Amy Currioman

I really enjoy watching the kinds of television shows where interior decorators get the opportunity to redecorate someone’s home.  I sure wish I had their talent!  My home is decorated “eclectic style” which many people refer to as “thrift store decorating” or “early marriage decorating!”  It is a mixture of family hand-me-downs and lawn sale and thrift store finds.  Yes, there are SOME pieces that were actually bought brand spanking new, but not very many of them!  What can I say, money is tight, and when someone offers me a family heirloom I have a hard time saying no.  I’m very sentimental, and those pieces have fond memories in them!

One of the things that I find so fascinating about those decorating shows is how so many interior decorators can take contemporary furniture pieces such as platform beds and make the places feel warm and inviting.  I’ve always turned my nose up at those types of furniture because I have always associated traditional types of furniture to be that way.  Probably it’s all in what you grew up in.  If I had grown up in a home that was decorated with the modern styles I would feel them to be warm and inviting too!

Over the years I’ve learned some interesting things about tricks restaurants use on their customers. A long time ago I read some literature about how different colors effect different moods. For example, red, yellow and orange are “high energy” colors and are often used in fast food restaurants because the restaurants know that those colors will encourage the customers to eat quickly and leave (making room for more customers) and the “high end” restaurants will often use “calming” colors such as blues and greens to encourage their customers to linger longer (perhaps order more alcohol which is their big money maker) and order dessert, relaxing and enjoying their meal and the company they are keeping.

I was just reading an article on the Time.com website about “what makes you eat more food” and was surprised to read that one of the things that makes you eat more food in restaurants is that most restaurants turn their thermometers to cooler temperatures. When the body is cold, a natural reaction to warm up is to eat more food. So the restaurants are trying to get you to eat more food by making their customers cold!