Pantone has announced the Color for 2015

Remember the Color of the year 2014 declared by Pantone last year? Radiant Orchid ! The results of Pantone's annual poll of esigners, retailers and manufacturers is out now, and 2015's Color of the Year is: Marsala, the wine color.

Every year since 1990, the Pantone Color Institute has announced its pick for the Color of the Year, which involves a surprisingly exhaustive selection process. While past picks have ranged from fuchsia-rose to emerald, it looks like 2015 is going to be filled with marsala, an earthy, reddish-brown hue.

 The color is more subdued than its aggressively pink predecessor, Marsala is a red that Pantone describes in the following ways:

"Enriches our mind, body and soul," "exuding confidence and stability." "Like a fortified wine," "tasteful," "the satisfying richness of a fulfilling meal," "grounding," "sophisticated, natural earthiness." "Hearty yet stylish," "burnished undertones," "versatile," "complex and full-bodied," "welcoming," "plush."

Comparing with last year's Radiant Orchid, Marsala is going to be a lot easier to wear on your face and person. No matter your skin tone, the sophisticated hue is an excellent choice for those looking to spice up their look. Add just a touch of color with a pair of shoes or turn heads in a vibrant coat. We also love how well Marsala plays with other colors. Look for items that are color-blocked with similar red-brown hues. In the winter, pair the color with jewel tones for an even bigger statement. Come spring, opt for marsala with icy pastels. It's also going to work well against rich fabrics.

Décor wise, the Marsala color is so rich which works along almost many earthy hues and even pastel colors. So, comprising the color in home décor has already been widely accepted.

The only thing I didn’t get is why did Pantone call the Wine color ‘Marsala’, not Oxblood or simply ‘Wine’ ? It seems like Pantone also like to make their own range of colors ! Anyway, acceptance of any color in our wardrobe, designs etc largely depends upon indivisual perception, and Marsala is already wearable one. Come on, you have got quite a hint for this New year’s gift shopping, haven’t you ?

Wishing you a hopeful New year ahead ….

How to make small space look larger (ideas :-)!!!

For most of all, space in our home is usually restricted. Unless you live in a house that is a Mansion and Villa, I think you too need to manage with whatever space you have. I prefer to use the areas in my home strategically than to live in a mansion that will make me spend more on cleaning and managing a larger space. Sometimes, we just need to give refreshing change or I would say facelift and makeover to whatever room and space we have. Here are some of popular and not so popular methods to make a room look larger than it really is!!

1. Create a Focal point in the room :

Creating a focal point in a room is great as it makes our eyes stuck to the certain part or point of a room. 

Image : www.freshome.com

You can play with prints and patterns in a wall, or place only one furniture, chest or cupboard that is a statement in itself. 

Image : www.homedit.com

This will trick the eyes of the persons entering into the room and attention won't be on the tight space. 

Image : www.Inthralld.com

You can even place a soothing or eye catching artwork to fake a view or distract from architectural flaws.

2. Give your window some Treatments:

Hanging Curtains and rods in the window from the ceiling to the floor will make a room look larger. 

Image : www.Abodelove.blogspot.com

Image: www.potterybarn.com

Matching the color of curtain and drapes with wall color will only add to its enlargement. So keep matchy matchy in tight space.

For more precise look, please have a look on the image below by apartment therapy that i fell in love with. Always hang curatins wider in width even for small width windows in a tight space and from ceiling to floor to make the room appear larger.

Image: www.apartmenttherapy.com

3. Choose Glass or Lucite Furnishing

It may seem costly to many but placing furniture, specially a table made of glass or Lucite will make the room larger as they will disappear when looked in a room with other things.

Can you notice the lucite dining table in the image below. You almost didn't notice it in a group right ?

Image: www.cococozy.com

These furnitures just disappears when looked with other things.

Image: www.nicheinteriors.com

4. Give your walls some Stripes Treatment:

Giving walls and floors stripe treatment is budget friendly and will make a room feel larger. 

Image: www.betterdcoratingbible.com

Image : www.elledecor.com

Place a rug with stripe pattern, in a room or in staircase, this is a simple trick.

5. Mirrors are always a hit

Everything made from glass in a room, it will make a room appear larger. Decorating with Mirrors make a room look spacious. 

Let Mirrors shine in almirahs or just let it be an art itself. This is one of the cheapest ways to maximize a small room, or just to feel it's been maximized.

6. Choose items with functionality

Choose furnishings and decorative items that offer maximum functionality in minimal space. We should use two small round tables instead of one big coffee table which are easier to move around.

Thankx for the read and I hope this post selects some of the major changes with little efforts in a tight space that needs attention. We all need some ideas isn't it? :-)

Home Decor with Mixed Prints

Our Home is our labor of love and It's entirely up to us how we give it a face through home decor. I am always partial towards prints and patterns as Prints in fabrics and objects in the house adds instant personality and can do all the talking without making a fuss. A plain room, some prints and patterns and Voila ! No need for expensive items and furniture. 

How mixed print are you ? i mean we all love prints in clothes, some big ones, some graphical.....and many more. But in home decor ?? I absolutely like the pattern play.

Mixed prints Cushion Covers

# While playing with pattern in room, this picture shows how color is coordinated while playing with different prints. Note the print and color of rug and cushion cover.

                                         

# While playing with pattern in home decor, Rug and carpets play crucial role. As they provide height and dimension to the room. 

                                       

                 

                        

# Need to make statement without breaking bank and want to look somber enough through furniture ? Printed covers are the best option, decor wise.

# Sometimes being in contrast is a win win. and think about a simple fabric or piece of cloth in prints to make a statement. Even in frames !!

# While playing with prints, always consider for height of a room or place to decor. And other prints to be mixed with. It should not be overwhelmed ! Instead, the prints should complement one another.

              

                               

# Floral prints and geometric can complement each other.

# Simple tale of curtains and cushions in prints in like color.

Even the nature itself has created examples of Mixed prints !! So, why should we hesitate to spark them up in our home ? 

How to organize our home on daily basis : It's Easy!

Lorie Marrero is the best-selling author of The Clutter Diet: The Skinny on Organizing Your Home and Taking Control of Your Life, the spokesperson for Goodwill Industries International, and the creator of ClutterDiet.com, an innovative online membership program that's provided affordable professional organizing advice to thousands of people in eighteen countries. I've included some of her valuable advices in my post before and this time, here is what she says about daily basis organizing ideas that makes long term effect in the personal and household grooming.

Brush your teeth once a month, sixty times, and then you don't have to worry about it every day! That won't work? The same reasoning applies to cleaning, organizing, and maintaining your home. It's a little silly to save up all of your cleaning, maintaining, and organizing for one giant project. Here are some small things we can do regularly to keep things working well all the time.

Closets: 

• Each day, hang up everything and put away clean laundry. 
• Put your shoes back in their places, straighten stacks, and have a regular habit of bringing empty hangers back to the laundry room. 
• Remove clothing along the way as you decide to donate it, and put it in your "Donation Station," using a paper shopping bag or box to gather those items for Goodwill. 
• Twice a year when you organize and change out seasonal clothing, these habits will keep everything more visible and manageable when you are ready to do a bigger project.

Garages:

• Break down cardboard boxes, manage your recycling and trash, sweep excess leaves and dirt to keep them from tracking into the house, and keep a path cleared between the car and the door.
• Return sports equipment, chairs, and bikes to their racks and shelves. 
• And each time you fill up with gas, empty the trash from your car right there at the gas pump!

Pantries: 

• Each time you return from the grocery store and put food away, stop and straighten up what's there. 
• Move cans and boxes for greater visibility, throw away containers with only a few crumbs left, and check for moldy bread and stale chips. 
• Reclose cereal cartons and cracker boxes that your family has left open, and remove excess packaging from large warehouse purchases like soft drinks, paper towels, and snack foods.

Entry and Exit Doors: 

• Take shoes back to bedroom closets, put errand items in your car, and clear out mail and papers. 
• Hang up coats, put dirty socks in the laundry room, and get the kids to handle their odds-and-ends of toys and school items once a week.

What we always forget : Hard work is often the easy work we did not do at the proper time. 

So What other little things could you do regularly to save yourself lots of time and effort later? Share your valuable comments with me. 

How do you manage and declutter Jwellery ?

For me, getting ready means a job of 7-10 minutes but this too seems quite uneasy many times when I am stuck into those tangled jwelleries, earrings and studs that i never wear actually and are there for many years. Thus it's my inner urge for managing my so called vanity area these days which compelled me for this post. While there are many ideas in Pinterest and internet as a whole but here are some of them which actually appealed to me i think these are good enough to share. So, here we go for How to manage jwelleries.

# Mirrors are used for hanging chains, beaded necklaces and many more since ages. I've too witnessed it since my childhood. So, it's definitely the easiest option to try for those abandoned and tangled chains and necklaces. If you are bored with mirrors, try with some portrait or family photo that you like.

# Teacups and Saucers are the best bet for danglers, earrings and even necklaces. Earrings can be hanged onto cup while necklaces can rest in saucers. Beautiful ! You can even stack pins and other less necessary stuffs inside the cups.

# Have an old rake around your garden area ? Paint it in color of your choice and hang on the wall; and let all your necklaces, chain have safe home in it as it can hold many items at once. Even Bracelets !!

# Or, Choose those beautiful wall hangers available in low budget which will hold as many items as you want.

                                     

# Drawers are always the safest and easiest way to manage all the items you need in rush hour at once. It's handy and we all have drawers at any of our closets, Right !! No need of extra expenses. Just make them separate with partition, even cardboard will make perfect partition for different items.

# Repurpose with hangers you have for all your tangled chains and necklaces.

# Doors are another closet which we should not forget storage wise. Hence use it for managing your jwelleries by getting a hanger fixed in the doors or even with DIY ones.

# If you can, dedicate a wall or corner of your room to manage jwelleries. How ?? Like this in the image below.

# Repurpose your everyday items in a way that caters to your need. How about using old stuffs for storing and decluttering jwelleries !!

A Cage used for holding earings and danglers. Perfect !

Don't throw away those used crates of chocolates, eggs, cookies. It can stack whatever you want to.

Cake stand and Racket us%d for jwelleries

Drawers used as cabinets for jwelleries.

Old Grater used as earrings holder. Simple !!

You can always share what you have or want to with jwelleries here through comments. Have a happy time.