Many companies are opting for cubes instead of offices for their associates these days in order to save money on square footage and utilities. As a result, cubes are a smaller, open version of an office and all of them look pretty much identical to each other. The good news is that most companies will allow their associates to customize their cube with personal photos and mementos within reason. Mini lights and battery operated lights are an excellent way to bring life and personality to your cube or office.

Dress up your cube with Christmas mini lights and battery operated lights and you’ll no longer have a space that is distinctly yours in a sea of identical office cubes. Although holidays are the time when most people might think of decorating an office or cube with lights, why not have lights up all year round?

Mini lights are ideal for adding white sparkling light to silk flower arrangements, baskets, or to highlight photographs of loved ones. You can find them in either LED or incandescent versions. LED sets are great because they are cool to the touch. String mini lights around the edge of your desk and the outline of your cube. In an office, use mini lights to outline your doorway or to add some added light and warmth to your artificial plants.

An office desk or a cubicle area will instantly take on a festive appearance during the holidays when you swag white, green, or red mini lights across the front of your desk or on your cubicle walls. Tastefully placed garland, pine boughs, and pinecones can bring the entire look together. During the holidays, a small Christmas tree can often fit into a cube or and office, so don’t miss an opportunity for adding more light to your workspace.

Artificial plants bring a bit of the outside into any office environment. For smaller potted plants, use our battery operated lights to add some sparkle. Artificial trees can easily handle several strings of mini lights with the extra ones pooled around the base of the tree. You could even use artificial plants as holiday trees and switch out the colors of mini lights to reflect the current season or celebrated holiday.

Popular light color choices for decorating artificial trees or plants for holidays might include:

- Blue and white – winter
- Yellow, orange, and red – fall, Halloween, or Thanksgiving
- Red, white, and blue – Memorial Day, 4th of July, Presidential election years
- Green, white, blue, multi-color, or red – Christmas
- Green – spring or St. Patrick’s Day
- Purple, pink, blue, green, or yellow – Easter or spring
- Pink – Breast Cancer Awareness
- Gold, purple, and green – Mardi Gras

Decorating an office or cube with lights is a great way to bring some cheer into your workplace. However, keep in mind that blinking lights can be a distraction to you and to your co-workers. Also, this is your workplace, not your home, so keep the decorations tasteful and professional. Turn your lights off when you leave your office or cubicle at the end of the workday.

Shellie Gardner is the owner of Christmas Light source, a great place to find Blue Mini Lights. Christmas Light Source is a one stop shopping source for Christmas lighting needs. From hardware to lights and everything in between, they has everything for holiday lighting decor as well as tips, tricks and do it yourself projects.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Shellie_Gardner

1. Do you need more light, far less light, or muted light in a different shade of color? You may consider installing stained glass panels, hanging up stained glass chimes, or placing vases of different colors on your windowsill. These varying shades can snatch up incoming light and turn your home into a menagerie of color.

2. Is your window bare and free from decorations? Then you might want to add a whole row of teddy bears in different colors all across the window. You can hang models of the seven dwarves, or of different characters from your favorite fairy tales. If you have a baby on the way, you can advertise your joy by stringing up empty feeding bottles filled with light blue or light pink marbles, depending on your baby’s sex.

3. Do you like drapes, or would you like to keep your window bare? Heavy velvet drapes may make your home appear gloomy, but if you want to feel like a queen, then string up those drapes and line them with gold trim.

4. If it’s Christmas, go for dark red or green drapes and pin Christmas tree ornaments on them so that your home looks decorated even from the outside. If it’s Halloween, put up orange and black drapes, and hang up dolls of little witches and wizards.

5. If you want to decorate your window during the season of hearts, then mark Valentine’s Day by asking your children or the neighborhood youngsters to cut out hearts of different colors, then write the name of their loved ones on them. You can place these hearts on your window, or fashion them onto a mobile that you can hang from your curtain rods.

Conclusion

Although this list of unique window treatment ideas is by no means comprehensive, you can use them as a starting point to develop your own unique window treatment ideas.

Unique window treatment ideas are only part and parcel of making your home, and consequently, your neighborhood, a more fun place to live in.

To learn more window treatment ideas, visit http://www.windowtreatmentideas101.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tim_Lee

Lights for art can be used inside or outside depending on the ones that you purchase. If you have a fountain in your front lawn or a statue for example, you will want to light it up because for one, it will be a lot prettier, and two, you will not want anyone driving into it if it is near your driveway. They can also light up things such as your sidewalks or just placed around your home for a cool effect. Lights can create some cool effects if you use them correctly.

Lights can also be used to decorate for holidays such as Halloween, Christmas, etc. Whatever it may be, there are so many cool different ways to spice up your home with lights for the holiday. You can put lights up in the windows and all around the home and set them on timers to music. If you do this in a way that is not tacky, people will be talking about how awesome your house looked for years to come. You could be the house that everyone has to see around Halloween time. These are only options for the outside of your home which is the most difficult part to do. So much more can be done on the inside that would take a lot less effort. The spaces are easier to reach and you do not need ladders and such for most places in the house if you are putting up simple decorations.

The decorations for the short time will not need to be of great quality unless you are planning on using them for many years in the future. They will only be put up for short periods of time each year so do not spend too much of your time worrying about it.

Pictures on your wall, statues inside and outside of your home, and anything that you want to light up can be lit up with lights that hang from the ceiling or lights that can literally attach right to the art. You can turn them on when you have company over and create a cool, warm affect and light up the things you want while not having to turn on all the lights in your home. The art will definitely stick out more as well and more people will notice the things you want them to.

Stewart Wrighter is an entrepreneur who runs a large group of websites that specialize in high end items such as picture frame lights. He offers a large selection of art lighting online.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stewart_Wrighter

For some, the changes of the season can bring on depression symptoms as well as other conditions, such as arthritis. You want to create a soft feel that makes you and everyone who enters your home welcome and invited. If you suffer from seasonal depression including Bi-Polar disorder, decorating your home each season may help.

Colors All Around

Colors can play an important role in your decor. Without the right color, you may create a room that you are not happy in. You may feel distracted, sad, mad, anxious, or tense while in this room. You want to avoid that but what is the right color? The right color is different for everyone. It’s important that you find out what your true colors are by taking a pen and paper with you wherever you go for a few weeks. Take the time to look around and find colors that your eyes are naturally drawn to. For example, if you sit in the park on a bench and look around, you are going to see colors of trees, grass, maybe a pond, colors on animals, and more. Write down which colors you like the most. Next, you can figure out how to incorporate these colors in your room. You can have more than one color but if you use a variety of colors, you will want a neutral color.

Incorporating Color

The first year is going to be the most expensive but after that, you shouldn’t need to replace your decorations for another three to four years. Decide on the occasions throughout the year that makes you feel sad sometimes, for example, Independence Day, back-to-school, and Halloween.

Your decorations could include towels and tablecloths for the kitchen. It can include throw pillows and candles in the living room. As you see, there doesn’t need to be drastic changes, only simple changes that draw people to a particular area in the room.

The floors are another way to decorate for the season. For example, even though Independence Day is one day, you can decorate the summer months with a red rug or white rug in the living room. For Halloween, the season is fall so you can use fall colors like black rugs or brown rugs.

There is always a way to incorporate color into your decor. Remember, if you feel sad and depressed when the new season rolls around, change the color of your room to bring new life your decor. Area rugs, towels, throw pillows, tablecloths, and candles are all interchangeable.

Senior writer Sarah really enjoys writing about home decorating and using the seasons for inspiration. And loves showing people how to use red rugs and black rugs for best effect.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sarah_Crosset

On Valentine’s Day you can decorate your staircase with red and white hearts. If you have children they can make the hearts by cutting them out for you. If you want to preserve the Valentine’s Day hearts, you can have them laminated. By laminating the Valentine’s Day hearts you can use them year after year. As the children age, the hearts will become more and more cherished. You may choose to add red and/or white light strands down your wooden spiral staircase to enhance the look.

Your staircase will look phenomenal through the years as it is made of only the finest wood materials and the company has been creating these spiral staircases for over forty years. In March, have fun putting green light strands down your stairway with a little “Luck of the Irish” decorations. Show your spirit of this special day, especially if you are of Irish decent.

Once Easter approaches you will be a pro at decorating your wooden spiral staircase. Add Easter eggs that are delicately blown out and hand painted. Put a few Easter bunnies in between the Easter eggs and/or Easter baby chicks. Show your flare for decorating when you enhance your elegant wooden stairs.

Once summer hits, Fourth of July is a big celebration in the United States of America. You can show your American spirit by decorating your stairway with red, white and blue lights. Remember to stock up on these light strands when the Christmas holiday is in full force. You may want to add a few metallic strands of garland with a fourth of July theme. Proudly hang an American flag nearby and your house will show what a true blue American you are.

Halloween is always a fun holiday to decorate. You will have more fun than ever – being able to decorate your spiral staircase. You can add a small pumpkin or two to sit on your steps. Hang a few scary ghosts and goblins on your solid wooden handrails to look like the Halloween ghouls are flying throughout your home.

Now that Christmas has arrived, you may be more excited to decorate your wooden handrails on the staircase. You can add fresh green garland or choose to go with artificial green garland. Once the garland is in place, add the variety of Christmas lights that show your style. You can choose to hang a few ornaments along the handrails as well. It is suggested to use shatterproof ornaments – to avoid breaking a favorite Christmas ornament that may mean a lot to you and your loved ones.

Your wooden stairway is just as easy to put together as it is to decorate it for each holiday. You may choose an indoor spiral stairway as well as an outdoor one. Both are a solid construction and the outdoor wood spiral staircase is protected from the weather elements, so you can enjoy your stairs for a very long time.

Richard Wood is a writer for StairPak a manufacturer of wood spiral staircase stairs. For more information visit their website to find out more about custom designed wooden spiral staircase stairs.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_Wood

Interior Accents

Decorating in the rustic home involves natural accents to complement the simple style of the home. For wooden floors, throw rugs are traditionally used to help keep the feet warm and comfortable particularly in areas near the sink and stove. Not only do they provide physical comfort, but they are a welcoming sight as well.

Many homes are decorated with pots of plants or flowers. Supplementing this greenery with twigs will create a more “woodsy”� outdoor feel. Decorate bedposts or railings with vine. Be sure to include practical approaches such as choosing furniture that compliments a designated theme. If your kitchen or dining room is equipped with a bar, consider purchasing rustic bar stools. Other furniture such as wicker chairs will help achieve the desired look.

Burlap for All Occasions

Adding a rustic theme to buildings or property does not need to be an expensive venture. Burlap is a treasure when it comes to rustic decorations. It can be used in the home, on costumes, outdoors, and is especially helpful for special events and holidays to help keep the rustic feel for any occasion. Though burlap is commonly used as a strong sack to harbor objects and protect them from wet environments, there is more than meets the eye to this material.

- Halloween

Burlap adds a simple yet rustic and outdoorsy touch to any decoration. Perhaps its best uses are outdoors in the fall for such occasions as Halloween. Burlap is often used as part of a scarecrow. Stuffing a bag of burlap serves well as a scarecrow head attached to a flannel shirt and an old pair of jeans. Additionally, burlap is a naturally tattered-looking material. It is ideal for adding a haunted theme to any setting. Shredding strips of this material is a great way to make creepy curtains. If burlap is used as part of a costume, be sure to wear a layer of clothing between your skin and the burlap, as burlap is very coarse and will cause irritation.

- Thanksgiving Table Centerpiece

Burlap is possibly the most appropriately used decoration at Thanksgiving time. Its natural fibers create the rustic, harvest time feel that accentuate the season and can allow anyone to identify with the pilgrims who are commemorated on this holiday. Burlap can be purchased by the yard. Select the appropriate size according to your table. Simply lay the burlap over the table and cut to the appropriate length and width. To add some fun to this decoration, pull a few strands of the burlap long at intervals throughout the cloth. This will add a raggedy feel to the centerpiece.1

- For the Outdoor Lover

For those who seek an outdoor feel in their own home, try the following option. Purchase a large piece of burlap tailored to fit a specific portion of your wall. Using starch as an adhesive, apply the burlap to the wall. If the burlap pulls away from the wall in any place, add more starch until the piece lay completely flat against the wall. Since burlap already has several small holes throughout, you may now hook on any decor you wish such as large fishing lures. Additionally, place nails or brackets along the burlap to hang that mounted trophy bass, a straw hat, or various furs. For more information on adhering the burlap to the wall, follow the instructions in the second resource below.

Creating a rustic feel in the home is limited only by the extent of your imagination. Using everyday resources such as twigs, vines, and burlap enhance the outdoor quality of any decoration at a reasonable cost.

Paul Galla

1 http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/66270/decorating_your_thanksgiving_table.html

2 [http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/dc_fabrics_other/article/0],1793,HGTV_3390_1385511,00.html

Paul Galla, President

Burlap.Biz

http://www.burlap.biz

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul_Galla

Fresh herbs, dried or preserved fruits or even artificial food items can be combined with a few garden supplies to make wonderful decorating schemes from Halloween through New Year’s. After all, what would Christmas be without some charming cookies and a gingerbread house or two? Before family and guests eat up all the supplies, however, better set some aside for holiday decorating!

Virtually any holiday can benefit from a candy tree. Whether it’s miniature dark chocolate bars for Halloween, wrapped butterscotch candies for Thanksgiving or perky peppermints for Christmas, a candy tree is easy to make and fun to display. Simply purchase a foam cone of any size from a craft supply store and attach the preferred candy to the foam with pins. (Pins are safer than using a hot glue gun, which could cause the candy to melt). If the ingredients of this decoration start disappearing, just keep turning it to hide the bare spots, or add more candy!

Wrapped hard candies and candy canes – a classic Christmas treat! — can be used to make garlands and wreaths. Or consider filling colored cellophane bags with candies, then tying them with ribbon and hanging them from the tree. This kind of decoration also can be grouped together as a centerpiece for the dining table, or as a display on a mantle or shelf. Consider adding some small area rugs in colors that complement the candy, such as yellow rugs or red rugs, to carry this theme throughout the room.

Christmas cookies are another charming way to decorate for the holidays. Bake and decorate a batch of holiday cookies in any preferred shape, allow them to dry for a day or two and then coat them on both sides with clear varnish. Once prepared in this way, cookies can be hung on the Christmas tree with ribbon, strung together to make garlands, or glued together to make a cookie wreath.

Rolls or mini-loaves are another comestible from the kitchen that works beautifully as a food-themed decoration. Dry and preserve some baked goods, again coating both sides with clear varnish. Use a skewer to make holes in some and tie them up with ribbons as decorations.

Lovers of morning coffee or teatime will enjoy have a tea party them for holiday decorating. Look for a discarded child’s tea party set at a local thrift store, or purchase one at a discount store. Glue tiny cups to saucers using a hot glue gun, attach a ribbon and hang the set on the tree. Don’t forget to glue together and hang up the teapot or coffee pot as well! Augment this theme by attaching small toy teaspoons to tea bags and hang these as well. Either authentic tea or herbal teas will give off wonderful aromas.

Finally, a Christmas decorating theme using fruit is an easy and natural way to decorate for the holidays. Decorators can choose from realistic-looking garlands or individual fruits to create displays or adorn a tree. Raffia or ribbons can serve to tie fruits together or to adorn baskets. In warmer climes of the north and the Global South, consider using citrus fruits for decorations to give the holiday a bright, sunny theme.

Fran is an expert contributing author happy sharing her ideas about home decorating with Christmas themes. She loves using red area rugs and yellow area rugs on floors to bring life to the room.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Fran_Sloan

Autumn Decor Trends

The trend for this fall season has moved away from the glitz and glitter of previous years. For 2010, the trend has moved to a more subtle celebration of the season. Think of understated, but beautiful centerpieces of silk flowers or artificial gourds. Imagine charming candleholders in rich autumn tones scattered about your home.

Halloween Decorations

Halloween is a time for the children. Entice younger children with adorable decorations in smiling and friendly characters. For older children, and yes, even adults; consider decorations a little more on the spooky side such as decorative skulls and creepy candleholders.

Thanksgiving Accents

When the family is gathered around the Thanksgiving table, give them something to talk about with elegant accents that bring out the harvest theme. Fun pilgrim figurines and colorful centerpieces add beauty and style to the dinner table while a festive harvest berry garland is perfect spread over a mantel.

To follow the trends of 2010, keep your decorating limited to one or two large pieces or smaller collections scattered throughout your home. The accessories this year are focused more on fun and celebration than the glitz of previous years, take advantage of it! Enjoy the fall season with the understated Autumn Decor for 2010 and make your home a festive harvest retreat!

Want to learn more about the Autumn Decor for 2010? Check out Dana Burnett’s site NanasAtticStore.com for more great decorating tips, useful articles, and great prices on Autumn Decor.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dana_Burnett

A plain glass fish bowl can be used to hold many items, including fish. Centerpieces with live fish have become popular wedding reception decorations. If you choose this option for your wedding, make sure that the fish are going home with guests who really want them. The idea sounds cute, but a lot of people just don’t have time to take care of a little aquatic friend. It’s always important to make sure you aren’t adversely affecting the fish, so make sure they’re in an area that will be healthy for them.

A fish-free idea is to fill a fish bowl with water and one or more floating candles. There are numerous ways to personalize this centerpiece to your liking, including dyeing the water to your favorite color, or by adding river rocks or decorative stones. Floating candles come in a variety of colors and shapes to suit any season or occasion, from roses to autumn leaves to snowflakes. For some added glamour, put a mirrored panel or a metallic charger plate under the bowl. These centerpieces often have a very soft and romantic look to them and are great for any occasion.

For a tasty edible centerpiece, fill the empty fish bowl with candy. This is a great option for Halloween, as well as Christmas and Easter. Individually wrapped Halloween candy can be displayed in this bowl which makes it easy to see what you’re reaching for. Tie a red or green ribbon around the top for a Christmas look, or a pastel ribbon for a bowl filled with Easter eggs.

If you have a green thumb you can turn your plain fish bowl into a terrarium and try growing some small plants in the bowl. This centerpiece will have people talking and trying to figure out what other talents they don’t know about. Visit your local greenhouse to find out more information about which plants work best in terrariums and how to get them started.

As you can see, fish bowls can be used in a variety of ways for both home and special occasion decorating, and these are only a few ideas to get you started! Why not use one as a vase for some gorgeous long stemmed flowers? Give it a try and add some beauty to your home.

Visit us for more information on fall wedding centerpieces, unique wedding centerpieces and fall pumpkin centerpieces.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stephanie_Smith

Nature is filled with all your crafting needs. Acorns, pine cones, leaves, Mums, plumes, just to name a few. Everything you need is outside just waiting for your imagination to run wild.

We start in September with Mums and fall wreaths. Add pumpkins and a few ghost and goblins in October for Halloween and then continue in November for Thanksgiving. Fall is the longest decorating season of the year, so we definitely get enough use from all the fall decorations we worked so hard crafting.

Make it simple by placing colorful leaves in vases. Display acorns in canning jars, pine cones in baskets. Use glass containers such as hurricane lamps and fill them with colorful leaves and pine cones.

You don’t have to spend a lot of money to decorate you dining room table. Cut craft paper to the size of your dining room table and use as a table runner. Add a little decoration to the table runner by painting a vine of leaves on each side.

For a table center piece make glass candle holders that look like hand blown glass. Stack small glass dessert dishes, candle holders, vases, and footed dessert cups and secure them with Tacky Glue for easy removal latter. Place acorns or small pine cones on the dessert dishes for added decorations. Clear empty glass bottles, such as wine bottles also make great candle holders. Add fall colored pillar candles to complete your centerpiece.

Go ahead and buy gourds to add to your fall decorations. Don’t throw them away at the end of the fall season. Put them in a plastic bag and hang them in the garage and forget about them until the summer. Give them about nine months to mold and dry out. Wash the mold away, paint them and you will have dried gourds to add to your fall decorations.

Straw wreaths are inexpensive and easy to decorate. Use material such as burlap or corn husks. Cut square pieces of material or corn husks. Push or weave into the straw wreath using a tool such as a screw driver. You want the material or corn husks to stand up like a flower not wrapped around the wreath.

It’s also a great time to start crafting with recyclables. Milk cartons with faces make great ghost that light up the night using Christmas tree lights inside them. Decorate different size empty jars for candy corn and Halloween cookies. Drill holes in cans of assorted sizes and use wire to make hanging lanterns. Old clothes and sheets can make all your Halloween monsters and scarecrows.

These fall decorating ideas are just a sampling of all the fun you can have decorating for the fall season. Start in September, add and change a few decorations as the season progresses and the next thing you know, it’s time to decorate for the Holiday season.

Dianna Greenamyer is the creator of Decor Made Simple a website devoted to home decorating ideas with no professional decorators, carpenters, or artist needed. Just simple home decorating ideas that can be achieved by anyone.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dianna_Greenamyer