March 2012
40 posts
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Kristy Kay - Soup to Nuts & Bolts Back by popular demand! 1 stick of margarine, creamed with 16 oz powdered sugar, then add 16 oz creamy peanut butter and 3 cups of rice krispies. Mix until combined then roll into balls and chill. Melt 14 oz of your choice of chocolate. For me, it’s white or dark. I love Baker’s baking chocolate but even the melting chocolate from the craft store...
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Need to add character and looking for more than paint but maybe you’re not into wallpaper? Try floating “boxes” of trim moulding. Leave white or paint same as the walls. Adds drama and character easily.
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Painting tips? Don’t be afraid of a dark color in a room filled with light and lots of white trim. Here I’m using Ben Moore Taos Taupe. It actually helps a room feel bigger and cozy all at the same time. Also, do all the “cutting in” (painting around the trim) first, rolling the walls is the quick and easy part and it’s just painting in the lines at that point.
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Here’s a fun springtime centerpiece. Just take a pretty, shallow (watertight) container or serving dish, some potting soil and grass seed and you can grow a small patch of your own indoors. Create an indoor garden with individual gerber daises (in florist spikes) or, great for a tabletop Easter Egg garden!
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Make an impressive dessert tonight - here a simple boxed cake mix gets a red carpet look. I stacked two round cakes of different sizes for height and dimension. Next, I used a basic frosting but I put it in a ziploc bag with a pastry tip and pipped a fun top. Fancy and easy!
Absolutely loving this spring palette of navy, teal and lime green. Instantly my inspiration for my appearance on Los Angeles’ KCAL news next week. Stay tuned for some great fresh ideas for you home!
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Designer trick….Ever think of using drapes as shower curtains? It’s true. With an adjustable rod, adjust to the appropriate height of the drape so it’s around 1 inch off the floor. There’s more width to drapes (100 inches versus 72”) so it creates a lot of drama by the sheer volume. Often times, there’s more of a selection in all price points as well!
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Happy Valentine’s Day! Instead of traditional chocolates, try my favorite French Macarons. Crisp meringue outside but yet gooey inside and a whole variety of fillings. Too fancy to make (trust me, I’ve tried over and over), so enjoy them as a gift! Pistachio is heavenly!
Often times furniture stores sell great accessories and rugs - take notice next time you’re furniture hunting. I found this great mirror for a client in a furniture gallery!
Paint and new window treatments - the transformation never gets old. It’s the easiest renovation you can do. Today was my favorite kind of Saturday, a beautiful client install. She got it all,...
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With the snow storm approaching, I take comfort in looking at bright and cheery fabrics. Look at this great palette of pinks, yellows and browns. Not sure how to mix and match?… fabric stores have a great selection of special order fabrics, or fabric that can be cut right off the bolt. Lay everything out right in the store to see how it looks together. A good rule of thumb, basic on the...
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At this time of year, we really look forward to those warm sunny days and vacation time by the water. What better colors to use than red, white and blue! See how by just adding new throw pillows to your existing decor, you can get a whole new, fresh springtime look!
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Need decor ideas for your wedding or another special event? Visit your local thrift store and buy glass bottles. Get them clean in the dishwasher and try one of these design suggestions - group a bunch of them in the center of a round table and put one flower in each (all the same colored flowers), vary the height of the flowers for more interest.
A fabulous find outlet shopping. A piece like this can work anywhere - foot of your bed, front entryway….even as a dining bench. Just beware, look outlet finds over really well for marks or tears as they’re ofen final sale items.
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Steal of the weekend - Audubon Birds of America. I found this gorgeous book for $15 at a store that sells what they find when they are hired to clean out houses. (The original is the most expensive book in the world valued at $10 million dollars.) I love to remove pages out of books like this and frame the prints. Buy six frames (create a grid of three across and two down) and have custom mats...
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This mild winter is giving me the spring bug…except I realized retailers haven’t caught up with me yet! Stay tuned for what came out of my quick trip to my local home improvement store. My front door is going to get a zap of spring!
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I know it’s early February, but why not give your dining table a taste of spring?! Fashion trends tell us it’s all about bold colors for 2012. See how well this teal and red work together, how fresh! The placemats and napkins are the new “Chirp” collection by Lenox and you can find it Macy’s!
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In keeping with my New Year’s Resolution (to save silver from yard sales and tag sales everywhere), my rescue mission continued today with a fabulous find at a local thrift shop. Look at these pitchers, a steal for a total cost of $12. And the money goes to a great cause. I’ll have to make chocolate molten cakes so everyone can have their own pitcher of creme anglais! Time to...
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Okay, I really didn’t believe homemade versus freezer section would matter here but I stand corrected. This was only four ingredients and tasted SO much better - super light and flaky! Also, if you’re anything like me, it’s far too dangerous to have cookie dough around but keep this in your fridge for 6 minute, amazing Palmiers! You won’t be tempted to take a spoonful but...
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How a quick recipe and a little paint can make gorgeous, modern baby shower favors. Here, with some simple acrylic paint, I painted a clementine box from my grocery store and filled it with a five ingredient and decadent treat. Mix 16oz creamy peanut butter, 16 oz powdered sugar, 1 stick of margarine and 3 cups of crispy rice cereal. Roll into balls, chill for 30 mins, and then dip in melted...
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It’s all about mix and match…Here a dining chair from the Boston Design Center in a beautiful Robert Allen fabric works perfectly with an elegant writing desk from the budget retailer West Elm. Notice how the lines on each each piece compliment each other.
Such a great design resource, for products or inspiration!
One Kings Lane - Get the Look www.onekingslane.com Step inside some of our favorite spaces from the ultimate designer showhouse, Maison de Luxe.
An impromptu dinner party on Sunday prompted this delicious recipe try-out: Inside-Out German Chocolate Cake. A lot of steps but rave reviews. I think it would be just as delicious and a lot faster by using boxed cake (3 pans needed).
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/printerfriendly/Inside-Out-German-Chocolate-Cake-103202
An impromptu dinner party on Sunday prompted this delicious recipe try-out: Inside-Out German Chocolate Cake. A lot of steps but rave reviews. I think it would be just as delicious and a lot faster by using boxed cake (3 pans needed).
· http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/printerfriendly/Inside-Out-German-Chocolate-Cake-103202
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The BEST cleaning project for countertops! When baking, I work directly onto my stone countertops (stone remains cold which helps keeps the butter in pie and cookie doughs firm) making it tough to remove the flour residue left behind. Then, I found this product, Method. Not only is it safe to use daily, but it’s non-toxic and biodegradable! I buy it locally at Target but it’s...
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Sometimes, it’s not drapes or shades, but both. Here I used a woven wood roman shade to add some texture and depth to the otherwise light color palette. The drapes were then used in addition resulting in a balanced and multi-textural look.
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Today’s High/Low - pigs in a blanket! The weekend is coming, serve something we all love but hate to admit. Williams-Sonoma offers these yummy treats but at $39.95 for 24 pieces (plus tax and shipping). Make them now with only a three ingredients! Take a container of the Pillsbury Cresent Rolls. Cut each triangle in half creating two triangles. Wrap around cocktail hot dogs, bake at 375...
Working on an amazing new project, I’m so excited. It’s funny how the strangest picture can serve as a total jumping off point for an entire design scheme. I’m going to pull the cabinetry and countertop colors in grays and off whites from the stone, and the flooring will be a multi earth-toned porcelain tile that looks just like the slate roof but more family friendly and hard...
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The high low for the day- CUPCAKES! For the high, the always delicious and beautiful Crumbs on W42nd. But, at $4.50 each (plus tax and shipping), you can duplicate these at home with a little creativity for only $0.59 a piece (and priceless pride). Make a glossy chocolate ganache by pouring 1 cup almost boiling heavy cream over 8 oz of chopped chocolate. Let sit for 10 minutes then stir until...
What I’m forecasting to be my most dramatic “before and after” bathroom for 2012
The high low for the day - High, Frette cashmere blankets, just amazing - apparently Santa didn’t think so however. My fabulous low, the Ikea “Dellen” 21x44 white bath mats, I’ve never felt a bath mat so soft and only $24.99. I bought four and with just a simple needle and...
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Kristy Kay - Soup to Nuts & Bolts What to do with those extra curtain rod brackets? Install them in your closet to use as a hook! A client had windows that were narrow enough where the middle support backet wasn’t needed. I then installed the extra brackets in their closet. What a great use to something that would have just been thrown out.
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Looking for a total change without breaking the bank? With a well thought out design plan, even a kitchen off the shelf can look great! For this family’s coastal summer cottage, they needed a new kitchen but didn’t have a designer kitchen budget. We used white cabinetry from Ikea then appliances, lighting and flooring all from Home Depot. A great look and perfectly functional. Total...
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Success! And a secret….from a box to beautiful. Individual chocolate bundt cakes with an amaretto glaze and pink and white chocolate decorations. So easy, no recipe book required. For the cake, pretty pans and then cake mix right out of the box (just adjust cooking times depending on your pan). For glaze, mix 1/2 cup confectioners sugar with 4 tsp amaretto and mix. And for decorations, melt...
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Valentine’s Day Recipe Test, Take 1 - Utter Failure. Not all recipes are successful. I believe what went wrong here was the recipe called for a bundt pan and I tried to use a series of individual serving pans. When it works, my favorite way to serve dessert is for each person to have their own, so elegant! Good thing V-day is a month away.
Kitchen Renovation? There are other options than gutting it and starting from scratch. In this kitchen, the “boxes” (def - literally the box of the cabinet not including the cabinet door) were in great shape but the pinkish oak finish was dated. So, for the main cabinets, I had them “refaced” (where a new wood layer in your finish choice is afixed to the existing box),...
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2 Ingredient Homemade Chocolate Ganache Frosting, SO easy and delicious. Heat 1 cup of cream on the stove until you see little bubbles starting around the edges, remove, and pour over 8 oz of chopped chocolate (I use semi-sweet) in a glass bowl. (You can use chocolate chips but they have a stabilizer in them that doesn’t allow them to get as creamy and smooth as baking chocolate or a...
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Looking for something different on your walls? Try your hand at painting - don’t be scared. It’s the easiest and most cost effective way to get creative (and if you don’t like your work, it’s a simple fix, just paint over it!). Here, I took 59 cent acrylic paint from the craft store and just painted loose brown branches with little pink flowers scattered around in a...
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My favorite wallpaper project yet. (Yes, wallpaper is back!) Tip #1 - “pre-pasted” wallpaper is much faster, and easier to hang elimating the pasting step. Tip #2 - large scale patterns are easier to hang than smaller patterns because visually you see mistakes much more easily in a heavily repeated design. Tip #3 - the bigger the level the easier time you’ll have lining...
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Concuring a fabulous French dessert by Julia Child, much easier than I thought it would be! Three layers of nutty meringue, whipped chocolate ganache and topped with buttercream frosting and sliced almonds.
A look back to my favorite client project of 2011 (a fabulous beach house on Cape Cod). I loved every room in this project and I’m very excited to start your next project this spring! Look for some great before and after shots to come.
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kids and pets? believe it, all white twill slipcovers are the best option for furniture - washable and bleachable. get an extra set so you can swap and wash easily
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