With a little bit of creativity and some imagination you can take something as simple as a plain wooden ladder and transform it into a beautiful piece of home d

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Most of us enjoy daydreaming about our perfect home. Do you ever think about your home just before falling to sleep? Instead of worrying about your tasks for tomorrow, try this exercise tonight: imagine you’re arriving home. When your head hits your pillow, close your eyes and daydream about your homecoming. What do you see that greets you?

Daydream about easy changes or additions you can make that would make you smile when you get that first glimpse of home. Perhaps a few white flowers planted by the walkway or a refreshing tropical fern by the door or….

Think about your front door. Could a fresh coat of paint in a happy color help you feel joy? Visualize colors like snappy apple or silver pine green and rosy coffee au laits. Imagine your home from the curbside viewpoint and play with new colors for your front door.

Maybe you come home and park in a garage for security. If so, paint your connecting door a welcoming color and create a mini-entry inside with a mirror. Make your entrance just as welcoming as your formal entry for guests.

Next, in your dreams, open the door and what do you see that immediately greets you? What can you do so that the first glance makes you feel happy to be at home? Carefully examine the first thing you notice when you take your first step inside. Most of us look down to watch our step. A soft area rug makes your feet feel pampered. Look up. What catches your attention? People get so used to their accessories, they don’t even notice them after awhile. Rearrange your pieces so they grab your attention anew.

Where do you go when you arrive home? Each of us has a ritual when we come home, whether we’re conscious of it or not. Think about your first activity upon arrival. Make sure it’s a pleasant task or change it.

Try to envision changes that you can make to achieve a harmonious home-coming. Besides organizational changes, home decorating changes can help you, too.

Keep daydreaming about your spaces and visualize your desired changes. Think about how you want your spaces to make you feel. For instance, if you want your kitchen to make you feel organized, take out cluttering accessories and repaint the walls a calming muted green. Maybe your dining area needs a facelift to bolster family conversations and a new large mirror would reflect shimmering candle light and happy faces.

Most home makers enjoy shopping for that perfect accessory, daydreaming about colors for their rooms, and planning a new look for their home. I’ll bet you fall asleep before you get to your bedroom in your dreams.

Copyright © 2005 Jeanette J. Fisher

Jeanette Fisher, author of Joy to the Home Journal and interior design and real estate books, has researched the effects of environment on emotions for over 15 years. Besides flipping houses, Jeanette teaches college courses on Design Psychology and professional real estate investing seminars. For free Design Psychology reports, visit http://designpsych.com/

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Sure you decorate your fireplace and mantel for the winter holidays, but don’t forget this important focal point in your room as Spring approaches. Here are some nearly-instant ideas for springtime and Easter fireplace decorating:

Daffodils in crystal or glass vases on each end of your mantel bespeak the coming of Spring. Tie a wired chiffon ribbon in a soft spring hue in a bow around each vase for a nice touch.

March a line of fluffy chicks across your mantel. Five or more chicks, whether stuffed toys, porcelain hens, or craft store chickens, make a cute display.

And speaking of stuffed toys, now is a great time to find those old stuffed bunnies and ducks and turn them into mantel ornaments. Add Easter grass, and scatter decorated eggs along the mantel to keep them company.

Tie wired gingham-checked ribbons into bows, and attach them to the edge of your mantel. Let the ends of each bow hang down various lengths from one to three feet. At the end of each ribbon, open a plastic egg, tape the ribbon’s end inside the egg, and force the egg shut. This creates a set of eggs dangling at different heights.

Bring out your glass, crystal, white, and pastel candle holders of different heights for your mantel. Select a trio of springtime colors such as lavender, pink and eggshell or aqua, pale green, and soft yellow. Use pastel candles in some of the candle holders. In others, perch decorated Easter eggs (real, plastic, wooden, or glass).

The ideas above are great for your fireplace’s mantel, but what’s a terrific way to decorate your fireplace itself? Fireplace candelabra are the perfect accessories. And using candles in the shape of decorated Easter eggs in your fireplace candelabra is a super-simple, but visually dramatic way to decorate for the season. (Just don’t be too surprised if the Easter Bunny replaces one of the candle-eggs with a chocolate one!)

Susan Penney appreciates simple ways to make our homes renewing spaces for our families. She invites you to visit http://www.FireplaceMall.com for fireplace accessories to serve your fire-less or your fire-filled fireplace.

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