Just Desserts

“Sugar and spice” is quite nice this time of year.  With a sugar rush right around the corner, tempting fall desserts and the unofficial start of hostess season is on the brain.  You may not load up door-to-door, but there are plenty of sweet treats to be served up right at home.

If you are planning a little get together, the simple theme of “just desserts” is a rather tasty one to carry out.  Bake up several batches of the cookie or cookies of your choice, and let the kids decorate with icing, sprinkles, and candy.  It’s an activity and dessert in one.  The same goes for dipping mini Granny Smith apples in melted caramel or chocolate and then rolling them in cookie crumbs, crushed nuts, or sprinkles.  Smaller apples provide the best apple-to-coating ratio, in my opinion.  For a twist on the traditional stick in each apple, stake a sturdy piece of Mesquite branch to give them a Southern touch.

Other individual desserts that are fun to whip up are cupcakes that you ice and decorate to match your theme, along with contemporary cake pops on a stick.  Whether you make each look like a pumpkin, give it a face, or add your own creative flair, you end up with a perfect portion that was as fun to make as it is to devour.  For a salty mix-in for your menu, make paper funnels and fill with popcorn, assorted nuts, or dipped pretzel sticks.  Put together a few of these selections, and you have created a spread fit for an after-dinner party for a few friends or just for the family.

To round out your array of desserts, serve simple bottled sodas over ice.  Put that ice in a large, cutout pumpkin you turn into a custom ice bucket with a little carving know-how.  Fill small bowls or glass candle holders with candy corn or other small pieces of candy, and scatter them among your trays and plates of other goodies.         

This is just the beginning of a season that caters to the food lovers in all of us.  Start with the sweets as you anticipate the savory dishes that are just weeks from greeting our dining tables! 

DesignInMind column; appeared in the Valley Morning Star October 28th.

 

What's In Store: Saving Money This Season

Each season brings key items that savvy shoppers can capitalize on by buying at the right time.  Today, the summer sales are gone, and the holidays are just around the corner.  By tuning in to what products get deeper discounts in the fall, you can get a jump on Christmas shopping or update some home purchases at a better price.

October, November, and December is prime time to purchase items that stores consider out of season.  Here in the Valley, we can also take advantage of national chain store pricing that caters to the needs of northern shoppers, even when the details do not necessarily apply locally.  For example, the fall is considered a good time to go shopping for a lawn mower.  While cold climate areas of the country are prepping for a snowy season, stores are clearing their lawn mowers and making room for snow blowers.  To make this item move, the price heads south. 

 The same theory applies for seasonal clothing.  Now is the time to scour the sale racks for swimwear, shorts, and short sleeves.  Stores are trying to clear these items out to make more room for sweaters, long sleeves, and jackets.  We can essentially wear summer clothing year round, so why not take advantage of the seasonal shift at our area clothing stores?  We can spend time outdoors throughout the year, but because the winter is known for cozy time spent indoors, spring and summer accessories like patio furniture and grills are discounted in the fall and winter to make inventories move to prep for next year’s styles.    

With the Christmas season approaching, you can start making your list and checking it twice to plan for buying holiday discounted items.  Black Friday is known for the price slashing on high dollar items like electronics.  Pre-holiday sales can start to appear on pots and pans and bakeware to attract holiday hosts who will be cooking up a storm in the months to come.  Toys are another hot ticket item that starts to reveal lowering prices now to get shoppers’ attention so they remember hot spots to shop at come November.       

Look over sales circulars in the mail and the paper, keep an eye out for sale and clearance tags in stores, and do a little online comparison for products on your wish list.  By buying at the right time, you may just end up with a plumped budget and the items you wants at the same time.     

DesignInMind column; appeared in the Valley Morning Star October 21st.

Soft Seasonal Swaps

Beyond your tabletops and front porch, there are other soft spots at home to add in touches of fall shades with their seasonal feel without overdoing it or investing a lot of money.  Think about ways in which you can change out décor items that offer you a warm, cozy look and feel now and can be easily switched back for the next season.

Window drapery panels can be swapped with no sewing and no custom fitting.  If you hang ring clips from your drapery rods, you can switch the fabric panels as often as you like when you use flat bed sheets instead of custom drapery panels.  Use twin flat sheets or queen sheets for a fuller look, iron them, and hang them from the clips.  Flat sheets can be sold separately from a regular sheet set, and you can select colors and print choices that extend beyond what you would ordinarily use in your bedding.  Consider fall shades like browns, dark oranges, reds, and yellows.  Add in some thrift store throw pillows in complimentary colors, and you’ve changed the look of a living area on a budget. 

For a seasonal swap, change out family photos hung in a collection of frames with fall craft paper or fabric and faux leaves.  Cut scrapbooking paper or fabric remnants to match the frame display sizes in two or three different patterns.  Remove some leaves from a craft store swag.  Arrange each behind the glass to display a different look until Christmas time. 

Other soft fabrics can go a long way to add a fall feel to your rooms.  Drape a lush throw blanket in a warm shade or print over the arm of an upholstered chair, a coffee table ottoman, or the foot of your bed.  Get those placemats out of storage and add them as another layer under your chargers and place settings.  Or cover the table in a tablecloth and let it stay that way through your Thanksgiving dinner.  Put out cloth napkins for show to further soften the look of your dinner table.   

If you have more than one set of towels on hand for each bathroom, put your most seasonal set on display.  Chocolate brown, sage green, or cream colored towels add a fall touch over everyday white.  If you have darker bathroom rugs put away, bring them back out, too. 

Look around your home and contemplate what other simple swaps you can make to give each room a little different look for the next couple of months.  Some low cost purchases or a little digging in your storage space can both elicit some visual variety for fall in your soft surfaces.        

 

DesignInMind column; appeared in the Valley Morning Star October 14th.

 

   

Seasonal Stockpiling

Periodically, home décor just needs a little updating.  At some point, we all end up with those one-time-use decorations that are now taking up valuable storage space.  Yet investing in staples that can stand the test of season after season is a good use of your decorating dollar.  Here are some good finds to keep an eye out for this fall:

Glassware – Vases, bowls, and cake stands can be mixed with tablescapes and other home décor scenes year round.  These are top staple pieces to pick up on sale and clearance and use again and again.

Candlesticks – Candlesticks can make a comeback and add value to centerpieces and other tabletop decorations by adding height and color.  They can also be easily spray painted to match your scene-of-the-season and still get a do-over next year.

Seasonal Ceramics – Yes, real pumpkins go a long way to spruce up front doors and dining tables to boot.  But after Thanksgiving, they have to make their permanent exit.  Investing in a few pumpkins, gourds, pinecones, or other fall go-to pieces in ceramic, metal, or another material can create a larger collection through the years that can keep turning up repeatedly, while still looking new.

Fall Swags – Though I am not a proponent of using store bought leaf swags (vines) just as they come off the shelf, I am for stocking up on discounted swags to add to my leaf collection.  I pull individual leaves from the swags to hand position within a fall centerpiece.  By mixing leaves from various groupings I’ve acquired over the years, I end up with more depth in the variety I display.  And faux leaves don’t die on you. 

Place Setting Chargers – It’s nice to add a new set of 8 or 12 chargers to your collection on occasion.  Metallics like gold, silver, and bronze can be used for other seasons as well, just as colored chargers or chargers made of alternate materials like wood and shell.  Depending on your decorating themes, chargers can be reused spring, summer, fall, and winter, offering a different look every time.

Stockpiling some fall décor items now that you can surely reuse for years to come stretches your décor budget and gives you more variety to play with next time.  Some of the prettiest centerpieces and home decorating themes can come from the many ways in which an extensive collection is laid out again and again, always with a fresh twist.      

 

DesignInMind column; appeared in the Valley Morning Star October 7th.

 

 

 

A Bright Idea

Lighting in a space goes a long way to provide that feeling of warm, cozy, and inviting, or bright, fresh, and energetic.  The lighting you choose for different areas serves varying purposes to finish off a space with the feel you were going for.  The best lamps and overhead lighting in the proper settings can really help your home shine.

The kitchen needs adequate light, because it is full of work surfaces on your countertops and kitchen island.  You need brighter light that hones in on the spaces on which you cut, chop, stir, and mix.  “Can lights” in the ceiling create a more contemporary option, as they highlight spots throughout the space while being flush with the ceiling.  For larger kitchens, these work very well, spreading out your lighting versus having one central fixture.  If you do have a kitchen island, a large overhead fixture or pendant light can be decorative as well as functional to shine down on the kitchen’s centerpiece.  Upper and lower cabinet lighting takes light to the next level.  Strips of lighting mounted above and below your cabinets both cast a nice glow toward the ceiling as well as directly lighting your countertop surfaces.  When just one set or the other is illuminated in the evening, the soft light is perfect when the kitchen is not in full service. 

Lamps add light in spots not covered by overhead fixtures, all the while being decorative accent pieces.  When selecting lamp bases and shades, since stores often offer you mix-and-match options, consider their height as well as their style.  Lamps on end tables in living room seating need to be at a height that has their shade doing its job: casting the light up, down, and then out.  If someone is sitting on the sofa beside the end table and lamp, they should not be able to directly see the bulb, as that would cast a harsh, too-bright light in their face.  The same principle applies to bedside lamps.  Lamps that are too tall or too short for these locations make for a less-inviting, squinting environment.  Lamps that are placed behind seating on a sofa table can have the lowest recommended watt bulb installed, because these lamps are more decorative than read-by-the-light functional.

Stand lamps are fitting for the corner of a room or in a key spot along a wall, because their function is to cast light up from their elevated top.  Small, decorative pendant lights over a kitchen bar spotlight that eating surface while being reminiscent of a coffee bar or restaurant counter.  Bathroom lighting, whether one central fixture or decorative lighting over the sink and shower, should reflect the feel you’re going for in that space, whether that’s a relaxing retreat or an energizing main stop in your morning routine.  Your home’s lighting should be your desired meeting of form and function.  Now that’s a bright idea.      

 

DesignInMind column; appeared in the Valley Morning Star September 30th.