Supernatural Botanicals

After a long day’s work, I love going to the library, perusing the new release section of books, and bringing them home to my bed and scattering them all out for a couple hours of reading before turning in.  It’s one of my favorite things in life! 

Consider this: Every day this month, get rid of one thing each day. Not having a lot of “things” is crutial to preserving resources, and removing the extraneous just makes life better.

While I wouldn’t classify myself as an organizational freak, per se, I certainly am a fan of the notion a place for everything, and everything in its place.  One way to create space and eliminate clutter is to ditch all your owners manuals.  When you have a question about your product, you can likely find the answer on the manufacturer’s website or at sites like www.ManualsMania.com or The www.UserManualSite.com. 

Chocolate brown walls are really hot right now.  Brown is the new black …or at least it is this season.  Chocolate brown walls are super-chic and rich looking and dramatically transform a room into an elegant, grown up space.  If you are color-phobic, start with painting one wall in your space a deep shade of chocolate, and accessorize with creamy white mouldings.  It’s a gorgeous look, and can go across the board style-wise, from urban to suburban.   (And to be green…Make sure the paint you purchase is either low-VOCs or no-VOCs. )

Gorgeous, yet so easy.  I’ll be making this centerpiece for my Thanksgiving dinner.  Simply clip a cluster of branches from a tree in your yard, (it’s time to prune anyway),  or use fallen branches, and secure it into a large vase.  Hang tealight candles from the branches and surround the base with flowers or leaves.  It’s as simple as that.  Gorgeous, low cost, high impact, and totally Green.  Love that!

Color Trending for 2010:  Blue has been gone for so long, it’s making its way back onto the color wheel.  With a heavy emphasis on earth tones, golden honey especially, blue walls took a back seat.  Now we see it’s reemerging in every form.  Robin’s egg blue (or Tiffany’s box blue, if you prefer) and shades of everything from tans to deep chocolate browns are showing up in design everywhere.  Embrace the color blue, it’s on its way back.

Friday Feature:  Hampton’s Style.  One word…Gorgeous.  Two words… Ridiculously Gorgeous!  Let’s discuss: Hampton’s style.  This beach house look is clean and minimalistic.  The use of black and creamy white are perfect in contrast.  Framed pictures (matching mats and black frames are key) add wonderful contrast to the painted bead board walls.  The black iron chandelier is so minimalistic, yet beautiful.  The best part about this design is that it’s so achievable.  Keep your focus with creamy white walls, matching frames in black of varying sizes, and a substantial, yet simple, chandelier to bring this look together.  If you stick with a theme, such as this Hampton’s style decor, it’s easy to design a room like a professional. 

Don’t rule out your outdoor living space just because the temperatures are dropping.  Some of my best parties were held outdoors in the Fall.  It seems to make parties cozier, in fact.  An essential for a Fall party is a fire pit or outdoor fireplace for warmth and light.  Keep the fire stoked all night…you’ll need it for s’mores after dinner.  Adding lanterns with small candles to tree branches around the entire perimeter makes it glow, and again, lends extra warmth.  Serve heartier eats, such as spicy chili, tacos, or a beef brisket.  Learn how to make some delicious after dinner hot drinks that warm you up, and get you in the mood for a party (see below.)  Add a great smooth jazz CD music mix to the background and decorate the the entire area with fall colors.  It’s a guaranteed magic night! 

Peppermint Patty Hot Drink:

1 Shot of Peppermint Schnapps

Hot Chocolate to fill glass

Top with Whipped Cream and an Andes Chocolate Mint.

Go Green at work.  With the availability of instant messaging, video conferencing, and other innovative workflow tools, it makes telecommuting a reality.  If you have the option to telecommute, take it.  It saves you commute time in the car (sparing your time and the air), gas money and tons of money you’d spend on lunches.  Time taken off from work is practically non-existent for telecommuters (because you can drag yourself to your home office looking miserable with a cold, where as you’d be far more inclined to call in if you worked in an office environment.)  Telecommuting works for 44 million Americans.  I love that TreeHugger’s staff works from their home offices! 

Can’t telecommute?  Then stack it up.  Work four 10-hour days instead of five 8-hour days a week, cutting the energy and time spent on commuting by 20% …not to mention a three-day weekend.

Find more great design ideals at Hooked On Houses.

    Bedroom closet tip:  Sort clothing by color so you automatically know where a particular item can be found.   Also use space-saving tiered and belt hangers to keep collections of pants, blouses, skirts, and accessories available at a glance.  …A place for everything, and everything in it’s place.  It makes your closet a much happier place to be.