Home Front Decoration

Archive for the ‘Home Design Ideas’ Category

Your yard gives you the opportunity to unleash all your creativity and really think big when it comes to decorating for the favorite spooky holiday – Halloween. But that does not mean you have slave around for hours making and putting up the decorations. Here are some quick and easy ideas for decorating your yard this Halloween:

1. Scarecrows set the mood. Purchase or make a scarecrow and display it in your yard. Make him stand in the center on in a corner or make him sit on a bench, on the steps or on the fence.

2. Wreaths make the yard look very pretty. Choose from grapevine wreaths or black and orange Halloween wreaths to suit your tastes and decorate walls and front door by hanging them.

3. Use pumpkins in every place for an instant ‘Halloween’ touch. Place them on the steps, porch railing and benches or grouped together in unexpected places. When grouping together, mix all shapes, sizes and colors.

4. Gourds are another natural decoration for yards for Halloween. String them to make garlands for fences or place them in baskets.

5. Witches and brooms make for great decorations. Make a purchased or made witch sit on the branch of a tree or on a bench. You can also simply use the broom near the tree or at the front steps and add a sign that ‘The Witch is Up There’ or ‘The Witch is in’.

Solar power is truly the wave of the future, a very practical replacement for fossil fuels with many utilitarian uses. The one unexpected thing to come out of the solar revolution is the rise of solar decor. Practical, but pretty, too. Now, when I say “solar decor,” I don’t mean “Take the solar panel and lightly stamp it with the butterfly stamp, and then decorate it with pink frills,” like a certain domestic goddess might suggest, although that could be nice for a broken panel. No, I mean that the addition of solar power has worked its way into many of the places around our home that we want to look pretty.

Sun-Powered Lighting

The most common solar decor I’ve seen has to do with lighting. Wherever you need lighting, especially outside, solar power makes the job of setting up lights so much easier. It’s simple to set up a line of lights along your driveway to guide you in, or to hang a solar-powered lantern out front, which is pretty and acts as a guiding light.

Address Lights

A good-looking and practical product I’ve seen is address lights. Whether you mount them on your house or on a pole in the front yard, having a well-lit number outside is great for people trying to find you. How many relatives have gotten lost or newspapers mis-delivered because they couldn’t see your house number? Put one of these out front and they’ll never wonder, or wander, again. The standard yard gnomes, animals and fairies are seeing lights added to them, which add a nice fairy-tale ambience to your outdoors. They might be holding up a lantern (great as a welcoming touch) or a crystal ball, and of course, they light up.

Christmas Decor

And when the holiday season comes around, it’s not hard to find Christmas lights powered by the sun. You just hang them and forget about them; no need to plug them in every night. The biggest benefit from all these things using solar energy is the convenience of not having to drag out cords or change out batteries. More than once I’ve either hung an address light or put out a decoration, only to let it grow dark because I either forgot to change out the battery, or because I didn’t want to plug it in. Cords also have the danger of being exposed to the elements, making for short circuits. We don’t need that, do we?

No Need To Deal With Dangerous Electricity

Solar power easily makes those problems obsolete. Most of the time, the solar panel comes mounted in the decoration already, and light-bulb changing is minimized by using LED lights, which last darn near forever. All you have to do is set it out or mount it and you’re good to go.

As the holiday season quickly approaches, it’s never too early to start thinking about decoration ideas. After the holiday dinner menus are completed, it’s time to start thinking about ways to add holiday cheer to the home. While garland and blinking holiday lights tangled on the staircase are the norm for many families, what better way to be festive than with some new and unique holiday decoration ideas? The whole family can become involved in decorating the home, while sipping on hot cocoa and listening to the family’s favorite holiday tunes. Holiday decorations can represent a personal aesthetic and doesn’t have to be expensive either. Here are five holiday decoration ideas to add character to the home.

1. Window decorations are a simple way to add some holiday festivity to any room. Pick out a holiday colored fabric and create a beautiful windowscape with custom drapery to match the home and holiday season. Don’t forget that specialty window rods are also available that can add some character to the room.
2. The fireplace and mantle are popular areas for some holiday decorating. Look for fake snow to place on top of the mantle, snow globes, snowmen, angels, menorahs, Chanukah figurines, and other holiday spirited items to adorn the common area.
3. The bathroom is also a fun place to add holiday decoration. Look for scented candles and soaps for guests to use, such as cinnamon spice or pumpkin pie to compliment the season.
4. Pine cones and pine trees are a definite staple during the season. Look for ways to add the sweet smelling shrubs as a centerpiece near the dining room, as a wreath on the front door or in the form of a Christmas tree.
5. If young children live in the home, make sure to put up their special classroom projects as part of the home’s holiday decorations. Many youngsters will spend hours in class making snowmen, Thanksgiving turkeys, Santa hats and holiday drawings to get in the spirit. Put some of their favorite creations in the kitchen and living room for the whole family and guests to enjoy.