Home Decorating Ideas By Moi

What do you do when your space is small but you want to make it look larger than what it really is? Hmm, why not rely on your instinct and make it simple? Do it my way if you please: less is more. DO NOT OVER DECORATE! Make your home to look elegant by furnishing it with the simplest of things and remember, it does not have to be anything costly or expensive. Rule of thumb: do not make it look like a clone of your local department store because you bought the entire stock of home decorating stuff at Home Depot, Target, Walmart, and Walgreens! No, don't do that! That is not impressive at all but rather tacky. Yikes! Personally, I want things simple even in my living quarters because this is the way I am wired: I am a minimalist by nature.

This year my focus is on scented candles which I find to be romantic, alluring and practical to have around the house. They are lovely and colorful plus they do bring in a lot of good vibes and memories. So what did I do? I utilized them as one of my decorating highlights this year and for me, it works like magic. They are bewitching and captivating to the eyes! Since ours is a cozy little flat in the heart of North Beach, obviosly, we got no space for many things to fill them up with. Wine racks, for instance, is too much for us to have as it eats up a lot of space inside our flat. What I did was to compromise the wines we got and placed them on top of our dresser, topped them with garlands, Christmas balls, glitters, and lights. And presto- they make it all so easy to look at. They look so much to be in synch! In a short while, I have dolled up our place! When lighted, they bring in a ray of sunshine and conviviliaty because the colors are reflected in the mirror of the dresser and gives the illusion of space- that is, the mirror! All at once, a regalia of joy is ever present! And BTW, we have no Christmas tree for lack of space in our unit. But we managed to rescue one from our moving boxes! It is made up of ceramics that stands at just about an eight inch in height. Yes! It is on top of our 1936 upright piano, near
The Nativity Scene that is decorated on with eucalyptus leaves and strips of papers, recycled from the package we bought at Ebay months back. I am a rescuer of things other people may classify as "trash." For me, I always see the "potential" in them, so when I think I have a use for them in the immediate future, I keep some.

Another adlib I did this Yuletide was to hang some tiny Christmas socks I bought at Walgreens and put them on around our door knobs. Then, the larger ones, I decided to place them on top of our lamp shades in the sitting room. This way, they expanded the horizon of colors in our milieu. Now it looks so pretty deserving of a second, third, or even a fourth glance every now and then. Whoah! Well, I feel good about our home. How about you? Indeed, it is how we make our house a home. And for me, for us- as a couple, ours is a castle in the midst of a tiny space within city limits, in the city we love, SAN FRANCISCO. Ciao!

LEFT: the garland of love, decorated with red bows, christmas balls and Christmas socks. The mistle toe is handmade by yours truly, recycled from the bunch of eucalyptus leaves we had in our vase, bought in a dollar tree in Reno, Nevada last year. Here we are as we were getting ready for a night out last week.