So the holidays are coming and that means that plans are being formulated about where you are going or whether everyone is coming to you. Well if friends and family members are coming to your home you may be getting a little anxious. There is so much to do to get prepared. There is the menu, the grocery shopping, the cleaning and the cooking. But what about how your home looks? Do you decorate for the Holidays? Do you have enough seating for everyone that is coming? Is your home a reflection of you? Chances are you would love to give your home a little refreshing before everyone shows up. So what is the best and most affordable way to do that? Well here are my suggestions.

First when was the last time that your home was painted? A coat of paint to freshen your home will really do wonders. And if you have painted recently there could be some touch up spots that are in need. These spots are where the door hits the wall, or under a bar top that gets shoe marks ( there are ways to never get those scuff marks, email me for some ideas) that kind of thing. Touching up these spaces will make it look like you have repainted.

Second how is the flow to your home? Do your go from room to room and feel as though it is all one design or is each room its own space without feeling a part of the others. We want there to be a flow between your rooms. This makes the home feel larger and welcoming to you and your guests. This can be achieved in small ways like choosing one or two colors to be throughout your home. These colors should be picked up in paint, furniture, artwork and accessories. The other place that can restrict the flow to your home is the furniture placement. Space planning is extremely important to a home’s flow. We want to feel as though we are open to go anywhere but are also directed as to where to go by the set up of our furniture. This is an area where a consult to an interior designer is  really affordable and helpful. An interior designer can rearrange your existing furniture to give you better use and help with the flow.

Third are your walls filled with artwork and accessories or are they bare? Every home needs artwork and accessories but some homes have way too much and some not enough. Just because you have space on a wall does not mean that you have to fill it. One large painting over a sofa does a great deal more than five small pieces. When looking for impact artwork and accessories will do that when you use the right scale and style. With artwork WOW factor is created by choosing the right piece and placement. A large piece in a family room will bring the room together while two medium-sized pieces will create two areas in the room. This is great if you have a large family room in which you have multiple uses for the space. Maybe one side is for watching TV while to other is for reading or playing games. Your family room is not the place for a bunch of small pictures and paintings. This will make the room feel cluttered and not inviting to your guests. You can have an area on shelves where you display your family pictures, but it should not be every picture –  just a sampling. When it comes to accessories think in the rule of three. Do you have three accessories together? Are they are three different heights? Do they have three different weights? Are they picking up the chosen flow colors? If you can’t answer yes to all of these questions you need to do some editing of your accessories. This may also mean adding some larger wow pieces to your accessories. There is a tendency to think that you can’t put a large piece on a cocktail table. Yes you can and you should! At every point in a room there needs to be a reason for the eye to continue to travel around. If all the colors are the same, if all the heights are the same, if all the weights are the same your eye stops moving and the room will not feel right.

Holiday times are great fun and you should keep them that way. Don’t stress and use some of the tips above to give your home some WOW, or you can always delegate and call for a consultation!