decor
This week You! shares some simple and easy tips to make your home feeling more festive during Eid...
I t is a time for merriment and celebration, and for an auspicious occasion such as Eid, it is the perfect opportunity to spruce up your home. While a lot of people go all out by renovating and rebuilding - and it is the good time to do so too - not everyone finds it convenient. However, that doesn’t mean that one cannot deck up their home for such a festive time. To liven up your place, even small changes can make a big difference. You can paint a wall, add a few accessories here and there or change the setting of the furniture to make it all look fresh. Your attention to detail will do wonders without even making a huge dent in your pocket.
This week You! shares some simple and easy tips to make your home feeling more festive during Eid...
Changing the colour of your wall will instantly make your room look lively. You can change the colour of a lone wall or get a wall paper. If you have a small space, the trick to try out this time around is to paint your ceiling as an alternative. By doing so, you’ll make your ceilings look higher while adding more depth and visual interest in a space. You can always create graphic patterns that’ll really make your walls sing, especially with room-lengthening stripes.
Not everyone goes out buying living room furniture for every season - even though it does start to look stale after a while. However, small details in upholstery have a big impact on design. So, to freshen up a room, you can add in a few accessories like new cushions, a rug or some art. Though you may shy away from expressive patterns in vibrant hues and eclectic finishes, there’s no harm in bringing in bold decorative pillows or rugs for the ultimate statement.
No matter what, greenery is the easiest way to bring life to any dull corner. If there is an abandoned corner in your house, you can place a nice little potted plant. To lighten up a room, you can also make use of a classy lantern or a lampshade. If you have a lonely staircase, some fairy lights will make it bright and happy.
The key element in any interior design scheme is light. Just as light can make or break a photograph, light is incredibly important to keep in mind when setting out to decorate your living space. Apart from lampshades, you can make use of fairy lights and scented candles. The quintessential fairy lights can be found in nearly every stylish room, in countless arrangements. They’re inexpensive, chic, and can make a room instantly feel warmer and cosier.
Now that we have dealt with the household decor, it is time for the main highlight of the whole festivities: the food. While the food attracts a crowd on its own, have you ever noticed that a well-set table seems to make food taste better? Even simple meals can seem like culinary delights when served in an interesting setting. So, when the entire idea of celebrating Eid is to spend time with your loved ones and enjoy a glorious feast, it’s only right that we set the tables appropriately.
Setting a table is, in many ways, a process of layering that requires some thought. You need to figure out which would be the most suitable option considering the crowd that you would be entertaining.
Theme: First off, you need to decide on what sort of colour scheme you are going for. Your colour story could be one colour, complementary colours or colours by the season. A theme helps make everything cohesive and classy. While neutral tones, in solid colour or stripes, work for any day, they are a little boring. You can add a rich pop of colour to a seemingly dull room with jewel tones like plum and teal for the tablecloth and keep the rest simple and plain. Or if you are keeping the tablecloth plain, add some vibrant placemats for liven up the table.
Table linens: These are just the choice for an intimate gathering. Traditionally, tablecloths were used only for formal occasions and were made of lace or silk damask. And while there are many new options, tablecloths still look classy. If you are planning on getting a fabric tablecloth, make sure to use a felt-backed vinyl cloth under it. It will not only help to protect your table top, but it can also deaden the sound of cutlery and china, making conversation easier.
Placemats: While lace and damask are still appropriate for formal table settings, it breaks one’s heart when there is spillage of some deliciously spicy and oily salan on the linen. For everyday use, nothing beats placemats.
These are perfect if you are entertaining a big crowd with a lot of kids. In addition to being utilitarian, they add colour and texture to a table setting as they can be found in other materials as well. Apart from linen, you can opt for round braided polypropylene placemats or insulation placemats in dark bold colours.
And since they’re inexpensive and take little room to store, it’s easy to change the look of your table with the seasons or the holidays. That means you would be all set for bari Eid too.
Cutlery & china: Almost every household has a special set of cutlery and dinner set locked away in a cabinet for a special occasion. Even if you are an exceptional case, you don’t have to go out your way to buy a brand-new dinner set. What you can do is find some platters in different shapes and serve food in them. This will easily make your spread look unique and amazing.