If your ever planning to decorate your home,and don't know where to start the first thing to do is to find out your personal style. There are many different design style, that might appeal to you.

For instance, Victorian, Retro, Southwestern, Asian style, Moroccan or African are few...European decorating style are very popular from Mediterranean and Tuscan style, to French Country, English cottage, and Italian Renaissance style.

One very popular home decorating style and very often found in Vancouver home is shabby chic. This stylish fits in perfectly with all the recent attention on saving, recycling and become ecologically friendly- is also a very good fit in a difficult economical situation.
You can re-purposing older furniture paint them with a sign of distress is a foundation of this causal yet elegant style. Older, vintage fabrics, painting mix of china and glassware as well as decorating accessories and silk roses characterize this style.

Another style to consider and very common is the Traditional style. A traditional style decor often is very symmetrical and balanced with furniture and accessories centered in pairs. Everything is very neat and orderly.

Living rooms is usually upholstered in smooth fabrics and gentle curve lines. White and cream colours are most often used in the Traditional style for lamps shades, draperies, painted trim, chair rails. Window treatments are traditional sheers or draperies on travers rods. Lamps are matching and place in pairs. The dinning rooms in complete with large rectangular table, big rug centred beneath, and hardwood flooring.

A country interior design style guide will be varied. You can go rustic( simple lakeside cabin with only basic home decorating furnishing, new country airy and light with no window coverings and minimal furnishing)
Contemporary country ( still simple and homey but using red, black, and wihite as your accent colours) English and French country ....hm you get the picture.

Country is a popular decorating style because it is so informal and features lots of baskets, iron, pottery combine to make this wonderful accents most hand made. This style make the house feels like home and visitors feels welcome and relaxed in this slightly old-fashion atmosphere.

An interior design style guide to contemporary home decorating will suggests minimal window treatments,and uncluttered rooms. For accessories a single important big piece or a major painting may be all the you find in a room. Fabrics have interesting textures, furniture will have light colours, natural wood or metal. Don't mistake this look for modern!

With all this different decorating style to choose from, hopefully you've found one that really appeals to you. Have fun decorating, and don't forget make it own,and enjoy your home! Make your house a Home!

If you have any more information please send me an email and let me know how I can help you!

Happy decorating,
Magda xo

Eye Candy!!

I had the privilege to work on a very unique project... designing dessert table to fit my clients needs and I try to this in a very fashionable and fun way. I personally don't call my self a baker...but I like desserts so personally I sample the products I enjoy that part very much!!!
Here I few very creative and inspiring, and one of my latest projects that I work on in the last few weeks come to life last night-Pink and Yellow Diamond Dessert Table and I was so blessed to work with some very talented bakers to make this design dessert table that was inspired from a geometric diamond rug motif pattern that my client had it from her mom.

Now I can say that inspiration can come from anywhere!
For desserts we came up with mini cherry ice cream cakes, EDIBLE pink chocolate cupcake wrappers. These completely edible mini wrappers are ideal for parties..you can eat the whole cupcake without worrying about throwing away a wrapper. There was also a fondant cake with the diamond pattern, raspberry-lemon panna cotta, cake filled truffles covered with pink and yellow sprinkles. Also a beautiful diamond shaped stained-glass cookie garland.
I hope you enjoy the pictures!

I learn few things about how to display photos on your wall and also a great friend of mine was asking me how is the best way to do it so I decide to share with everybody my suggestions when you consider putting a photo wall display in your home.

Of course we all seen the pages of magazine with perfect picture display but we never consider to think about that has been design so careful to coordinate the style and layout of the room. Well, we all can do that with few extra steps will be able to design a wall and is worth the effort when you see how beautiful it all come together.

Here are the top things to consider when considering a photo wall display in your home:


Location:

Be sure to pick a wall in your home that gets lots of viewing space and gets no direct sunlight. You want your friends and family to enjoy your special images. The best location in my opinion is a hallway, my personal favourite is also the stairways and living room because usually offer plenty of wall space. Consider your furniture placement as well since the photo wall is meant to accent your space. This is a very important part of creating your wall.


Consistency:

When choosing frames and pictures to use, it is important to keep some consistency among them. When selecting images you can choose either all black, brown, white or even all vibrant colors whichever you use they should be very similar or the same. When choosing frames the most important thing to keep in mind is that is the best to either have the same size frames for all your images in either the same or different colors or you can choose different sized frames in one uniform color. If you have too many different sizes in all different colors it will be very confusing to the viewers eye.
Try not to mix and match frame styles on the same display,if your using modern frame then use all modern frames in your display.


Hanging your photo wall:

This is the part that no one seem to like, but with careful planning and patience the outcome will be stunning.
Make sure you have a level, pencil, hammer and nails on hand. The general rule of thumb is 2''- 3'' between each frame .

A great way to start is to do a quick stretch of how you think the image will look best hung. Once you decide on where to hang the first image the you can work out from there deciding on placement. Whatever you choose to hang them in a formatted style or any other style be sure to take your time because it takes patience and more patience to get it right! But the efforts will be so worth it once your wall is complete for you to enjoy!

ps. If you any more questions about how to decorate a wall please just email me!
Till next time blessings from -M-xo

Ask Magda!

Adding Color to my kitchen-Safely!

Lately I got a lot of friends asking me questions about decor and design so with their permission I decided to use some of their questions in my blog to help others that might face the same dilemma.

Question:

I love color, but I'm afraid to use it in our home for a couple of reasons. My first reason is that we may not have this house forever, and I don't want to scare a potential future buyer away. My other reason is, I'm afraid of getting sick of it fast. What is a way to get some color into my kitchen with getting sick of it and with it being OVERKILL!

Answer:


I completely understand. This battle goes back and forth in my mind daily. I adore color and it make me feel great, but I do get worried about doing too much sometimes.

I think you first have to think about what color you love to live with. Whats a color that you never get sick off. For me, I never get sick of green, black and red. I love those colors and it makes me feel good looking at them, also goes with almost anything.

If your really unsure what color you want to live, I would say to you,to do something as simple as accessorizing your kitchen. There are may great ways to introduce color to a bland kitchen.

Here are my suggestions:

1. I love to cook but I am in no way, shape or form a cook that makes desserts, I love eating them but I can make them so for that I learn a trick (buying a Kitchenaid) would really help me by trying to use it a lot, and also I love leaving it out on my counter top because it adds color and a little retro vibe to my kitchen. Not in the market for mixer, try blender or toaster too!


2. If you have a free wall, another way to integrate color is to buy dishes in colors you love and hang them on an empty wall. I love Kate Spade dishes because there plain but have a hint of color. Or, if you have exposed shelves, another way to show some color is with a bold print.

3. A rug in a kitchen is always a nice way to keep your feet warm and add a little something to the space.

4. Last, a light fixture can also make simple stunning statement!

One more thing to remember that you don't have to spend a lot of money to do this. A simple white dish with a colored monogram, hanging from your oven or a colorful tea pot on your range can add a difference to your space. Have fun with it and please send me pictures!

Till next time-M-xo

What I know for Sure!

I am blessed to live in a house that overlooks Fraser River.In the days that the sun rises over the river,I am usually there to see it. That is my time with myself. I stand quietly waiting for my coffee to filter or my water to boil for tea, watch as the fiery red orange glow rises above. Its a sacred time, as I open the bible and let the word guide me. Every time the sun comes up I am reminded that I am given another opportunity to live my best of life. And every morning I take a moment to relish the wonder of what the Lord has to say to me.
What I know for sure is that every day the sun will rise again...It will rise tomorrow and the next day and next week and the week after. No matter what is happening in my life, your life, our world,the sun is going to keep rising and I trust the Power of the Lord allows that to occur. I call it sunrise faith.

I believe the Lord will not only allows the sun to rise but makes the planet circle one more time, turns embryos into babies, seeds into flowers, and dreams to reality. All we need is faith.
Do you believe in that power or are you trusting only in yourself

When you put your trust only in yourself, you say thinks like Oh I hope I have enough or Maybe I can just hang on. Faith is knowing that you will make it thought. Its believe that God loves you, and your worthiness it to Him. Its understanding that miracles can open your life in ways you never imagined. All we need to do is surrendering your dreams to Him...
Even on the days when you cant see the sun its there. Every flow in a plan when the sky is overcast, from the ground all you can see are dark clouds but when the plane climbs above the clouds, your able to see the sun. The sun is always there, shining.
So next time you find yourself surrounded by darkness in the middle of storm and everything is upside down, take a moment to give thanks, because you know, as I know that no matter what, the sun is going to rise. It will get better, believe it will!

Every day I ask God to teach me a specific lesson,and because of that I learn to how to trust, how to have courage, and to face the new day full of not always pleasant staff. Oh boy trust me is not always easy to learn, confronting people, risking to be disliked, or just being quite and wait.
Every day we are given the infinite opportunity to learn, our life is a journey to learn about yourself author Gary Sukav says. If we listen and learn what the Lord has for us we can all get better dealing with our everyday life, all the pain,despair, joy, compassion the we feel its possible in a place like mine overlooking the river, or in your quite moment in your sacred spot of your home. Today I am very emotional and that s one of the reasons that I encourage you to let the Lord speaks to you, and by listening and making Him a very important part of your life your can reinvent yourself each day.

Until next time-M-xox

The stuff that the life is "made" of!!!

The whole business of organizing my home or as a matter fact others gets my stomach churning. The way I see it, there is two type of people in this world: the ones who have stuff and the ones who don't. Or should I say the ones who choose to collect stuff and the ones who don't. After all as hard as it is to admit it is a choice. We all making a life choice every time we buy a gift for a birthday a year away, or new glasses just because I like their great shape, despite the lack of space in my cupboard. We all meet or heard of people saying "I don't have anything in closet that I haven't worn in more than a year"! A year? I have blouses that there older then my kids(not many) but still. My biggest problem right now is to understand how people can change, like the ones that they used to be bears of stuff and then have a mind change after someone like me organize their homes. No talking about closets only...like the entire home style. They usually ask people like me who are doing this for living to load up everything including their grandmother's teacups without any fuss.
Intellectually I get it, the idea is unbelievable appealing. It's no different than talking to a friend who works out everyday and tells me who great she feels. Of course she feels great-she makes perfect sense.

So why I don't we all do it then? I guess our intellect isn't always the part of the one that makes decisions of what to do. I'm a magnet stuff. I collect stuff. For me getting rid of my stuff would like getting rid of my memories and passion, I don't mind sorting, packing, unpacking, clean out and reorganize every season. It brings me comfort and something to look forward.

I know I'm not alone and a dear friend of mine told me that letting go stuff is like your mind says -Yes- but your heart says -No-
So true!!!

Love to hear how your dealing with organizing and get rid of your stuff..feel free to email me back.

Until next time-M
xox

My favourite interior designer tips:

1.If your buying new furniture,measure your room and the furniture.Scale the room&furniture on cutout newspaper 1feet=1inch and see if the furniture are proportionate to the room. Make sure there is space to walk around your furniture.

2.Feel free to mix&match different style,like contemporary with oriental pieces or traditional with a modern piece.Just don't over do it. The mix helps give your home drama.

3.One way to beautify a room even if the walls are white is by putting moldings and baseboards.

4.If you want to make a room look bigger, use mirrors that give you an illusion of more space.Colors also affects the illusion of space. Similar colors with different shades (monochromatic color scheme) like off withes, cream and beige will give you the appearance of more space in the other hand colors like red,yellow, will give you an impression of smaller space and colors like green&blue will give you openness appearance.

5.I like to use more daring colors on hallways or staircases places that you just pass by and don't really stay as often like your bedroom.

6.Install your pictures on the wall at the eye level,by putting them up your ceiling seems lower.

7.If your putting rugs on your floors to make your room cozy, make sure to rotate your rug once in a while to even out the wear and tear.

8.When choosing a new color for a wall paint a section of the wall and observe it for few days.It is good idea to paint one shade lighter than your sample,because almost always the color on your sample looks brighter on a big wall than on a small swatch.

9.Consider wallpapering for a big impact but if you c to choose to wallpaper the bathroom make sure you use vinyl wallpaper and not paper.

10.Use a neutral colours scheme for a major furniture pieces, add colour with painting throws,and cushions that are easy to change out.


Your home should reflects you-your personality. You can hire me or any other interior designer or decorator but in the end it should be about you, and your family.Go along only with suggestion that is pleasing you and your family.

I hope this list was helpful and if you have any question feel free to email me.
Thank you for stopping by till next time,

XO
Magda