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Create the ultimate Easter feeling in your home with décor
A customer care attendant displays an Easter dining set at Danube showroom room in Kampala recently. Photo by David Stanley Mukooza
What you need to know:
- The tradition of decorating during Easter is finally picking up in Uganda. We share different decor ideas and changes you could make to your home to create an Easter ambience.
Hellenah Kizito, decided to do a curtain makeover during last year’s Easter celebrations. She says changing the curtains at that time brought a new feeling, which made her family fully enjoy the day. “It is a thought that crossed my mind a week to Easter, and indeed, my family enjoyed the feeling,” she shares.
As we draw closer to Easter, many people are thinking about how different they can bring the Easter feeling in their home.
Asaad Kabugo Tamale, an interior designer and CEO, Fox Wood Interiors and Architects, says it is not hard but simply playing around with a few affordable items that are readily available on the market or with what you have in the house.
The interior designer further reveals that the difference between Christmas and Easter décor is a puzzle, especially for parents who do not want children to confuse the two celebrations. He says it is possible to celebrate this Easter with unique decor and make overs.
Repaint the interior
Kabugo says using bright colours with lighter shades such as sky blue is one of the ways one can bring an Easter mood in the house. “If the painting is well done, with the Easter decorations, your home will be filled with style and joy,” he says.
Remodel your interior
Kabugo advises that you can make a few adjustments in your interior. “First clear clutter, then redress or alternate the furniture then have different bright coloured cushions in the sofas,” he notes, adding, “The Easter mood can only be created when you change the appearance of your living room or even the dining room.”
Apart from changing or alternating the furniture, Kabugo says there are different decor items that can help create an Easter ambience.
Easter cards
Kabugo says these can be hang on strings that are tied around the corner of the living room. The cards can also be put on one of the tables in a corner or around the TV area.
Fabric-made crosses
You can also use cloth made crosses, cloth designed with Easter phrases such as “he is risen” or “happy Easter”. These can be put on the wall or hang where the cards are placed.
Patterned banners
Kabugo says patterned banners are decorated with different Easter messages. These can be hang around the room or in a corner of a room.
Easter bunnies and chicks
If you have children, including Easter bunnies (rabbits) and chicks in your décor would be a great idea as they would be able to recognise them from cartoons about Easter.
You can get these in form of crafts, wood, woven statues, or edibles such as chocolates. If you cannot buy, you can also order have these chicks and rabbits made from any material.
Easter bunnies or, Easter rabbits and chicks are some of the things that represent Easter for urban children because of influence from cartoons.
Ssenduwula says the statues can be placed next to the TV or in the corners of the living room.
As you purchase different items, she advises that you match them with the colour theme of the room.
Easter eggs
Faridah Babu, an interior designer, says these can be real or artificial.
The natural eggs are painted in different colours and put either in a transparent bowl or coloured basket.
She adds that the bowl is placed on a centre table or dining table.
“The painted artificial eggs can be designed alone on a table as they cannot easily be broken like real ones,” Babu notes.
Alternatively, Ivan Ssenduwula, a dealer in decorative items in Kikuubo, says coloured artificial eggs can be fixed on a string and waved on the staircases or stair rails. He says you can use ribbons to enhance beauty.
Flowers
Babu says flowers add liveliness to your front door if well designed. These can be natural flowers or artificial that are painted in different bright colours such as yellow, pink and light blue. The designed flower is pinned on the front door entry.
Sweets
Babu says sweets of different colours are can be put in a transparent bowl and placed on the centre table.
Rolled papers
These can be painted in different colours and designed in different ways.
Kabugo says you can hang the flowers made from the papers on the wall or the main door. You can also have fresh flowers of different colours for both indoor and outdoor.
Candles
Candles are normally designed in different forms such as the heart, or the shape of an egg. These according to Kabugo, are lit at night as Christians welcome the risen Lord.
Wooden tree
Kabugo says one can also use a tree curved out of wood. He advises that you place it in the corner of the living room with different coloured artificial eggs pinned on its branches.
Change the curtains
Just as Kizito did, Kabugo says you can also do a curtain make over. However, the curtains have to be with light and cheerful colours that blend well with the rest of the furniture in the house.
“It would be good if the makeover is for the whole house but if it is not possible, at least try and change the curtains for the living room and that of the dining room,” he says.
Current cost of items
The prices of the items differ depending on where one purchases them.
• A packet of artificial eggs ranges from Shs9,000 to Shs15,000 depending on the size and the number in the pack.
• A tray of natural eggs costs between Shs9,000 and Shs10,000.
• The cloth made cross cost between Shs500 and 1,500 depending on the size.
• Other ornaments cost between Shs150,000 to Shs200,000 depending on the size.
• Patterned banners cost Shs5,000 and Shs10,000, depending on where you buy them.
The different decor items can be bought in shopping centres in Kampala, online and towns around the country.
History of Easter eggs, bunnies, chicks
According to online sources, rabbits give birth to a big litter of kittens so they are considered a symbol of life.
Legend has it that Easter bunnies (rabbits) lay eggs, which are used to celebrate the new life brought about the resurrection of Jesus. The eggs were believed to appear decorated.
History.com says eggs represent Jesus’ emergence from the tomb and resurrection.
The site also says: “One explanation for this custom is that eggs were formerly a forbidden food during the Lenten season, so people would paint and decorate them to mark the end of the period of penance and fasting, then eat them on Easter as a celebration.”
Easter egg hunts are not popular in Uganda but some countries have it as part of their Easter tradition. Easter eggs are hidden in a garden and children go on a hunt for them.
