When you walk into a home what is the first thing you see?  Is it a piece of ornate furniture?  Artwork hanging on the wall to your left?  You might not analyze the movement of your eyes when you walk into a new room, but innately, you notice a particular piece.  You’re probably drawn to it for a unique characteristic it possesses.  This one standout piece is the focal point of the room.

Can there be a different focal point for different people?  Generally, the designer of the room being analyzed intentionally creates a focal point.  The eye is very predictable.  Did you know that?  It’s true; interior design is more than choosing ornate pieces to reside in the living room.  It’s about staging a room to create a certain look and feel. 

Think about it this way.  If you’ve ever walked into a bathroom of a model home and noticed the airiness of the colors and the ornate fixtures surrounding you, it would be safe to assume that you enjoyed the experience.  But, if you walked into the same floorplan that was decorated with a dark color and standard home features, you probably wouldn’t admire the space as much.  This scenario depicts just how important colors and décor matter. 

What if that same floorplan was small?  You might not notice in the model home, but you would definitely take note if the room had no special element to captivate your interest.  You don’t have to be a decorator to observe design elements.  The reason you take note of the size in the second home is because of the dark colors.  The model home used light, airy colors which manipulate your eyes.  Light colors create an open feel in small spaces.  Dark colors have the opposite effect.

Colors are important for captivating an audience.  The focal point of your space should have the same effect on your guests.  Does your focal point create an inviting environment?  Or does it emit a cold vibe?  When decorating your home, you have to consider how each element will affect your guests.  In actuality, your decorations will affect even the people living in your home. 

Don’t be afraid to experiment.  If your favorite colors are coral and mint green, find a way to incorporate them into your design.  While you might consider avoiding a coral couch, you can use vases and artwork with coral to add that pop of color.  There are several ways to bring an inviting tone to your space.  Think about how you stage your space, the colors you use, the materials of your furniture, and everything in between. 

With an awareness of each element, the next step is to put everything together.  Start with your focal point and work around that.  Do your materials mesh well?  Is your color scheme consistent?  Trial and error will help you in this process.  Don’t be afraid to step outside of your comfort zone and experiment. Your home’s design will be magazine worthy in no time. 

When entertaining guests, it’s important to use your resources wisely.  You want to keep your guests entertained by pleasing their senses.  From soft materials and pleasing aromas to light background music and art that keeps their attention, using the five senses to captivate an audience is key to successful entertaining and hosting.

Begin preparing for your role as host or hostess by making your home or venue appealing to the five senses.  Start with sight.  Visual stimulations is the most important sense in entertaining.  While there might not be food to absorb any tension in the room, having visuals to connect and talk about is a definite win.  Whether you’re hosting an art gallery opening or simply hosting a small get together, decorate for the occasion.  This will let your guests know they serve an important role in the evening. 

Decorating your home is the key to a great evening.  If you’ve ever visited a party with no visuals or stimulation, you know that it affect the mood of the entire evening.  Keep your guests interest with plenty of visual stimulation and you’ll notice an automatic mood boost in the room. 

Once you’ve decorated, give your guests something to touch, smell, and taste.  Snack foods are a perfect accessory to any gathering.  Providing food gives your guests something to pass the time, touch, and focus on.  If you’re ever worried about tension filling a room, taste is the perfect ingredient to a successful occasion. 

While food can accomplish two of the five senses, it’s hearing that goes the extra mile.  If you’ve ever been the first to arrive to an event, you understand how intimidating awkward silence can be.  You want to keep the emotion flowing throughout the evening and music does just that.  With a deep connection between emotion and music, the ears affect the atmosphere of an event.  Your event will run smoothly when played at the appropriate volume.

Whether your event incorporates food or not, having a coordinating scent fill your space is the icing on the cake.  Top off your party by activating each of the five senses.  With something to touch, smell, taste, see, and hear, your guests will be overwhelmed—in the best way, of course.

Here are some more ideas on how to keep your event running seamlessly. 

Incorporate different activities for your guests.  While some individuals thrive on sparking up a conversation, others need something to keep them occupied or initiate a topic of discussion.  Make sure you include creative visual stimulation into your decorations.  This will help your shy guests come out of their shell. 

Have a food tasting.  Include different food stations throughout the room.  By igniting different taste buds in one night, your guests will be more energized and prone to stay engaged in the night’s events.  By highlighting all five senses, your event will be flawless.  Find the right tempo and the perfect dish and begin preparing for your occasion.  Use all five senses and watch your party come to life.

The number one rule of creative design is to incorporate visual art into your space.  Whether you’re revamping a bedroom or creating an outdoor retreat, when your space is visually appealing, the vibe is more energetic and inviting.

Finding visual art that captivates an audience in a pleasing way can be difficult.  Everyone has different taste, everyone sees beauty in different manners, but one thing remains.  Using visual art captivates the senses and encourages more conversation. 

Your guests can appreciate your sense of style when you use visually appealing art to complete the story of your space.  Though artwork conveys a different meaning to each person, without art, your space is merely a room.  It might sound drastic, but it’s the details of art that leave an impact.  So don’t be shy in your artwork.  Take a dare, be creative, and find a way to speak to your guests without saying a word.  If you’re at a loss for words, here are some ideas for your walls.

The beauty of art is all in the colors you choose.  While you can appreciate a painting for its use of shading and abstract lines that create an object, the colors stand out the most.  Imagine looking at a painting with camouflage green and dirty brown.  The painting, of course, is an angelic being, but because its color choices convey a completely different idea than the object being portrayed, the idea is lost.  Find art with colors that complement the style of your room. 

Once you have determined the colors that will best complement the style of your featured room, begin to think about different materials used in the artwork.  If you have a traditional style, will a sketch, photograph, or metal abstract piece look best?  In the same sense, if you have a modern or eclectic style, will wood carvings, water paints, or prints best complement the environment?  For a traditional space, photography, printed artwork, and framed watercolors are best.  Modern styles are more lenient.  Abstract artwork is always a good conversation starter, as is DIY artwork. 

There are a lot of options available when choosing artwork.  From the color you choose to the best materials and type of art to complement the style of your space, it’s important to remember that placement is key. 

While you might choose the perfect piece for your home, if imbalanced or placed in the wrong location, the entire project can take a negative turn.  When you’re considering locations for your art, lighting plays a huge role.  You want to highlight your efforts, your find, your purchase with proper lighting.  Hiding it in the corner of a room will only make your space look cluttered.  Feature it as the focal point of your room, balance it with other accessories, or frame it with furniture placement.

When choosing artwork for your space, always keep in mind color, material, and placement.  With these three key elements, your space will look great and feel even better.  

A popular style in today’s architecture is an open concept.  This means that several rooms are staged into one large room.  If your home has this floor plan, the options are endless on how to decorate your space. 

It may seem easier to decorate one specific room at a time, but the open concept is a great way to keep the style of your home cohesively flowing throughout all of your rooms.  If you have a living room, kitchen, and breakfast area in a great room, fear not.  There are some really impressive ways to keep each room different, while keeping the same style throughout. 

An open concept has some pros and cons, like all floor plans do.  While the open concept does not absorb sound as well as several walls do, it does allow for more time together.  While you are in the kitchen, your friends can gather in the living room.  The plus to this: you aren’t isolated by your hosting duties.  An open concept brings friends together and emits a sense of unity in the home. 

Aesthetically, the open concept is very pleasing to the eye.  When you walk into a home with an open concept, the eyes are allowed to absorb all that is going on.  At this point, it is important to note that you must decorate properly for the open concept to have a positive effect on your guests.  If you create choppy, unorganized areas in one large room, your guests will end up confused as to the purpose of each room. 

To create an aesthetically appealing look in your open concept rooms, start with the most important room of your choice.  Completely decorate this room, the living room for example, before moving on to another section of the home.  Determine the style you want for your home and the color scheme that will be used throughout.

With a foundation set on the style you want to create throughout your home, you can move on to the next are of the open concept.  For example, if the next room is the kitchen, you want to bring in elements of the living room, without completely mocking that space.  A great way to create a cohesive flow is through the use of colors.  A neutral wall color is great for an open concept, because it allows the eye to travel all around the room smoothly. 

Use accent colors to create the same feel in the rooms.  If you decide on dark red in your living room, bring in dark reds in the kitchen.  And remember, it’s all about color pallet.  Perhaps, you used pastels in your living room.  Bring in a variety of pastels into the kitchen and breakfast area to keep the same style, without having the exact look. 

The key to decorating an open concept floor plan is to focus on unity without mockery.  Find a balance between repetition and deviation.  In the end, you’ll love the look of your home. 

NinaCarmen Monroe

Now’s the Time to Let Spring into Your Kitchen

It’s funny just how universal the urge to spring clean is – many put it down to imitating nature in this growing season when everything is fresh, exciting, and new, and you can’t really argue with that. It’s a great time to let all the cold and dark colors of winter fly out the windows as you fling them open to embrace the warmth of the spring sun.

The kitchen is no exception. As the warmer weather starts to creep in, the room that is the hub of the house more than deserves a spring make-over, but don’t throw up your hands in horror at the thought of re-doing your whole kitchen – a make-over doesn’t have to mean a complete remodeling job, but perhaps a quick splash of paint and a few bright and cheerful accessories. Before you know it, your kitchen will look and feel like spring has come to stay!

Overall Color Scheme

Thinking about a new color for the walls is probably the most drastic measure you’ll have to contemplate in your kitchen make-over. Your walls may already have the color of spring but it must be remembered that a kitchen’s decoration can quickly become jaded and lifeless because of all the cooking that is bound to have an effect on the freshness of your wall color. Think of light, sunny colors – it doesn’t have to be bright yellow but try a duck egg blue or neutral green, something that makes you think of country vistas, fresh mown grass, and days in the sun. If you still want the color you already have that’s fine too, but a new coat will brighten the whole room almost immediately and, on the up side, painting a kitchen is often quicker than most rooms as with all the cupboards and ‘white goods’ there is less wall space to cover.

Talking about ‘white goods’ leads nicely on to another detail you could change if you wanted to opt for a more far reaching re-decoration. As you may already know, ‘white goods’ don’t necessarily have to be white any more – you can significantly change the look of your kitchen by changing the color of your refrigerator or cooker. A wide range of colors is now available from soft, natural tones to bright vibrant colors which can definitely shake up your whole color scheme into something innovative and fresh. A close friend once did this and bought a bright cerise pink refrigerator. As soon as it was installed, she liked the color so much that she went ahead and changed all her cupboard doors to the same cerise pink! To merely say it changed the look of her kitchen would be a gross understatement… so, I’m not saying this is the way to go but it is definitely an option that is open to you.

Accessorize!

 Once the walls are done then decide whether you want new curtains or blinds to complete the look. Again, this might be a bit drastic when a simple washing will suffice just as well. You can also bring spring in by freshening up the little things too. Everything is in the detail: try and introduce some bright yellow tea-cloths and buy a matching set of place mats to go with them or create a thematic spring color scheme into all your accessories so hints of spring are accented all around you.

Of course, you should also let nature do her own job by keeping a fresh vase of flowers on the kitchen table, or maybe trying to grow your own herbs in a mini garden on your windowsill.

The choices are numerous when it comes to inviting spring into your kitchen, but as long as you think bright, new, and fresh then you’ll soon be walking with a ‘spring’ in your step!

Do you have other home decor tips or experiences you’d like share? Or do you have a request for something you’d like to read about? Leave a comment below, and you might find your comment or suggestion presented in an upcoming blog. Keep reading for more about dream bedrooms, home décor and design, and outdoor living.

NinaCarmen Monroe

Like many of you, I'm really busy with school, work, bills, errands, and life in general. More often than not, when it comes to food, I'll go for something easy (and likely terrible for me). But I love to cook - I have fond memories of my grandmother, aunt, and mother cooking, and of big, shared family meals. And I actually enjoy healthy, fresh foods prepared at home -I just don't make time to cook as often as I should.

So sometimes I am left with the uncontrollable urge to go on a kitchen adventure. These usually don't involve recipes, just me rifling through the fridge and pantry, and maybe making a stop at the store for a few items, just to see what I can come up with.

Last night, I was craving fresh vegetables and something filling that wouldn't leave me feeling guilty for stuffing myself with unhealthy things. I was also in the mood for Italian flavors, but didn't want to go the pasta and sauce route. I stopped at the local grocery store to see what vegetables and herbs were available, as it's always best to get the veggies fresh and use them within a day or two. They had a display of gorgeous red and yellow bell peppers and super-fresh zucchini and squash, so those went in the basket. I was hoping for fresh basil, but alas no such luck; however, my fresh herb craving was appeased by a bunch of perky-looking flat-leaf parsley. Into the basket with that as well. I threw in some grape tomatoes on the way out, and headed home. You can see my complete ingredient list here:

To do what I did you'll need:

• 4 cups whole-grain rice (I used two 2-cup boil-in-bags)

• 6 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (divided into 3, 2 Tablespoon portions)

• 1 Medium zucchini

• 1 Medium yellow squash

• 1 Large red bell pepper

• 1 Large yellow bell pepper

• 2-4 Teaspoons garlic, diced (to taste)

• 1/2 (Half) Medium onion

• 1 Pint fresh grape tomatoes

• 1 Big handful fresh, Italian flat leaf parsley (coarsely chopped and without stems)

• 2 Tablespoon's Mrs. Dash (can be substituted with Italian Seasoning)

• 2 Tablespoons dried basil

• Salt and Pepper to taste

4 Baked Chicken Breasts with Italian Seasoning (see recipe below)

Directions

I always find it easiest to gather all my ingredients, pots, pans, and utensils first. That way I can wash anything I need and have everything right at hand. This recipe only required one big frying pan, one big pot, and one long-handled spoon for stirring and serving. I usually chop all my veggies first as well, so they can go in at just the right moment. For this recipe I used bite-sized chunks of each vegetable for a rustic look and lots of flavor in each bite.

For the rice, just follow the instructions on the box, and if it gets ready first, simply set it aside until you're ready to use it. Add 2 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil to your pan and heat to Medium-low. Add zucchini and squash, season with salt, pepper, half the basil, and half the Mrs. Dash; stir to coat all the pieces. Now, be patient for a few minutes and don't stir them (about 4 - 5 minutes); they should be just getting tender and have a little brown on the bottoms. Add the yellow and red bell peppers as well as the onion. I would recommend adding the tomatoes now as well, although I ended up adding them a bit late. Add 2 more Tablespoons of olive oil, a little more salt and pepper to taste, and the rest of the basil and Mrs. Dash: stir to coat, and be patient again for a few more minutes. You want your vegetables to be tender, but not too soft so they retain the best of their nutrients, flavor, and texture. Once your veggies have reached your desired tenderness, throw in all of the garlic and stir the whole mixture so each bit will be infused with lovely, garlicky goodness. Cook that until you can smell the garlic (usually less than a minute or so), and turn off the heat.

Now you should have tender, seasoned vegetables that have created a little bit of their own sauce. Pour the mixture over your waiting rice and gently fold all the ingredients together. Add your handful of Italian Flat-leaf parsley, and fold it in.

Now comes the hardest part. Your kitchen is going to be full of tempting aromas, and your lovely dish LOOKS ready - but it's not. So grab a book, or turn on the t.v. - anything to keep you out of the kitchen. Put a lid on your pot, make sure the heat is off, and leave your rice and veggie mixture to sit for at least 30 minutes! If you can stand to wait until the next day, even better (of course, if you're going to do that, make sure to put your dish in the refrigerator once it cools). This will give all those fresh flavors a chance to mingle with each other in the most delicious way, and - I promise - it will be worth the wait.

I served mine with Baked Chicken Breasts with Italian Seasoning (see recipe below); I cut each breast into bite-sized medallions, but you can serve yours whole or in any presentation you like. You'll end up with more veggie and rice mixture than will go with the four chicken breasts, so save the leftovers for a healthy lunch the next day, or try some of my additional ideas (below).

Additional Ideas

Don't just follow my recipe - the whole point of a kitchen adventure is to do something a little different, or to try something new. So here are some ideas I'd like to try when I make this in the future:

• Add pignoli

• Add milled flax seed for additional Omega-3

• Add pancetta

• Use sweet or hot Italian sausage instead of chicken breasts

• Add crushed red peppers

• Add some tomato sauce

• Top with freshly-grated Parmagianno Reggianno, Pecorino Romano, Provolone Piccante, or your favorite hard, Italian cheese. Do yourself a favor if you go this route, and get the REAL stuff imported from Italy. It's easy to find these on the internet these days and have them delivered right to your door.

• Add sun-dried tomatoes

• Give it a puttanesca feel by adding olives

• Use shrimp or other fish instead of chicken

• Add roasted garlic

• Substitute rice with orzo or couscous

You can even use this rice and veggie mixture to make other great meals: Try stuffing it into tomatoes, green peppers, or large Portabella caps; top it with a little cheese and bake until brown on top. Or pack the leftover mixture into pitas or calzones. If you're having guests, try wrapping some of this mixture in pieces of proscuitto (like little burritos or stuffed grape leaves); hold them closed with toothpicks, and you've got easy, delicious finger foods.

Baked Chicken Breasts with Italian Seasoning

• 4 Medium Chicken Breasts

• Italian Seasoning to taste

• Salt and Pepper to taste

• Drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil for each (approximately 1/2 Tablespoon)

Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees. Make an envelope or pocket out of aluminum foil for each chicken breast, drizzle each with olive oil, sprinkle liberally with Italian Seasoning, Salt, and Pepper (for fresher flavor use a small bunch of fresh basil, oregano, savory, and thyme in each foil pocket). You could even add sun-dried tomatoes to the pocket for even more flavor layers. Seal each foil pocket. Place them on a cookie sheet, and bake for 25-35 minutes depending on their size. You can feel that they're done by touching them (with a CLEAN finger), and seeing if the meat is firm; if it is still soft, even in the middle, you'll be able to feel it with some practice. If you need to, get a meat thermometer and test the middle of each chicken breast. They should reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees at their thickest part. Et Voila! That's it, juicy, flavorful, and healthy chicken breast. Feel free to experiment with different seasonings to make it your favorite!

This dish turned out so well, I just had to share it with the world. My roommates ate it until they couldn't sit up anymore - I'm not exaggerating. I'm sure you'll love the fresh, light flavors, and this is a recipe that will keep you feeling full without adding on the extra pounds. So enjoy!

Do you have stories about your kitchen adventures, or great ideas to add to this recipe? Let me know. Leave your questions, comments, or requests for blogs in the comment section below. And keep reading to see more Kitchen Adventures, home decor advice, and ideas for better living.