For You . . .

Have a beautiful weekend!

A Splash of Color & Inspiration

When was the last time you treated yourself to a gorgeous bouquet of fresh flowers? Adding flowers are a quick and easy way to bring color and positive energy to almost any room. According to the principles of Feng Shui decorating, fresh flowers inspire vitality, joy and positive energy.

Select the dominate color of your flowers based upon the mood you wish to create. Bright colors are stimulating and add an element of excitement;

while pale colors are calm and soothing.
Why not start a new tradition of adding fresh flowers every week, beginning with a bright yellow bouquet? Yellow is a vivid, inspiring color that helps to stimulate harmony and balance.

To keep your flowers fresh, refill the water daily. Cutting the stems back on an angle will also keep the flowers fresh for a longer period of time. Remove any flowers that are wilting or dead. Than seat back and enjoy!

Five Ways to More Tranquility & Joy

Less than 24 hours after my blog launched, my life as an employee changed. The timing is never completely ideal (in our minds anyway), but now I get to:

• Spend the rest of the summer enjoying my two beautiful children and the glorious sunny days,


• Focus on my own decorating projects,


• Scope out my next big opportunity, and


• Take better care of myself.

The first step towards taking better care of me is creating a more tranquil home environment that ushers in joy and renews the spirit. Give a few of these a try and let me know what is working for you.

1. Declutter. Give yourself a fresh start today by clearing away the clutter. Clutter blocks the steady flow of positive energy needed to create new opportunities in all areas of our lives, including romance.

2. Prayer & Gratitude. Start a prayer or gratitude journal. This is a wonderful way to chart your course and keep yourself encouraged along the way.

3. Breathe. It's summer! Open the windows, pull back the curtains and let the gentle breezes caress your soul.

Photo by Ctd 2005 from Flickr

4. Put Your Records On. Music is powerful. It has the ability to calm, soothe, inspire, and transport your mind to another time and place. If you haven't already, check out the enchanting music of British artist Corinne Bailey Rae http://www.aimini.net/view/?fid=jUdU43C1IJb86b6WLnxZ and French Composer Claude Debussy.

5. Freshen Up. Aromatherapy has been used for thousands of years for psychological and physical well-being. Lavender is a soothing scent that is used to freshen rooms or for household freshening. For household freshening, add a few drops of essential lavender oil to your trash can, laundry, vacuum bag filter, or on a tissue to place in your drawers. To freshen any room, I recommend the delightful room spray shown below from L'Occitane En Provence.

Photo from L'Occitane en Provence.

Please join me later this week for more on Bringing Tranquility & Joy into Your Life and Home.