New Look 2010 - Freshen Up Your Home's Fashion Wardrobe

By Linda Hunt

Every spring, we repeat the same ritual. We peer into our clothes closets and decide what to keep, what to toss and what to update with an accessory or two. This year, how about applying that very same idea to your home’s fashion? It is also a reflection of your unique style. Let’s concentrate our efforts on updating and accessorizing your interior décor for spring. The birds’ chirping that accompanies my daily walks affirms the welcome arrival of spring.

It is common knowledge that paint is an inexpensive, quick way to freshen up and add zing to your home’s interior with color. Keep in mind two things- balance of color in a room and where to apply that color. Decide the room’s main color and, as a rule of thumb, it should make up about 70% of that room. Think about painting only one or two walls or maybe apply a lighter tint of your main color to the ceiling. Some wood and concrete floors can be painted with the proper type of paint for a fun colorful look. That old tired dresser or table can sparkle with fresh paint and new knobs. There are lots of knobs to choose from online at places such as http://www.knobdepot/ pictured here. They are the “ jewelry” of furniture.

Pairing up different pieces of our wardrobe can give us a range of different outfit possibilities. Your home’s furnishings can benefit from the same approach. Decorators like myself bring a fresh set of eyes to remix and recreate what you currently have in your home. Your rooms are reborn before your eyes for just the cost of the consultation. What’s old can become new again as the saying goes! You too can do some “moving and shaking” for your home! Put a seldom- used living room lamp in the master bedroom or that small foyer table in the bathroom for a contrast of texture. This should get the ball rolling for you.

The final touches, the accessories, are the beautiful bows on home packages. Pillows are a logical start. Armed with the very latest seasonal color -turquoise - you can fast forward a room to Spring 2010 painlessly. Beautiful metal finishes are everywhere on fixtures, faucets and furniture. How about hanging a new bathroom towel bar or replacing your home’s switch plate covers with the newer decorative metal ones found at your local home decorating centers? Eye-catching, artistic vases and bottles saturated with color are showing up in trendy magazines. Get that look by purchasing inexpensive clay pots available in many shapes and sizes and paint them any color you desire- very chic and very budget-conscious. The whole idea here is to infuse high style and color in small doses for an update that will not break the budget.

Getting the interior you love is well within your grasp. Pair that with resolutions to eat healthy and live well in the new year and you have just what the doctor ordered for 2010!

Check out Linda's blog at: http://interiordesignrichmondvacyc.blogspot.com/

Cinnamon Heart Cookies

This Valentine’s Day, show everyone just how much you care with a giant heart-shaped cookie. The perfect small gift for a co-worker or a scrumptious alternative to paper valentines for your children’s classmates.

DIRECTIONS;

All-purpose flour 3 cups /750 mL
Ground cinnamon 1 tbsp. /15 mL
Salt 1/2 tsp. /2 mL
Butter (or hard margarine), 1 cup /250 mL
softened
Brown sugar, packed 1 cup/ 250 mL
Large eggs, fork-beaten 2
Vanilla extract 1 tsp. /5 mL

ROYAL ICING
Icing (confectioner’s) sugar 7 1/3 cups /1.8 L
Water 1 cup/ 250 mL
Meringue (egg white) powder 1/4 cup/ 60 mL
(see Note)
Red paste food colouring 1/8 tsp./ 0.5 mL
(see Tip, this page)
Red paste food colouring 1/8 tsp./ 0.5 mL
(see Tip, this page)

Cinnamon Cookies: Combine first 3 ingredients in medium bowl. Set aside.
Beat butter and brown sugar in large bowl until light and fluffy.
Add eggs and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Add flour mixture in 3 additions, beating well after each addition until no dry flour remains. Shape into flattened disc. Wrap with plastic wrap. Chill for at least 1 hour.

Remove dough from refrigerator. Let stand for 10 minutes. Discard plastic wrap.

Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 1/4 inch (6 mm) thickness. Cut out shapes with lightly floured 5 inch (12.5 cm) heart-shaped cookie cutter. Roll out scraps to cut more heart shapes.

Arrange cookies, about 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart, on greased cookie sheets. Bake, 1 sheet at a time, in 350°F (175°C) oven for about 12 minutes until golden.

Let stand on cookie sheets for 5 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool. Cool cookie sheets between batches.

Royal Icing: Combine first 3 ingredients in large bowl. Add first amount of food colouring. Beat for about 8 minutes until soft peaks form. Spoon icing into piping bag fitted with small plain tip or small resealable freezer bag with tiny piece snipped off 1 corner. Pipe border around each cookie. Pipe icing to fill (see photo). Let stand overnight until set. Cover remaining icing with plastic wrap. Let stand at room temperature.

Add second amount of food colouring to remaining icing. Stir well. Spoon icing into same piping or freezer bag. Pipe decorative patterns on cookies. Makes about 12 cookies.

1 cookie: 622 Calories; 16.0 g Total Fat (4.0 g Mono, 0.6 g Poly, 9.9 g Sat); 76 mg Cholesterol; 114 g Carbohydrate; 1 g Fibre; 8 g Protein; 223 mg Sodium

Note: Meringue powder is available at kitchen stores or cake decorating suppliers.

Tip: The advantage to using paste food colouring is that it allows for more vibrant colours than does liquid food colouring. If you try to substitute liquid food colouring for paste food colouring, the addition of the additional liquid may affect the success of the recipe.

Reprinted from All Occasion Gifts From Your Kitchen © Company's Coming Publishing Limited