Candles for Home Decoration

Decorating the home with candles is a quick and easy way to (pardon the pun) brighten up the home. Any room in the house can benefit from the quick decorating fix candles provide. We'll take a look at the two main rooms in the average house and some tips for the rest of the house.

The Living Room

If you have a fireplace, then you have the ideal place to set up candles. Candles are a much less messy and labor intensive way to use the fireplace. Simply take out the rack for wood and replace it with a fireplace candelabra. These provide a nice warm glow without the maintenance of a traditional fire. There are dozens of styles of fireplace candelabras available. They cost on the average $50-100. A large selection can be found at www.fireplacemall.com.

If you don't have a fireplace there are still plenty of options. A decorative plate with three or four pillar candles of different sizes is a nice accent in a room. You can use several of these plates and put them on end tables, coffee tables or a shelf.

The Bedroom

Candles in the bedroom look wonderful but please be careful. You don't want to fall asleep with candles burning. That being said, I like votives or tea lights in the bedroom. Anything larger would throw off too much light. Votives and tea lights provide a nice low warm glow to the room that's perfect for the bedroom.

The Dining Room

Nothing says classy dinner like candlelight. A series of smart crystal candlesticks down the middle of the dining table add atmosphere. If the table is round, a centerpiece of candles is a good alternative. If you're really looking to impress, take a look at Best Crystal's website (www.bestcrystal.com) for some Waterford candlesticks. They're really pricey, but extremely posh.

The Walls

If you don't have a lot of shelf space, or have animals or children that keep you from having candles out in the open, you could consider wall candle holders. The downside is they require you to tap holes in the wall to hang them. The upside is that they're out of harm's way and they look really nice. The company Accents of Salado (www.saladotex.com) has a great selection of iron wall candle holders as well as many other candle holders for all over the house. They are a bit expensive with the average wall candle holder costing about $100 each.

Basic Tips

When decorating with candles, keep a few things in mind. Expensive, sculpted candles look really nice, but you'll be afraid to burn them. Candles are meant to be burned. When I buy candles I'm looking for the color to match or accent the color of the room they'll be in. I also consider burn time for candles. I don't want to spent $15 on a candle and have it burn out in an hour.

Keep in mind where you're burning them! A rambunctious cat can easily turn a candle into a puddle of wax on your couch or carpeting. Don't set them up near things that can catch fire. Most importantly, NEVER leave a candle burning unattended!