Dine With Me in Ramadhan

RAMADHAN is coming! This month is as exciting as most of us choose to make it. Most Muslim families make all preparations to celebrate this special month decorating their homes, which is really important and reflects a cheerful ambiance on these special days.

Celebrating Ramadhan doesn’t require getting exaggerated budget which makes life even more expensive if nothing else, but with simple ideas you can make something really creative that is so special and touches your sole and that is the main point of Ramadhan.

Below are various ideas of garlands and paper decorations to show Ramadhan celebration. With these Ramadhan Garlands and Paper Decoration Ideas, a mix of effort and innovation in the way decorations are selected and displayed, gives a warmth that only a blend of spirituality and celebration can muster.

Since these decorations are made for Ramadhan, then you must use paper instantly greeted with the colours and shapes of the season which are gold and silver.

You can also decorate your  house with “the Ramadhan chain of kindness”. Everyone in your family goes out of their way to acknowledge a simple (or significant) deed of kindness they witness any family member performing by recording it on a strip of construction paper.

They  make a point of not including the name of the do-gooder in order to discourage pride and encourage humility for the sake of Allāh (subhana wa ta’ala). They then curl these strips into rings and connect them to one another.

Transforming Dining Rooms

In addition to fasting and prayer, Ramadhan also means entertaining family and friends at home.

At the end of the day during Ramadhan, it’s customary to host guests and serve food to breakfast with. These “after sunset gatherings” can range from very lavish to modest and quaint. Either way, hosting a successful “iftar” or breakfast requires some coordination and a little planning.

A dining room is a great space to have guests and family dinners. Summer means coziness and warmth, and you can decorate your dining room in a very cozy and cool way. To highlight the coming event it’s better to choose colourful, traditional and vintage styles — you can mix them as you wish or choose just one.

We will now look at a number of different ways for decorating dining room on a budget to give it a whole new lease of Ramadhan feel by introducing small items that can easily adapt to your requirements. It could make a world of difference.

Cover the table with some colourful fabric with Islamic patterns this could then be used as the basis for the new décor colour for the room. The use of inexpensive accessories will help to change the whole appearance of your dining room. Get some candles and candle holders in order to provide a different look and feel to your room.

Make a wall hanging for the room by purchasing some fanoos lights (these are inexpensive) as they are easy to turn into wall hangings. The effect when they illuminate is marvellous.

What brings it all together is a colourful rug. The stripe effect with different colours and shades will reflect perfectly with the fabric used

In the middle of the table place an Arabic hot coffee pot with decorated serving cups. Buying new serving cutlers with Islamic patterns and colours will make the table look worming and welcoming.

The side buffet can be decorated as well with a table cloth with floral centrepiece and a tea pot, coffee pot with some dates in a nice silver plate to serve.

Here’s nothing quite like food to bring people together. As an old proverb says, ‘the perfect way to make friends and celebrate with existing ones is to go to their house and eat with them as the people that give you their food, also give you their heart’.

During the period of Ramadhan the celebration of dining with friends and family is even more prominent and if you are going to throw a dinner party or get-together that involves food and drink, then your garden space can provide a perfect setting.

Creating the perfect comfortable environment should start with how you can cool down the space. Portable fans are essential, particularly those with integrated water air-conditioning or mister systems. If your patio space is close to the house then leaving the adjacent doors and windows open to allow your homes air-conditioning to flow out can also be effective. This method is particularly effective if you live in an apartment and own a small balcony where the addition of hanging decorative curtains can assist in keeping the cool air contained.

Traditional seating for your guests using plenty of cushions of low Arabic style seating will allow you to accommodate more people in the space than table and chairs. Using plenty of low side tables will give you the opportunity to offer snack food items and drinks and you may consider having your main buffet style foods inside the house so that your guests can select what they want and bring to the outdoor space.

The garden dining space has to be inviting. You can dress your garden area specifically for your occasion, and there is nothing like the use of draped fabrics, fairy lights and candles to give the desired effect.

If you are a keen gardener, then use cut flowers and foliage to decorate your dining space and surrounding areas and rearrange potted plants in groups for a better effect in the evening light.

Depending upon your existing external floor surface, you can transform the feel of the space simply by adding carpets, mats or other textiles that reflect the theme of your occasion. Traditional Arabic designed carpets can be used almost anywhere to great effect and will help combine the exterior with the interior.

DESIGN TIP OF THE WEEK

Incorporating unusual ideas into your decorative scheme such as using hollowed out orange halves filled with oil as scented candles (keeping the middle core of the orange as the wick), or draping colourful light weight fabrics and simple fairly lights through surrounding plants or trees. The use of traditional incense such as frankincense can also be subtly placed in hanging receptacles amongst the branches of surrounding trees, the smoke and scent providing a wonderful effect amongst the fairly lights.

Monday 02nd, June 2014 / 19:26 Written by Oman Observer in Features