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a home + living guide for the post-college, pre-parenthood, quasi-adult generation

07.19.2001

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prep perfect party pad  |  1 2 3
continued from page 1

Lighten up
There are two good reasons to pay special attention to your lighting when you’re prepping for a party: 1) lighting can do wonders for creating a sexy/groovy party ambience, and 2) low lighting can perform miracles, making your ugly floors/walls/furniture, whatever, look like much less of an aesthetic blight on the world. Candles are excellent for creating a nice mellow atmosphere, though try to avoid too many of the scented sort, since they have a tendency to make the more scent-sensitive people in the world (like yours truly) sneeze. Make sure to place your candles on dishes, to avoid making a waxy mess all over your furniture.

It’s also a good idea to replace your normal 60W bulbs with less glaringly bright, lower-wattage bulbs. Colored bulbs work great in otherwise characterless overhead light fixtures, and have the added benefit of giving your room an instant color makeover. Red, orange and yellow bulbs are flattering to the skin; black light (ultraviolet) bulbs are good for kicks. Avoid green, which just doesn’t do anything good for anyone.

More camouflage tricks
Sometimes, even the cleverest of lighting tricks won’t be able to mask the fact that there’s a gigantic stain smack dab in the middle of your coffee table, or foam exuding from that ultra-cheap sofa you picked up at the Salvation Army. At times like these, the quickest, easiest solution it to just cover up your eyesore furnishings with some fabric. Tablecloths, nicely patterned sheets, pretty sari fabric, that cool blanket you picked up while traveling in Morocco, Turkey, wherever … all can be used to disguise a multitude of furniture flaws. Fashion a makeshift slipcover for your sofa with fabric by using a staplegun and upholstery pins to help anchor the fabric in place. You can also use fabric to hide an ugly wall … just tack it up for an instant wall hanging/cover-up.

 

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