The season is upon us. Are you ready to party?

Holiday parties can be the easiest to host. Most people are in a festive mood and are eager to get out and mingle - especially with people that they may only see on special occasions. You can sustain that holiday mood with preparations that need not be time consuming or difficult. Your guest list, available space, budget, time and energy will all have an influence on your planned event.

A theme gives a party focus. It helps in planning time, foods, activities and decoration. It can increase anticipation amongst your invitees, prompt RSVP's and thereby make your planning easier.

Originality and creativity can give standard parties a fresh spin. For example, instead of inviting your guests to a wine and cheese party, send an invitation to an "Open That Bottle Night!" The premise of the evening is to give your guests an excuse to bring a bottle of wine that may have been saved for a special occasion or to buy one that they have been meaning to try. This theme, suggested by Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher, co-authors of the Wall Street Journal's wine column, gives your guests a chance to experience and share their selection as well as interact with other guests. As the host you would supply the foods to compliment the wines and one or two interesting selections to round out the offerings, including some non alcoholic beverages. (There are lots of interesting sparkling, non alcoholic beverages that are a refreshing change from sodas!)

Take any holiday gathering and put your personal stamp on it. Try a play on words for your party's theme, a different take on a standard as mentioned above, an updated version of a classic like a scavenger hunt or even a themed holiday costume party with prizes.

The most memorable holiday party is not necessarily one that was the most elaborate or expensive to create. It is the one where your guests felt special and welcome and everyone, including you, had a wonderful time.
~ Pam Faulkner, Faulkner House Interior Redesign

Is gift wrapping a chore or a creative outlet for you?

Having everything you need in one place makes the process easier, of course, but how and where do you store it all? Take an inventory. List what you have, need, and what ought to be used up. Then determine how many presents need to be wrapped.

The Container Store's web site offers at least 13 storage items specifically for wrapping as do many other sites and local stores at this time of year. The key is finding the one that will fit your needs and is easy to store itself.

If you use gift bags and tags and only occasionally use folded or rolled wrapping paper, an organizer that will store multiple rolls of paper and ribbon isn't for you. Read the descriptions, note the sizes of the organizers and what they store . Some look good but the design makes the product, when full, difficult to store, and/or move! Choose a versatile piece that fits your needs and maybe store things other than gift wrap in case your needs change.

Once your presents are wrapped, you'll know what supplies you'll need next time. Make notes so you don't under or over buy again. You may find that you'll have less to store next season.

For gift wrapping ideas, click on the link below.

You've just received a party invitation and you are trying to decide what to wear. The hosts helpfully stated "Informal" on the invitation, but how informal? A quick call to RSVP is the answer. (You were going to RSVP, weren't you?)

Our more casual, relaxed way of entertaining means that the terms of dress and what they indicate have been forgotten or seem charmingly antiquated-until you need to know what they mean because of a business or formal occasion like a charity ball.

"Black or White Tie"- Dinner jacket / tails for men or understated black tux and white shirt; fanciest dress for women
"Costume or Black Tie"-For a charity ball, black tie or evening dress unless you are on a committee, then a costume may be expected. For a party, some attempt at an appropriate costume is appreciated.
"Black Tie"-If the invitation is for a ball, the same as above. For a dinner at a club or home, a black tux for men; long dinner dresses or short cocktail dresses for women.
"Informal"-Traditionally, dark suits for men and short cocktail dresses for women. "Casual"-Can mean anything from business casual to jeans so check with the hosts.

A few specific events and what to wear:

• Debut balls at night are always black tie.
• Engraved invitations to dinner or to weddings after 6 p.m. are usually black tie.
• Sunday brunch, unless otherwise stated, calls for men in jackets (with or without ties) and women in dresses or dressy blouse and slacks.
• Cocktail buffets, unless otherwise stated, call for men in dark suits and women in cocktail dresses/dressy pantsuits.
• Dinners or parties held in restaurants-dress requirements go up in formality in direct relation to occasion, price and reputation of establishment.

Christmas is a time when decorating to excess can be as contagious as a cold. Christmas clutter can be charming-to a point. Mantels can be magnets for excess decoration. When you can't see and appreciate each decoration then you have too much.

The rules of scale, color and texture apply to a pleasing mantel decoration just as they do to the decoration of the rest of the room. The mantel in the photo above is a case in point. The desired effect was to have simple greenery without a lot of fuss and detail.Though the greenery is simple, it overpowers the mantel and even the furniture that surrounds it. The thickness of the garland and the amount that is used seems out of proportion.

To counter this the garland could be trimmed somewhat and used just around the lower mantel or two slightly thinner swags could be used: one at the top and one swagged on the mantle. The starkness and contrast of the deep greenery in the otherwise pale room could be softened with simple cream colored or tone on tone ribbon, cording, or cream- edged English holly branches. Adding a deep green throw and/or green pillows with decorative braid or fringe edging would create a more seamless color flow in the room.

When decorating any area of your home for the holidays, take time throughout the process to stand back to check your progress as you add each element. Stop when you have achieved the desired effect, even if you have leftover decorations. You may find another place for them as you move through the house. If not, you may use them next time. There is no law that says you must use every decoration you own each year!

Need a little help with your holiday decorating? There's still time to call me for Decorating Coaching or hands on help.

New Redesign Parties are planned for next year. The growing list of favorites will include the introduction of the Decorative Accessory Exchange Party. This theme has grown out of the popularity of the "What Do I Do With It?" segment in many of the other Redesign Parties. Guests may bring their most difficult to use accessory to exchange and learn ways to use these challenging pieces.

For more information on this or any of the Redesign Parties please call or email Faulkner House Redesign.

The Redesigner's Notebook is devoted to tips and articles relating to interior redesign, decorating, entertaining, organizing and related subjects, and may include contributions from members of the Interior Redesign Industry Specialists association.

If you have an interest or question that you would like to see addressed, or a community event that you would like to see included that relates to our subjects of decorating, real estate staging, entertaining and organizing please contact me. Your comments and suggestions are always appreciated!
~ Pam Faulkner, Faulkner House Interior Redesign