6 steps to decorating your house

do you love thumbing through the magazines with their beautifully displayed rooms?  do you dream of having the photographers of real living shoot YOUR house!?!!  Why not apply these simple tips and see the transformation unfold…. 

one room at a time...... 

 

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clear the space – it’s hard to see a masterpiece unfolding if you aren’t starting with a blank canvas.  If you can’t move things out, try using an online planner, or get our your sketch book & colourful pencils (cause who doesn’t love to colour in!?!!)

 

find your feature piece – this is where you’ll get your colour palette from.  Whether it’s an art piece, a blanket, or a favourite piece of furniture, pick the colours from it (or go to a paint shop and find complementary colours on those paint sample cards.

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http://www.zoffany.com/pages/products/products_wallpapers-detail/gustavus/1/

the walls are closing in – does the room need a new lick of paint? or do you think a feature wallpaper might add to the atmosphere










 larger furniture pieces move in – think of practicality and start the layering effect (don’t forget rugs at this stage too, they completely change a rooms ambience)

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the icing on the cake – small accessories like cushions, wall hangings and special momentos are what makes a room personal.  make sure they complement the feature piece in some way, and if they don’t, find other complimentary pieces to team it up with.  it doesn’t all have to match perfectly, but (like making pottery,) it has to have some sort of family resemblance!!  It’s always good to have a box of accessories to choose from when you feel the room needs a change too.

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go to the next room and start all over again – you know you want to!!  It’s not much to do this in each room…………just easier to take it step by step!!

finished #1 - pacman cookies

 

na na na na na na na na PACMAN!!!

 

 



The happy birthday boy (and his little brother,) gets his cookies ready to take to school

My oldest son turned 9 today - as it was a Saturday, it's been on the cards for a while that he'd have to take something sweet for his school mates.  He was very happy with the end result, but maybe not as excited as I was!!

 

I recently went along to a cookie decorating course run by Linda Van Der Meer of Bubble and Sweet http://bubbleandsweet.blogspot.com.au/

If you can get to one of her classes I highy recommmend it.  If not, get your hands on one of her books (you can find it via her blog, I'm only new at linking on blogs, sorry!)

 

I had so much fun learning about decorating basics, that the next week I bought 6 cookie cutters and got straight to work!!

 

When i say these cookies have been on the cards for a while, it's because when I was a little girl, this was the type of thing i'd fantasise about.

 

Not the wedding dress or prince charming - but the cakes I could decorate when I had kids.  Mum had 3 old skool books, all different covers (red, blue & green,) and all had great ideas for decorating cakes inside them.  I still remember the jelly based cakes, as well as the trains, etc.  The more recent decorating books still pay homage to the basic cake decorating shapes, but these cookies are a whole new genre for me!

 

I enjoyed playing with colour, form & shape - and it was a few lessons learnt in regards to cutting depths, as well as making sure you're not caught short with the royal icing (cue icing sugar being made to cover 4 naked cookies, just 4 out of 45!)

 

So that's one project finished - pacman cookies for a 9 year old - yay for me!!

 

Have you finished a project recently?  I'd love to see your blog about it!!