A FREE bi-monthly home decorating ezine!
published by KatieDid Design
November 2000
brought to you by:
KatieDid Design
www.katiediddesign.com
mailto:contact@katiediddesign.com
This free e-zine is published each month to all those who have asked to
receive it. Thanks for joining us! You can subscribe or unsubscribe
through e-mail or through my online forms:
Subscribe by e-mail:
mailto:subscribe-DDD@katiediddesign.com
Unsubscribe by e-mail:
mailto:unsubscribe-DDD@katiediddesign.com?
Online forms:
http://www.katiediddesign.com/ezine.html
Past issues are available online:
http://www.katiediddesign.com/ezine.html
October 27th, 2000 - November issue
Hello Dear Readers!
First, I'd like to apologize for this issue being a little late. I discovered just as I was about to send it, that somehow many of my paragraph spaces and indents were being deleted when you all got my e-zine! I can't believe how crowded and unprofessional it must have looked. I think I've got the paragraph spacing fixed, but I still can't figure out how to make sure the indents don't get deleted! If it's crowded and hard to read for any of you, please let me know and tell me what e-mail program you're using so I can try to fix it! Anyway...
Well, business is booming! Thank you all for your referrals, recommendations, and orders. This month starts the Christmas rush, so be sure to take advantage of the special if you'll want any Christmas items... supplies are out now, and sometimes get very limited once December gets here. I've written an article for you this month that I hope will help many of you. It is a bit long, but the discover is worth it! And on a side note, I've got a funny little story in the midst of the Challenge of the Month, so don't miss it if you like a laugh! Read on...
Visit the site!
http://www.katiediddesign.com
On with the regular e-zine!
Congratulations go to Marilyn of Bermuda! She was the lucky winner in the free drawing among the September subscribers! The prize was a free Fabric-Covered Fan! She still hasn't decided what style and colors she wants, but it will be beautiful!
This month's prize will be a Fabric Covered Fan. I'm going to offer these as prize again, since they are so popular! The winner will get to choose colors and style. So forward this to your friends, or send them by the site to subscribe so they get their chance to win! All those subscribed at the end of the month are automatically entered. For more information on the drawing, see my drawing page.
Fabric Covered Fan:
http://www.katiediddesign.com/fa-fan.html
Drawing Page:
http://www.katiediddesign.com/ezine.html
Also, if you want to win the drawing, please make sure you check your e-mail soon after the first of the month! The winner has only 10 business days to reply and claim their prize. The first winner drawn this month never responded - even after 3 e-mails, none of which came back as undeliverable. I finally had to choose an alternate winner. So please check!
IN THIS ISSUE:
1. THIS MONTH'S SUBSCRIBER'S SPECIAL
- Christmas Items
2. TIPS & TRICKS - guest tips
- Discover Your Decorating Attitude
3. FEATURE ARTICLE
- Finding Your Style
4. CHALLENGE OF THE MONTH
- Plan for Christmas Early!
1. THIS MONTH'S SUBSCRIBER'S SPECIAL
- Christmas Items
All Christmas items are all sale 10% off through November 30th! This is actually a double incentive to get your orders in now, because you may not be able to get what you want in December even at regular price! ... some supplies are always running out of stock by then! So figure out what you'd like right away and get your order in! In addition to the items on the website, I can also do Christmas tree skirts, Christmas Floral Baskets, and plenty more... just let me know what you're interested in!
And don't forget... there's still a few days left to take advantage of the October special on items to decorate your home for fall! It is pretty late for this, and they supplies are extremely limited, but if there's something you still want, contact me about it and I'll see what I can do. You'll get 10% off through October 31st.
KatieDid Design:
http://www.katiediddesign.com
These offers are available to anyone who is already a subscriber, or who subscribes when they place their order. Just tell me what you'd like and mention that you're a subscriber! If you have something in mind right now, drop me a line and ask!
mailto:katie@katiediddesign.com
TRANSFORM YOUR HOUSE INTO A HOME YOU LOVE!
Tired of coming home to that same old house? Subscribe to
Welcome Home! for FREE home decorating inspiration and ideas,
craft projects, cleaning tips, recipes, and more. Start
coming home to a house you LOVE. Subscribe now!
mailto:welcomehomelist-subscribe@listbot.com.
2. TIPS & TRICKS - guest tips
- Discover Your Decorating Attitude!
Cheap Wall Art for Gifts or your Home
By Monica Resinger
This month's tips and tricks are yours to find... through a "Discover Your Decorating Attitude" Quiz. While the article below concentrates on finding your STYLE, this quiz is designed to help you find your decorating ATTITUDE. What is the difference? While your decorating style is defined by the furniture, fabrics, colors, and accessories that you like to use, your decorating attitude is defined by how you like to arrange, use, and display those items. Once you know your attitude, you'll understand tons of tips and tricks that will help you achieve the look you want. Want to know more? Take the quiz! It's extremely enlightening, and will help you to better understand what you like and why you like it. It's been designed by the experts at Better Homes and Gardens, and is hosted on their site, but you can access it through my site right here:
Discover Your Decorating Attitude:
http://www.katiediddesign.com/quiz.html
Enjoy!
Do you have a tip or trick that you'd like to share with us? Write! We'd love to hear!
E-mail:
mailto:contact@katiediddesign.com?subject=share_tip
3. FEATURE ARTICLE
- Choosing the Color Scheme For Your Room
There is a basic, but fundamental question that always comes up when I'm designing an item for someone or giving them some decorating tips. Very often, the answer is, "I really don't know." What is the question? It's, "What style(s) of decorating do you like?" Do YOU know the answer to that question? If you don't, this article is for you.
It really is important that you understand your style before you set about decorating your home. Why? It's kind of like reading the recipe the whole way through before you start to cook it. Or writing your grocery list down organizing items by categories. You can cook a recipe by reading only one line at a time, and you can grocery shop one item at a time, but you'll have a much easier time accomplishing your goal if you have a clear picture of the end result! It's the same with decorating. You can search for your decor one thing at a time by looking everywhere and considering everything, but it will be much easier (and enjoyable) if you have a clear idea of what you are and are not looking for!
I'm going to lead you step-by-step through the process of 'Finding Your Style.' It's not a quick, five-minute process, and will take some visiting of bookstores, magazine racks, and libraries. But it's an enjoyable process that is worth the time!
Step One - Browsing and Discovery
The first thing to do is to browse magazines and books to find photos of decorated rooms that appeal to you. I recommend using mostly magazines because they're less expensive to buy and browse at home, and also because you'll find a greater variety of decorating styles. Books tend to focus on one or two styles only. Check your library to see what they have available in both decorating books and back issues of magazines. Look for those with plenty of pictures! Keep sticky notes available to mark rooms you like. Some of the best decorating magazines and books can be found in the bookstore at KatieDid Design. Feel free to browse through and write down titles to check for in the library.
Now it's time to start the fun part! Start browsing the photos. Don't look for anything specific -- forget the colors you want to use, the furniture you have, and what you've used in the past. You want to look at each room with a brand-new perspective, and see it for the first time. Don't pay attention to the individual items in the room; instead, imagine yourself sitting down to read a favorite book, or cuddling down on a snowy winter night. If the thought of living in that room brings a smile to your face, mark it. Go through as many magazines and books as you can and do this... the more you find you like, the easier later steps will be.
Step Two - Identifying Common Themes
The next step helps you identify what it is - exactly - about each room that you like. Go back to the first rooms that you like and go through them again. This time, try to find common themes or techniques that the rooms share. These are aspects of the room to compare:
- Colors - Do they use soft and light colors, dark and regal tones, bright colors, muted shades, lots of white, etc...
- Fabrics - Do they use florals, checks, solids, plaids, antique-looking brocades, etc... and are the fabrics mostly light and airy, or heavy and rich? How much fabric is used?
- Walls - What have they done to the walls? Are they just painted, or are there lots of moldings? Are they papered or bordered? Walls are important - they are the background and frame of the room.
- Wood - Is the wood that's shown in the rooms mostly natural and comfortable looking, or highly polished and sophisticated? Is it painted in clean, crisp colors, or faded and cracked to look antique?
- Furniture - Does the furniture use large, comfortable lines and plenty of pillows, traditional high back chairs with small prim pillows, or sleek straight lines with no pillows at all?
- Arrangement - How are the rooms arranged? Is the furniture pulled away from the wall and brought together in a cozy grouping, or is it spaced out? Is everything arranged symmetrically at right angles, or is the seating at soft angles and tables mismatched around the room?
- Knick Knacks - Are there lots of them, or just a few? Are they antiques, or sleek brass and glass? Are they grouped in collections, or mixed with books and plants around the room?
- Lighting - Where is the light coming from? Is it mostly from lots of windows? Are the lights centered overhead? ...recessed around the edges of the ceiling? ...coming from lamps down at eye level and on tables?
As you go back over the rooms you've marked, and pay attention to these things, you'll begin to see similarities emerging. You'll also begin to recognize names such as 'Traditional', 'Victorian', 'Colonial', etc. and begin to have names for what you like. And don't be surprised if you like a mix! It's called eclectic when you love to mix styles. I love to mix casual Victorian, and formal Traditional. It might sound like a strange mix to some, but it's perfect for me! And you'll find what's perfect for you!
Maybe you'll discover that you really love lamps on tables, rather than overhead lights. Maybe you'll find that you love light-weight fabrics. Perhaps you'll realize that pulling the furniture away from the wall makes all the difference in the world. And maybe you'll better understand why you love to collect what you do!
Step Three - Applying Your Discoveries
The final step is to start applying what you've learned about yourself to your decorating. This is a process that will evolve more as you practice it. Some parts of it may be more difficult than others to actually apply. And it may take some imagination to translate what you love into something within your budget or room size. But it can be done! And it will be rewarding. Now that you've discovered what you really like, you CANNOT ignore it! Maybe you found that, although you love navy blue and thought you wanted to do your bedroom with it, every room you marked is decorated in soft light colors. Trust me, if you really would like a room done in navy blue, you would have found plenty of dark rooms that you liked. To try to do it in navy anyway, would be a waste of time, because you'll never get it to where you're happy with it.
Let's go over the aspects of decorating that I listed above, and see how we can apply them:
- Colors - Let's look at the problem above. You wanted to use navy blue... maybe you've already bought a navy sofa or drapes. What you need to do is choose one or two soft colors and use the navy as an ACCENT. Use these soft colors all over the place, and only add more navy if you need to balance a side of the room. If your entire sofa is navy, just change the throw pillows to a light color and drape a soft throw over the back. Put the lighter colors on the walls, and in another chair or an addition to your draperies. If you use enough of it in more prominent places, the navy will become an accent in the background, and you will achieve the look of light-colored rooms that you will be most comfortable with.
- Fabrics - A common problem here might be that the type or amount of fabric that you like is beyond your budget. What if you discovered that you really like tons of fabric at the windows and on the bed, and the patterns you like are $30/yard Waverly prints? An affordable solution would be to find one or two inexpensive solids somewhere else that would coordinate. Perhaps you could show off the Waverly prints in a valance, tiebacks, Flanged Shams, the bottom two-thirds of a duvet cover and covered buttons for it (needing perhaps only 5 yards total) Then use inexpensive twin sheets (often a bargain) for extra-full curtain panels, double ruffled bedskirts, ruffled shams, flowing table skirts, lots of throw pillows, and the top one-third and underside of your duvet cover. You would achieve the look of lots of fabric that you love at a fraction of the cost that the Waverly designers spent. And the look would be very similar since you used the Waverly in prominent places! Get the idea?
- Walls - As I said before, walls are important - they are the background and frame of the room. Pay close attention to the colors that you like on the walls. Paint is cheap, and anyone can do it. When it comes to moldings, pay attention to whether you like them lighter, darker, or natural wood. Sometimes this is a difficult area to duplicate affordably, since designers sometimes spend hundreds of dollars on fancy moldings all over the place. This is a more challenging problem to conquer and will take more imagination. Look at where the molding is, and how fancy it is. Perhaps a simpler molding in the same places will be possible. Maybe a scroll border will give the same effect that fancy moldings give. Sometimes simple 1/2" by 4" boards from a hardware store, painted white and spaced 8" apart on the lower half of the wall will achieve the same look. Whatever you do, make sure that your moldings fit the size room, and type of house that you have.
- Wood - There isn't much you can do to change what you already have here, unless you love painted wood. This discovery will be of use to you mostly when you are about to get new furniture. If you do love painted wood, then don't be afraid to paint what you have! There are tons of do-it-yourself guidebooks on painting furniture!
- Furniture - Here again, is a discovery that will help you most when you are about to buy furniture. But there is always the possibility of adding more pillows, or taking away some of what's there already.
- Arrangement - Here is the totally affordable part... because it only takes time to move what you've got! You can make a huge difference here by applying what you've discovered. It may take several tries, but don't be afraid to try something totally new! So many people consider it too "weird" to put their furniture anywhere but against the walls... but how many designers EVER do it? Don't they know what they're doing? Don't be afraid to try it, you'll be overjoyed when you discover that your rooms finally look like a professional came in!
- Knick Knacks - You will probably find here, that you've already got a lot of what you like. Knick Knacks are usually impulse buys, and therefore are a reflection of what we really like. When we buy figurines and other knick knacks, we're not usually trying to figure out if it will fit; we're going on the fact that we love them, and that preference will show in the rooms that we've marked. On the other hand, if we like clean lines and empty spaces, then we probably haven't bought many knick knacks because the 'cluttered' displays and tables where they're sold just don't attract us to begin with.
- Lighting - This is often a revelation to people... we just don't often think about it. Either we don't buy lights because we moved into a house with a light in the center of every room; or we move into a home where there aren't any lights, so we go buy some! Don't forget you have a choice here. You don't HAVE to use or keep the ceiling the way it is! You can always take down or leave off that overhead light and illuminate your rooms with the soft glow of accent lamps. You can always sell those lamps you were forced to buy and put up track lighting or recessed lighting along your ceilings. Be brave!
No matter what, enjoy, appreciate, and don't forget the discoveries that you've made. They are a reflection of who you truly are. And if you remember these preferences as you decorate, you will have a much easier time creating the look you want. Have fun!
_.~*~.__.~*~.__.~*~.__.~*~.__.~*~._
This article Copyright 1999-2003 - Kathleen Peters, KatieDid Design. Reproduced with permission.
Kathleen Peters - 'Katie' - is a custom window treatment and bedding designer, and owner of KatieDid Design, her online shop. She is also the editor-in-chief of Decor, Decorating, and Design, a free bi-monthly ezine filled with articles, tips, and guidelines to help with your home decorating.
http://www.katiediddesign.com
4. CHALLENGE OF THE MONTH
- Plan Early For Christmas!
My challenge to you this month is to plan early for Christmas. ALL aspects of Christmas. Planning early makes Christmas so much more enjoyable! You won't have that constant "What or who am I forgetting?" in the back of your mind all the time!
Now some of you are probably almost done all your Christmas shopping. And some of you have probably already written out your menus. But I bet that most of you (and me!) have been focusing on one part of Christmas planning and forgotten the others! Just sit down... right now to start... pull out a notebook or a piece of paper (I use the back pages in my grocery notebook so I can easily find it), and start writing:
1) Christmas Gifts - write down the name of each person that you will be giving to this year. Beside their name, write down any gift ideas you already have. If you've already taken care of that gift, write down what you got and put a check in front of their name. If you don't have any ideas for someone, just leave it blank for now. Just keep writing!
2) Baking and Cooking - Briefly write down your baking and cooking plans for the holidays. Just list what you will be making, and the time it will take... not each individual item, just the total time it will take to make cookies, cakes, and dinner items.
3) Scheduled Times - Sketch down a simple calendar of December. The first is a Friday, the 25th is a Monday, and New Years is the next Monday. First mark out the dates that you will be traveling and away from home. These are "off" days... make sure you don't plan anything else for those days!
4) More Scheduled Times - Now go to Thursday, Dec. 7th and write in "ship Christmas gifts for _____." UPS's deadline is usually a little over a week before Christmas, but this year, since Christmas is on Monday, your gifts will have to arrive 3 days before Christmas - on Friday - to be there on time! That means you must ship your gifts by the 14th for last minute delivery, assuming everything goes smoothly. Then, UPS doesn't refund your money if it's late during the last two weeks before Christmas. Soooo... you're much better off, and less stressed, if you can ship them by the 7th! (Thursday lines are usually shorter than Friday lines.) Also take note: UPS no longer will ship glass items including picture frames - even if they're double-boxed - so plan for that!
Still aren't convinced that you should ship your items early? Last year I shipped some Christmas gifts in a box I had gotten from a local store in town. I thought I had covered up the old label and all... but there was another label on the bottom of the box! My box left Port Charlotte, traveled to Orlando, traveled to Jacksonville, FL, someone flipped the box over and sent it back to Orlando, another person looked at the right label and re-sent it to Jacksonville, where it was again flipped upside down and sent to Orlando, and then to the local store where I had gotten the box back here in Port Charlotte... a few days after it should have been in Maryland! Thanks to God, I had special ordered some items from that store in the past, and they were caring enough to look and see if my name and phone number were in their database so they could let me know that they got my parent's Christmas gifts! Needless to say, I had to go get the box and ship it again, and this time it was too late for Christmas delivery. And my Dad's Christmas cookies weren't much better than crumbs after all that flipping and shipping. :-( It definitely helps to be early and not rushed!
5) More Scheduled Times - Do you always go out bargain shopping on Christmas Eve or the weekend before? If so, write in time for that... more than you think you'll need! Now write down which day(s) you will need to set aside for your baking and cooking... refer to the time you just figured you'll need. Write down to "shop for baking goods" a week before your baking dates... the stores will be less likely to be out of something if you shop early, and if they are, you'll have time to go elsewhere. If there's anything else major that you have planned, like Christmas pictures of the kids, and mailing Christmas cards, make sure you mark out that as well.
6) More Scheduled Times - Now go back to the last three days in a row before Dec. 7th - not just one day - that are empty on your calendar... that's when you should have your gift shopping done! If you can have it all (or most of it) done by then, think how much more enjoyable your Christmas will really be!
7) Gift Wrapping - Wrap your gifts as you buy them, rather than waiting until Christmas Eve or "Shipping Day Eve." It always takes longer than you think, and you always run out of paper or tape if you wait 'till last minute!
8) Finally, keep your gift list and calendar accessible, and keep your early deadlines in mind. Whenever you think of another gift idea for someone, pull it out and write it down! Whenever you buy for someone, check it off! Whenever you add something to cook or bake, write it down! Take the list with you when you go Christmas shopping to help you out, and use your baking list to make sure that you'll be getting everything you'll need when you do that big grocery shopping.
Be brave and have fun!
Remember, if your decorating isn't fun, it isn't worth it! So enjoy it!
-Katie <><
KatieDid Design
www.katiediddesign.com
e-mail: katie@katiediddesign.com
Custom Home Decor Design and Giftware
PO Box 381235
Murdock, FL 33938-1235
Your FREE subscription to this e-Zine
is brought to you by www.katiediddesign.com
Don't hesitate to forward this newsletter to friends and associates, but please ask for permission before reproducing the content in any form -- we would just like to know who you are that's all. Thanks!
Copyright 2000 KatieDid Design - All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole, or in part,
without the express written consent of the publisher.
Back to the Archives
|
