One trend that is gaining in popularity is to bring the outside in — with liberal use of natural materials.  Expand your horizons and think floor to ceiling and forests to seaside — you can never go wrong with Mother Nature. And decorating couldn’t be easier or more inexpensive because it can be right out your own front door. The key is to think outside the box. Go beyond the green and play up color and texture with seeds, shells, bark and even mushrooms. Finish it off with a hit of traditional color, or take another cue from nature and go bold with an orange, blue or pink.

A few years ago we played up this theme by creating a forest table top. This project let our imagination run wild as we literally ran around the local forest and gathered up what we could find on the forest floor. It was a win-win for our décor and disposition!