Candlelight

Candlelight got me warm and fuzzy
It's shadow a similar tune

That flicker of light in the dark of night

A sudden calm that became of me

While tomorrow is another day in the making

On this night I drifted to some years ago

The sound of mum in the kitchen

Dad turning up Jim Reeves

My brother, a constant pest of a funny man

My sister, a sweet, little pumpkin pie

Those years are like the flame that twitched

Memories that danced away their feet

I sat there by the candlelight

A sudden calm the became of me

Summer and kids

The heat is on. Summer is very much here and many of you will be getting ready for your kids’ summer vacations; in a way looking forward to it, but mostly dreading the very thought of it. Especially for the stay-at-home moms, it’s perhaps going to be that trying time that turns from ‘I’m going to get some quality time with my kids’ to ‘I’ve had enough of these kids’.

While the fun moments will be captured on your digital cameras to add to your frame wall after the summer runs out, you don’t want those pictures to remind you of how you struggled your way through it all. As you will very well be aware, kids will be kids and there’s only so much we can do to get them to behave well during their summer time off. In fact saying that in itself makes me shudder at what the ladies have in store. Muddy bicycles in and out of home, wet bottoms on the sofas after a day out at the pool, toys, toys and more toys. ‘Mom, what are you making for lunch?’, ‘Mom, can Susie and Jim and Lydia come over?’, ‘Mom, Alan’s throwing booger at me!’ - Are we really relying on ‘Alan, stop that now’?

Guess not, which is why I’d like to share with you a few areas that we could look into, in order to ready the home up for the kids; make it child proof.

Invest in some plastic cups and plates – IKEA is the place to go. Instantly adding the summery tones to your kitchen counters, these unbreakable plates and cups are a must have with kids constantly running around the house with them.

Food calendar – So that you don’t go crazy preparing ten different things based on each one’s requests every time you enter the kitchen, sit the kids down and draw out a quick food calendar. Dedicate days of the week to each child, the kids can pre-decide what they’d like everyone to eat on ‘their’ day, ultimately making your trips to the kitchen more organized.

Snacking shelf in the fridge – Set up a shelf in the fridge within the child’s reach and replenish it with cold cuts, cheeses, spreads, fruit and all. Breads in the bread basket and cookies in a cookie jar, encourage the kids to make their own snacks, to be had in their plastic plates.

Dedicate a wall for scribbles – this may sound funny, but the kids would have a ball of a time knowing their mom just allowed them to paint, scribble and crayon up an entire wall! When summer’s out and the kids are back to school, if you like you could give the wall a good paint wash to cover up the drama.

Open out some flat-woven rugs - Fold up the heavy Afghan rugs and bring out the child-friendly, easy to wash, flat-w

oven dhurries. They’ll cool the floors for the summer and would be easy to clean up or turn over when kids go spilling away.

Out with the crystal, in with the galvanized look – To avoid the kids reaching out for your crystal and china pieces, carefully tuck them away for the summer. Instead, allow the outdoors into your home. Welcome galvanized pails and shrubs on your shelves or you could even dry up the shells your kids collected at the beach and toss them on to a galvanized platter.

Hope the tips were helpful, wishing you a fun-filled and sane summer.

Cupcake Tea-cosy from Huffy's Cabin





Have one customized for yourself today!

Sweet smelling home

Ever experienced that moment when the faintest scent brings alive a long-lost moment in your life? That’s because the sense of smell is so well-connected to one’s brain, certain smells stick to the mind, creating a lifelong association to that place or time.

This brings me to the smells we experience upon entering someone’s home; usually smells you will never forget. Whether you are crunching your nose or taking in a deep breath of freshness, that change in air when moving from outside the entrance to inside the entrance is what you will immediately classify as pleasant or foul.

The truth is every home carries a scent. There are some pleasant smells that don’t need to be tampered with, in which case they can be left to linger in all corners of the home without the need for incense burners or candles. For instance, homes with regular fresh baking wear the sweet smell of sugar and cinnamon and that’s, without doubt an enjoyable smell to be around.

However there are some smells that need a bit of treating. Cooking with spices can be a bit tricky where the air may need to be cleared of garlic and pickle based whiffs. Or the smell from pets at home, even bathroom stenches that develop over time; these are certainly smells your home can do without.

First and foremost, keeping the house clean is golden. It’s all about combating bad odor before it gets out of hand.

• Don’t let dirty laundry pile up; the stale stench is most unwelcoming. Moreover, regular washes bring a sweet scent of fresh laundry wafting through one’s home
• Spilled milk on the carpet? Pet urine on your sofa? Clean the fabric immediately with soda water and prevent from drying up.
• Ventilate your fridge regularly. Fridges can get smelly rather quickly so habitually wiping them clean with vinegar helps maintain the freshness.
• Cleaning with smelly cloths? Make sure the cloth you’re cleaning with is free from bad odor. Soaking the cloth in lemon juice and then rinsing well tends to remove any stench. Or simply take a fresh cloth, spray it with surface cleaner and then go about some happy cleaning.

For those smells that have already started to foster in your home, here are a few ways to make them disappear.

• Shoes getting smelly? Baking Soda is very good at absorbing odors. Make a sachet with three tablespoons of baking soda in a muslin cloth, tie it up at both ends and leave it in the shoe over night.
• Cotton balls soaked in vanilla extract, placed around the corners of the room; now this is sure to lighten the air.
• Treat stinky drains with baking soda and warm tap water. Even vinegar has a deodorizing effect, pour it down the drain and wait for thirty minutes before you run the tap water.

And once you have a sweet smelling home, keep up the freshness with the help of scented candles and scented oil burners. Pick your favorite scent and light the burner or candle at least once a day to keep the air from turning musty.

No more crunched up noses. Just a loveable air at home and a happy state of mind.

Keep free an from untidy home

Here are some tips to help you keep free from an untidy home.

1. De-clutter - Go through all the stuff at home, there has got to be some that you don’t need or things you no longer use. Then make a clean toss.

2. Organize - Use cute boxes & sort out your belongings based on category, for e.g. craft items in one box, DVDs in another.

3. Stay clean - Cleaning up soon after you’re done is better than piling up the chores, for e.g. wash your single dish after your meal as opposed to waiting till the sink has piled up.

4. Balanced design - Everything has its space, there’s no need to crowd a single corner with everything for e.g. a painting can be hung on the wall opposite the TV instead of having it on the same one.

5. Avoid overcrowding - Work out the available space and then buy your furniture. This does not mean a smaller space cannot handle big furniture. It only means it can take in fewer pieces of the larger sort.

6. Marry a look - Pick a look that suits your style and stick by it. Indulging in a cocktail of styles can make ones space appear confusing and cluttered.

Your coastal inspired home

Who says you need to live by the beach to have a beach inspired home? Just because the view from your balcony is of the next building, does not mean your indoors can’t sway to the tunes of the shore.

Bring home the beach air. Start by refreshing your space.

Go airy, replace your heavy drapes with linen fabrics. Give the walls a clean white wash. Out with the kilms and in with some light colored jute-braided rugs from Pottery Barn.

Indulge in whites & duck-egg blue.

Enlighten it with touches of navy blue and red to add the marine effect. Polish with striped patterns, galvanized pails & marine embellishments.

Sea-shells, nautical symbols, vintage glassware work at bringing the shore to your doorstep.

Check out the nautical set of cushions from Huffy’s Cabin and order yours today.

Or pick from Pottery Barn’s shell and coral embellishments. Even Artikel (Dubai) is a must visit to add the right pieces to your coastal habitat.

You could also decorate with DIY pieces.

Shells as accents – using shells found at the beach, simply wash them over with very hot water and leave them out in the sun, to dry. This will take away any fishy smell and get your shells ready to rest over your mantle-piece or in a large glass vase.

Sea print fabric on your dining table – cut and sew a runner out of a nautical print, place on the dining table with a vase of sand and starfish accents.

Placemats for the perfect coastal lunch – pull out your old placemats and with the help of some glue and string, attach a shell or two to the corner of each.

Vintage bottles from trash – Using empty bottles of wine, these can easily be cleaned out to display as a cluster of bottles. Add a candle in each to light up your space in the evenings.

Corks in a basket – Think you have no use for the corks that come off those bottles of wine? Well, they add the perfect feature when placed in large numbers with some straw, in a rattan basket.

Now, go ahead and enjoy your breezy space :-)

 

From drab to fab

Are you the type who needs an excuse to get out more, because, well it’s just too boring at home? Time to put on your thinking hat so that you can think up what it is about home that bores you. Is it that you have nothing to do? Or is it something that you perhaps are afraid to or don’t care enough to admit? I sadly refer to a dull air at home.

That dullness that settles when one grows tired of looking at the same curtains and same upholstery and same dinnerware. It is that boredom that sets in with the sheer desire for something new. The desire for an uplift of sorts. Here’s a little something to ponder over while you’re reading this write up – point a finger to all the things in your home that you would like to get rid of and those you can do without. Then point a finger to all the things you feel need to be spruced up. And as you point, make a note of it in a diary for that will determine your shopping list for the next couple of days.

Once you’re done with the pointing and the noting, get set to make a clean sweep. Out with the old and in with the new, that phrase was invented for a reason. Set away the unwanted stuff for the flea market that takes place on the first Saturday of every month at Safa Park (#Dubai). Now, start sprucing up your space, sensibly.

Pick a style – Go earthy, go rustic, country or any other. Whatever look you wish for, it will help tune your mind to pick up décor that’s in line with that look. For instance, copper goes well with the rustic appearance along with Persian carpets and mirrored work. If you have retained your furniture, see how you could possibly re-upholster to institute the desired style. While chintz is a country must have, raw silks are the rustic must have.

Color it different – If you were using blues before, change the palette to create a noticeable difference. Don’t forget the style you’re gunning for. Use it to decide the perfect color palette. While pastels are the country favorite, the beiges, browns and greens make up that earthy look. Cushions, rugs, curtains, wall paint, pottery; these are all elements that will allow you to color it different.

Glorify the odd pieces of furniture – If you’re left with odd pieces of furniture in your home that you wouldn’t like to give away, don’t fret. Simply tie them into your décor using similar upholstery. If your couch is floral, take that chintz onto the seating of the grandfather chair. In case of an orphan cabinet that is of a different wood color as the rest of the furniture, give it a paint wash with a complimenting shade if not the same. Try rust red or moss green or mustard yellow; not only do these colors help glorify the odd piece of furniture, they also instantly add freshness to one’s décor.

De-clutter, clean up and spruce up your space. These ought to take your home from drab to fab.