When you're considering how to style an event space, think about what's at eye level.
If you have a room with big windows and a gorgeous view, you're golden. But if you're using your church's fellowship hall, and it hasn't been renovated since 1972, you might need to put a little thought into what's going to catch the eye when you first enter the room.
You might not be able to cover up every flaw in the room, but you can create something so interesting that nobody bothers to look at the peeling paint on the walls or the masking tape on the floor.
There are lots of options for eye-level beauty, but here are five ideas I love:
- Paper lanterns come in every color of the rainbow, and every shape you can imagine. They look great with any theme, from modern to rustic to romantic, day or night. Order online.
- Bunting is a fun shabby-chic option. You need basic sewing skills, a whole lot of fabric, and a fair amount of time to create enough for a large venue. (For the room above, I created 340 feet of bunting.)
- Wrapping paper can cover a multitude of sins. Run it from ceiling to floor for a cake-table backdrop. Cover foam core board with wrapping paper, and you've got instant, lightweight artwork that can be blue-tacked to the wall, or displayed on easels.
- Empty frames, bought at thrift stores and spray-painted, can be tacked up on walls at eye level.
- And don't forget that you can put tall things onto tables to draw the eye. One table in the middle of the room with tall vases and something gorgeous (think big, beautiful flowers, bare branches, or floating candles) gives you a huge bang for your buck.
photography: Drew Bandy, Katherine McGeever