The woman behind Creative Home Expressions is none other than Kathy Passarette, expert interior designer, home staging, redesigner and color consultant extraordinaire.  Her articles and tips have appeared in Newsday,  Newday’s How To Guide, New York, Resident Magazine, the Gwinnett Daily Post, the Denver Post and the Miami Herald.  She has given us a plethora of tips she wanted to share with our customers, and this would be the first in tips we will spotlight.  You can catch up on Kathy at the Creative Home Expressions Blog.

• Lighting – garden lights, candles or a mix of the two can give your yard a warm glow and extend your daytime enjoyment into the night.  With the variety of lighting options from easy to install light kits to solar lighting, you can create ambiance in your own back yard.  Candles can be used from floating tea lights to pillar, there are numerous ways to incorporate them into your décor.  There are many decorative candle holders that fit in with themed décor or blend in with your landscape.
• Outdoor fireplaces – not only extend the hours you can spend outside, but can also extend your season outdoors.  There are many different styles to choose from; you can even build your own fire pit.
• Fabric – outdoor fabrics have come a long way over the years offering a lot more than the usual awning stripe.  You can use these fabrics for pillows, to cover cushions, make tablecloths or even be used as outdoor curtains.
• Furniture – your outdoor rooms are a great place to use found furniture pieces.  They can easily be freshened up with some spray paint.  Metal baker’s racks made great vertical storage and also help break up all the horizontal surfaces.  Don’t be afraid to bring pieces from the inside out for the day – just bring them back in at night.
• Pillows – pillows add softness to your chairs and benches.  How inviting a cushioned chair looks for reading a book or just sitting quietly.
• Outdoor area rugs.  Define the seating areas, just like they do inside your home.