These days people go all-out for parties…decor is over-the-top and lavish and beautiful, tents and homes draped in fabric and looking beautiful. But it really isn’t that difficult to achieve these looks yourself, and what better time to do so than this weekend to usher in the New Year in style?

You Will Need:

o lots of fabric

o Staple gun and staples

o 1-inch wooden strips in 10-ft lengths (if you don’t have wooden beams)

o Wiring

If you have wooden beams then it’s very easy to staple into the wood, however, if you’re decorating a tent or grilled area or other space with no wood in which to staple the fabric easily, then you will need to use the wood strips.

o Attach wood strips with wiring to grillework or the poles of the tent

o Ensure that the fabric is cut in the correct lengths to reach to the floor or ceiling

o Staple fabric to wood and create tight pleats

o Repeat until you achieve the look you desire

o If you’re draping up to the roof, then you will staple in front so when you drape upwards to the ceiling the staples will be concealed

o If you’re draping to the floor, then you will staple the underside of the fabric so when it falls, the staples will not be exposed. You could also staple on the outside and create a strip of fabric to conceal the stapling

To create the draping in a peaked ceiling, once you have stapled fabric to the sides, you will:

o Gather up each length one at a time and tie them and attach them into the ceiling

o Continue doing this with all strips until all are secured into the ceiling

If you are securing draping to the floor you can secure wood strips to concrete using concrete nails, or into soil by driving wood pegs into the ground and then the fabric can be stretched and stapled to the floor.

This works, too, even if your New Year’s Eve gathering will be an intimate setting of family and friends…it need not be a lot, just enough to conceal an unsightly wall, soften the space or introduce colour and texture.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!