The holidays are over. All the bright and flashy colors have disappeared from the home. The winter’s light is weak and dim so even when your blinds are open, it feels dismal.
SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) hits many, many people every year. How can you combat this? There are certain supplements you can take to increase your mood, but decorating your home is another weapon you can wield at those cold and nasty winter days. What is SAD? It is the mild slump most people feel after the holidays and as the bleak winter days stretch on.
During the holidays, it is fun and whimsical to decorate with snowflakes and blankets on the sofas. Fires are cozy and hot cocoa tastes terrific as you watch the flakes falling out of the window. However, once January hits and the coach turns back into the pumpkin, you are left with the plain, often drab setting that you started with. The snow falling outside is now annoying, the fires become expensive and the cocoa makes your body grow in directions you get cranky about. Those feelings of “goodwill toward men” fly out the window and you hunker down to hibernate until the sun comes out again.
Why do that to yourself?
Taking the effort to spruce up the homestead will make it easier to bear the brunt of the unforgiving winter months. Using your walls to brighten things up is a very effective way to redecorate, improve the feel of the space you have, and will transport you to another place.
The Beauty of Wallpaper
- These days, wallpaper is customizable
- Use your photos on your custom wallpaper to recreate happy memories
- Custom wallpaper is also available in removable formats to change the look regularly
- Removable wallpaper has a backing like a sticky note and is reusable
- Scenic wallpaper makes a room appear larger and more open
- Colors hold a certain psychology for guests. Vibrant colors in bold patterns elevate mood. Tranquil scenes create feelings of serenity
- Wallpaper is much less messy than paint
- Most customizable wallpapers are washable with a sponge and water
- Wallpaper can cover unsightly problems on walls
- Typically, only use a custom piece of wallpaper on one wall such as an accent wall
- Custom wallpaper can be printed from less than professional photography
- Wallpaper can be printed from your own artwork
Using Paint in the Home
- Paint is usually less expensive than custom wallpaper
- Changing the color of your paint choice can be difficult
- You have hundreds of colors to choose from
- Solid colors are generally more soothing when they are soft and neutral. Too much of a good thing will close in your room
- Paint can be a very messy job
- Painting takes longer to finish than wallpaper
- Paint fumes are worse than the smell of new wallpaper
- Painted walls are able to be decorated
- Paint will change the color of unsightly areas but will not cover them
Decorating dos and don’ts
- Don’t hang photos on a mural wall unless it is a mild pattern
- Stay away from really bright neons
- If it can be helped, avoid painting an entire room in the same color. An accent wall will do wonders
- Only put a mural on one wall in a room
- If your walls are patterned, heavily patterned furniture and accessories should be avoided
- If your walls are solid, patterns on furniture and pillows is encouraged
- Plants and flowers give a lively attribute to décor and your space will feel lived in and comfortable
- Warm wood accessories lend an organic feeling
- Metal accessories with clean lines feel modern but less comfortable
- If placing a mural, decorate accordingly. Avoid hiding it behind your furniture. Treat it as a window
- Keeping furniture off the walls will make a room seem larger
- Facing furniture to one another encourages conversation between guests
- When creating an accent wall, avoid large pieces of furniture on other walls that will clash with your focal point like entertainment centers and hutches.
- When you only have one room for multiple purposes, being able to hide the television will help your space appear more formal
- If using drapes or curtains hang them from as close to the ceiling as possible to give the illusion that the walls are taller
- Using rugs on hardwood floor will help tie everything together and ground the space
- Placing a scenic mural on the wall just ahead of you when you enter the room enhances the size as if the room doesn’t end there. It appears to continue with no boundary
- Sometimes a change in light fixtures can make a giant difference
- Designate a focal point for the room and decorate around it keeping that the main focus
Need some inspiration?
The internet is a beautiful thing and places like Pinterest and HGTV.com have some great photos you can print and emulate as you go through your redecorating journey. Don’t expect your final result to match that photo. It has to be yours.
Knowing that keeping your walls neutral all the time can lead to your home feeling sterile and lifeless will prompt you to add murals or color to them and will increase the sense of wellbeing that you can perfect throughout the year. Removable wallpaper can get addicting, changing the scenes to fit the seasons or holidays, or just creating favorite vacation spots in your home with your own photography. It makes it feel like a wall is missing leaving you open to your most favorite places on earth and creates that happy and wistful atmosphere in those who step within your door. Experiment and have fun creating your new home out of your old home this year!