Christmas lights can be used year-round.
Gone are the days of when the only design use for Christmas lights was the tree and holiday decor. Today, with the unveiling of varieties like icicle lights and muted white, Christmas lights can be a decorating choice beyond the holiday season. One place in the home that works especially well is the bedroom, where the Christmas lights' soft glow lends to the romance of the room.
Under the Table
If you have hardwood floors in your bedroom, take advantage of their reflective quality when you're placing your Christmas lights around the room. A large table that you've pushed up against the wall or against the foot of the bed will be emphasized even more if you place strands of Christmas lights on the floor under the table or under another large piece of furniture.
Reflect the soft light further by placing a decorative mirror on the table and flank it with lamps that match your bedroom's decorating style. The mirror will pick up the light from the various sources and not only look pretty, but also make the room look larger as well.
Focal Wall
The focal wall remains one of the most important concepts in decorating. The room's focal point is the area the eye first rests on when trying to take in the room. Christmas lights work well for this goal, because light automatically attracts the eye.
If you're not sure use Christmas lights in this way, take a cue from designer Vern Yip of "Trading Spaces." Choose a prominent feature in a bedroom, like a built-in fireplace, paint it a color that contrasts with the walls around it and then add some sort of muted lighting to the fireplace area. Several strands of icicle lights hanging on the wall above the mantel also works and offers something a little more unexpected than the lights on the mantel. You are not limited to a mantel. Any focal wall can be made more brilliant with the use of lights.
Around the Vanity Mirror
The appeal of the vanity dresser hearkens back to the days of old Hollywood. Modernize this elegant bedroom fixture by updating the lights that are typically found around the vanity mirror. Instead of going with the standard large bulbs around the mirror, choose a mirror with a pretty frame --- metallic silver works well in this context -- and line the outside of it with white Christmas lights.
Canopy Top
Canopy beds make quite a visual statement in a bedroom. Adding strands of Christmas lights to the canopy's gently flowing materials will increase the impact that the canopy has in a room. Several possibilities exist in terms of use the lights on your bed.
If the canopy is a standard four-poster, string the lights around the top of the canopy as well as around each of the posts. In the case of the crown canopy type, hook the lights to the top of the crown and have them flow down in the same direction as the material you've hung from the crown. (See Resources for pictures of canopy crowns.)
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