The Home Decor Genie!

Home Decor Genie New Year’s Home Decorating Tips!  I love a good party, how about you?

Debbie Fiskum, The Home Decor Genie

Here’s a great home decorating idea that will  spiff up your home for the big night!

• The Glam Party:  Go with a black and white theme.  Think-tuxedos and formal dress.  Use a black tablecloth and white dishes.  (I got an inexpensive set at Big Lots for really cheap!  Then, if you don’t like them, donate them to charity).  Carry through the theme with vases of white flowers in conspicuous spots.  Add greenery and sparkles for variety.  And, add white candles in candlesticks for elegance.  Tie them with black bows.

If this appeals to you, then your decorating style could be “urban chic” or “ultra modern.”  See other home decorating styles from the Home Decor Genie.  Find your style and make your home decorating a whole lot easier!

Also, knowing your best color combos will help when you decorate your home.  Once you have a color theme, you can eliminate some things and from now on everything you buy should fit your color scheme.  Makes home decorating a lot easier, doesn’t it?  Go to your room color scheme now to explore further!

Have a great New Year whether you “party” or not!  We’ll be munching on goodies and gathering for games around here.  Most of the family likes to play cards, trivia games and guessing games, so when we get a bunch of us together, it’s “game time” for us! 

Until next time, Debbie Fiskum, The Home Decor Genie!

A cute little entry scenario with a birdbath and planter of irises

Home Decor Genie’s Home Decorating Tips: Does Your Entrance Welcome People Into Your Home?   Lead family and guests to your home’s entrance and make them feel welcome.  

• Get a fresh welcome mat – let it express your personal style!  For holiday home decorating, try a seasonal welcome mat! Go funky, wacky, traditional, or whatever your style is!
• Add pots of flowers – flowers and plants add life and color.  You could also hang a seasonal wreath on the door.   Try pine bows, holly or poinsettias for the Christmas season.
• Make sure it’s lit at night – lighting is critical at night, so make sure you have bulbs in the lights and keep them clean.  Again, a holiday tip: brighten up your entrance with fancy lights.  Don’t you just love the variety?

Whatever your home decorating style is, carry it through to the entrance.  People’s first impression of your home is made when they pull up to the curb.  Give new friends and aquaintences a hint of your personality right up front!  And for old friends and family, make your entrance say: “Hi, I’m glad you stopped by!”

Time for a home decorating update? Try my Virtual Home Decorating Services!  Send in your photos and we’ll “talk” either by email and or phone and you’ll get a “Designer’s Eye” on your rooms.  It may be all you need to get going on that home decorating project! 

Or, if you need to sell your home – try a Virtual Home Staging Consultation!  We’ll go through your home and see what we can do to get it sold!

Home Decor Genie Holiday Home Decorating Tips! Want to get your home decorated in record time?  Here are some tips you can use to speed it up:

Pick our your absolute favorite decorations and put only those up!

Use lights to brighten up rooms! They aren’t just for the outdoors.  I use them on my mantel, around a picture window and sometimes above a curtain!  It’s amazing what a few well-placed lights can do to brighten you room and lift your spirits!

Instead of lots of decorations, use candles.  There are so many different types, sizes and containers now that you can decorate your home with warmth and light.  And if you’re worried about the little members of your family, try the flameless candles.  Much safer and you won’t have to worry!

Do you dread getting out the tree and all the decorations?  Get someone to help you and make an afternoon or evening of it.  Spread a little cheer with egg nog, wine spritzers or something fun and get it done together.  Maybe you can trade and help friends do their decorating and then they can help with yours!

Whatever you choose to do, put on some great music, make a little food and enjoy the anticipation this season brings.  It’s really not all about the decorations, the gifts and the parties.  It’s about Jesus, his birth and the greatest gift ever given!  Let your mind dwell on that and ask God what that means for you!  It could change your entire perspective!

Happy Holidays from The Home Decor Genie!

Home Decor Genie Asks: Got Guests Arriving? Refresh Your Kitchen In Minutes. 

Maybe you don’t have time to re-do the kitchen, but you want it to look great for guests?  Home decorating doesn’t always have to be about changing everything. Make it look fresh with these easy tips:

Before-cluttered kitchen; after-clean, clutter-free kitchen

Clear off the counters! Clutter makes it look messy so put everything away that you don’t need.

3 Fun Fall Themed Kitchen Towels

Put out some great new or fresh dish towels!  Look for cute, seasonal ones that express your style!

Simple fruit bowl on counter

 After you inventory your fruits and veggies and throw out any spoiled things – arrange some in a nice bowl and display it on the countertop or table.  You don’t need a lot to make it look good – sometimes a few pieces look better than an over-flowing bowl.

Festive Fall Table with Red and Orange

Make your table shine!  Set it with some of your best or most intersting dishes.  Use a coordinting color to pull it all together and add a fresh, seasonal, center piece for an air of sophistication.

Just before guests arrive, light an aromatic candle, use a scenter bottle or simmer some delicious spices.  Try simmering some cinnamon, nutmeg or pumkin spices in water on the stove.  Baking cookies will fill the air with an irrestible aroma too!

Keep your holiday home decorating simple as well as your meals. You’ll enjoy time with your guests more and everything will be more relaxed.  The holidays are all about coming together and renewing relationships!

Easy Fall Home Decorating by the Home Decor Genie!  Want to give your home a fresh look for fall?  Here’s my Fall Home Decorating ideas that will make your home warm and welcoming!

Pick a theme, I always like “harvest” for this time of year.  It encompasses several holidays and you can incorporate natural elements into your decor.

Ceramic Pumpkin and fall leaves

• Set a Harvest table: use one large pumpkin and surround it with leaves, small gourds and candles
• Another table idea: use a basket for gourds or fruits and veggies, then add leaves and candles
• Line up 3 hurricane candle holders and fill them with a pillar candle and some type of fill such as fall-colored glass pieces or potpourie.
• Make your entrance welcoming: Place a fall-inspired doormat outside your door and another one inside for catching the last bits of dirt.
• Add a warm glow throughout your home with plenty of candles or use the fake, battery operated ones for safety. 
• Fill your home with delicious, warm scents with aroma-therapy.  There are many versions of these like: scenter bottles, scent-burners or scented oils and rings you can add to your light bulbs.
• Celebrate the season with a Harvest-themed wreath for your front door.  If you have a fireplace, place one over this too!
• Last but not least – offer tasty treats that you make yourself or buy and bake.  Some ideas are: warm, fruity pies or the typical pumpkin and pecan.  Or bake up some mini tarts or warm appetizers

Basket of fall gourds

Home Decor Genie gettin’ ready for the holidays with new home decorating.  What’s your favorite home decorating tricks for the holidays?

How about:

• Lots of lights
• Inflatable figures in the front yard
• A little more traditional
• All my old decorations used every year!

Let me know what your favs are! 

Thanks, The Home Decor Genie!