Under the Tuscan Sun!

In the last month,I had the privileged to work with a client that she wanted her kitchen to have a touch of Tuscany.Her inspiration was Under the Tuscan Sun-you know the movie!
So this film has been the influence of Tuscan style decor and design in one of my last projects.
Now, I don't want to tell you the whole movie-but in case you haven't seen it,I will tell you is a great one, a comforting movie.... You know how comfort food is--you indulge every bite!
My client wanted to recreate the comfort of a family kitchen with a clean style and a timeless beauty.
The Tuscan kitchen design is based on all the warm and cozy colors. The earth natural colors, tones of browns yellow, terracotta rusty red. Natural materials are very important for decorating a Tuscan kitchen style. Use stone, slate,granite,and marble.
Those are ideal to use for counter tops,use similar for flooring. Stone,slate,granite,are all good choices also a very great choice is to consider terracotta for flooring-that's the real Tuscan feel.

One of the most important aspects for decorating a Tuscany style kitchen is to get the color choices right.
The best colors for Tuscan kitchen are warm earthy that gives a rustic feeling.Use yellow, burnt orange,and terracotta, mix this with browns and burgundy or go for olive green.

If possible apply your paint color to walls with a texture and not smooth.
If your walls are smooth you have several option to try adding some more,rough plastering as a base for your painting.
Use textured paints such as suede, you can also try a faux paint finish or cracked antique plaster to add the real Tuscan kitchen style.

Your furniture should be rustic with an old fashion in feel.Choose chunky wood furniture with a distressed finish with plenty of chipped and old paint on it.
Or try to create your own distress look(Ask me How).
Mix in plenty of wrought iron in furniture or accessories such as candelabras or wall scones.Add iron wine racks and plant stand for decorating.

Other accessories which will give a fantastically Tuscan style are ceramics, terracotta rustic style pottery,bowls,pitches and jars.
Also you can add strings of garlic or hang small branches of scented herbs.A great touch is the use of the motifs,like lemons,olives,sunflowers,and grapevines all this helps to create a unique look.

When you have finish decorating your Tuscany Style Kitchen make sure you sit back and enjoy with a home-cooked meal of Tuscan fare and a well deserved glass of wine.

Accessorize your home

Here are few tips and tricks that I use and you can use them too, for any type of accessories-whether their from flea market or pricey collectibles.

Make it Personal:

Accessories more than anything else in your home add personality to a home. They make your home more inviting and comfortable.
While the are few basic principals for arranging accessories,you don't always need a degree to learn how to do it, just learn to experiment the fun and don't be afraid to break the rules. Rules are made to be break and whats more important is that your going to satisfy your on taste.Because you want your home to be about you.


Make sure you got balance.Balance keeps arrangements from looking lopsided.

Placements:

Keep the following in mind when displaying your accessories:

Create grouping.Display objects together in odd number combination of three or five work well.
Place similar objects together. According to color,shape or design.
Alternate height of pieces.Objects of varying height in a grouping add visual interest.
Zigzag or alternate the pieces from the back to front instead of placing them in straight line.
Place three objects in a triangle with the tallest in the back.

Alternate texture:

Bring together items of different texture for a unique look.Alternative shiny with flat or hard objects with softer ones,like if you have a grouping of brass candlesticks and a ceramic vase try using a plant or a basket for a softer look.

Find focal Point:

Arrange everything around one major object to centre the groupings.

Use mirrors as accessories and if your mirror looks lost on the wall, then try to place small paintings, or decorative scones and wall lamps on either side .


Also don't forget about your entrance(foyer)!Remember the foyer is the first impression of your home so make it interesting.

Add plants or pictures to the room try to fit a small furniture like, a sofa table,bench,or a chair all this add to a lived-in appled.

Books are great decorative items use books to elevate small items.Place them in any area of your home.Use all possible decorative spaces around your home. Place plant,tins and books on top of cabinets or armories.

Place a big basket with a lid within a tossing distance of your bed to store magazines,linen or clothing.

List but not last,candles are one of my favourite, all type and in all sizes there are great in any rooms.

If you want more info or have any dilemmas on how to take your room from bland to breathtaking,Id be happy to help you...just send me an email to magda.prepyournest@gmail.com


Happy Decorating,
xoxo
Magda

Our home is a busy place...

It's noisy, and bustling, sometimes messy-always lived in.

Is not cold, chaotic, or always a very well controlled house.
Its warm, and welcoming and imperfect.

My hubby and I work very hard to set the tone of our home. We have made conscious choices to create a healthy atmosphere for our family.
The other night before bed we were reading-Moments with you: Daily Connection for Couples together.In it Donna Otto founder of Homemakers by Choice writes, Parents are not called to be the thermometers,in the home but the thermostats. Thermostats don't just read the temperature they guide. They determine how warm or cool the house environment will be. It's so true!
We've found where is tension in our marriage or when we are grumpy and disconnected so are our children.
They are taking their cues from us.We want our home to have a purpose and direction and since we have two most adorable teenagers in our household, and a very busy grade one boy, we try to take back control, of our time spend as a family. I was stressed about all this hectic after school schedule so we decide not to enrolled them in so many..and TV and video games, all this ruled our home for a while.I cannot tell you how much the tone has change in our family since we decided to eliminated some of the busyness.
The temperature is just right(we do have a seven year old very, active boy-so take that in account).

Other very important element for me to be able to change the tone of our home was to start planning my meals. Now more than ever I'm out of the house more and sometimes I found hard to come home and start dinner, so for this I came up with a plan.
I am a busy mom as I said so I NEED it to start figuring out a plan how to make beautiful,easy delicious and healthy meals that I can whip up when I walk in the door and feel like a super Mom.
Now in my household we have teenager's that eats mostly anything, I know there are many kids out there that they might not eat half of the meals that I am going to put here but there just some suggestions and hopefully you can make them work for your own family.

I meet a lot of people over the years that said I don't cook, I don't like to cook...well sometimes before dinner time even the ones that loves to cook can have mealtime dilemma(what I am going to make tonight).

There are literally millions of recipe out there. You can find them in cookbooks, on the Internet,in magazines and newspapers and of course in your mom or grandmother old recipe box.
The key is to develop some recipe that work for you and your family and has a nutrient packed but still tastes good, everybody in your family likes it, and easy to make and can be on the table fast..
This is a example of how I planed my meals on a budget last week:

Sunday: -Roasted Chicken,mashed potatoes, sauteed vegetables

Monday:-Split Pea soup, Chicken Salad sandwiches, roasted yams(cut them like french fries and put them in the oven with a bit of olive oil at 400 degrade oven)

Tuesday:- Broiled Steak, mashed potatoes, green beans

Wednesday:-Lasagna, steamed broccoli, and salad

Thursday:-Steak&Chicken fajitas,rice and beans

Friday:-Spaghetti meat sauce and Cesar salad

Saturday: We went out for dinner with friends
To save time and money I used several of the meals from leftovers meals and create new ones. Like Sunday chicken become Monday Chicken Salad, Tuesday Steak and Monday Chicken become Thursday fajitas..when i make Wednesday lasagna sauce i make more for Friday spaghetti.

I also use this very often to create a nice meal in no time;

-Brush Salmon with soy sauce&sesame oil and broil serve over rice and asparagus(frozen ones works as well as fresh)

-Pesto:blend basil, garlic,oil, pine nuts and a bit of spinach( a healthy choice and also the pesto will have a nice green colour)and Parmesan, serve over pasta.

-Dredged fillets of fish in flour and fry in olive oil and a touch of butter,serve with your favorite veggies.

-Fill a whole wheat burrito wrapper with leftover rice and beans, meat and cheese.

-Fritatta(Italian omelets)Make a omelet with your favorite fillings(I like potatoes, chorizo,onion, peppers) but instead of folding once the eggs are set top with cheese and bake in a 400 degrade oven until brown.(Every friend of mine like this fritatta when I serve it for lunch with a salad on the side)

-Fried Rice, scrambled eggs, and tablespoon of oil to pan, leftovers rice frozen peas, and a tablespoon of soy sauce and fry.

-Fry some bacon, chicken or salmon, chopped onion add some cream, a touch of butter,Parmesan and broccoli simmer to reduce and serve over penne or farfalle(bow tie) pasta.
Those are some of my standards,please share yours!

I would love to hear your secrets...so now,
Roll up your sleeves, put on your apron and get cooking!!!!

Happy cooking,
Love xxx,

Magda

That time of the year-Organizing-

I'm willing to bet you have some stuff you or someone you live with is keeping with very little reason or without a very good reason.

But the thing is, its easier to find excuses for why you should keep something and delay making a decision rather than making a firm(and sometimes a difficult)choice to say goodbye to your stuff.

Here are the most five excuses I heard that most people cant get rid of clutter.

Which one your using(or heard in your own home).

1.I might need it someday...
Yes,you might,But the thing is most of the items we keep can easily be found or replaced.Lots of men(my husband included)keep screw and nail created and store it way like a squirrel with his nuts.

But what happened is these little tiny items creates more and more clutter and it gets to a point where you cant find anything that little screw became like a needle in a haystack.

2.I'm going to start wearing this again...
Do you know that statistic says that we only wear less than 50%of the clothes we own
Keep what you wear and what you re going to wear keep one set of ratty clothes for doing housework or gardening.
Everything else you own should be the things you love and feel comfortable wearing.

3.So-and-so Gave me this...
I'm all for keeping memories and items that reminded us of people we love.
But the truth is memories are not in the clutter, the nick-knacks,and the stuff you have shoved in a box.
I wont say get rid of everything and its not always easy decision,but try and keep the special things you cherish.
Also get them out in the open on display where you can enjoy them.

4.I paid money for this thing!
I'm sure you did, But the thing what has more value...this item you no longer have use for or the way you enjoy your house.The item ...or you happiness,the item..or you space.

5.Oh..Im just trying to figure out what to do with it...
See, if it takes so much mental work to figure it what to do with something, I guess that it may not be worth as much you think.
If you cant figure out what to do it something, then I will tell you from my own experience that you wont miss it too much after all.


There is a lot more value in you enjoying you home,your family, and your friends than the stuff you paid for and not use it anymore.

If you need any help in organizing your home or tips in how to do it, please contact me.

Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!!

When Christians greet one another with these words, we affirm the unity of believers and also a profession of our faith on Easter morning.It sets an appropriate tone of rejoicing for the day and a reminder also for our kids who may be excited about their Easter baskets,that they tend to forget what we are celebrating.
Easter baskets and Easter eggs hunt are surely fun for children along with chocolate eggs, and jelly beans nearly every family has its own special custom and tradition for Easter.
The colors for Easter Sunday are white and yellow.The Easter season white symbolizes the hope of the Resurrection as well as the purity and newness that comes from the victory over sin. The yellow symbolizes the light of the world brought by the risen Christ.
Decoration for the Easter table dont not have to be lilies,but it would be nice to have spring flowers in to a vase for the center of the table with flowers you never go wrong,and candles really ought to be part of the table decoration, not only because they are festive,but because of the allusion of the Light of Christ.

Traditional Easter recipe usually focus on the colors and the fresh flavors of the spring vegetables,paired with ham,or roast lamb or roast turkey.I always try to find fresh herbs to accent my cooking and seek out for peas, asparagus,new potatoes or anything that is just coming into the season this time of the year.
Whatever I use a pale yellow table cloth with fresh white plates or just using pastel colorful napkins on a white tablecloth for Easter season,using pastels is a sure way to make your table look fresh and spring like.
I grow up with having color eggs and I like painting them the way I was doing it when I was a little girl, so every year I like to have fun with my kids by painting Easter eggs.
I also like to make this fun&festive looking drink for the day(and tasty too)rainbow sherbet and 7-up.One of my faves are deviled eggs for an appetizer.
You can make it fun by nestle them on a platter of Easter grass or coconut mixed with a bit of green coloring.
I am not good a baking at all,but at Easter i like to make cupcakes and decorate them with colored frosting and sprinkled with few jelly beans and you got a colourful Easter egg nest cupcake.
I surely have fun with my youngest son and my daughter making cupcakes last night and I will post some pictures soon.
Have a blessed Easter day,enjoy your family and the yummy food that you prepare,and don't forget the Easter Egg Hunt,also please free to share you favs of Easter season.
XOXO
Magda

Be a lover of Hospitality

Be a lover of hospitality,a lover of good men,sober,just,holy,temperate.Titus1:8

I have always been a lover of hospitality-Ive had parties and get together with my friends for any possible reason to celebrate.
Over the years Ive collected decoration and centerpieces for every season and have know where they were for display at the right time. As my children grew up,they become lovers of hospitality also.We have had extra people living with us at times,and all the time more people at our table then my family.
We move,more then average people but is nothing that brings me more joy then to start all over again with a house,even a temporary one.Looking back the Lord really had a sense of humor to take a person who had spend her life in nice home and then plunk her into a abandoned bungalow(guest home).Hadn't He promised me an abundant,not abandoned life.When we build our home we end up not once but twice to live in this place(very thankful for friends) but nothing that i tough I would ever do.
Oh,what a lesson the Lord had in mind for me!He had to teach me that it wasn't the surroundings but the spirit that made for genuine hospitality. As a family we crowded into those small rooms,with the small kitchen and we knew that the Lord filled our family reservoirs with rich experience.
Could I ever entertain in a small Bungalow one..yes I could and I did. Hospitality doesn't depend on size of your home but on the spirit of your heart.In fact the dictionary says hospitality is the spirit of being hospitable which is behaving in a kind and generous manner towards guests fond of entertaining.
Much to my surprise I found few people had anybody in for any kind of reasons.
Why should Christian entertain.The bible tells us to use hospitality one to another without grudging(1Peter4:9)Peter tells us to open our homes without complaining.How often I hear a women bemoaning the fact that she has to have some people over.There so many excuses to use,when we don't entertain more often.

My house is too small.How big are your guests, you only need a average chair size.I guess many of us been using that as a excuse, and then you figure it that you dont need a big house to have company.

My house is not decorated yet.I have one friend who told me for ten years shed have over when she got the house done.Once I arrived to deliver something to her and she kept me out on the front step because the house wasn't ready.I really expected someday that the great unveiling would come but she moved before that happened.

I'm not a good cook,i don't like cooking...Now theres a real excuse or is it, there is no much out there if you want to start cooking, cooking classes, beautiful cooking books, the recipe that you find in every magazine,or the thirty minutes meals cookbook.
One evening I was served an excellent creamed chicken on a flaky pastry shell and when I complimented the hostess she said..I am not really a good cook but I don't let that keep me from not have friends over.I bought a few pouches of cream chicken and heated up the frozen shells.Most people seem to like this.

I don't have time.If this is a valid excuse,but you might find sometime after church,or an a Friday or Saturday evening.Or all your girlfriends for lunch,or you can host a dessert night,or a game night.

People don't ask us back.Join the club!In my social days I used keep a record,but one day I was reading article that said that Christian hospitality is what you find in Luke14:12-14 ....When you put on a dinner,he said don't invite friend,brothers, relatives and rich neighbors.For they will return the blind.Then at the resurrection of the godly,God will reward you for inviting those who cant repay you.From theses verses I learned that i was to be a lover of hospitality without ever expecting anything in return.

Sometimes when we entertain we have to do all the work and it seems overwhelming.
How can we make entertain fun.First decide what type of entertaining you want to do.if your inexperienced or unsure of yourself don't start with an elegant dinner party for twelve.

What are different possibilities:

Instead for a sit down dinner where you may feel like a glorified waitress you could try a buffet supper where the food is prepared, laid out on a buffet table, and guests serve themselves. They can sit a the table, or any available chair or couch.
The potluck can be served as the buffet but the guests bring a least of the food.
Coffee and teas are about the simplest type of entertaining you can do and often the most fun for all because you are relaxed.In these hurried days where few entertain formally, and invitation for a coffee is welcomed.If you have some cookies or a muffin bring those out, but a sociable hour around a cup of coffee can be a blessed time of sharing.

If you are a lover of hospitality or if your about to become one,and your wiling to prepare a table for others, you will delight the Lord and your guests.
Please share whats your favourite way of entertain.

Palm Sunday Joy....

Today is Palm Sunday,It celebrate Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem on a entry on a donkey when people waves palm leaves, and shouted Hosanna-(save us)! Blessed is he
who come in the name of the Lord.Mark11:9
It also the start of the beginning of the Holy week, the last week of Jesus life on earth,and together with Easter it is the most scared part of the Christian calendar.Until recently I used to think Christmas was the biggest event of the year,but I guess that was due to the info commercials and the store abundances.Now I see why Holy week and Easter is so much bigger.It celebrates Jesus death and Resurrection this passages from the death to life from our salvation. The greatest Christian holiday celebration of Resurrection of Jesus spring symbolizes the awakening of life and time for natural rebirth, new beginning and warmer weather(for us).Well everyone is putting up their Easter displays...everyone is putting the bunny and that is cool don't get me wrong.....But what I would like to do is a Christian Easter display,to have a 15f inflatable JESUS that has his arms straight out, to have a 8f inflatable cross and I would like my church to have a projection screen for all the cars that passes to see it (with no accidents involved) to show video of Jesus coming out of the grave-is that a great idea! I think if we don't have Easter then we would not have Christmas either.I love Christmas and everything about it the songs, the food, the greetings-peace and joy.
We need deep freedom, peace and joy at all times right, not only at Christmas.I have noticed in myself times when I drift away from faith and become more self absorbed of daily life,my sense of deep freedom,peace and joy grow faint.
I have constantly draw my mind back to God and his teaching.The bible is the best self help book ever written!
There is something in there to help and guide us thought all situations.I am very thankful to one of my dear friends Jodie who years ago gave me my first Study Bible which has helped me deepen my understanding of scripture.Once I absorb myself again in the word of the Lord I again come closer to deep freedom,peace and joy. I invite you to do the same!
Blessings and love!!!

Spring is the air...not really!

Well,as we all know Spring should be in the air, we don't feel it,but we know is here when you look on the calendar and with the arrival of this much anticipated season comes for many, a renewed commitment to get organized at home.
And these days, getting organized has never been easier or more stylish. The key is to start with the little things..Don't try to organize everything in one day.Turn trash into a treasure..You don't need a huge budget for a dramatic change.Your furniture may not be glamorous but its functional-you may not need to buy a new desk.A professional sprayed on-cream colour paint make the furniture look clean and new.
Create a space that reflects the time of the year by just adding some seasonal decorating ideas into your home decor.
Most important try to create a space that s beautiful and reflects who you are so that you ll feel at home.
How do you create such haven
Who are you-list five values that best describe you and think about ways to honour them in your home. Discover your style...clip magazine photos of rooms,furniture and accessories,that you might find inspiring.
With Spring in full swing get inspired to make the most of it(even if the weather is depressing).
Open up the windows and let the fresh breeze flow through the house.
Another way to make the house fresh is to clean the carpet-especially if you've got kids.
Wash or dry clean your winter gear then bag or box them and get them out to the way.
As soon as the weather permits get out in the garden.
And for a real seasonal shift in the house change over cushions, sheets, and throw lighter or brighter colours. It doesn't have to be a drastic change to your decor but just a change.
Have fun getting ready for the ultimate changing seasons...