Due to a hectic schedule and a packed social calendar, the holiday season always finds a diva short of time. Yet she must have the ability to host a glamorous cocktail party – within a festively decorated home – at a moment’s notice.
To achieve diva-style holiday décor – without breaking a nail, a sweat or your budget (and no one must know that a diva has a budget) – read on. The glitz, glamour and sparkle of holiday décor is irresistible to a diva, but a lack of time and money may be holding her back from achieving the holiday style she really deserves.
Any well-schooled modern diva knows that the best way to make her home sparkle is with lighting. Thousands of twinkling lights will instantly create ambience and add glamour to her rooms.
Start at the front porch. Take your flowerpots and fill them with evergreen boughs (most tree lots will give you the boughs for free). Among the boughs, lay three or four strands of twinkling lights. Keep in mind, a true diva turns her nose up at using multi-coloured lights for this purpose. Instead, she’ll opt for the understated and classy look of white- or amber-coloured lights.
Wrap mini-lights around an evergreen wreath and hang it on the door using an oversized (and very glitzy) silver or gold lamé ribbon. Moving to the inside, greet visitors with candlelight and a “field” (eight or nine pots) of white poinsettias, grouped together at the base of the foyer table or in front of the fireplace.
Dim the lights and place lit candles in every room, from the powder room to the living room. Candles always add glamour to a room and should be considered a major aspect of the decorating landscape. Remember: Christmas is a time of abundance, so indulge your home with an abundance of candlelight.
During the holiday season, the Christmas tree is the focal point of the living room. A diva’s tree is always as large as possible and saturated with light. Mini-lights in white or amber are more sophisticated than large multi-coloured lights. String your lights from top to bottom, carefully tucking the strands amongst the branches in order to illuminate the tree’s interior.
A seven-foot tannenbaum requires a minimum 800 lights – always white or amber. To cover the tree’s base, use yards of a luxurious fabric, such as velvet, silk, faux-mink or taffeta (no sewing required).
Amongst the boughs, weave yards of pearlized mesh, silver or gold ribbon and oversized white silk flowers. Hang hand-blown glass ornaments, silver or gold balls and crystals from a chandelier (you can purchase these from an architectural clearing centre for a few dollars each). The hanging crystals make beautiful ornaments and remind the diva of movie star earrings.
For festive drama, arrange 20 to 30 white pillar candles, all of varying heights, on the fireplace mantel. Add a few drops of your favourite scented essential oil to the base of the wick (for real scentsational style, choose cinnamon or white pine).
From the mantel with care, the diva will hang her stocking – not the traditional red velvet stocking, but rather a stocking sewn from white mink fur, or a fishnet stocking laid over white silk and trimmed with black mink and crystal beads.
Take your holiday decorating cues from everyday diva style, and mix a plethora of glitz, a little sparkle and some creativity to create a look that says “pure diva.”
Merry Christmas, and may your holiday décor be Simply Diva Sensational!
DESIGNER SECRETS
To make a room feel larger, choose a neutral palette for the wall colours and then match that colour for window treatments. Blending the walls and the window treatments will help make your room feel larger. Furniture may also be matched to help visually expand a space.
LAST-MINUTE GIFT IDEA
Wouldn’t it be handy to know exactly how much paint or wallpaper or even sheets of drywall is needed to complete your project? Now with the punch of a button you can instantly estimate the amount of tiles, bricks, sheets of drywall, gravel, lumber, paint, roof shingles, studs and wallpaper needed for your next project.
Black and Decker’s new Home Improvement Calculator works in yards, feet, inches, fractions and metric. This multi-functional hand-held computer will estimate your project materials and convert and store measurements. I’m taking mine to China with me as I prepare to order materials for the housing project that I am working on in Shanghai – how handy is that? Better yet: at only $34.99, it makes the perfect stocking stuffer or gift for the handy gal or guy on your list. Available at major home centres, mass merchants and hardware stores across the country.
To achieve diva-style holiday décor – without breaking a nail, a sweat or your budget (and no one must know that a diva has a budget) – read on. The glitz, glamour and sparkle of holiday décor is irresistible to a diva, but a lack of time and money may be holding her back from achieving the holiday style she really deserves.
Any well-schooled modern diva knows that the best way to make her home sparkle is with lighting. Thousands of twinkling lights will instantly create ambience and add glamour to her rooms.
Start at the front porch. Take your flowerpots and fill them with evergreen boughs (most tree lots will give you the boughs for free). Among the boughs, lay three or four strands of twinkling lights. Keep in mind, a true diva turns her nose up at using multi-coloured lights for this purpose. Instead, she’ll opt for the understated and classy look of white- or amber-coloured lights.
Wrap mini-lights around an evergreen wreath and hang it on the door using an oversized (and very glitzy) silver or gold lamé ribbon. Moving to the inside, greet visitors with candlelight and a “field” (eight or nine pots) of white poinsettias, grouped together at the base of the foyer table or in front of the fireplace.
Dim the lights and place lit candles in every room, from the powder room to the living room. Candles always add glamour to a room and should be considered a major aspect of the decorating landscape. Remember: Christmas is a time of abundance, so indulge your home with an abundance of candlelight.
During the holiday season, the Christmas tree is the focal point of the living room. A diva’s tree is always as large as possible and saturated with light. Mini-lights in white or amber are more sophisticated than large multi-coloured lights. String your lights from top to bottom, carefully tucking the strands amongst the branches in order to illuminate the tree’s interior.
A seven-foot tannenbaum requires a minimum 800 lights – always white or amber. To cover the tree’s base, use yards of a luxurious fabric, such as velvet, silk, faux-mink or taffeta (no sewing required).
Amongst the boughs, weave yards of pearlized mesh, silver or gold ribbon and oversized white silk flowers. Hang hand-blown glass ornaments, silver or gold balls and crystals from a chandelier (you can purchase these from an architectural clearing centre for a few dollars each). The hanging crystals make beautiful ornaments and remind the diva of movie star earrings.
For festive drama, arrange 20 to 30 white pillar candles, all of varying heights, on the fireplace mantel. Add a few drops of your favourite scented essential oil to the base of the wick (for real scentsational style, choose cinnamon or white pine).
From the mantel with care, the diva will hang her stocking – not the traditional red velvet stocking, but rather a stocking sewn from white mink fur, or a fishnet stocking laid over white silk and trimmed with black mink and crystal beads.
Take your holiday decorating cues from everyday diva style, and mix a plethora of glitz, a little sparkle and some creativity to create a look that says “pure diva.”
Merry Christmas, and may your holiday décor be Simply Diva Sensational!
DESIGNER SECRETS
To make a room feel larger, choose a neutral palette for the wall colours and then match that colour for window treatments. Blending the walls and the window treatments will help make your room feel larger. Furniture may also be matched to help visually expand a space.
LAST-MINUTE GIFT IDEA
Wouldn’t it be handy to know exactly how much paint or wallpaper or even sheets of drywall is needed to complete your project? Now with the punch of a button you can instantly estimate the amount of tiles, bricks, sheets of drywall, gravel, lumber, paint, roof shingles, studs and wallpaper needed for your next project.
Black and Decker’s new Home Improvement Calculator works in yards, feet, inches, fractions and metric. This multi-functional hand-held computer will estimate your project materials and convert and store measurements. I’m taking mine to China with me as I prepare to order materials for the housing project that I am working on in Shanghai – how handy is that? Better yet: at only $34.99, it makes the perfect stocking stuffer or gift for the handy gal or guy on your list. Available at major home centres, mass merchants and hardware stores across the country.
