DISTINTAS RECEPCIONES RUSTICAS

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Ideas económicas para el dormitorio

Ideas económicas para el dormitorio primaveral

Con el cambio de estación, y el arribo de la primavera, llega el momento de olvidarse de los colores apagados, las telas pesadas y el encierro, y hay que abrir el dormitorio a la luz, los colores y la renovación.

Hacer de tu recámara un espacio primaveral requiere de más ingenio que dinero.

He aquí algunas claves para montar un dormitorio primaveral con nada más que tu imaginación.

1. Todo alrededor de la cama

Que el color de las paredes, las cortinas y el mobiliario se encuentren en el cubrecamas. Opta por los estampados alegres y coloridos, en donde los colores del ambiente se vean representados, con preferencia en una gama más brillante.

De este modo lograrás un conjunto más integrado… con nada más que el cubrecamas.

2. Usa colores brillantes

Ante un sol generoso, colores brillantes que difundan la luz y hagan más luminoso al espacio.

Prefiere las telas más arrugadas, de hilos bastos y rica texturas, para añadir personalidad, y matizar el reflejo de la luz.

El equilibrio al diseñar un cuarto

El equilibrio al diseñar un cuarto para adolescente

Un cuarto adolescente, como dijimos debe estar decorado con muebles funcionales, dónde se les permita con gran facilidad mantener el orden, y dónde no pueden faltar las combinaciones de colores estridentes, y brillantes.

En este cuarto podemos observar como se combinaron diferentes motivos, y cabe destacar que es muy importante considerar las dimensiones de los estampados, para que estén a tono con el resto de la decoración y las dimensiones del cuarto.

De esta manera, podemos otorgar visualmente un efecto de grandeza y amplitud, por otro lado en esta paleta de colores naranjas y marrones, conseguimos así el toque colorido y natural, sin recurrir a elementos rústicos y permitiendo una absoluta modernidad en el diseño.

Para equilibrar tanto derroche de colores, nada mejor que optar por un cortinado en color blanco, o en una tonalidad clara, que le permitirá suavizar el tono de las paredes, y además nos dará el toque informal y distinguido que por lo general a los adolescentes les encanta.

Consejos para decorar un baño pequeño

Todos sabemos el cuarto de baño con el que soñamos, sale a veces en las películas y cuenta con una bañera gigantesca, ventanas por las que entra la luz a raudales y mucho espacio. Por lástima, ese cuarto de baño no cabe en nuestra casa, pero ese no es motivo para desanimarse.

Con una buena distribución es posible convertir un baño pequeño y oscuro en una sala funcional, agradable y también moderna.

¿Cómo? Aquí van algunos consejos que te ayudarán a optimizar el espacio y a agrandar visualmente la habitación.

1. La iluminación

Muchos cuartos de baño no cuentan con ventanas, por lo que toda la luz tiene que ser artificial. Apuesta por una iluminación potente a base de halógenos de luz amarilla. Los apliques del espejo, mejor en los laterales que sobre el espejo (pues si no se crean sombras). También es buena idea colocar apliques en la zona de la ducha.

2. Los colores

Para no causar agobios son mejores los colores neutros, que no cansan, y se pueden ver matizados por los complementos. Decorar con dos colores (parte baja, parte alta), es una buena idea, y no olvides que la parte superior y el techo deben ser siempre de un color claro.

Los colores frescos, como el verde o el azul, también aportarán una sensación de calma y relax, y por extensión, de espaciosidad.

3. Ducha mejor que bañera

Es obvio el por qué ¿no? Si antes conseguías meter una bañera en tu cuarto de baño al sustituirla por una ducha ganarás mucho espacio. Las duchas que puedes ver debajo son de Albatros.

4. Cristal

Utilizar manparas de cristal en la ducha es una forma de apostar por la claridad en el baño, eso sí, siempre con tratamiento antical. También son una buena opción para separar espacios si, por ejemplo, tienes el baño junto al dormitorio.

5. Nuevos materiales

El baño puede ser decorado con algo más que azulejos, como con vidrios lacados o piezas grandes de granito o mármol, que prescinden de juntas y dan amplitud.

6. Revestimientos a media altura

No hace falta alicatar hasta el techo, de hecho, en un baño pequeño eso contribuye a la sensación de agobio. Puedes optar por revestir la zona de aguas y dejar el resto de media altura. El baño así, resultará más cálido.

7. Organización del espacio

Todo depende, por supuesto, del tamaño del baño y de su forma, pero hay determinadas pautas que podemos seguir.

En los baños alargados, una buena idea es organizar todos los muebles en línea y dejar un espacio libre enfrente.

En los baños cuadrados es mejor la decoración en forma de U pues permite aprovechar mejor el espacio.

8. Libertad de movimientos

Limita los accesorios del baño al mínimo necesario, o te sentirás incómod@ chocando -aunque sea visualmente- con multitud de objetos. Una sóla alfombra (y pequeña) será suficiente. El cesto de la ropa sucia mejor déjalo en otra habitación. Evita los armarios voluminosos.

9. Muebles volados

Los muebles volados dan mayor ligereza al cuarto. Un lavabo volado ocupa poco espacio, y puedes colocar debajo una papelera o un cesto. El lavabo de la foto que sigue es de Gala.

10. Soluciones de almacenaje

Lo de limitar los accesorios al mínimo está muy bien, pero la cruda realidad es que necesitamos meter las cosas en algún sitio. Un armario de poca profundidad, pero que llegue hasta el techo, permitirá aprovechar el espacio hacia arriba, lo ideal es hacerlo a medida. Si hay posibilidad de hacer un armario empotrado, no lo dudes, es la solución definitiva, y mejor con puertas correderas.

Poner muebles suspendidos al lado del espejo del lavabo también puede ser una opción. Las puertas de cristal en los muebles contribuirá a darles menos densidad.

Shakira



A Confession

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Beatlemania, NYC, 1964.   Some things never change.

In 1964, I was crazy over one boy – well, he was a young man then.  I lived and breathed for Paul McCartney.   That year, on Aprils Fools Day, my mother woke me up for school, screaming excitedly - “The Beatles are coming to school today!  Get up,  get up!!!”  Sad to say, I truly believed her and jumped up, got dressed immediately, plotting out ways I could impress Paul enough to get him to marry my 10 year old self.   I still, to this day,  almost 45 years later, remember EXACTLY how I felt when she told me it was an Aprils Fools joke. 

 

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Twihards, 2010

 

Fast forward years later, through all kinds of obsessions with singers, books, and movies and here I find myself a Twihard.   It’s truly embarrassing to admit this, but yes, I am a Twihard, a serious devotee of Stephenie Meyer’s books, the Twilight Saga.    I don’t know how I fell into this (well, I really do know) but when I fell, I fell hard.    It’s not like I don’t appreciate fine literature – my cats names were Quilty and Humbert, for God’s sakes!!  But, I am, at the age of 55, in the grips of a series of books written for teenaged girls. 

 

 z002  Rob Pattinson, aka Edward Cullen, smexy vampire and Kristen Stewart aka Bella Swan, his fragile little human girlfriend.  Will he turn her into a vampire so they can live happily ever after as teenagers for all of eternity?  Stay tuned for Breaking Dawn to find out, the 4th book in the Twilight Saga – and the 4th and 5th movie.

 

So, people, I confess here, publically, to you that tonight at midnight – my daughter and I, along with every other teenaged girl in Houston, will be at the movie theatre attending the Twilight-Eclipse premier.  Something tells me we’ll probably return tomorrow for a second viewing.  Well, I will – not sure if Elisabeth will want to go again so soon.

 

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I’m not THIS bad off that I would tattoo a famous line from the book/movie on my arms.  Not yet at least.   The actual quote from the book is:  

 

"And so the lion fell in love with the lamb..." he murmured.
I looked away, hiding my eyes as I thrilled to the word.
What a stupid lamb," I sighed.
“What a sick, masochistic lion."

I guess this poor girl didn’t have enough room on her arms for the entire quote. 

 

 

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Edward and Bella at their junior prom where she begs Edward to change her into a vampire.  He refuses, of course.  He’s too much of an old fashioned gentleman from the early 1900s to ever do anything inappropriate to Bella, like have sex with her for instance!  The Twilight Saga is definitely smut free.  Stephenie Meyer is a devout Mormon and her values on premarital sex are woven into the plot. 

 

Even more embarrassing about my obsession is that I almost escaped the phenomenon altogether.  Oh, if I only had.   I had heard about the Twilight Saga but never really paid any attention to it.   I wished I had continued to ignore it – it would save me all this humiliation.   Until last year, I didn’t even know who Robert Pattinson was, nor did I care – but boy, has THAT changed!   I laughed at all the endless TV promotions for Twilight and it’s sequel New Moon.  Laughed.   I’m not laughing now, I live for those commercials!   My fall into the abyss occurred  when the first movie, Twilight, came out on DVD.   Elisabeth of course was already involved.   She had a slumber party where she and her friends watched the Twilight DVD all night long.   I snickered at them.   It looked so boring!   The acting was so stilted!  Everyone looked so pasty!

 

 

Pasty???   Robert Pattinson aka Edward Cullen, the gentlemanly vampire.   His career is huge now thanks to Twilight – he has two major motion pictures coming out next year.  He is the the Marlon Brando, the James Dean of youngest generation.  He made the Forbes List.  And he is just 24 years old. 

 

 

 

Ok, I can’t resist another picture of this gorgeous man.   That hair!  It has a mind of its own.

 

 

Maybe just one more peek.  hehe.  Brooding Rob.   I’m Team Edward all the way.  Elisabeth is Team Taylor.  She even has a life size cutout of Taylor Lautner.  We argue about who is cuter – Edward or Taylor.   It’s all so ridiculous – I KNOW THIS!!!! 

 

THE END OF LIFE AS I KNEW IT:   I don’t know why I actually chose to sit down one night to watch the Twilight DVD, but that’s where this all started.   I’ve probably seen the movie about 30 or 40 times since.  Elisabeth has watched it probably over a 100 times.  Plus factor in New Moon, the second Twilight movie on DVD – we watch that one too, but it’s not as good as the first one.   Since we’ve seen Twilight so many times, we know the dialogue and can recite it, word for word.    It’s not a great movie to be sure, the acting is bad (except for Pattinson who steals every scene he is in), the script is worse, but it sucks you in all the same.   It’s no To Kill A Mockingbird or Gone With The Wind, but it’s a sweet story of first love, if your first love is a vampire, that is.   When you are hooked you actually wish there were vampires that you could fall in love with.  How sick is that?  But, what is so wrong with never dying, never getting older, never sleeping, having brute strength, incredible vision and hearing, and gorgeous good looks (all vampires are gorgeous to lure their victims in)?  Plus, the Cullens are GOOD vampires.  They only drink animal blood, not human blood.   I know, I know, this is all so STUPID!!!!!  But, what confession is easy? 

 

 

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The famous school cafeteria scene in Twilight.  Here Edward sits with his “family” – the Cullens. He is the only one without a partner, so he is lonely and brooding.  The “fragile human” Bella has a special scent that attracts him like his own “personal brand of heroin.”  He can’t be with her or without it.  It’s all so tortured!!!!   In real life – Bella (Kristen) and Edward (Rob) are also romantically linked.

 

After watching the movie, I read the first book in about a day, then promised myself  - I was through with all this nonsense.    Except there’s that pesky thing called Kindle.   Kindle makes it too easy to buy a new book at 3:00 a.m.   In shame I tell you, that within just a few days, I had read all four books.   Twice.    But it doesn’t end there.  It’s just the beginning.    After  you have read all the books, there is this weird thing called FanFiction.    What is FanFic exactly?  Well, it’s where people write long stories (as long as books sometimes)  online.  These stories are their interpretation on the plot -  they may rewrite an original book with different endings, or  different beginnings or even different plots altogether.  Sometimes the FanFic story will just takes the characters names and it will have nothing to do with the original book.  FanFic is not just about Twilight – any book or movie can be rewritten.    For instance, fans of the book To Kill A Mockingbird have written over 350 FanFics, retelling that book in their own way.   There are 607 FanFics for Gone With The Wind.   For Twilight, there are over 150,000 FanFic stories.  Harry Potter has over 450,00o FanFic stories.    So far, I have probably read more than 100 Twilight FanFics in my spare time.   Some are actually fabulous books – change the characters names and they would have nothing to do with Twilight.   Many of the more popular FanFic stories are even better than Stephenie Meyer’s original books.  It must kill her to read the better FanFic.    Still, FanFic is a mysterious and strange world, but a highly addicting one.

 

 

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While I am bad off, I’m not this bad off that I would camp out for days for a glimpse of the Twilight cast.  At least I don’t think I would, but it sure looks like fun!

 

So, this is my confession to you.  I’m not just about decorating and French antiques.    I’m a Twi-Mom.   And yes, there are a LOT of us out here.    I won’t admit this to you in person, nor will I talk about this addiction with anyone that knows me except my poor long suffering husband and daughter.   It’s my secret.   Until now.   I might need an intervention.    I’m sure there must be a 12 step program out there for people like me who are hopelessly lost in the world of Bella and Edward.   Knowing Twihards though, it would be a 3 step program that would sound something like this (taken from an important excerpt in the book):

 

About three things I am absolutely positive.

First, Twilight is just a book.

Second, there is a part of me that will always be addicted to this book.

And third, I am unconditionally and irrevocably in love with it!

 

hehe.  You need to read the book for this to make sense!

 

 image Cote de Texas on her cell phone at the premier of Eclipse.

 

If you are going to see Eclipse tonight or tomorrow or the next night – be sure to wave if you can recognize me.   I’ll be the one in disguise wearing all black.  

 

If you want to see what all the fuss is about – I suggest you read the Twilight Saga books first.  Then rent the movies Twilight and New Moon.  And then, and only then go see the movie Eclipse.     OR you could do what I did and see the Twilight movie first, then read the books, then see New Moon and Eclipse!  Either way.    If you are already a Twihard and have never heard of FanFic, email me – I’ll give you some great stories to start out with.

Amazon:  HERE

Twilight FanFiction:   HERE

Summer Rerun

I'm busy working today and trying to get through a thousand annoying emails so I'm posting an oldie but a goodie from 2008. This fabulous house in the Hamptons used to belong to Steven Gambrel before friends of LA designer Ruthie Sommers bought it and asked her to decorate the place. I love the colors and casual feeling which is perfect for a house near the beach. It was published in House Beautiful so you can read more about the details online. Enjoy!










Photos by Don Freeman

Slarvigt snyggt!

Ibland är det svårt att förstå att det kan bli riktigt snyggt när det ser så där slarvigt och oorganiserat ut. Men om man har en enhetlig stil och en mild och konsekvent färgskala går det hur bra som helst att inte vara så ordningsam. Det ser ändå snyggt och harmoniskt ut. Bilder från fotograf John Dummer.

RTA signs contract with DHL to provide parcels & documents postal services at Dubai Metro stations



RTA signs contract with DHL to provide parcels & documents postal services at Dubai Metro stations

The service is open for use by organizations and individuals, aims to support economic activity

Dubai – United Arab Emirates: The Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) has signed a contract with DHL, a giant global provider of postal services, whereby the company will provide postal services including parcels and documents through the post system known as Packstations at the Dubai Metro stations, thus making Dubai the first city in the region and second worldwide, after Germany, to introduce this type of postal services.

RTA will allocate spaces at the Dubai Metro Stations to install DHL’s parcels and documents postal system initially at Khalid bin Al Waleed station and Deira City Center station and the service is set to cover other metro stations later on, according to Adnan Al Hamadi, CEO of RTA Rail Agency.

“RTA has signed a one-year contract, renewable, with DHL in June and the system will start tentative operation in mid July such that these postal units will be fully operational next September. This service, which is the first of its kind in the region, enables Dubai Metro commuters to send and receive their parcels through the self-operated machines fixed at the Dubai Metro stations,” added Al Hamadi.

The CEO of Rail Agency continued: “This Agreement comes in the context of RTA assiduous efforts to upgrade its services, stimulate the economic sector in the Emirate, and make the metro, which is one of the most successful mass transit modes in the region, more attractive to the residents and visitors of Dubai Emirate through providing passengers with the services needed during their metro travel. Moreover, this service reflects RTA attention to build sound & sustained strategic partnership with the private sector in the Emirate”.

These postal units, which will be functioning 24-hours a day, are self-operated and the users are required to sign up for the service free of charge to obtain e-cards enabling them to benefit from the service. This sort of machines is currently available in more than 300 German cities, where DHL is deploying more 1500 postal units.

Hamptons puts spotlight on Owners Associations at BBG Real Estate Forum



Hamptons puts spotlight on Owners Associations at BBG Real Estate Forum

Dubai, UAE; June 30, 2010: Hamptons International, a premier property services company with a strong geographic presence in the Middle East and North Africa region, put the spotlight on the role of Owners Associations in the Jointly Owned Properties in Dubai, at the Real Estate Forum organised for members of British Business Group (BBG).

Mr Jeevan J. D’Mello, Senior Director, Emaar Community Management, presented the highlights of the recent regulations outlined by the Dubai Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA) under Law No. 27 of 2007 concerning Jointly Owned Properties in the Emirate of Dubai.

A spokesperson of Hamptons International said: “The issuance of the law and recent regulations regarding Jointly Owned Properties is a landmark for the real estate sector in Dubai. It now brings to focus the role that owners play in managing the communities. Organizing a special session for British Business Group was part of our commitment to strengthen awareness of the Law and speed up the process of setting up owners associations in all jointly-owned communities within Dubai.”

In his presentation, Mr D’Mello, a qualified community management expert, explained the definition of the Law, its implications, the functions and powers of Owners Associations, the roles of the Association Manager and the Board of Owners and practical tips for management.

The event is first in a series of property educational initiatives led by Hamptons International and was attended by members of BBG, and non-members as well, representing various economic sectors.

Hamptons International offers the full spectrum of property services including residential property sales, residential and commercial leasing and property management, valuations, research and feasibility studies, and independent mortgage consultancy.

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Mr Jeevan J. D Mello, Senior Director, Emaar Community Management, addresses the Real Estate Forum organised by Hamptons International on Ownership Associations for British Business Group (BBG) in Dubai.

Monica Bellucci