Decorating with HGPgal 
Your source for decorating information and beautiful details for your home at exceptional prices.

Sign up for the PartyLine Decorating Newsletter below.

Many of the Design Styles shown here are from the Home & Garden Television website:
http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/dc_styles/0,1792,HGTV_3506,00.html.

Color Design A discipline which creates, interprets, identifies, selects and/or forecasts specific colors in order to enhance the function, salability and/or quality of a specific product, article, item or object. Decorate 1 : to add honor to 2 : to furnish with something ornamental <decorate a room> 3 : to award a mark of honor to synonym see ADORN Family Friendly Appropriate for each member in a household, especially children. Now there is a better way to watch movies with your family! Introducing ClearPlay, the revolutionary technology that lets you skip the graphic violence, explicit scenes, and profanity in DVD movies.Click Here Americana Objects that are characteristic of American history or culture. HGP has a wonderful Americana limited edition collection of hand-painted stoneware. Feng shui Pronounced "fung schway."  Literally translated as wind and water, it's an ancient Chinese scientific practice based on selecting or configuring a site, structure or interior so as to harmonize with the spiritual forces that inhabit it. Passementerie Fancy trimmings such as tassels, tiebacks and ribbon. Art Deco   Streamlined, geometric style of home furnishings popular in the 1920s and ‘30s featuring rounded fronts, mirrored accents, sleek lines and wood furniture with chrome hardware and glass tops. art deco Art Nouveau  The forerunner to art deco, it was developed in France between 1890 and 1910. Furnishings and accessories, like Tiffany lamps, contain ornate and flowing lines and freeform shapes taken from nature and the feminine form. Arts and Crafts   The arts-and-crafts movement was a reaction to the Industrial Revolution’s reliance on mass production and the Victorian era's focus on heavy ornamentation. Popular during the early 1900s, this style glorified craftsmanship in simple shapes with exposed joinery, spare ornamentation and strong lines. Materials used to embellish the look include metals, stained glass and painted tiles and fabrics featuring stylized floral motifs. Notable artisans of this period are William Morris, Gustav Stickley and Charles and Henry Greene. More info>>   Asian  Japanese       Chinese Typically refers to Japanese and Chinese influences. Traditional Japanese interiors are sized according to a 3' x 6' human form, represented by natural fiber floor coverings called tatami mats. Raw materials like bamboo and colors taken from nature are used to create a serene, calm environment. Furnishings characteristic of the look are shoji screens and rice-paper lanterns. Chinese interiors are identifiable through highly-stylized furnishings featuring handpainted designs on lacquered finishes, brightly-colored accessories and ornaments or statues of animals or mythical creatures. Red is used abundantly as a symbol of good luck. More info>> British Colonial Spurred by the arrival of the British colonists in the West Indies, this style represents a combination of pared-down Victorian elegance with Caribbean tropical and animal motifs. Furniture usually consists of mahogany, dark walnut or teak combined with wicker, cane and leather insets. Other terms for this syle include Hemingway, Exotic, Bombay. Contempoary Encompasses a wide range of styles developed in the latter half of the 20th century. Pieces feature softened and rounded lines, as opposed to the stark lines seen in modern design. Interiors contain neutral elements and bold color and focus on the basics of line, shape and form. More info>>  Cottage A colorful, comfortable look characterized by painted and/or decorated furniture with graceful lines, textural elements like baskets, beadboard walls and natural fiber rugs and window shades, weathered finishes and colors taken straight from a lush flower garden. More info>> Country A wide-ranging style depending on geographical location but in general exemplified by primitive furniture, muted colors, milk-paint finishes and vintage fabrics. More info>> English Country Style English country is a relaxed, comfortable style that is an interpretation of traditional English designs and periods. Colors are lively and bright and evocative of the garden; a rustic, textural quality permeates both the interior and exterior through the use of wood, iron and stone. Textiles include embroidered rugs and fabrics in floral prints; furnishings range from dark-stained chests to pine bookcases.

Historical Style Index:

• American Colonial period refers to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries when America was still a colony of England. Architecture had a simple utilitarian design. Compared to Europe, early American style was based more on necessity, using local materials. The style integrates English and European influences and was concurrent with the Georgian period in England. Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia is an entire Colonial town.

• Art Deco was seen in the 1920s and '30s, between World War I and II. The name comes from the Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et industriels Modernes in Paris in 1925. Geometric designs and bright colors were typical. The Chrysler Building in New York City is a prime example, and in South Beach, Miami, the Art Deco style was widely used and has been restored in recent years.

• In the Arts and Crafts movement, during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the focus was on craftsmanship. Interiors were handmade using traditional methods where possible. English designer William Morris was its most famous practitioner.

• Art Nouveau , or "new art" in French, was seen in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in Europe and the U.S. Distinctive asymmetrical lines and organic forms are typical of this style. The Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi and early works by the Scottish architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh were influential in Art Nouveau.

• Baroque style was first seen in the late seventeenth century in Europe. It was characterized by elaborate ornament and opulence. St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome and Versailles in france are examples. St. Paul's Cathedral in London is also an example of Baroque architecture. In Quito, Ecuador, the city center is built in the Baroque School of Quito style and is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

• The Empire period was in the early 1800s during the reign of Napoleon in France, but it was also seen elsewhere. Egyptian motifs and classical influences were common. The Empire style is quite grand.

• Fereral period, an American style, came about shortly after the Declaration of Independance was signed. Neoclassical influences were seen. Duncan Phyfe, a Scottish-born American, was a particularly well-known cabinetmaker at this time.

• The Georgian period is divided into early Georgian and late Georgian. In England the reign of King George I began in the early eighteenth century, and the late Georgian period was late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, during the reign of King George III. The English cabinetmakers Thomas Chippendale, George Hepplewhite, and Thomas Sheraton were designing furniture during this time. In early Georgian design cabriole legs and ball and claw feet were typical. Neoclassical elements define late Georgian style.

• The Gothic period was approximately mid twelfth century to the beginning of the sixteenth century. Windows with pointed arches, flying buttresses, and elaborate tracery are typical. Charles. Chartres Cathedral and Notre Dame Cathedral in France and Westminster Abbey in England are examples of Gothic architecture. The Brooklyn Bridge in New York city has Gothic-styled pointed arches.

• The Modern Movement in architecture developped in the twentieth century. There are a number of different styles and influences within the Modern movement, but an overall simplicity and scarcity of ornament or molding runs though all. The lines in the architecture and decoration are clean.

• Neoclassical Style, in the mid-eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, was inspired at least in part by the discovery of the ruins of Pompeii. Classical Greek motifs, rectiinear lines, and classical form were widely seen. The Scottish architect Robert Adam was particularly influential at this time. Neo-classical elements are seen during the late georgian and Regency periods in England and during the Federal period in America.

• Regency Period, in early nineteenth-century England, refers to the period when George, Prince of Wales, was a regent before becoming King George IV. Classical design was often used and proportions were smaller than had previously been seen during the Georgian style. The English architect Sir John Soane's work is associated with the Regency style.

• Rococo lasted for approximately 35 years in the early to mid-eighteenth century during the reigns of Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI, and Mary VI. These monarchs were all from the Tudor family. Characteristics of the style include whitewashed plaster between wooden supports on the exterior and oak panelling on the interior. Hampton Court Palace in England is a typical example of Tudor architecture on a grand scale.

• The Victorian Period , during the reign of Queen Victoria of England, was in the mid- to late nineteenth century. There is a British Victorian and an American Victorian style. Both combined and revived historic styles such as the Gothic. American Victorian was influenced by England but also showed some European influences. Gingerbread architecture, mansard roofs, and dark wood and heavy trimmings on the interior were typical.