Many people who find it easy to furnish their homes stop thinking in design terms when it comes to entertaining. But with only a few thoughtful gestures, you can create an environment for your company that says they’re special. A few design touches convert a simple buffet into a display, a grouping of appetizers into an inviting opportunity to try new things, and a home into a space that welcomes your guests and says you paid attention.

The first step is fresh flowers. Years ago, that meant visiting a local florist and ordering an expensive arrangement or growing your own.

If you buy several bouquets, you can break them into a number of simple arrangements to go throughout your home. Depending upon the season, you may also be able to supplement the greens with trimmings from your own bushes and trees.

If your budget is tight or you are nervous about making your own arrangements, go for simple. This arrangement has only two flowers, plus a few oranges to add color and hold the stems in place. Any fruit and some vegetables can serve as stem holders: lemons, limes, apples, artichokes or pomegranates will work and can be used after the party is done. Using the same one or two types of flowers in different ways is not only economical; it creates a floral theme for your event.

Place flowers on your buffet or appetizer table, on side tables, in your foyer and in the restroom to connect every area of your home.

Bobby Flay  - the Essence of Sophistication

Food TV is similar to HGTV in a number of ways. Even advertisers are starting to notice this, as a recent commercial series demonstrated when it had various HGTV stars create sandwiches with a designer touch. What if Food TV turned the tables, and had some of its chefs design rooms?

We took a look at Paula Deen in the last blog, now for someone completely different, how about Bobby Flay? Suave and stylish, Flay is the essence of Manhattan. For this guy, nothing works like ebony wood flooring. Hot as his spice cabinet, Bobby’s style mixes contemporary with a dash of mid-century modern, and he loves color. The rich dark tones of ebony floors give him the perfect background for his style choices.

For furniture, look for tailored but low sofas and chairs in bright pops of color. A 50’s sofa recovered in solid red leather pops against a high-rise window showcasing New York at night. Two chairs in rich dark blue orange along the side, with red pillows positioned at the back to pull the room together. Bobby’s kitchen countertop faces the living space – nice and wide to give him room to prep but covered in copper that reflects on the floor and windows.

Hang a few contemporary pastels of hot peppers in vivid reds, greens and yellows, and you have a room that is all Bobby.

In a recent commercial for mayonnaise, Candace Olsen crossed the boundary between Home and Garden TV and the Food Network to design a special sandwich. Let’s take this idea further with the possibility that some of the Food Network celebrity chefs chose to appear on HGTV. What would their spaces look like?

Paula Deen’s southern charm begs for just the right room. Let’s face it, the woman was made for heart pine floors. The warmth of pine combined with some knots and lines that give it personality fits perfectly with her hospitable manner, and heart pine even looks a bit like butter – her favorite food group!

How about adding some comfy chairs and a sofa in a faded cabbage rose pattern and maybe a matching stripe? We could echo those fabrics on plush cushions for dining chairs set around a large round table, begging for her whole family to join her for a meal. Do you suppose bacon would be involved? Better save us a seat!

Are you ready for a warm, inviting and luxurious bedroom? Let’s dissect this one to determine how the elements come together to make this room special.

Wood floors are a wonderful start to a luxurious feel. The different tones in this flooring choice open up opportunities for a number of other woods in the space. The dresser and bed take advantage of the darker flooring tones to connect the furniture and bring those shades up into the room. On the other hand, the chair and back-wall picture frame show a completely new darker tone, providing a strong contrast to the floor.

The paint choices make this room feel even richer and more luxurious. The coolness of the mid-to-dark grey on the walls showcases the warmth of the wood furniture while keeping the space from feeling too one-note. This tone also helps the gold ceiling to pop. The ceiling also echoes the golds in the floor, further connecting the room’s elements.

This bedroom had the potential to be dark and gloomy, but the light moldings, canopy and bedding lift it up by adding the light elements it needed. The canopy and bedding also ensure that the bed is the focal point – appropriate for any bedroom.

Are you ready to kick your bedroom up a notch? Take some chances with colors and textures the way this room does.

The difference between a “nice” kitchen and an interesting one is often contrast. Using a mix of dark and light tones helps to create a kitchen that gets noticed.

When designing your kitchen space, think about moving past your initial preferences to combine light and dark elements. For example, if you prefer light cabinetry and flooring, a dark countertop and mid-range backsplash will anchor your space and make the light elements pop.

On the other hand, dark cabinets and floors may turn a kitchen into a cave. Adding a light backsplash combined with a lighter tile on the floor brings in the light that provides the contrast to really show off your dark choices.

Using only mid-range tones can also make your kitchen disappear. Make sure you have one light tone and one dark tone in the space, and then you can fill in with your preferences while ensuring that your kitchen has the contrast that makes a space interesting.

How can you be sure that your selections for kitchens or baths are right? You can improve your chances by making sure you look at every sample at the same angle they will be when installed.

It seems like a simple idea, but in the throes of making your new home or remodel decisions, it may seem easier to lay everything flat on a table. That’s a fine approach for the initial analysis, but before you make your final selection, elicit some help to hold every piece together at the installation position and angle.

Put all flooring horizontal on the floor. Just the action of placing a piece of carpeting or a tile or wood sample on the floor completely changes the way the light hits. Both the tone and the texture of flooring can be dramatically different when you see it from eye-to-floor height. Those broad differences in pattern may suddenly look subtle. Colors will change with angle and distance. Even choosing a grout color is easier if you look at it between two tiles on the floor.

If you’re picking out your kitchen, place your countertops horizontal on top of your cupboard choice. Position the backsplash between the countertop and a cupboard door. It can be very hard to visualize your final product, but using this approach helps.

Making design decisions can stretch your imagination and your visual sense. Taking this approach moves you a bit closer to the final product, making the choices easier for you.

On a recent episode of HGTV’s Design Star, two teams were assigned the challenge of creating Trump condo models with a luxurious feel. One team really understood the concept. The other really didn’t, and they paid, with two of the three eliminated on the one program.

Are you on the winning team when it comes to making your home luxurious? It’s not about money – at least not a lot of money. It’s about finding the right elements to create a feel of sumptuousness in your space. Here are a few suggestions.

Many flooring options have luxury built into them. Look for texture in carpeting, depth of tone in wood, and sheen in tile and stone. Whatever your flooring choice, take advantage of the rich variety of thick rugs to add that sense of wealth in a space.

Your fabric choices are crucial to creating a luxurious feel in a space. Silk fabric’s ability to absorb dye leads to a depth of color that no other fiber can match. Leather, suede and wool provide a variety of textures that add richness to a room.

The final touch comes from accessories with warmth and brightness. Mirrors and metallic elements – in moderation – add drama to a space. Bronze candlesticks or a mercury glass vase, or maybe even a mirrored console or dresser, makes an immediate difference.

Take a chance, and add a few elements to every room to kick up the feel of luxury in your home.

Now that you’ve made your selection of natural flooring in the form of a sisal, coir or seagrass area rug or carpet, you want to maintain your new floor in the best way possible. Here are a couple of quick and simple ideas to help keep your new floor beautiful.

First, make sure you have a vacuum cleaner with strong beater brushes and good suction. Regular vacuuming, daily if you have lots of traffic, is your best defense against early wear on any new carpet. The best vacuuming is with multiple passes in different directions.

Any spill should be attacked immediately. For water-based spills, blot (do not rub!) the spot with a clean, absorbent, undyed cloth or paper. Start at the outside edges of the spill and work your way to the center. Depending on the spill you might need to rinse with clean water. At this point, it is important to dry the carpet with a blow dryer or another clean cloth. If using a cloth, cover the spot entirely and weight the cloth so it presses into the carpet. Don’t walk on the spot until it is completely dry.

Oil-based spills and stains clean well with dry cleaning solvent. Again, blot from the outside of the stain to the center. Be sure to apply the solvent only to your blotting cloth, rather than directly to the carpet.

Occasionally you may need to “restore” some moisture to your sisal or coir carpets. Do this by applying an even, light mist of clean water to the surface. In low humidity or high traffic areas, this helps prevent excessive dryness, which can shorten your carpet’s life.