November 17, 2011
10 Easy Holiday Decorating Tips from Kathy Banak
It’s that time of year to start preparing your home for the holidays. For many of us this time of year, October through December, goes by way too fast and we end up running around and stressing out with last minute home decorating and shopping that we rarely have time to enjoy the beauty of each season. So this year, how about you prepare your home and organize yourself now so you can enjoy each and every moment of the seasons with your friends and family.
The count down is now!
1. Get organized and make to do lists. Finalize which holiday will be at your home and for how many guests. Determine a decorating and entertaining budget and stick to it.
2. Stay with one theme and style for your holiday decorating. It makes shopping easier and your home more polished.
3. You still have plenty of time to paint one or several rooms. Determine a color palette that you want to live with after the holidays. Work with the undertones of your floor color and similar undertones of each room’s paint color. Authentic Home COLOR Paint™ is always a great choice. See our selections here.
4. Re arrange furniture so the focal point is the fireplace or if you don’t have a fireplace, arrange it to create a cozy layout for intimate conversations. Remove overstuffed pieces and replace with streamlined dining room chairs.
5. Bring the holiday celebration into every room. Decorate the kitchen and bathrooms with seasonal themed items or a grouping of candles with pine cones and ribbon on the bathroom countertop or kitchen shelves.
6. Update your older holiday items with a new color. I love working with silver, golds and amber colors for the holidays instead of the traditional red and green. How about an entire room decorated in off white or amethyst or combinations of silver, robins egg blue and white this year?
7. Make it a family event by bringing nature inside this season. Pick pine cones, trim holly and seasonal greens and use them on your mantel piece or arrange in a large glass bowl. Incorporate gold or silver balls in all sizes, beaded garland or seasonal ribbons and you have a new mantel or centerpiece.
8. Stick with white lights instead of colored lights. Decorate an interior silk tree or birch branches with lights to bring a touch of the outdoor glisten inside.
9. Use lots of off white candles. Just like white lights, off white candles in all shapes and sizes are timeless and bring warmth and elegance to any room. Remember to group them in odd numbers. I always recommend using non scented candles as you never know who can be allergic to over bearing scents.
10. Enjoy the holiday sparkle in your home. When in doubt, go for it with more sparkle. It’s the holidays so take time to enjoy friends and family this holiday season!
For paint color consultations or to purchase our paint, contact Authentic Home today -
before your guests arrive!
November 11, 2011
My Favorite DailyOm Inspiration – Influencing the Tone of Your Life
I want to share with you this really wonderful and inspiring website and blog that I subscribe to, DailyOM – Nurturing Mind Body and Spirit. This article in particular really resonated with me and echos my feelings about color, emotion and feeling. I hope you enjoy it! Visit DailyOM and Sign Up! for their daily Inspirational, daily Horoscope or weekly Music emails.
Influencing the Tone of Your Life
Color has the ability to trigger our emotions, affect the way we think and act, and influence our attitudes.
When we enter a room or see an object for the first time, our minds register its color before any other detail. The colors our eyes can perceive are like words that form a subtle language of mood, energy, and insight. Color can exert a gentle effect on the mind and the body, influencing our dispositions and our physical health. Color has the ability to trigger our emotions, affect the way we think and act, and influence our attitudes. You unconsciously respond to the color of the walls in your home, your car, your clothing, and the food you eat based on your body’s natural reactions to certain colors and the psychological associations you have formed around them. The consequences of the decision to paint a room or wear a specific article of clothing therefore goes beyond aesthetics.
The colors you encounter throughout your day can make you feel happy or sad, invigorate you or drain your vitality, and even affect your work habits. Throughout history, cultures spread over many different parts of the globe have attributed varying meanings to different colors. In China, blue is associated with immortality, while people in the Middle East view blue as a color of protection. There is also evidence that human beings respond to color in a very visceral way. Red excites us and inflames our passions. Too much red, however, can make us feel overstimulated and irritated. Pink tends to make people feel loved and protected but also can cause feelings of lethargy. Yellow represents joy or optimism and can energize you and help you think more clearly. Bright orange reduces depression and sadness. Blue and green are known to inspire peaceful feelings, and people are often able to concentrate better and work in rooms painted in soft blues and greens. The darker tones of both colors can make you feel serious and introspective.
There are ways to integrate color into your life that go beyond picking the hues of your décor and your wardrobe. You can meditate with color by concentrating on the colors that make you feel peaceful or using a progression of colors to symbolize a descent into a relaxed state. Color breathing involves visualizing certain colors as you in inhale and exhale. Choose to surround yourself with the colors that you are attracted to and make you feel good, and you can create an environment that makes you feel nurtured, peaceful, and uplifted.
What do you think? Discuss this article and share your opinion
November 2, 2011
Are you feeling overwhelmed just thinking about the Holidays?
Are you feeling overwhelmed just thinking about the holidays?
Let Authentic Home help get your home ready for all your holiday entertaining this year. $100 off a Color Consultation or Interior Design Invoice. Offer is available through December 15th 2011. Visit our website, browse our portfolio of work. Here’s a little inspiration for your holiday decorating AH article on 10 easy holiday decorating tips and then pick up the phone and call us at 206.937.3070 or email us at info@authentic-home.com to schedule your appointment today!
October 27, 2011
It’s Not Just A Can Of Paint! Part II – The Meaning of the Color Blue
Continued from last week’s blog post…It’s Not Just A Can Of Paint!
Meaning of the Color Blue
Blue is the overwhelming “favorite color” and is the coolest color – the color of the sky, ocean, sleep, twilight. A pure blue is the color of inspiration, sincerity and spirituality. Blue is seen as trustworthy, dependable and committed. The color of sky and the ocean, blue is perceived as a constant in our lives.
Blue brings down blood pressure and slows respiration and heart rate. That’s why it’s considered calming, relaxing, and serene, and is often recommended for bedrooms and bathrooms. Be careful, however: A pastel blue that looks pretty on the paint chip can come across as unpleasantly chilly when it’s on the walls and furnishings, especially in a room that receives little natural light. If you opt for a light blue as the primary color in a room, balance it with warm hues in the furnishings
and fabrics.
To encourage relaxation in the rooms where people gather family rooms, living rooms, large kitchens consider warmer blues, such as periwinkle, or bright blues, such as cerulean or turquoise. Blue is known to have a calming effect when used as the main color of a room. When going with blue go for softer shades of blue. Dark blue has the opposite effect. Dark blue evokes feels of sadness. So refrain from using darker blues in your main color scheme. Stay with the lighter shades of blue to give you and your loved ones a calm effect.
How the color blue affects us physically and mentally
* Calming and sedate
* Cooling
* Aids intuition
My goal in creating the Authentic Home COLOR Paint™ line is to bring awareness to your emotional connection with a particular color. 
By arranging the Authentic Home COLOR Paint™ colors into five mood palettes, Elegant, Serene, Playful, Fresh, Regal, you now have a starting paint to begin the selection process so to achieve your desired feeling for your home. I invite you to enjoy exploring the meaning and effects color can have on you and your life.
Contact us this month and get $100 OFF a color consultation or a $100 CREDIT against your 1st design invoice. Call 206.937.3070 or email us to make an appointment. HURRY! Offer expires Nov 30th 2011.
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