My Favorite Styles of Decor

What makes a beautiful room? Is it the sunlight shining through windows? Is it a color scheme? Is it the furnishings or wall treatments? Yes, but I also believe what makes a beautiful room is the feeling that washes over us as we enter. A beautiful room is when personal taste and preference create a welcoming environment. It is a setting that not only is visually pleasing, but puts us at ease and invokes a feeling of comfort.

There are several styles of décor that I tend to be drawn towards. One of course is the romantic cottage style. There's just something about vintage laces, old furniture, pastel colors and florals that say “beautiful” to me. This style makes me think of lemonade on a warm summer day, gardens in bloom, and the sound of children playing in the yard. In my booths, customers linger, they stop to take in every detail. Some come back just to surround themselves with everything feminine. Many of my clients share a home with spouses, children or both and feel obligated to decorate in a fashion that everyone in the house will be content with. Yet deep down inside, they wish they could have a space they could call their own filled with layers of draped lace, sparkling crystal and fresh flowers everywhere the eye can see. I've been told that this style of decorating reminds them of their mothers and grandmothers, reminding them of warmth and love.. And the lit up faces tells me that is a very good thing.

Another style of decorating I tend to like is modern. Clean lines, smooth surfaces with an unexpected punch of color and texture create a feeling of calm for me. I think it's the minimalistic and uncluttered appearance that creates a relaxing atmosphere. Perhaps it is because life is filled with so many details, appointments, tasks and stresses. A simple and organized design of a room becomes an escape from a hectic life. It becomes a haven of simplicity and order. Add to that some candles and/or a fountain and you have an incredible atmosphere.

There is a style of decorating that I call Gypsy Glamor. It is an eclectic use of heavy fabrics such as velvets and brocades. Ornate wallpapers and mirrors are also elements that would be used in Gypsy Glamor décor. What makes it a little updated is the use of funky, jeweled colors and opulent fabrics with sheens to them. The look I would say has an almost ethnic feel. The furnishings would be items such as overstuffed sofas, armchairs or chaises. Tables would be ornate. Beading and fringe is a must. This type of room to me, would create a feeling of luxurious privacy. Perfect for a sitting room or library.

Now if you took the luxurious fabrics and metallic elements of Gypsy Glamor and the simplicity of modern you would have a style reminiscent of old school Hollywood. This too is exquisite and would make any woman feel like a princess. The fabrics are lighter weight and could be sheer with some kind of sparkle. Add a crystal chandelier and accents, organza, pearl finises, silver accessories and of course beading and you'll have a room that you'll just float through. The lines remain somewhat simple, but the texture of sumptuous fabrics is what adds the glamor. Divine!

I'm posting some pictures that I believe capture the looks described.....enjoy!

Namaste & God Bless
Angelica

India: Why You Have To See It Before You Die....

While I've never been afforded the opportunity to travel, my love of other countries and cultures is still a passion of mine. And my latest cultural obsession is India. It seems that the more I learn about India, the more I love. From the clothing, the culture, the food, the history, the family values....wow. It really is amazing.

Let me begin with their values. While no country is perfect, India for the most part, holds traditional family values close to it's heart. Parents are cared for in their old age. They live with their grown children. This is so different from our country and is deserving of absolute respect. I mean when you think about it, isn't that really how it's supposed to be? Our parents cared for us until we were too young to care for ourselves, and it only seems right to care for them as they age. Aging parents should not need to worry about rent, food, medications and such. They should not have to decide whether to eat or to purchase necessary medications due to limited income. Nor should they fear being sent to a nursing home to be ignored or face neglect and/or abuse. Our parents should be respected for the decades they have lived and honored in our homes as they approach death. In India, honoring and caring for parents in their old age is the norm. They are welcomed, honored and respected. It is the way it should be, and we as Americans should take a second look at traditional family values.

The Indian culture also respects parents enough to trust them to know what is best for us by selecting a life partner for us. Yeah yeah, a bit tough for our Western thinking to wrap our brains around, but consider this. In a culture where caring for family takes precedence over anything else, parents (as most parents do) want the absolute best for their children. They see it as a responsibility to select a partner who will be a good husband/wife. Men and women know their roles and strive to be the best at them. How many times have we allowed our children to make their own decisions when selecting a partner and have seen them date person after person only to become bitter because of the hurt they've endured due to one failed relationship after another? Or how about the pain we've felt when we see our children divorce after knowing at the wedding that the relationship would never work out? Consider the Indian culture as a parent. Since divorce is VERY shameful, the responsibility of choosing an appropriate spouse falls on our shoulders. It is up to the parent to select someone who will be an appropriate provider, partner, a protector (men), and potential parent. We as parents would want someone who will love our children as much as we do. Who will bring honor, respect and joy to our family and that of our children. Boys are raised to be good husbands and fathers. Girls are raised to be good wives and daughters. With an entire culture being raised this way, it's no wonder why marriages last lifetimes and there are almost no single parents. In fact, couples who share children almost NEVER get divorced due to the fact that both parents understand that the child would be disgraced and neither parent is willing to put their child though the humiliation of divorce. Oh it's so different than America isn't it?

In addition to the traditional family values is the adherence to modesty and virtue. Women in India are expected to dress modestly. Foreigners who do not dress that way are representing their country very poorly and it is considered inappropriate and rude. Saris or sarees are still very common. If a woman is dressed in other types of clothing, upper arms and upper legs are not to be shown. This to me is so cool! To the Indian culture, the chest, cleavage, thighs and shoulders are considered private and are saved for their husband. Ah the good ole days! When virtue and honor were the norm. Actually if you think about it, it makes sense. A man most likely does not want to think that other men have seen his wife nearly naked and may be thinking inappropriately about her. Her body is considered special and to be honored, not displayed publicly. I find that thinking beautiful. I find myself saying, “Yeah! THAT'S how I want to be thought of. That's how I want to be treated.” It's a tragedy that Western men don't view women like that. Perhaps our divorce rate would be considerably lower if we adopted that thinking. Archaic you say? Perhaps....but so what? What has progress produced in our society? Perhaps going back to the beginning is what we need.

Take a look at the food. Wow. So diverse! Indian food is a lot like American food in that different areas have different ways of cooking. Much like the difference between an authentic Philly Cheese Steak, TexMex and Sausage Gumbo. They're all wonderful foods yet indigenous to their region. Oh sure, you can get them in other places of the country, but those are usually made from either someone who took the recipe with them when they relocated, or they're wannabes. In India, it's the same way. My research of curry caused a lot of confusion in the beginning until I found out that curries are different in each region. Some curries are red like a chili, some are brown like a stew and some resemble sautéed ingredients not having much of a sauce at all. Yet the common thread in all of them is the use of the same spices. I made my first Indian dish last week and found it amazing. When I told some online friends from India what I had made, they knew immediately (of course) from what region the dish was from. There is also a very high percentage of the Indian culture that is vegetarian and so there are a LOT of delicious dishes that are not only vegetarian, but vegan as well. How cool is that?

I would also like to add that it seems the Indian people are one of the few countries that actually like Americans. Perhaps their view of us is a bit distorted and false. Many still view us as a country of the 50's. When we too held family values, people stayed married, women dressed modestly and people genuinely cared about each other.

It seems that the more I learn about India, the more I love. It is my intent to make it the first stop in my plan to live in other countries. Do they have their troubles? Well of course they do. It's not a Utopian society. And there really isn't a need to go into it here, because it's the first thing the media wants us to know is the bad. And if you know anything about India, I'm sure you already know about those things. But once we get rid of the little box of our Western thinking and open our minds to other cultures, the more we will see just how unimportant things we have always known are, and how beautiful the world and all it's people really are.

True Wealth

You know, I can't believe I've spent so many years stressing about things that aren't important. It feels like I've just waken up from a long bad dream and missed some of the most important points in life. And all the church sermons and Bible preaching never really hit home. Yes, I knew that God would provide. Yes I knew that I was to be content in all things. Yes, I've survived some horrible circumstances and learned a lot about how much one woman can handle. But for some reason I felt that I deserved an explanation as to why some people have worse luck than others. I've spent countless hours on my knees praying and anguishing over questions only to be met with silence. When I questioned silence, I was blamed for not being patient enough and not having faith. Yet I still felt that I would never be good enough for God to take the trouble to answer me. I wasn't worth His time. And many times I felt abandoned and reject by God Himself. That somewhere I had done something wrong enough for Him to just say “fuck you”.

It's been a very rough road indeed. And it wasn't until I searched outside the church for my answers that made all the preaching click with absolute understanding. It seems that other religions and beliefs have better ways of putting the Bible's message. It seems there are a LOT of very wise and compassionate people who are willing to help me understand the “whys” in life when the church either couldn't or wouldn't. It wasn't until I began studying other philosophies and befriending people of other faiths that my love for people grew even beyond my previous love for people.

Take for instance the brain. Yeah the brain. Studies say that humans use only 11% or so of the brain. Well what's the rest for? God doesn't make unusable stuff or trash. I believe everything he's made has a purpose. So what's the other 89% of the brain for? And I started thinking about my gifts (my other blog) and the supernatural and things which no church I've asked could offer answers. I prayed, I sought and during my yoga meditation, questioned. I wondered how monks were so peaceful if they weren't Christian. They were so hermit-like and it fascinated me. My searching led me to a very old book about yogi philosophy. My honey bought me both volumes as a gift. The funny part is that I actually thought I would be able to just pick up the books and read them....well...like books. But what I found instead is that these books were so deep and profound, that they needed to be read in small chunks. Read a chapter...ponder, meditate then apply to life...master that before going on to the next chapter. Kind of like a very rich dessert that you just can't have more than a couple bites at a time. And so began my study of yogi philosophy.

As I learned more about yogi philosophy, the more I understood that the questions I had weren't all that difficult or out of the ordinary. Take poverty. As a single parent (before I got married) I struggled financially. And as I clawed my way up through the ranks and finally made it into the corporate world. I found myself away from home for longer and longer periods of time. I was exhausted, stressed, the phone was embedded in my ear even on my days off. I was constantly excusing myself from the presence of my children to take phone calls, complete paperwork or to answer emails at home. I was respected in my field and while all that was great, I really just wanted to flop on the couch and watch a movie with my kids. And so to make up for my guilt, I worked harder. It wasn't until I missed my son's recital due to a business trip that I broke. I laid on the floor in a very nice hotel room in Manhattan and sobbed that things had gotten so out of hand. I missed my children so desperately and upon returning to my office, I turned in my notice of resignation.

Since then, I struggled financially and had such a hard time understanding why if I did the right thing by putting my children first, why I was still so unhappy. Now that I finally had time for them, I was hounded by bill collectors, threatened with eviction and struggled just to keep food on the table. I began second guessing my decision and was tormented with worry. What the hell had I done?

Fast forward a few years. After taking up yoga seriously. After learning how to meditate. After starting on the path of enlightenment with yogi philosophy and still loving my Christian faith. While I was learning to control stress, it was still difficult and I still had a lot of questions. When I saw an interview with the Dalai Lama he was asked, “why is it that the poorest people of the earth seem so happy?” His response was that “If you have nothing, you have nothing to worry about. The more you have, the more you have to worry about.” This made sense to me. I was like....”yeah, that makes sense”. But it wasn't until just a couple weeks ago when I befriended a gentleman from India (a blog entry coming) that it ALL fell into place. We were discussing spouses, jobs, etc. He asked me how many children I had. When I mentioned that I had five, he responded with, “Wow! You are rich!” I was stunned. I just sat there looking at those words on my screen. While I had always appreciated and respected cultures where family came first, it had never dawned on me that to the rest of the world, a person's wealth was determined by the amount of children they had. And it ran through my head....”I AM rich... I am already rich” It doesn't matter what thread count sheets I sleep on, what I drive or who designs my clothing. Not that those things are bad, but they are not what defines wealth. They are the perks of having a high income. However, material wealth means there IS more to worry about. And it does not mean the person is any more loved by family nor does it mean they are getting into heaven any easier. It doesn't make a person less lonely nor more compassionate. It doesn't make them kinder or more lovable. Does it mean I am anti wealth? Don't be ridiculous, of course not. But this realization and embarrassingly newfound appreciation of my family and what I DO have has FINALLY answered these questions that have plagued me for nearly 20 years. And now, instead of missing my children when they are gone, and mourning not being able to kiss them good night because they are either gone or “don't need me”, I text them on their cell phones EVERY night to let them know how much I love them. Just a simple “I love you” text every night around 11 pm....and when my phone chimes five times as they each return the “love u 2 mama”.....THAT'S when I feel like the richest woman on earth........

As usual, I am including images I though you may like. Friends request me on Facebook
Namaste and
God Bless