Change the textiles as you want

Everybody wants to change and refurbish their home sometimes time. Only few people, however, bring themselves to change everything, and to be honest, it is a little bit unnecessary. Just a few details are enough to make your flat cosier, according to your mood or seasons. Keep the walls with pictures, the carpets and the furniture, and change the interior with curtains and other textiles such as pillows or spreads.

Spare no expense on curtains

Curtains complete the appearance of the room, yet it is not difficult to change them. In winter, you can choose heavier materials and full colours for a warm feeling; in summer, you can use airier materials in white or beige. Full-colour curtains ending one or two centimetres above the floor look especially elegant. If they are shorter, however (above the window sill or heating), they divide the space and do not make a good impression.

TIP: When buying a curtain fabric, count with a larger size. Multiply the width of the curtains by two and add a few centimetres on every edge to take in; similarly, add 30cm to the top.

Intimate candles

Open fire is a symbol of a cosy. Fireplaces or stoves with bursting wood are definitely romantic. But to be honest, who can afford them? Candles – thin, thick, high, and tea candles – in safe candlesticks all over the room can have a similar effect. Their flickering flames bring calm and warm atmosphere in the gloomy early winter evenings. Smaller lamps make a nicer impression than a large central chandelier, as well.

TIP: If you polish the candles with a nylon stocking, they will shine as never before. The fine matte layer, which forms on the wax and discolours the candles, will disappear.

Fresh or dried flowers are a good each way bet

Flowers connect our homes with the nature. They should be in every flat in the spring. You can create beautiful decorations even with dried flowers that can be used as pictures on the walls, under the table glass or in showcases. Flowers with richly colourful petals are the best for drying; press them in a heavy book between two sheets of blotting paper, glue them on sturdy paper, and varnish with a colourless lacquer.

TIP: Throw a few coins into the water in the vase. Thanks to oxidation, it will take longer for the flowers to wither. To keep the flowers fresh, trim their stems askew with a sharp knife and put them into lukewarm water.

Source: PRIOU, Nicolas. Babiččiny dobré rady. Translated by Eva Šťastná: Rebo International, 2008. ISBN 978-80-255-0258-7