Home Decorating Ideas for the Holidays – Get the Look for Less

The interior designers at Lamps Plus, the leading online home décor and lighting store, know That Can Be it a challenge to create a beautiful home space for the holidays without breaking the bank. With the holiday season fast approaching entertaining, family and friends soon eu Will arriving on your doorstep to help you celebrate. Here are 5 ways to use fresh home decor to add style to your holiday home for Those looking for Home Decorating ideas on a budget.

1. Make a Great First Impression
For starters, Guests arriving Will Consider see how your house. Lynda Gould, Lamps Plus Corporate Interior Design Manager, advises, "Start with the entryway decor of your house, Which is the first thing your see When Will They Guests arrive. Holiday decorations, party lights, or decorative candle HOLDERS in the foyer or entry hall Will warm and help set a tone for the rest Inviting the evening. "
Lynda says that simple ideas go a long way Can When it comes to Decorating, so you do not Need to make an overwhelming impression right off the bat. "A little can say a lot," she notes. "A simple wreath, soft lighting from a table lamp or candle light are all Inexpensive ways to create the holiday spirit and welcome your Guests Into the rest of your home."

2. Create Conversational Areas for Guest to Linger and Talk
Lamps Plus blogger and designer Michael Murphy suggests Creating Areas Where Guests Can gather and converse. One idea is to add a new area rug or reposition an Existing rug to visually define a conversation area. "Position a bar cart or hors d'oeuvres table near the area to encourag Guests to mingle," says Michael.
"You'll swear surprised to see how this Can Be Effective at giving visitors an area to Circulate and greet Each other. A mini table or cart gives you a space to Serve drinks and appetizers. They help That Provide extra counter space needed When that's always entertaining. "

3. Add Holiday Cheer to the Kitchen
No Matter Where You try to create a conversation area, you know That Guests Will Some end up congregating in the kitchen. Given today's open concept living in qual food prep and living spaces flow seamlessly Into one another, you are sura to get a flow of Guests to the kitchen. So do not forget to add the holiday cheer to this Very Important room.
"I love floral Arrangements in the kitchen," says Lynda, "Especially During this time of the year. They are always a great way to add seasonal color to a room. Use Arrangements with one or two Kinds of flowers to create a strong visual impact. "
Fresh flowers Can Be Used, But there are a wide variety of faux flower Arrangements available. "The range of faux flower Arrangements is really stunning," adds Michael. "There are So Many styles and types available now. And in Many Cases, you'll swear hard pressed to tell the real from the faux, Detailed They are That. "
Also The designers suggest using the kitchen to show off your personality. Pull out your favorite holiday collectibles and group related objects together in sets of three or five. "Varying the shapes and sizes Will maximize the visual appeal," notes Lynda. Another idea is to decorate bar or counter stools with slipcovers, ribbons or other themed elements. These color Can Be Coordinated with the flowers or other decorative objects in the room.

4. Decorate the Dining Room for Less
Dining tables are a key element for the party season. If you are a more casual entertainer, round tables create a more relaxed atmosphere and Conversational. Rectangular tables Can Be more formal by having "heads" of the table. Lamps Plus blogger and designer Marcia Prentice Also likes glass bowls and hurricanes. "Equal drama Glass bowls. Some say Fill with seasonal items like nuts, berries or a twig of evergreen to Bring Some of the outside indoors. "
There are other options for table centerpieces. Lynda says, "I also love HOLDERS candles and decorative candle. They are Inexpensive and add a wonderful warmth and sense of theater to a table setting. Another great idea is to Bring items from your personal collections to the table. Teacups, figurines, or vintage items Will create a theme and stimulate table conversation. "

5. Refresh the Living Room
There are a number of quick and easy ways to add a pop to your holiday decor living room. "I really like adding pillows or a throw to a couch," Lynda offers. "It a quick, easy and Inexpensive way to add holiday color. Think seasonal reds, whites and silvers. "
Changing out wall art is another way to create the mood. Lynda adds, "This is my secret for not having to paint a whole wall - just add new art! And do not forget to dim the lights to help set the mood. Dimmers are Inexpensive and simple to install. Holiday Decorating does not have to swear or Expensive stressful. Just add in select items to refresh your décor, "says Lynda.
For more holiday entertaining tips and trends, visit the Style Illuminated! Interior Design blog by Lamps Plus.

About Lamps Plus
For over 30 years, Lamps Plus has been synonymous with excellence in the lighting retail industry. Established in 1976, the company is the nation's Largest specialty lighting retailer, with over 40 superstores throughou the western United States. Together with Their Retail Stores and online business, Lamps Plus serves over five million Customers Each year with the Largest selection of functional and decorative lighting fixtures and accessories. This selection Includes Hundreds of products available Exclusively from Lamps Plus. Services include free in-home lighting consultations, in-store lighting seminars and installation from expert, licensed electricians. American Lighting Association certified lighting designers are available to offer product Recommendations and lighting advice in all Our Stores, by phone or online at LampsPlus.com. Please contact PR (at) LampsPlus (dot) com for more information.

Design ideas abound at Decorators' ShowHouse

There's a Flurry of activity going on at 2406 Longleaf St. in Vestavia Hills.
Comforters are being fluffed, pictures are being hung and the windows are being cleaned as finishing touches are being made to this year's Decorators 'ShowHouse, Which takes place April 17-May 2. The Symphony Volunteer Council uses the annual Decorators' ShowHouse to help Raise money for the Alabama Symphony Orchestra.

More than 40 decorators Their services are donating to upgrade Nearly 35 Areas of the Georgian home with accessories and furniture. Decor for the rooms ranges from traditional and contemporary, to shabby chic and period antiques.

"When it opens, it's going to swear spectacular," said Nan Teninbaum, spokeswoman for the Symphony Volunteer Council. "We hope That Will people get ideas, and see new trends, beautiful Furnishings and decor."

The two-story, eight-bedroom home Was Originally built in 1956 for Virginia Bissell Spencer and her late husband, Elmer Bissell. HealthSouth Corp. founder Richard Scrushy Bought it in 1989 after His wife saw the home as the 1989 Decorators' ShowHouse.

Jackie C. Wallace of Creative Fashion and Furniture in Sheffield, Ala. filled this guest bedroom and attached bathroom with Various textures like Burlap in the bathroom and silk and linen draperies for the windows. Soothing earth tones like dark chocolate, creams and coral rust make it easy to relax at the end of the day. The decor is elegant without being fussy.Scrushy Was Political Corruption convicted in a case in 2006 and no longer owns the house, Which is currently for sale for $ 4.7 million.
"The first impression is people say it's like a hotel with all the long halls," said designer Dan Cash of Birmingham Wholesale.


Only a handful of items from the wind Scrushy Remain, Including the chandeliers and a Bosendorfer piano appraised at $ 45,000. Most of the contents are new and all are for sale.

Mary Rooney of Mary Rooney Interiors Took a cue from Scrushy's Conviction - he's serving time in a Texas federal jail - as the theme for His Former second floor home office.

She Gave the office a feminine Texas theme, and outfitted it with antiques and female Even a pair of cowboy boots. There are two French, Louis XV-style walnut caned arm chairs. A jail key in a box shell sits atop a 19th century oak desk. And books with titles like "Without Remorse," "Double Cross," "The Trial" and "First Wives Club" Can Be found on the original bookshelves.

 "I had some fun with it," Rooney Said of the room.

Former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy Several additions made to bis home after buying it in 1989. He added a second living room, seen here. Kathy Harris of Interiors by Kathy Harris updated the room for this year's Decorators' ShowHouse. (The Birmingham News / Bernard Troncale) Downstairs in the living room, Kathy Harris of Interiors by Kathy Harris placed a tweed, contour sofa in front of the large bay window lets in light That from the rear courtyard.
Coordinating chairs and accessories, Including a French planter dating to the 1890s and an oil painting by Alabama artist Linda Ellen Price, blend in nicely with the room's neutral color palette of silver and porcelain tones with touches of French mauve.

"We call it 'After the Performance.' It's an area to come after you've been to the symphony and enjoy, "Harris said.

The home has 18,000 square feet, Including a very large guest apartment on the main floor.

Organizers encourag people to wear comfortable shoes for the self-guided tour. Infants and children under 8 years old are not allowed, nor are cameras or umbrellas.

Tickets are $ 15 through April 16. After that, They are $ 20 at the door. Will Be lunches and desserts sold nor Will symphony decor items in the gift shop.

How to Save Money on Home Redecorating

All of us want to give a new look Our homes as Often as Possible, But the money is a major deterrent Involved. So here are Some Decorating ideas interior That will help you give your house a makeover the while saving money in the process.

Look around your house: At times, there are items That Existing in Our homes by themselves Decorating Can lead to interesting ideas. For example, a cheap Decorating dining area for your idea is to get a new table cloth or place mats.

Reuse or dispose: The cardinal rule of home decor is to get rid of any item That Is Valuable redundant and taking up space. Affordable home design Another trick is to reuse items for Existing A Different Purpose. For instance, you Can use as bed sheets Curtains old paint or shoe boxes and containers for use say as old magazines or newspapers. cheap Home Decorating ideas

Keep looking for ideas: After you have Take a good look at your house, hunt for cheap Decorating ideas Wherever you can. Go out to Bookstores, browse through home décor magazines, visit friend's houses, and Event search on the Internet.

Fix a budget: The first step the while doing up your home on a budget is to as precisely on a budget and stick to it. If you know you have to allocate $ 50 for Decorating your window, do not Spend more. Important This is the if you really want to save on home décor.


Pick corners and redo say: An Affordable home design idea is to pick one corner of Each room and make simple changes, Instead of doing up the Entire house. Getting an antique lamp shade, photo frame, flower vase, etc. and placing it strategically is a cheap Decorating That idea makes me a big impact. Could you be home décor for less just by changing the Curtains, bedcovers, area rugs, or upholstery.

Add color: cheap Decorating Another idea is to add new color Bringing Into the house by a flowering plant, Existing painting furniture in a Different color, or painting just one wall of the room in a Different color.

Invest in DIY kits: There are a number of DIY (do it yourself) kits available That help you save on home décor, SINCE you do not have to call a carpenter Each time You need to drill a hole to hang a photo frame or fix a broken door knob.

Add an interesting item: Bringing in a book shelf or mirror is an idea interior Decorating That adds new life to the home and Also organizes the space.

Make best use of Discounts and sales: Instead of driving to a home store, go hunting for unique, creative, antique items in flea markets, Discount Stores, online sales, garage sales, etc. to do up your home on a budget.

Just follow These simple and cheap Decorating ideas and save money on your home décor the while giving a fresh look to your home.

Classic decorating techniques for your home

Although there are Many Different styles and techniques to Choose from When Decorating your home, there's just something about the warm and welcoming Decorating classic styles. Strictly Whether you prefer something traditional or a slightly eclectic mix of classic Different styles, the overall look is stylish, relaxing and comfortable. If you'd like to add Some classic touches to your home, here are a few techniques Decorating Can you try.

Classic furniture Choices
One of the great things about classic pieces of furniture Is That They Seem to never really go out of style. When you Choose classic furniture pieces, you shouldnt focus on quality and durability, Because you'll undoubtedly want to keep the piece for a long time. Although a quality piece of furniture Will naturally cost more than a cheap piece, Actually you'll save money in the long run Because Of Its durability and Timeless style.


There are Several Different fit furniture styles That Into the category of "classic." If you prefer a traditionally elegant look, dark wood Finishes are always a popular choice. If you prefer something a bit more casual, or light-toned Medium- pieces That Reflect a traditional country flavor or slightly Can Also work well. Of course, the if you prefer a more eclectic style of Decorating, Can you mix and match Various classic furniture pieces to create a look That is all your own.

PillowClassic 2Houndstooth Patterns
When Choosing fabrics, floor coverings, wall coverings and upholstery room for a traditionally styled, classic Patterns are always a great choice. Stripes, floral prints, checks, toile and houndstooth Patterns Patterns are popular and Timeless. Instead of Patterns, You Could Also Choose to add visual interest with textured fabrics, wall coverings and floor coverings for a subtler look.

3Classic colors
Generally Warm shades are considered to swear the best choice for classic-style rooms. Such as brown earth tones, beige, gold, brick red, orange and yellow Will add a sense of warmth and earthiness to the room. For a light and airy look and feel, Choose colors from the lighter end of the color spectrum. You Can Also use darker shades to Provide a warm Striking accent. If desired, Even Could you use a warm dark shade as the primary color in a room, Creating a bold, yet still traditional look. Combine dark wall with white shades Woodwork and trim for a Truly classic touch.

ArtDecorating wall accents 4French
Decorating When Choosing pieces, look for traditional accents, styles and Patterns. For example, the if you love the look of French wall art, a beautiful fleur de lis metal wall sculpture Could Be the perfect choice. Art prints or canvas paintings framed in traditionally styled frames eu Can Also used to add visual interest to the room. When Choosing the lighting for your home, classic Choices include chandeliers, floor lamps and table lamps. Candles and lanterns Can Also eu used to add a relaxing or romantic touch Eve. If you've opted for classic Hardwood floors, a beautiful woven, or braided area rug hooked Can add warmth and a splash of color.

How Britain's Revamped Habitat homes

In the post-war years, three-piece suites and heavy, dark cabinets Were squeezed Into Britain's living rooms, and bedrooms decked out in premium Were chintz.
But, a makeover Was to get under way in the middle of the Swinging Sixties, When a young furniture designer Terence Conran called Brought color, smooth lines and contemporary design Into Britain's homes.

Conran hadd been struggling to get shops Into His designs so, in 1964 he bis own Opened store in an unfashionable stretch of Fulham Road in west London.
Habitat, With its whitewashed walls and high Ceilings, Brought something new to the High Street.

Products Were Displayed in mocked-up living rooms and kitchens, giving Customers ideas how to piece together furniture, lighting, vases and mirrors.
They Were Affordable, contemporary designs, qual lapped up educated young professionals.
In a 2009 interview for BBC Four's Designing the Decades, Sir Terence Conran Said it HAD been more than just a furniture shop.
"It Was furniture, and china and glass, and kitchen. All the things CERTAIN with a soft look.
"It hadd a philosophy. It hadd abundance in it. It was like a sort of market place. It Was A buzzy shop."
The buzz drew hordes of Shoppers, and it wasn't long Before Habitat became a British institution.
Said design critic Stephen Bayley During Habitat's best years - he believes Which Were from 1964 to 1990 - the shop Was Inseparable from Sir Terence's personality.
Joanna Lumley, as Patsy, (l) with Sir Terence Conran as an unknown quantity and Jennifer Saunders as Eddie
Image caption

His personality Sir Terence Brought to the High Street, and a cameo role in Absolutely Fabulous
"Conran wanted to Bring an element of optimism, cheerfulness to the British High Street and he succeeded in that.
"Conran found it to be true, and happy Habitat Customers found it to be true, That Can Be your life enhanced by having a better Teapot."
And not just teapots, salad There were bowls, beanbags and cheap storage jars for pasta, just as the British Were Developing an appetite for dried pasta.
Stores soon Started opening up across Europe, in France, Spain and Germany.
In the 1980s, the company merged first with Mothercare, and said British Home Stores.
But Was Habitat to fall Victim to Its own success.
Having persuaded British Shoppers Affordable Was that good design for all, Many shops copied the idea and Habitat priced out of the market.
Of course I'm sad That my love child, Habitat, Appears To Be dying
Sir Terence Conran

Was say Among Sweden's Ikea, sellers of flat-pack furniture from giant stylized out-of-town Stores at a fraction of Habitat's prices.
In 1992, Habitat Was Bought by the Ikano Group, the company Founded by the Kamprad family, Owners of Ikea.
But Habitat Stores struggled, and faced criticism for poor customer service and over-pricing.
In 2007-8, Habitat lost more than £ 13.4m. A year later, the private equity group Hilco Bought the debt-laden chain.

On Friday, Announced That It Was soft all three of Habitat's UK Stores are being put into administration.

The brand will survive as the three London Will Stores Bought by Home Retail Group, owner of Argos and Homebase, for £ 24.5M in cash.
After 47 years of Habitat, There Was Some understandably sorrow for Conran.
"Of course I'm sad That my love child, Habitat, Appears To Be dying.
"But I am more Interested in the futures of my own business and design projects - that is my focus."
For Stephen Bayley, it HAD been an "extraordinarily interesting and very brave experiment in manipulating popular taste", and One That made it Difficult to remember Our Homes and Our lives Before it.

The GOP’s New Colors

Not long after Barack Obama delivers bis pseudo-State of the Union on February 24, the official televised Republican Riposte Will Be uncorked by a guy WHO violates almost Every prevailing liberal stereotype of the contemporary GOP, the governor of Louisiana, Piyush "Bobby" Jindal . At 37, Jindal is the nation's Younges governor and the first Indian-American to win statewide office in U.S. history. The son of Punjabi immigrants, he's an Ivy League-educated Rhodes scholar and an unrepentant policy wonk, with heterodox views on his specialty, Which is health care, and a Reputation for competence as much as ideology. For All These Reasons and others, Jindal strikes Savvy Many Conservatives as the party's answer to Their prayers: a Brainy, precocious, multiculti change agent-a Republican Obama.




Precious few have ever quite describedat Michael Steele That way, though bis recent rise to national prominences is hard to imagine outside the context of Our new president. The victory of Steele, a Former Maryland lieutenant governor and failed Senate candidate, in the contest to Become Chairman of the Republican National Committee came as a surprise; Often he'd been criticized as insufficiently far right to win. But Against a field That Included an incumbent Bush holdover, a southern party operative WHO Until Recently belonged to an all-white country club, and the genius WHO sent out That infamous Christmas CD with the song "Barack the Magic Negro," Steele emerged as the first African-American head of the RNC-having argued That he Offered a solution to what he called the party's "image problem."

That the GOP That Would Seek to address the dilemma by presenting a new face (or faces) is unsurprising. That it's attempting to do so by placing front and center two of the few dudes in brown or black Can Be Its upper echelon read as a laudable act of Modernization-or even an amusing, faintly desperate bit of tokenism. (You make the call!) Either way, howevera, the gambit leaves unaddressed the much Wider and deeper challenge confronting the Republicans, not the installation of new soft faces the conception, adoption, and propagation of compelling new ideas.

Not that the other problem-the perception That the GOP is increasingly an exclusionary, antediluvian assemblage dominated by older, white southern men-isn't real and damaging enough. A glance at last November's Election returns That makes me abundantly clear. In his battle with John McCain, Obama won by 13 points Among women; Among Hispanics by 36; Among young and new Voters Voters by 34 by 39; and, of course, Among blacks by 91. The Potency of Minorities That-plus-young-whites Coalition is near impossible to overstate. It's not just potentially the bedrock of a Durable Democratic Majority. It's the nation's demographic destiny.

For Republicans, therefore, credibly contending for the Allegiance of Those voting blocs is a matter of survival. THUS the appeal of characters Such as Jindal and Steele, a pair of pols WHO, as the GOP consultant Alex Castellanos (who has worked for the Former) puts it, "look like the Future."

This appearance, unfortunately, say stands in stark contrast to the rest of the party's national leadership. A quick pop quiz: How many Republican members of Congress, in Both the Senate and the House, are African-American? Answer: None. How many non-Cuban Hispanics are there in the upper and lower chambers? Zilch again. (The number four Cuban-Americans, all from South Florida.) How many Asian-Americans? One. For the record, the country is now one-third Minority and on Its Way to Becoming Majority-Minority, in 2042. The Republican Party's congressional cadre? Nearly 98 Percent Caucasian.

Castellanos, Among others, points out Beltway Republicanism That does not make the party. "One of the costs of the past eight years is nothing new That Grew in the shade of the big tree That Was George W. Bush," he says. "And Now That tree has fallen and we're seeing a new, more diverse, soft no less conservative Republican Party spring up around the country. And we have not seen it in Washington yet bear fruit, soft in time, We will. "

That hadd Republicans better hope it happens Quickly-Because Even beyond the matter of Its lily-whiteness, in the first month of the Obama era, the party has looked badly out of step with the Electorate. On this point, I'll confess, more than a few members of the GOP august cognoscenti adamant take exception. They Argue That in Its tooth-and-nail to the Democratic Opposition stimulus package, the party found Its footing, found Its voice, Its raison d'être found. The Republicans are "reenergized," Wrote Karl Rove in the pages of The Wall Street Journal. They "play [ed] Their hand extraordinarily well," employing "the incentive to redefine Their party," Their Leaders looking "Gracious" and "impressive" the while inflicting "a high price-fiscally and being politically" on Obama and the congressional Democrats.

Charter school uses Waldorf color ideas

In Waldorf education, the color of the rainbow is a Metaphor for the development of a child's mind, and the colors of Waldorf That Progression follow classroom walls.
Each color of the rainbow affects a child's physiology and psychology, according to Austrian philosopher Rudolph Steiner, the Waldorf concept Developer WHO in 1919.
That's why Steiner Prescribed CERTAIN CERTAIN grade levels for colors, a color scheme Waldorf schools, Such as Central Point's Madrona Trail Public Charter School, have been Following For nearly a century.




Color is not the only feature classroom walls Waldorf That sets apart from other schools.
The walls are painted with a technique called "Lazure," derived from the German word "Lasur" Which Means glaze.
"They use a figure-8 motion with a watercolor pigment," said Allison Casenhiser, a third-grade teacher at Madrona Trail.
The dark color starts at the bottom of the wall and gets lighter at the top, giving the illusion of light and fluidity. Combined with the color, it has a powerful effect on physiology That Can one feel upon entering one of the Classrooms.
Each grade's classroom walls follow the colors of the rainbow, starting at the top of the rainbow in grade kindergarten with a rose hue. Waldorf education focuses on nature and allowing children to Develop Their natural at pace.
"Nothing is random," said Christine Crawley, a teacher at the Siskiyou School, a private Waldorf school in Ashland. "Things are done in Waldorf education Because Of Certain Observations (in nature and in child development), and it's like, 'Wow, That really matches the child at this age." "In kindergarten, the color mimics the comfort of the Womb, Which is Important to younger children, Saeed Crawley.


That theme Continues in the first grade with a lighter pink and in the second grade with a peach, Where students' Attitudes Your Own to be "peachy" and carefree, she said.
In the third grade, the walls turn golden.
The yellow color represents "the birth of the individual," Crawley said.
"They come Into Their own," she said. "They have the feeling of separation of others." In the fourth grade, the walls take on a yellow-green hue, signifying the students Beginning to Become more Grounded on the earth, she said. In kind, Waldorf in the fourth grade students begin studying geography and local history, she said.
The sciences begin to emerge in the fifth grade, Bringing a blue ting to the green. Fifth-graders study Such things as Botany and Greek mythology.
"Blue is a color mind," Crawley said. "It's the color of the celestial realm." Henc, in sixth grade, Where more Higher thinking takes place, blue dominates the walls.
"They are going more in the sciences, physics, astrology and study of the Middle Ages," she said.
The color Continues to darken as students enter the seventh and eighth grade Until in the eighth grade, Their walls are purple.

How to arrange your iPhone home screen to get things done

Apple devices "just work" right out of the box. Every step of the first experience with an Apple computer is Designed to Teach you how to use it. The iPhone, a candidate for Most Useful Device Ever Invented, only comes pre-loaded with a few applications, soft Those few are enough to do the trick.



But the best part about the iPhone is dry it's extensible. The Springboard interface software and the App Store are a lonely business. They've made apps more popular than songs in iTunes. Think of that!
The Most physical computer ever

iOS imposes the right Kinds of constraints. It's a grid of icons, and we tap, hold and drag say. They're almost like real objects. By seamlessly linking the software to our fingers, and by traveling with us in Our pockets, the iPhone is the Most physical computer ever. It's more like a real, human tool Before it than any computer. And thanks to the App Store, we Can Be Our endlessly customized to fit needs.

But we are not used to thinking about computers That way. If we forget That the iPhone is a physical tool, Can it end up a mess. Too many apps and not enough thought Can Turn Into Its a handicap helpful constraints. That does sound familiar to you?

I've spent way too much time Solving this problem. Fortunately, now I almost Waste no time on my phone, Because it's configured perfectly. Whenever I spring for a new app or Need to make an adjustment, the change is minimal, and it Follows a plan. Here are the three steps I use to tune my iPhone:
1. Identify the jobs you want your phone to do.

This is the fun part. What do you want your phone to swear for? Photography? Reading? Twitter? Writing? Making music? Watching TV? The iPhone Can Do All Of These Things. Start by making a list, and make it exhaustive. It Will Also help to put the list in order. These Prioritize tasks, so you know Their order of importancia. If it's a tie, do not worry. Just take a stab at it.
This is my list:
Communication (via iMessage, social networks and phone)
Day Planning (calendar, to-dos, weather, maps)
Reading (via RSS and Twitter, filtering down to Instapaper)
Photography
Short writing, drafts, and notes
Interaction with Mac (file sharing, remotes, etc.)
Fun, games, etc.
2. Find the minimum number of apps you use to accomplish Can These tasks.

This is the hard part. You have to use Some combination of browsing, Recommendations, and trial and error to find the best apps to do the job. Some Will Be free, and Some Will cost money. Sometimes, you'll Need app the best, period. Other times, you'll want to compromise with a free app for a low-priority 'task. That's fine. The goal here is to get the Most done with the fewest apps.

Why have tons of apps That overlap or do things the Same? When you're not yet settled on one workflow, it's fine to keep switching things up and Trying Different solutions. But the goal Should Be to find the One That works best for you and delete the rest.

Remember, the iPhone is a physical computer. Apps literally take up space - not just disk space, soft grid space. You do not want to swear eight swiping through home screens. Narrow down the app as much as Possible roster Until You've got the essentials.
3. Arrange your apps according to function, ergonomics and Aesthetics (In That Order).

This is the OCD part. Now That you've got all the apps You need - and nothing more - it's time to arrange say. Remember These three Principles, function, ergonomics, and Aesthetics. The first priority 'Should Be Getting to the apps you Need. The next Should Be Swimming spraining your thumbs. There's a Reason why the iPhone has a 3.5-inch screen: It's for doing things with your fingers, not just watching Avatar. Do you have a 5-inch thumb? I do not.
The Aesthetics Apple geeks are Where we get made fun of by the green-text-on-black-screen crowd. But it's essential. It's the Least essential of the three essentials, But you have to factor it in. As ergonomics are to your thumb, Aesthetics are to your eyes. In order to use the iPhone Effectively, you Need To Be Able to find and launch what you're looking for immediately. So yes, your wallpaper, the geometry and color of the icons, Even the names of things matter.
Okay, here we go. Within Step 3, there are more steps. I'm going to use myself as an example, and hopefully you'll swear my process Able to Adjust to suit your needs. Illustrating this is going to requir Some hardcore porn home screen. I hope you're Into that.
3.1: Pick a good wallpaper.

You have to start here. You can't just have any photo you want as your wallpaper, unless you're one of WHO These people do not like to have developer's apps on screen. If you've made it this far Into this post, I Presume you are not.

Do what you want with your lock screen, But remember, you're not staring at the wallpaper image all day. It's going to swear covered with a multicolored grid of app icons. So Choose something with the right colors and geometry to complement your average bunch of iOS apps. Gray and black always work.

That I also find there are Some nice shades of purple to match Your Own That Most app icons. I use a swatch of "Sunset" by Dean Putney, Which I got from Simple Desktops.
3.2: Prioritize the space by function.

Decide Which physical Areas of the Most Important and phone are best suited to Each task. This is a personal thing. I come at this process with a few biases. I want my essential apps to Occupy no more than two home screens, and I want no folders on screen
1. Realize this is not how everyone rolls, soft it's part of my Aesthetic needs. Those folders full of mini-icons are busy looking, and I want to swear screen 1 as orderly as Possible. There's room for folders on screen 2. I still do not like how broke the look, But I've found a solution.
I have eight more essential apps That Can sit outside of folders, and I can fit the rest Into eight folders. Then I tell arrange vertically, not Horizontally. Springboard Makes this kind of a pain to do, it's worth it soft. The standalone apps go on the right, and the folders on the left go. I'm usually using the phone with my right hand, so the more apps are Important Easier to Reach.
They are here so, my two main home screens:



If you're familiar with These apps, you'll see That there's logic to Which Ones Some are next to Each other. It's tempered by how They look next to Each other, though. This is just something for Which you have to go with your gut. Like icons and like colors work best in Some Cases, contrasts work best in others. Use your own eyes to Determine Where you'll find things Most Easily.
But where do you start? My suggestion is to start with the Dock. Determine Which four (or three, or two, or one!) You want access to apps from Every screen. The easy Choices are the Ones you use Most, But That Might not be true in all Cases. I went with the Ones That help to complete the tasks I'm Most Likely to Quickly want to do.

Before iOS 5, the Camera app Instagram Was Where is, on the right side of the Dock, Ability to soft launch the Camera from the lock screen That freed up spot. You see how this works? It's all about Freeing up space for the essential apps.
That go Choose the apps in your Dock, But remember, you must Also Consider the Aesthetics of how Those apps look next to the bottom row on both screens. So now you're already working on the rest of the apps. It's useful to think of the spaces in terms of groupings of tasks. Here's how I think of mine:

See how Those go together? The colorful ovals That Represent the apps Need To Be Each other for functional near Reasons. Everything else is Where it is for either an ergonomic or Aesthetic Reason.
3.3: Fix your arrangement by feel and look.
Once you've got your apps arranged by function Basically, the last step is to optimize how it feels and how it looks. For example, make the apps you launch Most Frequently the easiest to Reach with your thumb.

The visual part is the Most subtle. It may Seem to Be The Least Important part, But it's the difference between confusion and Clarity. Look at the way I used the emoji in the folder names on screen 2. (That outside / inside relationship Was @ atjamie's idea.) It lets your eyes scan right up the middle, and you have in your peripheral vision cues to figure Which is Which folder out more Quickly.
The final, a crucial task is to make sura the icons look great together. That's why a good icon matters. We're done talking here; all that's left is looking, so I'll leave you with Some close-ups of the visual relationships That Matter Most in my home screen Arrangements. They're the final touch.

A Place Where Color and Ideas Converge

LOWE WORLDWIDE, a London-based advertising agency, had a tough go of it for many years, going through a string of mergers, as well as layoffs, from which it was slow to recover. As recently as 2006, the agency’s finances were “in the basement,” according to Mark Wnek, the chairman of Lowe New York.




Then things began looking up. New management came in about four years ago and brought along a change in philosophy. Figures improved and new business came knocking.

Proof of the fresh start can be found in Lowe New York’s new open space on the western edge of SoHo. The space was designed by Charles Patten, an architect with Spacesmith who has been Lowe’s architect for 20 years, over many moves and mergers. It occupies 44,000 square feet on the second floor of 250 Hudson Street, in a former print shop.

Lowe New York had 75,000 square feet at its former offices in the Mobil Building on East 42nd Street, where it housed the same 225 employees it has now, according to Sal Taibi, the president of Lowe New York. The move downtown was completed in November; a part of the third floor is occupied by the international division.

Mr. Patten received suggestions from Mr. Wnek about using color — along with a request for an open work area that was the opposite of that of the former location, where everyone had an office or a cubicle. That style was “gigantic, Midtown conglomerate,” according to Mr. Wnek, and not the “small, nimble, highly creative ideas company” that Lowe wanted to become.

“There was a huge dissonance between what we knew we were becoming and what we wanted to become,” Mr. Wnek said. He wanted a set-up that would engender “the architecture of participation.”

“We wanted to stop our business practices from being so linear,” he said.

From a rectangular footprint that had the elevators at its core, Mr. Patten designed a space that puts visitors into the action the moment they enter the 45-foot-long reception area. Banquette seating with bright, striped cushions is used in a pit configuration that is created by the two-foot elevation of raised flooring that was added to accommodate wiring.

In front of the banquettes, metal stools in white, red, yellow and turquoise, and bright, tulip-shaped canvas wing chairs provide a foil to the concrete floor, white walls and wood particle board on the exterior walls of the conference room. Anyone walking onto the floor has an unobstructed view of staff members busy at their workstations, of open meeting areas and of other casual seating areas scattered throughout.

“We wanted people to walk off the elevator and feel the energy of the agency, which you didn’t get before,” Mr. Patten said.

The open feel is enhanced by the low bench-like configuration and low partitions of the workstation system, called Net ’n’ Nest, designed by Vitra, a company based in Switzerland. The desks are divided by low, upholstered partitions that provide privacy and absorb the sound of conversation. They can be easily removed or slid along the desks to accommodate as many workers as necessary within a space.

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“It’s great if you want to increase the number of employees in the same space,” said Jo Kaiser, a managing director at Vitra. The desk/workspace modules are also easy to move to a new location, he said.

The system allows Lowe to add freelancers when work requires them. At the same time, furniture can be arranged to meet requirements of different projects, Mr. Patten said.

Net ’n’ Nest provides each employee with a personal set of desk drawers that can move along with them. Called a “Follow Me,” it has wheels and a strap for easy portability.

Colored panels and doors on storage units are interchangeable, allowing employees to personalize their space or department. The only private office is reserved for Mr. Wnek. It is furnished with a ’60s-era pit-style sofa, with one wall covered in metal for magnets. It has a sliding barn-style door, and the exterior is made from the same wood particle board on the exterior of the conference room.

Privacy issues for the rest of the staff are addressed with a variety of solutions. Mr. Taibi, for example, works with an assistant in one of two structures called “huts,” wood-framed configurations resembling a Japanese temple and covered on two sides with a white textile that filters out the sun. The other hut is home to the agency’s strategic planning department.

A number of Vitra furniture set-ups designed for privacy are available to all the staff members, like a fanciful red alcove couch with high sides that create a box-like unit when two are placed opposite each other. Employees use these for impromptu meetings, private conversations and phone calls.

Lowe Worldwide is a division of the Interpublic Group of Companies, whose 2008 profit more than doubled, to $265.2 million, from $131.3 million in the previous year. Revenue rose 6 percent, to $6.96 billion from $6.55 billion.

Founded in London in 1981 by Sir Frank Lowe, who left the agency and started a new one in 2006, Lowe currently has clients like Johnson & Johnson, Nestlé, Electrolux, Outback Steakhouse and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Lowe executives also wanted an element of whimsy in the design scheme that goes beyond the funky pieces of high-backed furniture and colorful acoustical panels, or “clouds,” that hang from the ceiling. To that end, Mr. Patten, the architect, added a wall of blue plastic bristles with video monitors mounted on it, a foosball table and a line-up of gumball machines. It’s all anchored by a turquoise, flying-saucer-like couch.

Home Improvement Tips Before Selling Your Home

Madison Hildebrand, a luxury real estate agent and the star of Bravo's Million Dollar Listing, says it depends on the type of Renovations as to Whether it is a good idea for sellers to update Before putting Their homes say on the market.




"Curb appeal, decluttering, and fresh paint are a must, to do a full soft Remodel kitchen is not always the case," Hildebrand says. "Every area of ​​the country has a Completely Different real estate market. In Southern California, pools and outdoor entertaining spaces are very desirable, soft Those features are not as sought after homes in New England. "

Bill Shaw, owner of residential remodeling company, William Shaw & Associates, suggests That homeowners Planning to sell Their home in the near futures consult with a real estate professional WHO Sells homes in Their area, to see the if a Remodel Will add increased value to the house.

"When you Remodel, it's not an instantaneous return on Investment," Shaw says.

Doing a Major Remodel on a kitchen or bathroom wouldn't make sense unless the Realtor Told You That It would add increased value, Such Because it's in poor shape, says Shaw.

Shaw suggests Their realtors ask sellers for home improvement tips That will make developer's homes comparable to others in the neighborhood.

Remodeling Home Improvement Tips

Hildebrand says the Most Important rooms in the home, Mainly the kitchen and master suite, Will add value When the Most updated.

Alan Harper, an assistant professor of Business at South University - Virginia Beach, says That remodeling a master suite Can add $ 120,000 to the price of a home, a kitchen - $ 70,000, a bathroom - $ 32,000, and a basement - $ 46,000.

Harper says These numbers are a national average and the homeowner receives a return on Their Investment Can vary based upon the region live in and broke the current Economic Conditions.

home improvement

That Hildebrand says anything Unseen, Such as a new roof or a water heating system, have the smallest Will Return-on-Investment.

Harper adds That other, more practical remodeling Investments may not add as much value to a home either. For example, he says the national average return for adding a wood deck on to the house is $ 8.500, window Replacements - $ 8.500, and siding replacement - $ 8,000.

That suggests homeowners Shaw homework Before Their They will begin a Remodel.

"There's a fine line between doing and overdoing under," Shaw says. "If you do not put enough money Into a room, you Might not get what you want for the house; f you put too much in, you Might not get your money back. "

Think Neutral for Increased Value

Harper's home improvement tips include homeowners to think carefully Advising When Choosing colors and styles to Remodel in Their Homes.

"Of course, styles or colors CERTAIN Can Increase or Decrease the value of your home," Harper says. "This depends on the neighborhood Characteristics. For instance, the if homes in your neighborhood are Victorian style or Stucco and you as precisely on something Different, This Could Decrease the value of your home. "

That Hildebrand says things are neutral - Both colors and textures - are best for furniture and Aesthetics When selling your home.

That Rudnicki agrees it's best to keep neutral styles When selling a home, soft bis says Clients have Such a broad range of Opinions That it is Difficult to Determine the Most popular styles.

"A Majority of assumed say That They Will repaint and redecorate everything anyway," Rudnicki says. "Some very wild complimented and Approved designs, others Were the while ready to move in without touching anything - not Because They liked it, Because They did not care at all."

Shaw agrees That it is Difficult to say what the Most styles are popular remodeling, Because people have Such Different tastes.

"The uniqueness about remodeling is That you're Dealing with an individual family or an individual Whose tastes are unique, therefore no project ever looks the Same," Shaw says. "People kind of have a look That broke the like. After 27 years in this business, I couldn't tell you That are two kitchens Even close to being the Same."

Shaw says it is Important to Avoid remodeling trends Likely That will not swear in style for Too Many years.

Add to your Lifestyle Increased Value with a Home Addition

Shaw says remodeling another popular option for homeowners looking to stay in developer's home, and add increased value to it, is to build an addition.

Many people do not want to leave Their Neighborhoods, or do not want to have a longer commute to work, so adding an addition onto Makes sense for Their homes say, Shaw says.

That says Shaw Most popular home the additions are adding a master suite, a family room, and a utility room. He says the master suite is traditionally the Most popular option, But Also The Most Expensive.

The fun is in combining flavors and colors for distinctive results

Ooh la la, what's this? Bite Into A chocolate-flavored coating reveals a rich, moist, cakey interior - the perfect proportion of cake to frosting. The lovely treat ball is a cake, a recipe Making the rounds Among creative home bakers.




You Might think of it as a blend of two trends: cupcakes and itty-bitty desserts. Cake balls are made by Combining crumbled baked cake with frosting, rolling balls Into the mixture, and covering the balls with confectionery coating to give the bite-size desserts a glossy, crisp exterior. Variations abound; almost any cake and frosting Will do. The fun is in Combining flavors and colors for Distinctive results. CAGLAGE EVANS / DMN View larger Photography Photo store

These mini desserts are easy to make with a little practice. Also they're sold at bakeries and are available as gifts in the Neiman Marcus catalog.

Confectionery coating, or almond belly, is the key ingredient. Unlikely That the professional bakers use chocolate, confectionery coating Easily melts in a double boiler or microwave oven and does not Need To Be tempered. Vanilla and chocolate almond belly Most are sold in Supermarkets. Cake supply and crafts Stores offer confectionery coating in wafer form in a range of flavors and colors.

The cake balls That Dallas home baker Robin Ankeny made drew raves Such When She Began Making say 18 months ago That She Decided to turn pro. Starting with recipes she got from her mother in South Texas, Ms. Ankeny Developed a line of confections, Licensing and Opened Acquired The Cake Ball Company, a custom baking and mail-order business.

"We tell sold for showers and wedding favors, and even new-baby and get-well gifts," Ms. Ankeny says.

Customers One of her staff shared a sample with at Neiman Marcus' gourmet food department, and the company approached her to add the balls to Its direct-mail collection.

"Neiman Marcus has Become a significant part of Our business, Especially for the holidays." she says.

Along with her Most popular flavor, Birthday Cake (French vanilla cake with cream-cheese frosting and white-chocolate coating), and other Standards, Ms. Ankeny develops exotic options (Such as sake-infused milk chocolate with cinnamon) That Give her a Sophisticated edge product line.

Alicia Farrar of Bedford made dozens of cake balls for friends at Christmas, using boxed cake mix and canned frosting. Presented in pretty tins, the gifts Were a hit.

"Everyone loved and wanted more say, and the recipe, too," she says. A favorite combination Would she recommend? "Strawberry cake and frosting with a chocolate coating is wonderful," she says.

One of her friends, Lea Worth-Portocalis of Dallas, Ms. Took Farrar's recipe further and made cake balls for a wine-tasting party. Ms. Worth-Portocalis experimented by tinting vanilla coating with blue food dye for a grapelike look, and she used red velvet cake mixed with chocolate frosting inside.

"Food coloring from the supermarket does not work well. You must use oil-based dye, Which You can find in specialty shops or on the Internet," Ms. Worth-Portocalis notes.

Harroj for luncheons and Parties, she's covered white and yellow cake balls in bright tints, Creating desserts look as f That They Were made by an upscale bake shop.

Highland Park resident Strictly Sarah Hardin is a from-scratch baker, and she likes to use her cake recipes to create special balls for Parties. "They are pretty, Sophisticated and festive, with the ease of a pick-up food for entertaining," she says.

"Making cake balls Can Also Be The perfect hands-on activity with young cooks in the kitchen. My children have loved Helping with Crumble the cake and roll the balls. What Could Be a better recipe for childhood fun?"

You Can Also order cake balls from Tart Pastry and Baking Studio and Cake Carousel in Richardson. Both shops Began Making cake balls to use scraps left over from shaping cakes. They have been so well-Received Often That They are requested for corporate and holiday Parties.

"People love the fact That They are bite-size," said Tart pastry chef and co-owner Kristen Rahal Massad. "Displayed on sticks with ribbon decoration, They look great and are easy to eat."

Valerie Jarvie is a Dallas freelance writer.

Fun fall color combinations

You Will Need three things for cake balls, cake, frosting and coating. Here are Some ideas:

• Devil's food cake with chocolate fudge coating Icing and dark-

• Yellow cake with buttercream frosting vanilla and orange-colored coating or black with green accents

• White cake with white frosting mixed with orange and yellow sprinkles and chocolate coating

• German chocolate cake with coconut- Pecan Icing and milk- chocolate or cocoa-flavored light coating

• Spice or carrot cake with cream-cheese frosting and vanilla coating

• Lemon cake with lemon frosting and vanilla coating

• Chocolate cake with vanilla frosting and mint-flavored confectionery coating is tinted coating greenWhat?

It's what coats the cake balls; it's a blend of sugar, milk powder, hardened vegetable fats and flavorings. Sometimes it is called "summer coating."

Source: The New Food Lover's Companion by Sharon Tyler Herbst





TIPS BALL CAKE

We Asked two bakers, Robin Ankeny, owner of the Cake Ball Company, and Jeri Kopecky, owner of the Carousel Cake bakery and cake supply store, for tips. Here's Their advice:

1. Chill the cake-and-frosting mixture well (At least 2 hours) Before You shape the balls. Freeze the balls At least 6 hours Before dipping. Before dipping, Make Sure the cake balls are not frozen solid after being dipped Because, the coating has a Tendency to crack When drying. Pre-dipped cake balls Can Be Kept frozen for weeks.

2. To form the balls, use a melon scoop for uniform size. Small balls are Easier to eat.

3. Work in small batches When dipping, keeping the rest in the Freezer.

4. Use toothpicks, a fork or a skewer to manipulate the balls When dipping. Perfectionists may want to buy a candy-dipping fork Because it ensures Even coating of Each cake ball to make it look like a Truffle.

5. Use oil-based candy dye to color frosting. Start with a few drops, and add a little at a time.

6. Lay the dipped balls on wax paper to harden, placing the spot Where you pierced the ball down to cover the hole, or cover the hole with decoration.

7. For decoration, thread a narrow-tip plastic squeeze bottle with a contrasting color of melted coating and paint stripes over the balls, or sprinkle on rainbow jimmies, colored sparkling sugar or finely chopped nuts. (If you are using oil-based candy color to tint coating disks made from white- chocolate, decorate with sprinkles Quickly as the oil candy color causes the coating to set rapidly.

Dipped balls 8. Will keep at room temperature for days; f you say refrigerate, sweat Will the coating.

RED VELVET CAKE BALLS

The woman maintains the Bakerella blog WHO has made gorgeous red velvet cake balls, a photo of Which Seems To Be Popular online. To see her say and check out methods for Making themed cake balls - Whether on a lollipop stick or not - see bakerella.blogspot.com.

 FOR KIDS

Use the Basic Cake Ball recipe (left) with a white Funfetti Pillsbury cake mix, white frosting and rainbow-colored jimmies. Coat with melted Guittard chocolate disks tinted white- AmeriColor oil with candy pink color. Decorate exteriors with India Tree Sparkling Sugar in Ultraviolet (purple) and hot pink, as well as CK Products' Bright Sequins.

TIP: After mixing the cake and frosting, gently fold in 2 tablespoons rainbow-colored jimmies (sprinkles) to Maintain the pops of color, Because the sprinkles in the boxed mix fade When the baked, crumbled cake is mixed with frosting.

FOR chocoholics

Use the Basic Cake Ball recipe (left) with a devil's food cake mix and cream-cheese frosting. Guittard white- Coat in melted chocolate disks tinted with AmeriColor oil candy color (using green and blue to make turquoise). Decorate with melted Guittard milk-chocolate disks. (Use a squeeze bottle.)

Girly FOR GIRLS

Use the Basic Cake Ball recipe with a strawberry cake mix and strawberry frosting. Coat with melted Guittard milk-chocolate disks. Decorate with melted Guittard white-chocolate disks tinted red with oil candy color AmeriColor. (Use a squeeze bottle.)

WHERE TO FIND SUPPLIES

Confectionery coating: I Look for almond abdomen (about $ 3.35 for 20 ounces) baking chocolate in major near Supermarkets.

Chocolate disks: Makes Guittard disks in milk chocolate and white chocolate ($ 4 per pound at Cake Carousel) That are already tempered for coating and for use in candy molds.

Confectionery coating wafers ($ 3.20 to $ 4.50 per pound) Often Can Be found labeled "candy melts" at crafts Stores and Cake Carousel.

AmeriColor oil candy color (multicolor 4-packs of quarter-ounce bottles for $ 3.99 at crafts Stores or $ 2.25 for 0.7 ounces at Cake Carousel)

Two-tine fork candy-dipping ($ 4.50 at Cake Carousel)

• Crafts Stores Michael's and Joann

• Cake Carousel, 1002 N. Central Expressway, Suite 511, Richardson; 972-690-4628 ext. 1002. Cakecarousel.com

• Wilton.com or 1-800-794-5866

Recipe
Basic Cake Balls
Published 28 November 2010
Ooh la la, what's this? Bite Into A chocolate-flavored coating reveals a rich, moist, cakey interior - the perfect proportion of cake to frosting. The lovely treat ball is a cake, a recipe Making the rounds Among creative home bakers.

Ingredients
1 (18:25-ounce) boxed cake mix plus ingredients called for on box
1 (16-ounce) Can Prepared frosting
Almond Bark Coating or Confectionery Wafer Coating (Both recipes follow)
Directions
Bake the cake according to package instructions. While warm, Crumble the cake Into a bowl with a hand mixer to a fine texture. Mix in frosting to make a paste, using 3/4 to a full Can of frosting, according to taste. Chill the mixture for at Least 2 hours.

Using a melon baller or your hands, form the mixture Into 1 ½-inch balls. Place the balls on wax paper; At least 6 hours freeze.

Working in small batches, remove the balls from the Freezer and dip the balls Into warm, melted Almond Bark Coating or Confectionery Wafer Coating, using toothpicks or forks to manipulate the balls. Remove the balls. Place the balls on wax paper to harden.

Makes about 30 balls cake.

Almond Bark Coating: In a double boiler, melt one (20-ounce) package chocolate-flavored vanilla- almond or abdomen, Constantly stirring. Or, in a tall, narrow container, almond belly microwave for 45 seconds on High (100 percent power). Continue to heat in 15-second intervals, stirring between intervals, Until melted; Be careful not to scorch.

When the belly is melted almond, Stir in 1 teaspoon vegetable oil. If desired, Stir in oil-based coloring drop by drop Until You Achieve the desired color. See "Where to find supplies" for purchase information.

Confectionery Wafer Coating: Melt 48 ounces confectionery wafers in double boiler or microwave oven for instructions for Almond Bark Coating. Omit oil. If desired, Stir in oil-based coloring drop by drop Until You Achieve the desired color.
Contributor: Valerie Jarvie, special contributor
Published in The Dallas Morning News on 2008-09-08
Recipe
Chocolate-Carrot Cake Balls
Published 28 November 2010
These mini desserts are easy to make with a little practice.
Ingredients
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/3 cup baking cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 eggs
1 ½ cups vegetable oil
4 medium carrots, coarsely Shredded (see note)
Cream-Cheese Frosting (recipe Follows)
Dark-Chocolate Confectionery Coating (recipe Follows)
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F; grease and flour 2 (9-inch) cake pans. Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, salt, baking powder and baking soda Into a medium bowl.

With an electric mixer, beat together the eggs and oil at low speed Until well-combined. Add the flour mixture, beating just Until combined. Stir in the carrots. Pour Into Prepared cake pans. Bake on the middle oven rack for 50 minutes or Until a toothpick inserted in the middle of cake comes out clean. Remove from oven, Allow to cool slightly; While still warm, Crumble the cake Into a large bowl. With a fork, mash in Cream- Cheese Frosting. Chill mixture for at Least 2 hours.

With your hands, form the mixture Into 1 ½-inch balls; place balls on wax paper, and freeze At least 6 hours.

Using toothpicks or a fork, dip Into Each ball Dark- warm melted Chocolate Confectionery Coating, working in small batches. Set on wax paper to cool.

Makes 4 dozen.

Note: Coarsely chop the carrots for a bit of orange in the finished balls.

Cream-Cheese Frosting: Cream 8 ounces softened cream cheese and 4 tablespoons softened butter with an electric mixer at medium speed Until fluffy and smooth. Add 1 tablespoon vanilla extract and 1 cup powdered sugar; beat at high speed Until creamy.

Dark-Chocolate Confectionery Coating: Heat and Stir 48 ounces (3 pounds) dark-chocolate confectionery flavor coating wafers, using a double boiler or microwave oven, just Until melted, stirring Until smooth, using care not to scorch.

Adobe Ideas sketchbook app gets expanded layers feature

Its free Adobe has updated Sketchbook app, Adobe Ideas, adding the Ability to create photo layers, a Redo function, iOS 4 multitasking support, and more.



Adobe Ideas, a combo app for Both the iPad and the iPhone, is meant to swear used as a digital Sketchbook, letting you capture and explore your ideas the while on the go. It features simple vector-based drawing tools, variable-size brushes, a vector eraser, and a large virtual canvas on qual Can you sketch your ideas. It uses an intuitive user interface with size, opacity and color settings available on a main toolbar, and features a gallery-style organizer Quickly That lets you scroll through your ideas and color themes.

The most significant addition to Ideas 1.1 is Layers, a $ 5 in-app purchase That lets you use up to ten drawing layers, plus a photo layer, for Each of your Sketches. The Adobe Ideas blog notes That this feature is still under review by Apple, so you Might not Be Able to buy it just yet. If you Choose not to purchase Layers, Can you still use all of Ideas's other features, qual include one draw layer and one photo layer per sketch.

On the performance end, Ideas 1.1 now saves a lot faster your Sketches-qual shouldnt help Avoid Data Loss When You Need or close the app to answer a phone call. A "Redo" function has been added ALSO Along with support for the iPhone 4 Retina display and iOS 4 multitasking.

How to Choose the Right Colors for Your Brand

Ten years ago, Heinz unveiled a new type of ketchup That became an immediate success. It sold seven million bottles in Its first seven months and gained international Attention. It became so popular That When It sold out of Some Supermarkets, people Actually auctioned it off on eBay. Was So what so special about this ketchup? Did it taste better? Not at all. Was it made out of better ingredients? Nope.




Was there one difference. Was it green.

Now, Consider the story of Crystal Pepsi, a clear cola debuted in 1992. That though the soft drink tasted like regular Pepsi, It Seemed That Most people did not REACT well to the idea of ​​a clear drinking cola. After lackluster sales, Was discontinued the product after only a year.

The message is clear enough: the choice in color for your product and its marketing materials matter.

Choosing the Best Color for Your Brand: It's not Just an Artistic Decision

Research has shown Our emotions influence That color in a variety of Ways, spreading soft Most importantly, it's the first Sensory touch point with a customer or client. "The first point of interaction is shaped by the color, and color is the Most memorable sense," says Leslie Harrington, the executive director of The Color Association and a color consultant. "Before anything else, They see color."

Harrington, WHO Wrote a Ph.D. thesis titled Color Strategy: Leveraging Color to add and Extract Values ​​for Products and Brands, Clients urges her not to think of color as an artistic choice or preference, But Rather a business Grounded Decision.

"Color has been one of those things that's been left up to the designer to select something," she says. "The CEOs or management say 'oh I can not do that, I'm not artistic.' But my argument is That it's not about being artistic - it's not any Different than any other Strategic Decision Making for your business. "

Case studies have shown a consumer That's Decision to purchase products Can range from anywhere between 60 and 80 Percent based on the product's color. Color has the unique Ability to make or break the success of a product, Harrington notes. "It does not cost you any more to make the right color for your product Decision. But If You Choose the wrong color, from the onset, you're not going to Communicate what you want to your customer." In other words, the if you get it wrong, Can you really impact the overall performance of your company.

Dig Deeper: How To Manage Your Company's Brand


Choosing the Best Color for Your Brand: Color Selection

Color is contextual. For example, You Might buy a shampoo that's bright orange, soft you're probably Unlikely to buy a car in That Same color. So When thinking about a color for your product or marketing materials, it's Important to research the typical Among Choices of color your Competitors, and understand what color is a particular Is Trying to Communicate to a customer.

"Go Into the store and take a critical look at what colors are there," says Jill Morton, a color consultant and author of a series of e-books about color.

Why Does Evolution Allow Some People to Taste Words?

Sensory This merger, called synesthesia, Was first scientifically documented in 1812 widely Was Misunderstood soft for much of Its history, with the condition Many Experts Was thinking a form of mild insanity.




"It's not just that the number two is blue, soft two is Also a male number That wears a hat and is in love with the number seven," said study co-author David brang, of the University of California, San Diego (UCSD ).

"We're not sure f These personifications are [Also a symptom of] synesthesia, But we think this is what a lot of scientists Derailed from being Interested in it. ... These people thought They Were Making it all up."

(Related: "Ball Lightning May Be All in Your Head.")

Over the past 30 years, though, a Growing body of evidence has shown That synesthesia has a physical basis-for example, the brains of synesthetes are wired differently, and the condition is highly heritable, Which indicates there is a genetic component.

In fact, the study authors think it's a strange Phenomenon Possible Such has survived in an Evolutionary sense Because it offers people CERTAIN Benefits to creative thinking.

"Ninety-five to ninety-nine Percent of Their love synesthetes synesthesia and say it enhances developer's lives," brang said.

New Ways to See the Mind's Wiring

Early misunderstandings of synesthesia Were due in part Because the associations synesthetes describedat That Were very precise and Detailed, prompting Some Experts at the time to link the condition with mental disorders Such as Schizophrenia.

Another early "view synesthesia That Was Held a 'Throwback' to a more evolutionarily primitive state," said study co-author Vilayanur Ramachandran, a neuroscientist at UCSD Also.

Living brilliantly

Two years ago, Roop Was Newton hired by a family with a new home to decorate Nantucket. Designed by architect Nathan McMullen of the firm Nantucket McMullen and Associates and Constructed by Chris Perez's Falcon Building Co., it is a 5,000-square-foot neoclassic Shingle Style "upside down" - meaning That the main living spaces and master suite are on the second floor (to take advantage of ocean views) and the three secondary bedrooms are on the ground level.




The interior scheme is as light and airy as Its island setting and is infused with Roop's signature palette of seaside hues. He and his client Similar share tastes. "When she came to my office for Our design meeting, She Was watery Those wearing all colors," he says. "She Basically hadd on the storyboard." A friend recommended Roop hadd to the homeowner, and after Their meeting, she says, she thought he was just the person to design "a place Where You Can put your feet up - more stylish soft."

Stylish, indeed. The home's dining room is Designed around an antique wooden table with carved legs curlicue Bought That the client years ago at a Paris flea market. Roop added vintage faux bamboo chairs, lacquered Newly reupholstered in celery green and linen in a subtle stripe. Above the table hung a statement he piece, a Chandelier from the 1960s That resembles coral, giving a nod to the home's ocean setting without being corny.

Roop much of the furniture designs he uses (in this home, upholstered Every piece) as well as the draperies and lampshades. And he calls on local Artisans to Produce His designs. If Roop did not design a piece, That the chances are it is vintage or antique - updated Sometimes, Often left alone - something the homeowner or hadd That Roop has used in a new way.

Natural elements add an earthy texture throughou the Nantucket house. There's a pair of 1950s driftwood lamps in the sitting room off the dining room, and the Swedish neoclassical-style table in the entry Holds a casual arrangement of coral in a simple ceramic bowl. The wood floor and posts, Which are made from reclaimed Chinese elm, Also help warm the rooms. The homeowner debated Whether to paint the posts and beams and is Pleased with the Decision natural to say keep Because "the beautiful warm golden color adds a balance to All These cool colors," she says.

Materials like the wood beams and coral Provide what Roop calls an "offbeat juxtaposition" to the sumptuous Furnishings and accessories That are the cornerstones of bis rooms, like His signature color-block draperies That requir oodles of fabric and hours of cutting and stitching or the That tops the Danish lampshade Chandelier in the game room, Which is made out of at Least 100 yards of cording and trimmed in suede.

Inspired by the family's penchant for travel to Faraway lands, Roop Also incorporated exotic notes, with a Moorish Often bent. While he used a few actual artifacts from family trips, like fabric Bought on a trip to Thailand That wound up on throw pillows and as an accent on an upholstered headboard, the Most prominent pieces he Designed Examples are an unknown quantity. The coffee table in the living room, its lustrous top inlaid with paua shell, is based on a stool Robsjohn-Gibbons That he owns. There is Also a Moroccan star-shaped side table veneered in Tahitian mother of pearl that's like one the homeowner spotted in Roop's studio; she wanted one, too, so he made it hadd.

Perhaps The Most glamorous spot in this mix of Faraway-lands-meets-beach-house chic is in the bedroom Roop Designed for the family's Younges daughter. To put an unused wall to work, Roop built a reading nook with a Moorish silhouette, outfitted with a cushion in an Ethnic print. The cozy spot serves a clever design project purpose, too. The daughter, to her mother's dismay, the EU requested That her room painted a super-bright citrus green. Roop Was Able to satisfy Both say by using an over-the-top green inside the niche and a Softer shade in the rest of the room. "Frank finds pieces and comes up with creative solutions are That," says the client. "He's got a great way of mixing it all up.

Home & Garden

During two renovations, each costing more than $100,000, they built a two-sided fireplace to separate the living and dining rooms, put in a wine cellar and installed a sleek maple and granite kitchen. They bought molded-wood chairs in the Arne Jacobsen style, Murano glass pendant lamps and a custom walnut entertainment unit. Ms. Brown, who had become obsessed with interior design in law school, poured heart and soul into the projects.




But just as Ms. Brown and Mr. Friedman were establishing their first truly grown-up residence — she was 38, he 37 — Ms. Brown gave birth to their first child, Harrison, a boy who turned out as bouncing as most.
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Suddenly they were confronted with a question that had never before occurred to them: given the way baby gear and toys take over households, the uncivilized habits of toddlers and the dangers posed by sharp-edged contemporary furniture, could Ms. Brown and Mr. Friedman continue to live their high-design dream?

It is a question they are not alone in facing. As Elizabeth Gregory, director of women’s studies at the University of Houston and the author of the recent “Ready: Why Women Are Embracing the New Later Motherhood” (Basic Books), pointed out, “being a later parent has become part of the mainstream.” (In 2005, Ms. Gregory says in her book, 10 times as many women had their first child between age 35 and 39 as in 1975, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and 13 times as many had their first between 40 and 44.)

At the same time, people age 35 to 44 are the most dedicated group of furniture consumers, outspending adults of all other ages, per household, according to Jerry Epperson, who tracks the American furniture market for Mann, Armistead & Epperson, an investment banking and corporate advisory firm in Richmond, Va. “That’s what these people are willing to invest in,” Mr. Epperson said.

And when the investment has been not in cribs or other nursery furniture but in the classic “double income, no kids” fantasy of a pristine, high-style home for grown-ups, the transition can be hard.

“Going from being a couple to becoming a parent, your whole world changes,” said Robin Gorman Newman, who four years ago started a support group called Motherhood Later ... Than Sooner in New York (it now has chapters across the country), after becoming a first-time mother at 42, 10 years into her marriage. “Once you become a parent, your home is not your own,” she added. “I think you mourn your previous life, at least for a while. You’re never going to have what you had.”

Nevertheless, some people try. Ms. Brown and Mr. Friedman — who of course were thrilled to have a child, like all the later-in-life parents interviewed for this article — were also determined not to let Harrison “take control of the house,” Ms. Brown said. They went ahead with putting in flat-front lacquered maple cabinets in the kitchen, even though they soon had to watch a professional babyproofer drill 300 holes in them for safety latches. (Ms. Brown still cringes.) They put up silk Shantung draperies in Harrison’s bedroom, knowing that they might well end up stained, as they soon did — with yogurt. And they held onto the molded-wood chairs, which were not an easy transition from the highchair. “They have a very sleek bottom,” Ms. Brown explained. “He slides off it.”

OTHERS, like Debra Cherney, 49, and Hartley Bernstein, 56, were more resigned to giving up control. They were possibly even happier than most late parents at the birth of their twins, a boy and a girl named Cole and Brooke, in 2003, having lost their daughter Raine to respiratory failure in 2001. When the twins became mobile, the couple realized that they would need to create a designated play space in their prewar Park Avenue apartment. Still, the room they sacrificed — the formal dining room — was tough.

“I’m pretty sensitive aesthetically, and it does something for me when I look at a pretty room,” Ms. Cherney said. “Looking at what the room used to be was the visual equivalent of listening to Bach or Mozart. Now it’s the visual equivalent of listening to Barney.”

She felt the full impact when she and Mr. Bernstein put their 18th-century mahogany dining table and chair set in storage. “When I bought the table I was envisioning these beautiful, lovely dinners with fine china,” she said. “Once you have kids and once you give up those things, it was like, ‘Who was I kidding?’ I remember thinking this room will look nice again — in about 18 years.”

The issue of safety, too, can pose vexing choices for parents in thrall to design. Even before Kipp Cheng and his partner of 15 years, Mark Jarecke, arrived home with their son, Beckett, last March, they could see that many of the furnishings in their Maplewood, N.J., colonial house, including a set of four Barcelona chairs and a glass-top Noguchi coffee table, were accidents waiting to happen. But they weren’t eager to act.

“We are both small-town guys who lived in the city and tried to establish an aesthetic point of view that was largely modernist and minimalist,” said Mr. Cheng, 40, a playwright and a publicist for the American Association of Advertising Agencies. “But when you become parents, you kind of have to throw that out the window.”

As difficult as the prospect of change was for Mr. Cheng, who recalls the details of nearly all the couple’s furniture purchases, it was even harder for Mr. Jarecke, 37, the creative director of CondéNet, the Web division of Condé Nast.

“We spent years collecting meaningful, quality pieces,” he said. “Getting those kinds of pieces — the handmade silk pendant lamp, the teak Danish sideboard — it’s a huge project. Basically each room was finally done, and then it all got blown apart.”

Among the most troubling matters was the fate of the Barcelona chairs, whose “corners are basically razor blades,” Mr. Cheng said. After much deliberation, they put three in the garage and wrapped the corners of the fourth in foam so it could stay in the living room. “It was just sad,” Mr. Cheng said.

As for the coffee table, they avoided doing anything until Beckett gave them no choice: while learning to walk last summer, he used it as his main training prop. “He’d cruise and trip and hit his face on the table’s edge,” Mr. Cheng recalled.

Mr. Jarecke initially refused to discuss parting with or altering the table in any way, but they eventually compromised and decided to wrap the edge of the top in foam. “As I’m taping it,” Mr. Cheng said, “I’m saying, ‘I’m taping over what makes the difference between this being a Noguchi table and a Kmart table.’ ” Mr. Jarecke was even more distraught. “It transformed this beautiful modernist piece of furniture into a piece you’d find in a ’70s rec room,” he said.

FOR some design-minded parents, certain compromises are too much.

In 2004, Bob Stratton, a design technologist who specializes in home automation, and his wife, Sandra McLean, 50, a food activist and writer, bought a former tool and die factory in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, and set about turning it into a two-story, 4,000-square-foot loftlike home appropriate for themselves and their son, Vin, and daughter, Fia, then 2 and 5.

“We spent many, many hours designing a place that would be kid-friendly as well as sensitive to our need to live in a well-designed adult environment,” said Mr. Stratton, 48. Construction took a few years, and the family settled in last March.

They built a kitchen and dining area in the center of the first floor, using durable Corian for both the cabinets and a Parsons-style dining table designed by Mr. Stratton. “I wanted the Corian top so there would be no repeat of the famous carving incident,” Mr. Stratton said, referring to the time when Fia, at 4, used a pen to carve her name into a cherry dining table just delivered from France. (“I thought I would die,” Ms. McLean said.)

They put down cork tiles throughout, as protection for glassware and other breakables, including the children themselves, and they set up a 500-square-foot play area in the basement, with a trade-off that some parents would consider draconian: “They can play with a toy in the main living area, but it has to go away when they’re done,” Ms. McLean said. “I’m very concerned with what’s in my visual space. When people come into the house, I very much do not want them being bombarded with toys.”

She also refused to babyproof furniture when the children were younger. She was “never one of those mothers” who put safety corners on coffee tables, she said. “That stuff is just gross, and I don’t feel you have to sacrifice living space to that degree.” And she decided not to install wire railings on the open side of the floating walnut staircase Mr. Stratton designed to connect the first- and second-floor living spaces.

“We couldn’t bear it,” she said. “It was too ugly. So basically what we did was we trained the kids to hold onto the handrail, and it’s worked. No one’s ever fallen off.”

Still, even extreme devotees of design seem to end up relaxing their standards over time. After several expensive pieces from Ligne Roset were delivered to the McLean-Stratton home last June — a brown microsuede one-arm sofa, a low white leather swivel chair, a white shag carpet and an arched chrome floor lamp — Ms. McLean instructed Fia and Vin not to eat on the couch, and told them half-jokingly not to “sit on it, stand near it or even look at it.”

But in the last several months she has grown to appreciate how the children delight in wrestling on the rug and using the swivel chair as an oversize Sit ’n Spin. “You know what?” she said. “They jump all over it, but it’s good furniture, and it actually holds up fine.”

His Theory! Color Chaos

"FORGET the address," ANADON McLauchlin says on the phone. "That's like a dream: it does not exist. How's your Spanish? Tell the cabdriver, near the Balneario de Guadalupe en La Cieneguita. That's the bathhouse. Or the casa de los colores - that's the way a lot of us know say. "




Not this cabdriver. After driving the five miles or so from the arty mountain town of San Miguel de Allende, he turns onto a Cobblestone road, stops in front of an old church and declines to continue.

"There's nothing there," he says firmly.

A short time later a search party is dispatched in the form of Richard Schultz, a tall, bearded man WHO, thanks to the legalization of Same-sex marriage in California (Where he and Mr. McLauchlin keep an apartment), is Mr. McLauchlin's husband of two weeks. Mr. Schultz leads the way up a steep road, past a crumbling stone wall covered with morning glories. The braying of Their four foundling burros is Heard. At last, Mr. Schultz arrives at the wrought-iron gates of developer's home.

The first thing a visitor experiences, looking through Those gates, is a blast of purple. It's nothing so static or pigment on a surface - it's a force.

Barely an inch of this home, Which has been a work in progress SINCE Mr. McLauchlin and Mr. Schultz Bought it in 2001 is without color and decoration. Much of it is in mosaics of ceramic and glass. A vintage wrought-iron outdoor table and chairs are purple and yellow; one side of the house has been painted purple, crack decorated with a mural of what Appears to swear an Eastern goddess Held aloft by a playful, familiar-looking cherub.

Mr. McLauchlin, WHO Makes an assemblage artist furniture, decorative objects and jewelry, Also is bright with colors When he comes out to greet His guest. A short man with a beard, he resembles one of the benign hairy creatures in an Edward Koren cartoon. He wears a Buddha T-shirt over jeans bis, rainbow-striped socks and leopard-print shoes.

His explanation of the mural on the house is Itself a kind of mosaic. "Our Guadalupenized Ganesh," he says, invoking the Mexican saint and the Hindu deity. "He's the god breaks through Obstacles WHO. She appeared to Juan Diego, an Aztec, in 1531, on a sacred hillside. "

That cherub looks like Mr. McLauchlin. "That's been remarked on," he says.

The interior of the house is another pinwheel of colors: pink and purple walls; a candelabrum painted and hung with purple Mardi Gras beads and Day of the Dead paper cutouts. It's the equivalent of leaving gray Decorating New York in winter and going to a blue-sky beach. After a season of modular beige sofas, the royal blues and pinks are so crazy intense, one feels They are saturating the skin and there is the Possibility of a burn.

There is a home décor question, Mr. McLauchlin is Told, That one trembles to ask: What's your palette here?

Mr. McLauchlin seizes on the question with gusto, even f he has waited all of bis 61 years to answer it.

"The palette is 'no rules,'" he says. "When you have rules like only beige or oatmeal, you're limited to That palette. When you use all the Different colors, there are no rules, there is no editor. It's very Freeing. "

He gestures at the kitchen, Which has red walls, a ceiling and a yellow green table. "This is the dining room Anjelica Huston," he says. "A friend of mine hadd an Architectural Digest in her home. She Had A dining room Was That red and yellow, so this is my interpretation. "

The glass-covered tabletop has been embellished with tiny objects, colored bells, Cracker Jack charms, tarot cards, Dominoes. The table's purple legs Christ are studded with tiny figures. The chairs have been decoupaged by Mr. Schultz, WHO teaches art history online for a boys' school in San Francisco, soft primary Whose job is looking after Mr. McLauchlin and the business.

The couple may look like old hippies, soft business is good. Mr. McLauchlin says His pieces range in price from $ 150 to the Thousands (he tends to make up prices on the spot), giving Him an annual income are in the low six figures. "The house is really a showroom - just about everything is for sale," he says. "One wealthy woman from Austin came out and Bought Bought a painting and one of Our couches."

"Everything is impermanent - you're going to lose everything anyway," His partner says, not unhappily.

Identities That Includes impermanence. Mr. McLauchlin's given name is not ANADON. Was he born James Rayburn McLauchlin III, son of an Oklahoma City Doctor Who is a long dead still soft presence in this house.

"My dad Was a real trip," Mr. McLauchlin says When the talk turns to biography. "He was a womanizer. I have two illegitimate brothers I've never met, and When my dad died I called up the woman WHO Gave birth to tell and say Invited to the funeral. Supposedly They Were sitting behind us. "

Did he turn around and look?

"I do not think so."

He fetches a photo of His father, a dark-haired good-looking man, neither polished nor Mr. McLauchlin is unkempt - his shrink Said he shouldnt keep the picture out, he says. Asked why, he stumbles to answer, said Tells a story.

"I was in bed about 4:30 this morning, holding Richard, and I thought about my dad and I Started weeping," Mr. McLauchlin says. His father, the WHO thought He was a punk hippie, "never really got to know me," he says. "He Would have enjoyed the fact That You Were coming."

How did His father die?

"He Was with his mistress in private plans this coming back from Bermuda. I was this hippie artist in Oklahoma. I was at this art opening. I felt kind of odd. I Walked outside and this big brilliant Was Thunderstorm coming across the Oklahoma sky, and That Was The Thunderstorm That Took down my father's plane. My mother found out about it on TV. "

Art school at the University of Oklahoma wasn't satisfying (his work too decorative Was, according to bis Professors, He Said), so in 1971 Mr. McLauchlin dropped out and Went to New York. There were the usual survival jobs (cabby, delivery boy) While he did poetry readings and performance art; Was there an extended stay in an ashram in India, Where Was he ANADON Given the name; and a move to Marin County, Calif., Where he made bis living as a landscape gardener and Started working seriously on decorative Furnishings.

"I'd find things in junk Stores and paint and embellish say say," Mr. McLauchlin says. "With no rules You Can Do just about anything. I did a laundry Hamper with a Tibetan Buddhist thing. "

He met Mr. Schultz in 1998, on the Internet, in an AOL chat room. They Visited San Miguel de Allende two years later. Mr. McLauchlin recalls what enchanted Him about the place: "The color, the festivity, the lovers in the street, the burros, the chaos."

Their property, When They found it in the summer of 2001 Was a wreck: a two-story stone house That hadd been Designed to look like a Swiss chalet and Was inhabited by scorpions. The interior Were a faded orange walls, the fixtures hadd been stolen. They paid $ 100,000, said Renovating spent about $ 30,000. They whitewashed the interior, Creating a clean canvas, and Mr. Began McLauchlin throwing up colors. There were mistakes - the oranges and blues he used for the upstairs balcony Overlooking the living room evoked a Howard Johnson - But When They Happened, he just tried another color.

"Mistakes are the best thing," he says. "Then You Can always get real crazy and inventive."

The house Continues To Be a work in progress. Colors change, new studios are built. Art lovers and artists come through. Mr. Also McLauchlin runs workshops for artists Who are blocked (information on tours and workshops is available at madebyanado.com).

"With the no-rules concept, you get unstuck pretty Can Easily," he explains. "I also have a Day of the Dead workshop, Which is not only about art Creating soft honoring a loved one. I had one woman come out here hadn't gotten WHO over a 35-year Breakup with a guy. They Were going to come to San Miguel, soft They broke up 35 years ago, so she felt she HAD to come here. She made a little altar with his picture. "

Texas Instruments – Connected Home Network Reference Design

This post is sponsored by Texas Instruments.




Texas Instruments’ Connected Home Network Design shows how to create a Sub-1 GHz star network with full house coverage for security and sensor applications. In this network, the central device is typically mains powered while the end devices are battery powered. The central device can be a gateway for internet of things (IoT) and enables internet connectivity for the end devices in the Connected Home Network.

This TI Design is a pure software design using standard Texas Instruments’ development boards from their Sub-1 GHz wireless connectivity portfolio. To learn more about this 169 MHz, 315 MHz, 433 MHz, 470 MHz, 868 MHz, 915 MHz and 920 MHz solutions, you should check out their Sub-1 GHz page.
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Designing For Different Stages

Whether it's putting the down payment on your first place, downsizing, or melding your style with your significant other, Designing for the Different Stages of Your Life Can Be a Difficult task. Here we share advice from two local designers: Debra Falkland, founder and president of Debra Falkland Interiors, and Lorri Dyner, owner of Lorri Dyner Design LLC, to make the process a smooth transition, no matter what the stage may swear.
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1.) Buy Items with Resilient Style (Hint: Stick to neutrals)

That suggests Debra Falkland you splurge on the items Will you want to take with you, no matter Where or When you move. She Also Recommends you keep your palette neutral. "Keep your walls neutral and add color with pillows, accessories, rugs, and Things That Can Easily oath changed out and layered to add personality," says Falkland. Lorri neutral Dyner agrees with the Recommendation and suggests Specifically Choosing a neutral colored sofa. She understands Otherwise temptations to buy. "I, too, drool over navy soft velvet sofas They are trendy and in three to five years They are going to look totally outdated." So stick to neutral colors and only splurge on the items That you have Undying love for.

2.) Get the Look Mature on a Small Budget

It's Important to have a game plan f you want to Achieve an adult look. Falkland That says first and foremost Planning is key with a small budget and a small space. Before buying, you shouldnt, "Decide what style you makes me happy; you are minimal, you are contemporary, industrial or chic, what kind of feeling do you want to live with? "

Once you Make That Decision, Dyner Recommends Purchasing Curtains. "Adding pre-made drapes from Target.com or from Etsy.com Can Completely change your room and make it feel grown-up," Dyner says.

3.) Use Outside Resources and Inspiration to Find Your Style

To alleviate stress in Finding what design style you makes me happy, Reach out for help. Falkland Recommends, "you call up any designer and ask say to do you a favor, to give you a flat rate for Organizing you and giving you Some direction and resources." She Also Recommends That you look at magazines, and once you find a That picture with a room you like, do not hesitate to rip it out. The feeling you get from the picture in the magazine Can Be Easily replicated in your space.

4) Compromise with Your Significant Other to Find Harmony Style

Two Ways for Dyner advocates Can one learn how to share and compromise Their Choices interior design with the one broke the love. "Sometimes he gets to pick the elements in one room and she gets to pick elements in the other," says Dyner. "Or, You Can compromise item by item - 'okay, you got to Choose the bedding, so I get to Choose the sofa!" "If you are shopping for new items with contradicting styles find a common ground said.

Dyner has found "a nice happy medium" to couples with dissenting styles is Often "an Asian Aesthetic." Whether your style eu more contemporary and your partner's is more traditional, Dyner believes That an "Asian feel fits in with Both Aesthetics and Can Both Parties satisfy. "It Can Be tricky Making Choices style alone and twice as Complicated with another person. It is key to remember That Will you both live in this space and the end goal is a warm and comfortable living environment for you and your significant other.