Decorating Your Home With Orange Accents

The color orange has a lot of nice qualities to it. It is feminine, youthful and is said to help cheer people up. It is good in rooms that require that you relax and focus at the same time. In 2011, orange is also a very haute color that has been seen making a comeback on the runways and in furniture and fabric design.
Y
ou do not have to paint your entire home orange in order to be fashionable however painting the occasional accent wall a bright juicy hue will help it be more in style. The key is to not overdue it as too much orange might look a bit too playful or immature.

One simple and effective way to use the color orange is to replace your bathroom or kitchen drawer knobs with orange ceramic or plastic drawer pulls. You can also get beautiful orange pulls that look like blossoms from anthropolgie.

You can also add orange accents by displaying food and collectibles on orange trays. You can buy plastic orange trays at any dollar store but sometimes you can also find orange painted wood trays on retro websites or at garage sales. Orange placemats and orange tablecloths also give your kitchen a bit of a citrus punch as do cutlery with clear or solid plastic orange handles.

It is quite easy to give your kitchen a splash of orange by getting a brand new flashy orange kettle from Le Cruyeset.This steel kettle is dark orange and the base and graduates up to a flowery tangerine color. Orange mixing bowls and plates made out of ceramic also can brighten up a kitchen.

A single orange vase placed in your room can make this color your focal point. The nicest vases are tall, elegant and made of glass. You can get great handmade orange single vases made out of milk glass at Pier 1. Bar that you can make your own orange vase by spray painting jars or bottles a bright orange.

For a burst of real orange try making a floral display out of a grouping of orange roses or orange bougainvillea. You can also make a lovely floral centerpiece out of oranges or blood oranges. Pile the oranges in pyramid shape and stick the flowers between the edges of the fruit to create a display.

Finally a single gold fish in a clear bowl can add a bright point of orange to a place devoid of color.

Remember that if you do not want to actually paint the walls you can always use lighting by replacing your white light bulbs with orange or red ones to create a citrus like glow.

How to Decorate With Shade Loving Pond Plants

If you have a koi pond you know these fish need shade. As in nature, these plants, which can be planted in pots or in the edge of the soil near the bank of the pond thrive in shady areas. Many of these plants seem to give the illusion of growing half in and half out of the water. Planting them is a great way to conceal the plastic edge of your prefabricated pond liner.

Aquatic Mint -This plant grows up to two feet tall and makes an excellent ground coverage. Warning: although it is almost foolproof to grow it spreads like wildfire.

Aquatic Morning Glory -This plant’s flowers appear in summer. It grows to ten feet and is known to creep along a bank or trail in the water.

Arrow Arum -This plant, whose leaves resemble arrowheads grows to a height of two feet

Black Magic Taro -This taro’s foliage is very a very dark green, and almost black. It is often found in classic Japanese gardens. It can grow up to six feet tall so it can be used disguise a large external pond filter at the water’s edge.

Cardinal Flower -This plant’s bright red flowers appear in summer. It does alright in shade and grows to three feet tall.

Corkscrew Rush -This plant has coiled foliage that grows up to two feet tall.

Chameleon Plant -This small plant which boasts multicolored leaves grows to the height of one foot.

Crushed Ice (Crushed Ice) -This plant will grow to 24”, it flowers in spring but has beautiful very light green and dark green foliage. It is hardy in zones 4-11.

Golden Club -This short plant has velvety furry leaves and sports long yellow spikes in the summer.

Imperial Taro -The heart shaped taro leaves are purple and green. It grows four feet.

Lizard’s Tail -This plant grows to 36”. Its white flowers appear in spring & last through summer. It is hardy zones 4-10.

Parrot’s Feather -This soft feather-like plant floats over the water and grows to two or three feet high.

Pickerel Rush -This plant has heart shaped foliage. Spiky blue or white flowers appear in summer.

Sensitive Plant – Children love this one because it’s leaves shrink when it is touched. Small yellow flowers appear in summer. It grows up to six feet tall.

Water Pennywort -This umbrella shaped spreading reaches a height of one foot.

Umbrella Palm -This classic water garden tree grows up to five feet tall. It is a common sight in traditional Japanese water gardens.

Happy planting!