and such. Molding and trim painted in paler tones really pop against walls of vibrant hues and really show off the architectural beauty of your home.

Remember, paint is one of the least expensive changes that you can make to your home and yet it has the most impact in the appearance. To keep your wall color choices wise and grounded in reality, be sure that the paint is washable so that when unsightly blemishes appear, they can easily be wiped away.

Practical

The rooms featured on the pages of magazines are often pulled into a cohesive design by the use of simple home accessories. This is one lesson that we can take and actually use to our advantage. The designers use candles, coasters, accent pillows, and throws to complete their designs and we can easily copy their techniques while still making our homes fit into our everyday lives.

The use of accents in a home can be a practical addition to a room. Is you love to lounge in a particular chair, why not add an accent pillow to make that chair even more comfortable. For added luxury, add a matching throw to keep you cozy. Add a few scented candles for ambiance, air freshening, and just overall decorating value.

Why stop there? If you are designing a room that has access to the outdoors, why not add a rug at the door in a coordinating print or color? This will not only compliment your décor, but it will also give people a place to wipe their feet before coming inside.

While the rooms featured in the magazine photographs might inspire us, it is important for us to remember that we are decorating for the real world and our real lives.
 
Dana Burnett lives in southern Indiana. She has been published in numerous literary magazines and electronic magazines. She now owns and operates her own home decor site www.nanasatticstore.com.

Christmas Tree Decorating Ideas

If only Pottery Barn could come to my house and decorate it for Christmas!  I found the following Christmas tree decorating ideas for you to look at:

The Peace Tree
The Woodland Tree
The Traditional Tree
The Sparkle Tree
The Bell Tree
The Family Tree

Thanksgiving Decorating Ideas

We recently visited Pottery Barn's online catalog for Thanksgiving decorating ideas and we voted on their Cinnamon Sticks Napkin Rings as this year's favorite!  Hurry and get yours while they are still available!

Simple Tips For Elegant Holiday Hosting

'Tis the season to spend quality time gathered with family and friends at festive celebrations and holiday parties. However, don't let the stress of hosting a holiday party overwhelm you – it's easier than you think to plan an elegant celebration that is sure to impress friends, family and coworkers. Try the following tips to host a fabulous party this holiday season with minimal time, money and effort:
Choose delightful, easy-to-prepare dishes

Every party organizer knows how difficult it is to be involved in the party when the food preparation becomes the main focus. Instead of slaving over the stove with full course meals or complicated recipes, try serving a variety of simple yet sophisticated pre-made appetizers and desserts, such as the array of choices from the Nancy's brand. Nancy's bite-sized appetizers and desserts help you elevate any entertaining occasion with ease and convenience. They are simple to prepare and easy to serve – just thaw and serve or quickly warm them in the oven so you can focus on other "wow" details.  More >>

Search New Home Listings

We've recently partnered with New Home Listings to provide our readers a search engine for real estate.  It is a great addition to the Home Decor Exchange website!  View New Home Listings search engine here.