Declutter Your Home in 2019

By in Designer Friend


Living with less debt, less stress, less cleaning up and less to organizes is what most desire and should you succeed you’d be enjoying life with more energy and more money and a much greater passion for life.

The biggest challenge for anyone desiring to simplify their life is where to start. The whole idea can be overwhelming, and the decluttering journey is everything but an easy one. As a matter of fact, very few sticks to the plan, but if you are committed you could be the one finding out what stress-free living is all about.

To make it easier, decluttering experts have released a list and if you keep to their recipe your success is guaranteed. You need 5 minutes to complete each of the decluttering tasks.

•  Give one item in your home away every day and you’ll 365 things less by next year this time. One less item will hardly be missed and if you repeat it every day you are one full day closer to achieving your goal.

•  Grab a trash bag and see how quickly you can fill it. Make this challenge a time-based one and try to beat it next time.

•  Hang all the close in your cupboard with the hanger facing to the front, every item you wear can be placed back on a hanger facing the back. After 6 months leave only the clothes on hangers facing the back in your cupboard.

• 12 plus 12 plus 12 Challenge: Locate 12 items that you want to throw away, return 12 items to their home (should you have dishes or stuff from your in-laws or parents or even friends) and choose 12 items to throw out – do it all in one day and you have rid of 36 items!

• Challenge 333: Challenge yourself and your partner to only wear 33 items of clothing over the next three months. If you manage to succeed, you’ll know that you can live with so much less.

• Challenge of Four: Get four big boxes and place it in your house, mark one box trash, the next giveaway, the next keep and the last relocate. Now start at one corner of the room and place everything in a box. Once placed the item can’t be moved and you can’t leave any item where it is, every item has to be categorized. Once you finished in the room the giveaway and trash boxes must be closed instantly and removed. You now get to place the items you really want back into the room and the relocate items get transferred to where you wanted to relocate them.

• Take a photo before you start and one after and see for yourself what you have achieved via decluttering each room, and again when a room had its second decluttering session. You’d be amazed at how different and more spacious your home looks in only a few months.
Not Wanting Something is as Good as Possessing it!

Give Your Home the Jungalow Look

By in Default, Designer Friend


When it comes to the super cool boho style, you can find a couple of books written about the new bohemian trend. There is a new term for the love of plants, colors and patterns and it is the new jungalow look that is in.

The main thing is not to be intimidated, as the style created by Blakeney do not include teal as part of the design and the bold colors do not have to overwhelm the space. According to the new design that could be the trend in 2019, cool tones can work as the central focus point in any room, while it is good to balance it with warmer colors such as coral or even terracotta. Warm colors you can use throughout the house can include copper accents, orange hues or warm wood tones.

Intermingling Velvet with Less Luxurious Fabrics

Velvet is considered a luxurious fabric, a major concern is the wear and tear, yet today most of the velvet’s are synthetic and it wears nicely, plus it is really easy to clean. The perfect way to get the jungalow look is by blending velvet with textured linen or cotton, you want to avoid too formal feel. The fabric mix is a great start, yet you need to rethink your walls, what you collected over the years can now become the main art piece, the look requires an earthy vibe.

What is great about the new jungalow look is that you can mix it with modern tables as you don’t want to go too rustic. What you do need to learn is taking risks with different patterns. Striped wood and other patterns can complement each other while a mix of rustic and modern well blended can create harmony.

Bungalow combined with Jungle = New Jungalow Look

The new term jungalow combines bungalow with jungle, so it makes sense to bring a bit of outdoors into the home. Every room should feature some greenery to liven the whole room up. Arched doorways can add to the feel, rounded out it offers a special feel and adds to the flow from one room to the next.

Rustic, Different Patterns & Lots of Greenery

Adding a nook is a great way to utilize space, adding shelves under the bed area creates extra space, and your nook can work as a type of a daybed. Your terrace needs to be a space where you can hang out, where built-in benches offer both seating and storage, while it could also become an outdoors bed. It is about comfort relaxing in a condo kind of feel, an atmosphere completed by vintage rugs and lots of pillows in different fabrics to create a cozy feel. Mix warm and cool colors, use earthy elements, some modern items and bring in lots of greenery such as plants and you on your way to creating the new jungalow look where comfort and cozy collide beautifully.

Royal Christmas Pudding

By in Default, Designer Friend


There is nothing quick about the pudding enjoyed by the royals, it takes about two months to make and then you get to enjoy it for at least a year or should we just state that that is how long it could last.

The royal pudding is not only meant for Christmas, this heavily laced brandy or rum, well actually both, since the pudding can be enjoyed for months, it is a favourite for up to a year later, while it can also be the best hunting treat, frying it up to offer everyone part of the hunt a warm snack.

At the Palace Preparations Start Early

The preparations of the fruity royal pudding actually start once the queen and her staff arrive back from Balmoral. Their visit to the Scotland highlands takes place in October, which leaves the chefs with only two months to create the masterpiece/s. According to inside information the chefs clean out, the sinks to ensure they have enough space to make the mix as so much is requested by the royals and they love it right through the year.

Well Preserved in Beer, Rum & Brandy

Due to all the brandy, beer and rum, the royal pudding is quite well preserved and can be stored in the fridge for just short of a year. The Windsor’s still enjoys the pudding up to September of the next year and love offering it to their guests. The puddings for the royal table are cooked by the chefs in a 2-pound bowl, many of them, since the pudding is served at lunches starting from Christmas right through to New Year, celebrated in Sandringham.

Final Touches to the Royal Pudding

The Queen’s page is responsible for the final touches, he pours brandy over the top of the pudding and then lights it, the royal pudding flames up marvellously. Although the chefs know better and keep huge amounts of the mixtures in large baking trays to remain ready for the demands of any other occasions, which is at such functions named a plum pudding. Slices of 3 inches thick are then fried in unsalted butter and crisped up to offer gooey insides.

A 2-pound bowl of the Royal pudding mixture is enough for around 30 servings and the list of ingredients include: 2 cups dark beer, 5 cups raisins, 3 eggs, 2 cups demerara sugar, 1/2 cup dark rum,3 cups currants, 3 1/2 Tbs mixed spice, 1 1/4 cups flour, 2 cups candied peel, 1/2 cup brandy, 2 1/2 cups beef suet, 6 cups fresh white breadcrumbs, 1/4 cup unsalted butter for greasing bowls and parchment as well as 1/4 cup brandy for pouring.

Lightly grease the sides and bottom of the bowls used for the pudding as well as three pieces large enough to cover bowl tops. Mix all of the ingredients and cover with aluminium foil.

Place a large steamer with water at least 1/2 up the sides. Boil for five hours.
Cool & refrigerate for a minimum of three months reheat in a steamer for about two hours.

New Year’s Resolution – Minimalism

By in Default

Singleness, Clarity, Simplicity, these are the words that are used to describe minimalism in the home, it gives us vividness and power and lots of joy as it is also a sign of great art according to Richard Holloway.

If minimalism is your resolution for the New Year, it would mean you will intentionally try to live with only the things you really need. Minimalism is freedom from the passion to possess lots of things, it is intentional, it is also freedom from the modern mania, even more freedom from duplicity, it is also counter-cultural, and completely achievable.

Intentionality via Minimalism

Minimalism is indicated by purpose, clarity and intentionality, right at the core of it is the intentional promotion of the things we value as well as the removal of all other things that distracts us from what we really value. It is a lifestyle that forces intentionality, and at the same time, it forces improvements across all aspects of our life.

Freedom from The Passion to Possess

Modern day has brought us into the belief that a good life is determined by the amount of stuff we accumulate, the number of things we possess and therefore most continue to accumulate things they never need. People believe that the more things they have the closer the idea of happiness is and at the end happiness can’t be purchased for your local store.

The idea is wrong on so many levels, we all are too hurried, too stressed and too rushed plus we simply too busy, our homes are too busy, which causes a chain reaction of stressing us, and it’s too busy to provide us with a place of relaxing. Working long hours to pay all our bills, although the debt continues to increase, and we all rush from one activity to the next, while everyone is multi-tasking. Yet do we ever get all done? We always busy connecting with others via our mobile phones, while the real or true life-changing relationships escape us.

Minimalism means we rid of all we don’t need, and we don’t ever purchase anything unless it is truly necessary, which actually means you’ll be able to survive with only a third of what you have right now. Sell it, give it away or simply have it removed. Immediately your home environment is less busy or cluttered it already offers a calmer environment. If it is only the essentials you live with you won’t need to purchase much apart from food, your house remains more organised, and you get on top of your bills as they will not increase, and you won’t make purchases.

Living with less means more freedom, especially financially! Living with only what you need, not the stuff that impresses your friends only the things you truly need offers a lifestyle of less clutter, less stress which ultimately equals more freedom, more time to spend relaxing and more time to truly enjoy live!

Exceptional Cocktails to Impress Your Guests This Holiday Season

By in Default


We all know of the pressure during the holiday season, maybe most of it placed on ourselves by ourselves, still, we all strive to be the perfect host to both family and friends. Everyone needs to be entertained, need to be spoiled with great eats and of course you want to place a drink on their hand that is worth commenting on. Every year you try a different eggnog recipe, yet why not make this year, that special year where you ignore all the traditional stuff such as Mulled Wine and Rum & Eggnog and replace it with some of the most sensational alternatives.

Everyone loves an interesting drink, it is often a great conversation starter, but most of the time too difficult to perfect and too time-consuming, so here are the quick and super fun drinks you get to serve this year.

Holiday Twist with Coffee

0.5 oz Coffee
1 oz Martini Rosso
1 oz Star of Bombay Gin
1 oz Campari

Stir in all the ingredients into a mixing glass already filled with ice and then fine-strain it into a chilled glass, while the final touch is the coffee bean and orange wheel.

Grey Goose Espresso Martini

Another great coffee themed surprise to served up some deliciousness this holiday season is the Grey Goose Espresso Martini. It is quick to mix and can be served in a number of great ways.

Only three ingredients:
1 oz Espresso
0.75 oz Premium Coffee Liqueur
1.5 oz Grey Goose Vodka

Pour it all into a cocktail shaker and give quite the shake, then double strain it into a pre-chilled martini glass and decorate with mint leaves or spice it up with nutmeg.

Welcome the Grand with a Bowl of Punch

Why make each cocktail individually when you can ready a bowl of it well in advance, forget the Eggnog and rum, it is time to impress your guests with something truly divine.
2 cups Grand Marnier
2 cups Pineapple Juice
4 cups Ginger Ale
2 bottles of Champagne (chilled)
0.5 cup Black Raspberry Liqueur
2 cups Fresh Raspberries

Its quick and easy, since all you have to do is mix all the ingredients in a large punch bowl.

Paper Plane

Ohh, the Paper Plane is one that should not be kept secret till the holiday season, actually you might look for excuses to make and serve this one!
1.5 oz Bourbon
1.5 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
1.5 oz Amaro
1.5 oz Aperol

The Paper Plane is again one of those so easy to make that you’ll hardly see it as an extra chore just before the big party, you simply combine all delicious ingredients into a shaker and mix it all up together with ice. Well, there is a whole lot of shaking’ going on, since you need to shake it for around 20 seconds, and once that is out of the way you strain it into chilled glasses and enjoy all the compliments form your appreciative guests.

Four Design Styles Simplified

By in Default

When someone asks you what design style you prefer, it’s often hard for the everyday person to explain, so below we going to break down and simplify some of the design styles you may have heard of.

Mediterranean


Some key elements in the Mediterranean design style include the layout of the room and how it is built. High arches, plastered walls and tiled or marbled floors are mostly seen in this type of home. Colours include warm, earthy tones; terracottas, browns, creams and golds, and every now and again, a blue or green will be used as a highlight colour in accessories.

Fabrics include scattered cushions that resemble tapestries, woven fabrics and cotton or silk rugs. In the living rooms, you will see big comfy couches with rounded edges with some exposed wood as well as decorative wooden tables showing off simple yet beautiful carvings. Bedrooms feature high poster beds and luxurious linens. No one can deny that Mediterranean-style designs are luxurious and rich and welcome you with a feeling of warmth.

Contemporary


The contemporary design is one of the favourites among young professionals. Furniture has square edges, creating the three-dimensional feeling of colour blocking. Colouring is normally a neutral colour or two, highlighted with something exciting, giving off the rather cliché but perfectly descriptive “pop” of colour. Black and red, grey and yellow, white and blues are some examples. Another characteristic to take note of is that a contemporary design is rather sparse and minimal, with zero clutter, a coffee table will display a fruit bowl or a candle maybe even a magazine or two, but that’s all, and it will be strategically placed, everything is neat and concise.

Rustic


Rustic designs are the epitome of upcycling. Here you will see unfinished wood everywhere, often whitewashed or painted and sanded down, with handmade nails exposed, and copper tacks along the seams of upholstered furniture. The rougher the wood or metal is, the better. Aged tea boxes are used as accent tables, restored shipping chests are used as coffee tables and pallet wood may even clad the walls. Scatter cushions and woven rugs play tribute to your grandmother’s cross-stitch creations while lampshades are indicative of hessian bags.

Traditional


When you walk into a traditionally styled room, you immediately feel like royalty, you might even find yourself craving tea and scones. This design includes rich, dark wooden floors, soft wall colours, top of the range fabrics and heavy wooden furniture. One of the most important things to consider with this design are the curvy, flowing, regal lines. Overstuffed couches are often full of fringed, plump scatter cushions, while windows are framed with heavy yet highly elegant drapes, that normally hang from the ceiling to the floor. The light-coloured walls display mirrors in bulky gold or silver decorative frames as well as beautifully painted watercolours. This is a wonderful design for the antique lover or someone who has inherited china and silver tea sets as this can all be easily incorporated into the design.

Glass Up Your Table via Decorative Napkin Folding

By in Default

Napkin folding is not something new. This decorative art form has been used for centuries to complete memorable table settings. The illustration above is one of the very first traced and was originally published around 1657. Napkin folding is both a hobby and a decorative folding art form used to complete from the most formal to the brightest themed table. It is most commonly seen in the fancy restaurants that often used clean pressed, starched linen napkins to ensure a luxurious look. There are variolous folding techniques and those not familiar with all the folded styles often uses glass, natural or rectangular napkin rings.

Decorative Napkin Folding – Where it All Started


The very first instruction manual on decorative or artistic napkin folding was published by Matthia Gieger in 1639. The German working as a meat carver at Padua enjoyed this hobby for many centuries. But it is also noted that napkin folding was used around 1638 in the times of Roi-Sleil the sun king and Louis the Great. Yet the while shift from neatly folded napkins to the decorative folding art form actually occurred in Florence during the sixteenth century. In Italy it was also the time-period of voluminous clothing at the time, fashion was seen as wealth and one of the greatest fashions of the time was the ballooned sleeves. It is during this time that laying a napkin flat on a plate was no longer in fashion and starched linen napkins became folded in such a way that it could multitask as a centrepiece.

Folded Napkins at Weddings


The folded napkins depicted many forms including natural elements, architectural form and mythical animals. Folded napkins also became a popular gift to wedding guests and the way these where folded personally by an artist would distinguish the quest of the bride from those of the broom.

Eighteen Century Table Setting Requires Specific Napkin Folding

By the mid 18th century in Germany table setting became quite a practice and so did the specific folds of napkins. There was even a school in Nuremberg in the golden age where housekeepers could go to learn the art of napkin folding. It is also in this century that napkin folding became an art form that included table sculptures, folded via precious offered by rulers and butlers where to check that each was folded exactly the same as all others.

Today, napkin folding is mostly performed for formal dinners, family lunches, Thanks Giving or Christmas celebrations. With hundreds if not thousands of napkin folding ideas, any party can unfold into a masterpiece. Starched, white linen napkins are not as often used as before, and many parties now have to do with paper or paper-foiled serviettes, yet still, the variety of colours and textures makes it possible to provide guests with the most wonderful table settings from tropical to classic to formal.

Elegant Gold and White Christmas Table Setting

By in Default

One of the best ways of celebrating Christmas is to ensure your table is beautifully set for the Christmas dinner. It is one of only a few times a year that the whole family are together and for this truly special occasion you can go as creative as you wish, especially if you decide on white and gold.

While the Christmas tree in most homes goes up about one month before, many hosts start planning the layout of the table. An elegant white and gold table is perfect for a large party or just a few family members getting together. It is by far the most affordable option for those on a budget since most homes already have a white dinner set, white tablecloth and white serviettes.

Achieve An Elegant Christmas Look

While table setting and decorations come naturally to some, others need a few guidelines, especially where to start. We follow one of the top designers as she gets going with planning her Christmas dinner table.

1. The heart of the table setting is the centre and once you have a striking centrepiece the rest almost shapes itself around it. If you have glass candlesticks they could be all you need at first, by lining up three down the centre you might be on your way to create a centrepiece nothing short of impressive.

2. Depending on the candlesticks you could plan on getting some scented candles, a hint of vanilla could be great as your guests take their seats, and it could give a lovely aroma to your home even before.

3. With the candles as your main piece, the nicest way to enhance the centrepiece is by using fresh cedar garland between the three candlesticks. Another great idea is low tiny fairy lights twirled in white chiffon. While the main colour of the table is white, it might be quite striking to add some green or red decorations for the effect.

4. Champagne and gold ribbons tied to ornaments are a fantastic way to add elegance to any table, although it is even more striking when used with white.

5. Why settle for only three candles, if you have more add them to the mix and create a true fest of light with smaller and larger candles all complementing each other. A simple tip if short on candle holders is to remember that they can easily be replaced by tall wine glasses turned upside down to give height to candles.

The final touches can be added via the beautiful serviettes, as with all elegant dinner tables the beauty lies in the attention to detail and when it is Christmas you are allowed to go a little overboard.

Great ideas are to make use a special serviette ring as it will be the first thing the quest sees apart from the centrepiece, and it is also the one thing everyone gets to use. Start planning your special dinner party now and have fun with decorating a truly elegant setting.

Setting The Table

By in Default

Before diving straight into inviting all the big bosses over for a formal dinner party, it might be best to first get to know all the tools of the trade. While most think it is all about planning the menu, it is actually a combination of things, starting from the place setting.

Casual Dinner Table Setting


The casual place setting is easy and can be remembered by children although it is important to repeat the setting in the same format to make everyone use to it. A few things worth remembering with the casual setting is that the knife blade should always face the plate since it prevents accidents when the knife is picked up. On the left of the plate is where the spoon, drinking glass, knife and the napkin belong.

Informal Dinner Table Setting


Slight more formal than the casual dining table setting the informal table have a few things added to it, which includes an additional spoon, salad fork, and the napkin moves.
With the few items added a casual setting can be transformed into an informal setting and the napkin can actually go anywhere, and should you wish to serve coffee the cup and saucer should be placed to the right top of the soup spoons. Remember this golden rule all liquids do go on the right side of the plate leaving the left for the solids.

Formal Place Setting


If you want to impress your important guests then the formal place setting also used at wedding receptions are the one to use. The formal place setting is one of the most commonly used for business and home dinners, although the place card is more seen at large business dinners. A few more things are added to the formal table setting starting with the glasses, extra knives, as well as a cup and saucer.

The Royal Place Setting


If it is a complete dinner setting plan you need, then the royal place setting is the one to follow, this is what you would need to use for inviting the royal family. When compared to any of the other settings it involves quite a few extra items, the number of glasses increase to five and include a sherry, red wine, white wine, champagne and water glass. Forks on the left side of the plate include a salad, fish and meat fork while the knives on the right correspond and are joined by a teaspoon, soup spoon and demitasse. The serviette is placed mostly on the left side of the plate, although it seems that again you are free to place it where you prefer. No matter the occasion once you know all the settings you can attend any function and know exactly what to expect, while at the same time you could arrange either a casual, informal, formal or royal dinner at your homebound to impress even the Queen herself.

Make Your Home Luxurious the Affordable Way

By in Designer Friend

Inventing a luxury sanctuary in your own home is often thought off as an overwhelming task as well as an expense. Upscale décor and opulent furniture are what first come to mind when the term “luxury” is involved, although designing experts say it doesn’t have to be. According to some of the best designers in the world, a few small changes made with the right planning and knowledge are all that is needed to enjoy a luxurious home environment without breaking your budget.

Simplify by Eliminating All Clutter


The first step before running off to designer furniture shops is to declutter the entire house, and one of the first actions needed in creating a luxurious feel or environment is to simplify. Most people fall in the trap of overdoing rooms via accessories, and a minimalist approach might seem counteractive at first but, in reality, this is the one time where the saying “less is more” have true meaning, and it is vital in creating a luxury home.

The most difficult step in the process could be getting rid of furniture that is unnecessary. These include additional side tables or bulky footrests that add to the feel of clutter if it does not have a real function in the room it should go, which allows the rest of the furniture and the statement pieces to make a statement via the space it will have. Once you’ve tackled the accessories, the next step is to group other accent pieces in threes. For example, three coloured glass vases on the entrance table or a group of only three pillows on the sofa make a luxury statement. Only once you’ve grouped and illuminated clutter it is possible to step back and make a few tweaks and plan on items necessary to create the luxurious feel want.

Biggest Difference Could Be Pampering Windows


An easy update can often be achieved by updating the windows achieved by high-end textures and fabric. Replace blinds with stylish drapes and combined with a clutter-free environment the change will be amazing. Fabric such as linen, silk or textured drapes revitalises an entire room, especially if you opt for lighter shades that lift the room. Avoid cutting off the room, if you have high ceilings use long curtains, at the end of the day living in luxury is all about the attention to detail, which could be achieved even with a small budget, yet there can be no short-cut when it comes to attention to detail. With all the clutter removed every piece of furniture or decoration now deserves the spotlight to make sure everything is worth the attention they could claim, and therefore the drapes play a major part. If you add plants to the room, remove all dried leaves they need to look fresh and well cared for, while dust free surfaces are another sign of luxury living in a clutter-free, stylish environment.

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