Unique Glass Home Decor

(ARA) – Nothing’s harder to face than packing up your belongings after a week at a cozy beach house and heading back home to the real world. Sure, it’s hard to leave paradise behind, but who says you have to? Why not just transform your own living space to a beach-inspired haven that lets you get away from it all, even if you aren’t on vacation? It’s easy and inexpensive to do.

With some clever use of all those shells, beach glass and driftwood you’ve picked up during your travels, as well as scenic vacation photos and a little paint, you can transform your home into the ultimate beach cottage, creating an inviting, relaxing haven away from the real world outside your front door.

First, clear out the clutter. Cottage style is clean, bright and fuss-free because, if you think about it, beaches are simple, wide-open spaces – that’s where cottage design gets its inspiration. The beach experience is stress-free. Clutter equals stress, and you want to create an atmosphere that’s serene and fresh. A massive purging of extraneous clutter will give you a blank palette on which you can apply the true essence of the seashore.

Paint is one of the easiest, most cost-effective ways to completely change the look of a living space, helping make your beach decor a reality. Just be sure you choose the right colors, so you can be happy with your revamped rooms for years to come.

“Cottage style is all about taking cues from nature, so think sand, clear skies, sea glass and sparkling water when selecting the ultimate beach-inspired palette,” suggests Mary Ward, Dutch Boy Paints’ senior product manager. “To create a cottage-ready scheme use pale blues, aquamarines, periwinkles, sea-tinged greens, sandy tans and bright whites reminiscent of ocean foam and fluffy, cottony clouds. All of these colors, in any combination, can work to create a picture of rest and relaxation that’s reminiscent of a day at the beach.”

Serenity rules in walls painted in soft pastels or sandy neutrals with ultra-white trim. It’s clean. It’s clutter free. It’s fresh and airy. It says beach house, even if you are miles away from the one of your dreams.

You also can easily add a bit of beach chic to your furniture, further creating a feel of a distant getaway. Slipcovers give any room that easy-living feel that is so important to cottage style. Cover upholstered pieces in slip-on, easy-to-wash covers made from light canvas, cotton duck or sailcloth. Add a unique mohair throw on the back of your sofa or chair for a warm look. Paint dark furniture white to add a year-round summery glow to the space, or invest in a few inexpensive, fun wicker pieces to lighten up tired rooms.

Don’t stop here. Keep digging for ideas and inspiration using the vast array of decorating books and websites. One new site, Dutch Boy’s Restore My Decor! offers DIY tips and inspiration from professional designers, such as TV design personality Danielle Hirsch, as well as homeowners, all of whom can help you find more ways to add cottage appeal to any restored room in your home.

For example, consider incorporating these other ideas for adding beach-worthy serenity to your living space:

* Window treatments – Less is more. Think wooden blinds, plantation shutters or airy sheers.

* Floor coverings – Natural or painted wood floors with throw rugs are the hallmarks of cottage style. Think basic. Think organic. Think sisal and textures. Or paint your own canvas throw rug with sea-inspired motifs, such as shells and starfish.

* Lighting – Think soothing versus overly bright or dimly lit. Recessed lighting works like magic in any room. If you want to go for a more quirky look and make lighting a focal point, display inexpensive figural lamps in the shape of lighthouses or anchors. Or perhaps find one made from driftwood or shells.

* Souvenirs – Make use of those shells, sand, beach glass and driftwood you collected during your week away in paradise. Fill decorative glass bowls and jars with sand and shells. Display beach glass in vases of fresh flowers. Paint driftwood with beach-inspired images and hang it on the wall as art.

* Artwork – Make use of those vacation pictures, especially the ones you took of gorgeous ocean sunsets, lighthouses and sailboats. Use existing snapshots and enlarge some of your favorites, framing all to create a collage that not only says beach living, but also reminds you of a great time your family spent together at the seashore. Why buy artwork when you can make use of something that brings back such great memories?

“It all comes down to thinking light and breezy in everything you do decor-wise,” Ward says. “Use your imagination to create a true feeling of openness that beaches offer. Beach-inspired cottage style is casual, comfortable and fun – and reminds you of vacation, even if you’re miles away from the nearest beach.”

Courtesy of ARAcontent

Far within a thick forest a young man lived with his parents and older brother. One day, while walking along the shore of a lake, he saw a group of beautiful young women playing ball. He was so pleased by their beauty that he moved quietly near and watched them at their Play. They looked different from any girls he had ever seen, for they were dressed in the costumes of the old days.

At last one or them saw him and cried in alarm, “Look out!” None of them had ever seen a man before and so, frightened, they dived into the water and disappeared from his view.

The young man was greatly disappointed, for they were so pretty that he wanted to capture one of them. Thinking that they might return, he planned how he would conceal himself first he broke from a stem a peculiar leaf that has a kind or cover over its top. Probably the jack-in-the-pulpit, and placed it on a rock near the lake. Then he made himself very small and hid in the leaf.

After a while he heard the girls come out of the water and begin again their game of ball on the shore. They were near him and yet too far away for him to reach them. Hoping to attract their attention, he jumped up and down in the leaf and moved nearer them. Just as he was about to seize one of them, she saw him and cried out as before. Again the water fairies dived into the lake and disappeared and again the young man was discouraged. But soon he was more determined than ever to win one of them for his wife.

While trying to think of a new way of hiding, he saw a bunch of reeds growing near the water. He broke off one of them, saw that it was hollow, and hid himself within it.

A third time the water fairies arose from the lake and continued their game of ball. They came near the hiding place of the young man but something alarmed them and they all ran toward the water. This time, however, the young man seized one of them before she could disappear. She begged him to let her go “I am married,” she said, in response to his plea. “But if you will let me go. I will bring my younger sister to you tomorrow.”

He released her, and she kept her promise. Next day she returned with her beautiful young sister, who willingly followed the young man to his wigwam.

Alter their first child was born, the young wife said that she wished to see her father and mother again. The husband consented, saying that he would like to go with her. So they traveled to the lake, the mother carrying the baby in a case on her back. At the shore, she walked straight, on into the lake. At first her husband was afraid to follow, but she persuaded him to go with her, even under the surface of the water.

Soon things began to look very much as they did in the upper world after a while they reached a large village in the midst of a wooded country of great beauty.

“My father is chief here,” the wife explained. And she led her husband to his lodge, where they and the child were warmly welcomed. The chief and his wife had the form of fish below the waist, of human beings above. The father was the ruler, of the many kinds of fish living in village.

For some time the little family from the above world lived pleasantly in the village, but at last the man wanted to return home. He and his wife had not gone far when they were pursued by huge shark. For a while they thought that they could escape its grasp, but later the wife’s strength began to fail her. She took from her back the case in which she carried the child and fastened it on her husband’s back.

“Do not wait for me.” she said, save yourself and the baby. Go straight toward the sun, and you will reach the shore at the point where we left it. I will try to follow you.”

The man did as she directed, and so reached the take shore. With the child he sat there, waiting, for a long time. But his wife did not appear. At last he knew that she must have been captured by the shark, and so he went home. What do you think? Was she really captured?

At www.homedecorbylulu.com you can see some of the most beautiful pewter fairies with real butterfly wings.