A quaint home in a country setting is the American dream of millions of people. While the country home image is dreamed of, not all of us have the opportunity of owning a country home. However, you can create a country style decor in a condo in the city, with comfortable country style furnishings reminiscent of the look you love.

When you imagine that charming country home, with pies cooling on the windowsill, what does your mind's eye see on the windows? Country style curtains are certainly the window treatment of choice! Cheerfully checkered or plaid curtains are the epitome of country style curtains. Lace and patterned fabrics also convey a genteel country warmth. Fruits, flowers, and fishing motifs are closely associated with the country lifestyle, making good choices for patterned country style curtains.

For the warmer months of spring and summer, choose a fabric thin enough to flutter in the breeze, but not so transparent as to compromise your privacy. Muslin, all cotton and lace fabrics have a quality of down-home goodness. Fabrics in checkered or plaid patterns are the quintessential country style curtains, with their bright squares of color and cheerful, comfortable look in keeping with a country look. If choosing plain muslin, try trimming the hems with tassels or pompoms of a bright color.

During the cooler weather of fall and winter, you may want a change, using a heavier fabric, both for added insulation and colors more suited to the season. Having two sets of country style curtains also helps avoid becoming tired of the scheme, giving your rooms a fresh look.

Fruit motifs are popular, with apples and pears suited to most seasons. Darker floral patterns can give a cozy feeling to your cool season country style curtains. The farmhouse and barnyard motifs may lend just the look you want. Do you have a fisherman in the house? There are fabrics emblazoned with jumping fish and rod and reel designs.

Still other possibilities include fabrics printed in large panels of one complete scene per panel,much like a mural. These fabrics come in window-sized panels, creating the look of a wall hanging.

When choosing your fabrics for country style curtains, consider your furnishings. If your sofa and chairs have an elaborate pattern, go for a smaller pattern with a unifying background color that complements your furniture. For example, with sofa and chairs in a blue background with an ornate floral pattern, a simple, small pattern with a large background area of a coordinating color will produce a unified and uncluttered look.

In this scenario, plaid country style curtains are a good bet. Simply choose a plaid which picks up the colors in your furnishings with the dominating color which best coordinates to create a balanced mix of light and dark shades.

So if your dream is a country look, but your home is in the city, you can still have the country look, with just a trained eye for the mood.

Cheap christmas decoration

Cheap christmas decoration

Decorating for the holidays shouldn't cost a small fortune. In fact, it shouldn't cost very much at all. Everyone knows someone who always seems to go all out for Christmas - decorating their house on the inside and outside. I often times wonder what their electric bills are for the winter months with having to heat their homes and have all of those outside lights on. There are many ways that you can make a cheap Christmas decoration into something more elegant and impressive.

Finding a cheap Christmas decoration isn't as difficult as one might think. There are always discount stores that have strings of lights and ornaments. Buy some garland or other festive floral decorations. One thing to remember is that the more creative you can become, the better it will turn out and you may end up with an amazingly unique cheap Christmas decoration. Ornaments aren't just for hanging on the tree branches. Take some ornaments that perhaps aren't used yearly and place them around your house. One simple thing to do that always looks festive is to take several ornaments and place them on top of a hallway table or on the tops of cabinets. Get some of the cheap fake snow that discount stores sell and mix that in with the ornaments. Take a string of lights and wrap them around the ornaments. Not only does this collection of ornaments and fake snow look festive, it is also a very cheap Christmas decoration.

Christmas lights look very elegant wrapped with garland around stairways and banisters. You can purchase garland almost anywhere and it is not very expensive. Garland and lights makes another cheap Christmas decoration for both indoors and outdoors. If you have some colored candles around the house for everyday purposes, turn them into a cheap Christmas decoration. Wrap some garland around them and put them on your tables. If you have children, or are feeling childish - make some of those silly snowflakes from some white construction paper. Put the candles on top of some snowflakes or hang the snowflakes in the windows. Anything that a child makes is always unique and can be turned into a cheap Christmas decoration. Plus, think about how proud your child will be to see their artwork displayed for decoration purposes.

One of the favorite things to do for making a cheap Christmas decoration is to use holiday cards that you received from previous years. Cut out pictures of festive things - Santa, reindeer, flowers, stars, etc. A great cheap Christmas decoration idea is to use those cut-outs as ornaments or also for placing around the house as décor. Tape them to windows or doors. Not only do they make an excellent cheap Christmas decoration, but you can use them for name tags for putting on gifts as well.

With some creativity and inexpensive supplies, or everyday household items and ideas, you can come up with some great cheap Christmas decoration ideas. Just remember to be creative.