The New Nation - Internet Edition

Farizaa Sabreen

Eid is a time filled with fun and laughter. Eid décor adds a tinge of excitement and warmth to the holidays. While decorating your house, you need to be careful about each and every corner.

With little bit of creativity and imagination one can make interesting décor for his/her home. A few decorations here and there in the house change the look of the house to a great extent.

And while more and more people are looking for fresh and innovative ways to express a unique sense of style with their holiday décor, many are simply not quite sure where to begin. That is why we have developed a list of foolproof decorating tips of Eid.

Flowers and candles are always an elegant match as well, and a candlescape can add classic style to your holiday décor. Display candles in various shapes and sizes on a decorative tray and accent them with your favorite holiday flowers, fresh evergreens, ribbons, or small ornaments. Candlescapes create warm sparkling light in any space and are particularly lovely on a coffee table, credenza, or dining table.

Find a Focal point

Before you start designing your living room, always decide on a focal point. This helps you to add furniture and other decorative items that will go along with the flow of the room. If living in apartment houses, you can choose a wall, a window or a balcony that comes attached as the main attraction of the room. You can start by concentrating on that focal point. Use your creativity with colors, paintings, lightings and make it the most striking feature in the room. All other things like sofas, coffee table, lampshades and decorative items should just compliment that. So you do spend too much of your energy trying to balance or even out the room. There are many wild bohemian, contemporary styles you can explore.

Personalize your space

A house should be a reflection of your tastes, styles and personality. When you enter your house, a feeling of warmth and belongingness should be experienced. If you do not put in things that does not exude comfort, you might end up staying in sterile environment, where you wouldn't relax or lie down on a sofa for fear of spoiling the upholstery.

Put up family pictures or any of your collector's items. Also try some fusion like hanging up wind chimes or a colorful mirror work on the walls. Drop an ethnic touch by adding silk curtains, cushions or a Persian carpet on the walls.

Colors on the walls

Selecting the colors for the walls again should be an extension of your personality. Today paint companies like Asian Paints provide good painting sessions and free samples to the customers to see and decide on a color.

Wallpapers are another very useful and cheaper options than paints.

Mix and match

When looking for quick and unusual ways to display flowers, gather unique containers that help you go beyond the typical flower combinations. Don't be afraid to mix and match colours and textures. If it doesn't work, you can always take the arrangement apart and start again.

Striking look

Combining a tall bulb flower with a squat bloom lets you create a striking look that's appropriate as a centerpiece. Look for a large, shallow bowl with a flat bottom. Cluster the bulbs in the middle and prop them in place with sponges or a hand towel while you stuff the shorter blooms all around it.

Floral decoration

Roses tucked into a bowl of apples make a quick, temporary table decoration. Flowers shouldn't stand too long near fruits and vegetables, however. Ethylene gas, emitted by produce as it ripens, causes blooms to wilt prematurely.

Blooming buckets

A humble garden pail gets dressed up when you fill it with vivid-colour flowers. Trim the stems to the depth of the bucket so the blooms just peek out the top. Tie a bow around the bucket using wire-edge ribbon, and extend a piece of ribbon up and over the top like a handle.

Glass containers

Gather a bunch of flowers that are the same hue and assemble them in themed containers of various shapes and sizes. This mantel arrangement features rosy-cheeked pink roses in an assortment of clear glass containers-from a cut-glass candy dish, to stemware, to a florist's vase, to a vintage bottle. The elements are unified on a lace runner that's draped along the mantel. To keep it casual, leave some of the containers empty.

Mixing greenery

Give half-a-dozen single-colour blooms greater impact by mixing in greenery and arranging them in a standing vase. Think beyond baby's breath and florist ferns. Florists also stock more natural-looking greens, such as asparagus fern and seeded eucalyptus. Or, explore your own yard for options. These peach roses are nestled into a vintage silver vase amid pine branches and lemon leaves.

Decorating Nooks and Corners

Corridors

Decorating corridors is more or less the problem of every household. The first thing one needs to remember when working on corridors is; this is one place of your house that is alive and active. People are always moving in and out of your corridors. So give your corridors a picture gallery look. You can put paintings, family photographs and murals as wall decor. Add lamps at little distances to give a soft and dramatic look to your corridors.

If you find this decorating tip not so appealing then how about adding some artifacts and flower arrangements complete with soft yellow lighting. If your corridor is wide enough, one can even go for a bookshelf. To complete the feel, put some heavy drapes at the end of the corridor.

Staircases

Most of the times, the space below the staircases are turned into a storage area giving a shabby appearance to your decor. If you really require a storage space, build a sliding cabinet with racks to store your brooms and shoes. This will give your space a neater look and at the same time give you adequate space to keep your stuff.

If space is not a problem, then do something more creative with that empty space. You can put a wallpaper of scenery to give a feeling of depth. Go for some dim lighting, according to the theme of your wallpaper.

One can also create a recreation corner below the staircase. Throw in some cushions, proper lighting and a potted plant or two and build a world of its own. If there is space, then put a small coffee table and chair and snuggle up with a book.

Lofts and Landings

Generally spacious loft areas are utilized as storage space. You can easily change a loft area as a kid's room or a guest bedroom. If there is not that large a space then how about making a build in wardrobe? Deck it up with some tall flower vases and indoor plants.

Another challenging area around the house is the landing immediately at the end of the staircase. One can have a long bookshelf in this area or a place to display your holiday snaps.

Table setting

This is an opportunity to get creative about ways to get what you need without spending an arm and a leg, and also discover new ways to make your life simpler. Bring your family together and brainstorm some innovative ways of doing things.

Plan your Eid menus now if you will be serving meals in your home. From the menus, plan what things you will need to purchase. Start purchasing ahead.

Freeze the extra food for meals over the next few weeks. This will help tremendously when you are faced with cooking for the Eid. Make simple meals.

Seating arrangements can be sketched out in advance. If you have ample space in your home, a good idea may be to serve your Eid dinner courses in different rooms. Then, set up the place settings of small platters, napkins, and salad forks with plenty of serving pieces or finger foods already neatly pierced with toothpicks.

Serve the main course at the formal dining table, set in all its glory with fine linen tablecloth, napkins, candelabras, soup tureens, your best porcelain or stoneware, matched or mixed flatware in gold plate or silver, and goblets of glass or crystal. Think of the festive table as the canvas on which you are creating an elegant work of art!

It's also appropriate to fill water goblets about three-fourths full ahead of time, perhaps with small ice cubes or cracked ice to keep it fresh and cold. Keep a water pitcher on the table or on a nearby buffet cabinet.

Bulky candelabras may have to be moved to the piano top and replaced by a pair of slender tapers or individual small candles.

If formal isn't your style, try a buffet setting for a much more casual atmosphere. Sturdy stoneware would be recommended. But it's a good idea to keep the napkins and silverware wrapped together or placed at the diner table with the water goblets, thereby avoiding most dropping and spilling accidents. And if you love using napkin rings, by all means do so, but be prepared to lose one or two with any large gathering.

Create an artful arrangement of an eclectic mix of tabletop settings, putting that extra effort into the planning and creative design of your tabletop this season will add to the warmth and cheer of your Eid festivities.

When choosing a centerpiece, you want to make sure that it will add to the beauty of your table without overpowering it or blocking conversation. Fresh Flowers in low arrangements and candles are always beautiful, but switch it up sometimes by getting creative. Edible centerpieces, such as fancy desserts or a mosaic of colorful candies can add a whimsical and delicious touch. Shallow bowls filled glass marbles in colors that complement your linens are also an option. The decorations and style of your table should be a reflection of you.