How to Create a Holiday Atmosphere at Home
(StatePoint) Creating festive cheer at home for the holidays is easy and fun. Here are some great ways to transform your space into a winter wonderland.
• Get cozy: During the chilly holiday season, decorate with comfort in mind. Light the fireplace. Add throw pillows to sofas. Turn off overhead lamps and use soft lighting instead. Consider how texture and warmth can contribute to your holiday decorating scheme.
• Screen festive flicks: From “It’s a Wonderful Life to “Home Alone,” keep your favorite holiday films playing all the time to create a festive holiday atmosphere, or host a special movie night and select a few classics. With the right projector, you can turn any room of the house into a home theater experience. Select a portable projector for the holiday season that will sense ambient light in the room and automatically adjust the projection accordingly, so you won’t need to blow out candles or unplug holiday lights. Those from Casio’s SLIM Series are lightweight and portable, combining a laser and LED light source to create a high-brightness mercury-free projector that uses half the amount of power per unit than its traditional lamp-based counterparts.
• Fire up the oven: There’s no better time of year to roll up your sleeves and knead out some dough. One of the best ways to create a holiday atmosphere is with scent, and the aroma of baking cookies, cakes and other holiday desserts will do the trick. If you’re worried about having all those extra sweet treats around the house just before kicking off your New Year’s resolutions, consider volunteering to bring dessert to potluck and parties you attend this season or donating the product of your labors to a holiday bake sale raising money for a charitable cause.
• Make music: Get the holiday cheer going in your home by making music. Now you can get the sound of a 9-foot concert grand piano with the Privia PX-160, a portable digital piano, making it easy to gather round for a sing-a-long of all your favorite seasonal tunes in any room of the house. Its 88-key Tri-Sensor Scaled Hammer Action keyboard simulates ebony and ivory-textured keys and its speaker system opens to the front but is also ported to the back, to deliver a big projected sound to all your holiday celebrants.
• Add some flora: Holly, poinsettias, mistletoe -- decking the halls with traditional holiday plants adds color and vitality to side tables, mantels, dining areas and staircases and more. Those with pets and small children should take heed, as certain plant species are toxic -- so avoid these plants or be sure they are displayed well out of reach of curious children and animals.
Preparing your home for the holiday season takes a little thought and energy, but the end result is a cheerful and warm atmosphere to make memories while spending time with loved ones.
