Monday, May 31, 2010

Home Interior Decorating

Home Interior Decorating
By Cyn Sullivan

You want to make plans for a home interior decorating project. First of all, write down your goals and several ideas. Consider many details to work out: the theme or style of the room or area for your project, materials and costs will be a part of this. Realistically consider how you can budget wisely.

Cost
Plan a home interior decorating project that fits your budget. Look at all of the details involved: materials, manpower, accessories and unforeseen costs that seemingly jump out at you, for no apparent reason. Your realistic budget should always be the first and foremost consideration.

Theme
Choose a style or theme for your home interior decorating project. There are so many to choose from and the decision should be made based on your likes and interests. Country decorating provides a sense of warmth and coziness. A modern theme can have a clean, uncluttered look, an alive and yet minimal feel. A classic, eclectic or traditional style can be in vogue for many decades. You will be living with this style for some time, so consider how you want to feel when you come home and spend time in this type of environment.

Plan
After making a final decision about your decorating theme, sketch your plan on paper. Draw a diagram of the area you want to decorate. Consider the size of the room and scale of each piece of furniture and object that will be placed in it. Arrange everything on paper. Sit in a comfortable position with eyes closed after lighting some aromatherapy candles and playing relaxing music. Visualize this space filled with joy, see everything that you wish to decorate with and how it will augment your lifestyle, your goals. Perhaps through deep contemplation you will find there is a different style that is better suited for you at this particular place in time.

Creativity
Imagination and intuition are two helpful assets in home interior decorating. Tap into your own creative abilities. Begin your project with an open mind, if a different wall color seems right, just go with it. It is progress in the making, let your inner creative spirit guide you, intuitively. Often times it’s those off the wall ideas that make a space look astonishing. Remember it's your space, fill it with what you love, what is functional and yet beautiful to you.

Resources
You can find many helpful home interior decorating tips in decorating, country, modern life or traditional living magazines. Look at books to inspire ideas, browse the internet, come up with what is perfect for you and your lifestyle needs. Make this a joyous occasion, visualize an abundant and fulfilled future self. This should never be a project filled with stress. Enjoy your home interior decorating accomplishments.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Indulge In Your Favorite Chocolates

Chocolate 101

From basic ingredients like tropical cacao beans, vanilla and sugar, candy companies, and dessert chefs around the world create the delicious, seductive substance known as chocolate. Depending on the exact ingredients or cooking process, chocolate can be created in countless forms and flavors to satisfy the tastes and cravings of "chocoholics" of every persuasion. So what are some of the most popular varieties of chocolate, and how do they differ from one another?

Jacques Torres is one of the world’s foremost chocolate experts. A French native who now lives in New York, Torres is an internationally celebrated pastry chef who has won countless awards and honors for his culinary artistry. Torres is also a frequent media guest, and entertains and informs dessert lovers with his own television series and his various cookbooks. Fans of his pastries and confections can now buy products directly from his state-of-the-art chocolate factory and shop. Here Torres gives us an introduction to several basic kinds of chocolate:

* Dark chocolate. According to Torres, dark chocolate, which is noticeably less sweet than other forms of chocolate, starts with a bitter paste of ground beans called cocoa liquor (not to be confused with an alcoholic drink). Cocoa butter is added to make the chocolate more fluid, and then sugar and real vanilla to add sweetness and flavor. Cheaper chocolate will contain vanillin rather than the pure form.

* Milk chocolate. If milk powder is then added, the resulting product will be milk chocolate, which is the most popular kind of eating chocolate in the world. The vast majority of chocolate bars and treats are made with milk chocolate.

* White chocolate. If you take milk chocolate and remove all the cocoa liquor, you get white chocolate, which is sweet and rich and has a dairy taste that is much farther removed from the original beans.

* A global treat. According to Torres, chocolate comes from all over the world. The beans themselves are grown in paces as varied as the US, the Caribbean, and Africa. From there the beans are turned into chocolate in kitchens and factories around the globe. To find out which type of chocolate is best for your taste buds, start sampling different kinds today!

Fine Living.com for more...

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Australia Day

In 1818, January 26 became an official holiday, marking the 30th anniversary of British settlement in Australia. Australia became a sovereign nation, it became the national holiday known as Australia Day. In modern times, Australia Day serves both as a day of celebration for the founding of the white British settlement, and as a day of mourning for the Aborigines who gradually had their land taken away as white colonization spread across the continent.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

MY ARTFIRE STUDIO...FEEL FREE TO BROWSE

Abstract drawings and acrylic paintings on stretched canvas. Some 34" x 26".
www.artfire.com.sullysee.