Freshen and Declutter
By Caron Lopez –
As a grade school girl, I can remember the anticipation of Valentine’s Day. We decorated our little white bags with red doilies and glitter and set them on our desks waiting for the special valentines from our classmates. My second grade teacher brought a wall of the antique brass post office boxes, and during the week of February 14th, each class had a turn at being the postal service for the day. We learned how to address envelopes and open the combination locks on the boxes to get the Valentine’s letters she had us write in cursive.
The most special Valentine’s memory of all was my father’s expression of love for his girls. Each and every year, we knew he would come home with a big red heart box of chocolates for my mom and a small heart box for my little sister and I. Looking back at all the years of Valentine’s Days, the expressions of love have been what made the day special.
You can start a special Valentine’s Day tradition for you and your loved ones by cooking a special meal together, baking cookies with your children and putting on the sprinkles, or for the special person in your life, creating a new ambiance for the home for a special day or evening. You can lightheartedly go back to those nostalgic days and recreate those simpler times and just have fun, or you can set a whole new stage for expressing your love.
Plan Ahead
Creating a soothing, relaxing evening takes some planning. You need to work ahead of schedule so you can really go into the evening without being tired and still crossing items off your list. You can create a new look by changing the colors in the room with pillows, a soft throw or flowers. Strip down the room to bare essentials, and add back only a few striking items. If you find you need to buy something new and fresh, focus on a larger, showy item, not a collection of small items.
Freshen and Declutter
Freshen up your home by cleaning and removing clutter, and treat yourself by hiring someone to come help days in advance. Routine items need to be stashed. Hide the stacks of bills, papers and magazines. Yes, less is more when it comes to a soothing environment, but change is also good. Treat yourself again; accessorize your room. Around the bed, add beautiful hardware and bed curtains above or beside the headboard. Select a sumptuous drapery for a seating area, and draw it back with a tassel. Fabrics can mesmerize if they are soft, delightful to the eye and comfortable.
Add Romance
Indulge yourself in some of the niceties of the times. Soft sumptuous towels, fragrant bath salts and towel warmers create a spa retreat distancing you and your love from your daily routines. Creating an enticing ambiance in the home is easy by dimming the lights. Add a chandelier in the bath or in the bedroom. Candles are a less expensive alternative but equally as sensuous. Group scented candles in a variety of heights and types around a bubble bath, and add a basket of aromatic oils, soaps or bath salts. For your evening of pampering, comfortable robes make for a nice gift.
Color choice for Valentine’s Day is usually red and chocolate. Upstage the evening with tuxedo black and crisp white with a simple red rose. Lighting tapers in this room is a must. Couple your new romantic room with wine, the glisten of crystal glasses and a meal only you two selected to prepare. Enjoy, and have a memorable Valentine’s Day!