ROMANTIC evenings, especially on Valentine's Day, need the right setting, and if you want to successfully woo and seduce, there's nowhere better to do it than home sweet home.
After all, who wants to canoodle in public among all those other couples, when you could have your own private celebration?
Help the occasion along with some sexy, sensual and fun additions to your decor and accessories.
How far you want to go depends on your taste - and of course your relationship, whether you're just flirting, romancing, courting, or permanently partnered.
Maybe your heart's desire is simply for a subtle sprinkling of tea-lights and a heart-shaped cushion, or perhaps you hanker for a full-on Mills & Boon style love-nest. Now is the time to indulge to your heart's content and conjure up romantic rooms.
So treat your home to seriously seductive products. Some would also make great Valentine's gifts for your loved one.
- FULL ON FLIRTING You're in the early stages of the relationship but want to show him you're interested. Teasing, fun touches that give him or her clues about your feelings are the name of the game.
Show your witty side - and encourage a close encounter - by hanging a pop-art style canvas showing two cartoon lovers kissing. Cartoon Kiss picture, £16.98 from B&Q. And if you're feeling really frisky, deck a bedhead with a string of the store's heart lights too, costing £9.98.
Scoot to the supermarket and fill a trolley with cheap-as-chips fun touches. Try Sainsbury's red Love mugs, from £1.99 each, a clear glass heart-shaped vase, £2.99 (ready for that bouquet), and ideal soft lighting with the red roses heart- shaped candle, £4.99.
Make a soothing hot drink in Woolworths heart shaped mug, £1.50, cosy up with red fur heart cushions, £6 each, and pop blooms in a heart vase, £2.50.
If the way to his heart is through his stomach, stir up his emotions during a cooking session by using a Alessi Big Love Bowl & Spoon, £22, from Amara.
Prepare ingredients for a special meal on a wooden heart shaped chopping board or serve the cheese on it. It costs £10.99 from Lakeland.
- COURTING You're feeling romantic and want to win your lover over. Spell it out with I Love You logo or heart shape wall stickers by Brume. Both start from £9.
Count the hours until the romantic meeting by clock watching - Debenhams pretty heart shape clock costs £25. Make a sofa seductive with a beautiful Tesica cushion decorated with large felt roses, £30 from John Lewis. It comes in plum and other colours.
Show you treasure your lover's notes and cards by displaying them on a noticeboard decorated with a sexy mouth biting a love heart sweet, labelled 'You're Gorgeous'.
It costs £45, or as a canvas £35. Both from www.55Max.com Investing in kitchenware sprinkled with hearts is risky unless you're pretty sure you'll woo and win, otherwise it might be a sad reminder of a broken heart.
But confident Casanovas could fork out for Lakeland Mason Cash Hearts collection, a canister or pudding basin, both £3.99 each.
Serve a cocktail chilled with heart shaped ice cubes and then make a declaration of affection. John Lewis red rubber tray, £2.
- SEDUCING IN STYLE Bowl a lover over the moment she sets foot on the doorstep by hanging a Twig Heart wreath on the front door. It costs £27 from Dibor but will get you top brownie points for showing serious attention to romantic detail.
Even the most unobservant male couldn't fail to notice your feelings if you flag them up indoors with Love and Heart banners, in felted lambswool, £25 each from Plumo.
Then artfully show off those 'couple' photos in ivory and pearl heart shaped photo frames. They're £10.50 for a pair from Dibor.
Fresh roses - that traditional gift - wilt, but an enlarged image on canvas of one red rose would be a permanent memory. The Rose Vilshult picture is £49.90 from Ikea.
Cherish a partner who buys the brilliant Lovers bath caddy which holds a book/magazine rest, wine glass, and candleholder - perfect for a sensual soak. It's £32 from Store.
Lead a loved one to a bed made romantically cosy with a heart-shaped water bottle wrapped in a cashmere and silk cover. It costs £39 from Plumo.
- SERIOUSLY COMMITTED If you invest in these love objects make sure you're just as passionate about iconic romantic images like hearts and lips as you are about your relationship, as these pieces can seriously damage your bank balance.
Choose from a couple of love seats that would make an uber-stylish statement even if you're single.
A Modernism Chevron 'Love' Pouf, is £458 and available from upmarket interior company, Amara, while culture buffs will recognise Italian designer Piero Fornasetti's echoes of Surrealism in his Lips three-legged stool, emblazoned with outsize red pouts on the seat. It's £475 at Liberty.
Follow the lips theme with a bold red velvet mouth-shaped Elise Chaise Longue by Antidiva, - ideal for a smooching session. It's £1,986 from online company, Essential Interiors.
A fridge is probably the least romantic gift for Valentines you could think of - unless it's a rose-covered one from Electra. (By special order, 12 weeks).
A Retro-Rose Fridge Freezer is a serious piece of kitchen kit and could take unlimited supplies of champagne, strawberries and oysters.
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