Romantic settings (From Gay newspaper Washington Blade)
From flowers to fabric, have your home say happy Valentine’s Day
By ZACK ROSEN
Friday, February 09, 2007
Those lucky enough to have a significant other around Valentine’s Day have probably put thought into dining, wine, roses and music, but all these considerations add up to just another way of ensuring that the tone you create is perfect for the relationship you have. Just as there are many different feelings you can have for that special someone, there are many different ways to make your home the ideal expression of what Valentine’s Day means to you.
Though the tradition of exchanging love notes on Valentine’s Day dates back to the Middle Ages, it exists now as a greeting card holiday. As such, it’s easy to get caught up in the mass-marketed image of the holiday and forget to pay attention to your own tastes.
“The sentiment of all this can be overshadowed by all the glitz and glamour of Hallmark cards and chocolate,” says Patrick Baglino, Jr., the gay owner of Patrick Baglino, Jr., Interior Designs. “That’s really how I see it unraveling for people. It’s really about feeling and how people want to express that through style.”
If your own personal style leans toward the extravagant, the nature of the holiday affords more than enough opportunities to express it. While many restaurants offer romantic dinners out on Feb. 14, a more personal effect can be achieved by creating that lavish atmosphere within your own home.
“You can go all out,” Baglino says. “Have dinner catered in. You can have the entire table done up in yards of red sheer fabric with huge arrangements of red roses. You can have candles in varying heights, lightly scented with vanilla. You won’t have to worry about cooking, so [you] can spend some quiet time together. “
Jeffrey Fritz, the gay owner of Flowers on Fourteenth is clear on the preferred Valentine’s Day bloom.
“Always roses,” he says, adding that there are color options beyond the standard red. “White is for purity, yellow for friendship. There are hundreds of different colors of roses available now.”
FOR THOSE WHOSE tastes run less baroque and more down home, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the epic scale of V-Day celebrations. If you don’t have the budget to bring your sweetheart 200 roses on the back of a snow-white pony, keep in mind that, even on holidays, less can be more. Baglino suggests that romantic minimalists can get their point across with something as basic as a single white rose in a vase or a spray of daisies tied with ribbon.
“Sometimes I think simple is best. If someone is really not caught up in the glitz and glamour of the holiday, if it’s just about the sentiment, the feelings behind, then they really don’t need all this grandiosity. “
Fritz advises that the austere decorator may get good use out of orchids or something else that is “very natural but simple and elegant.”
Of course, any notions of holiday decorating may pale in priority if you haven’t even cleaned your living room in the current calendar year. For the hopelessly messy, or the deceptively prevalent gay that can’t decorate their way out of a plastic bag, it helps to remember that Valentine’s Day boils down to a series of gestures.
“I really don’t think the environment per se has much to do with the person or their individual style,” Baglino says. “I think it has a lot more to do with how they choose to express their feeling. There are some friends I know who just have pizza and watch a movie and that would be sufficient. Someone once gave me a cupcake for Valentine’s Day, and I thought that was really cool.”
However you decide to make your house romantic, a successful Valentine’s Day will require a little planning. Just as all dinner reservations should be made well before the 13th, deciding how you want to gussy up your living space should be done sufficiently in advance.
“Order early,” warns Fritz. “Last year we sold 10,000 roses by noon, another 10,000 by 6, and another 5,000 that we finally sold out by 9.”
With a little foresight, and a sufficient knowledge of your own romantic leanings, everyone can make their house romantic enough that Valentine’s night, the real point of the occasion, will not soon be forgotten.
Source: Romantic settings - From flowers to fabric, have your home say happy Valentine’s Day
