Staging Kitchen for Holiday Cookie Bake

Oh! what fun it is to have tradition in your home especially

during the Holiday Season.

It started years ago with my niece, before I had kids of my own.

I would invite my niece to come and stay so that we could bake Christmas Cookies together.
So last Christmas when this journey of blogging through my website came to be,

I decided to try and create some rather

unique content for a blog because good content and blogs go hand in hand,

just like good cookies and a cup of good Coffee! (we’ll go there another time) 😉 .

Being the detail and visual oriented person that I am, and having to show my capabilities as a versatile Interior Design Stylist I staged the kitchen for what was going to be a one of a kind cookie bake photo shoot, and an event that would turn my blogging into…? hmmmm!

Great Pics? Great Styling? Great Design Graphics? Yeah! that’s it.

In keeping with tradition of course, my niece would be involved and to our tradition we added some extra’s to partake, like her friends and my kids.

This was going to be an extra special cookie bake event!

We started mid afternoon everything was taken care of, and yes the kitchen was staged to be a cookie bake event. Everyone got a copy of the cookie recipes that they were going to bake and personalized loot bags. The loot bags had cookie containers in them because after all they had to get their cookies home somehow. No detail is missed here!

What I didn’t realize is the story that pursued. There were five recipes in total (no sweat!). These gals were pros, or at least I know one was for sure because I taught her everything about cookie baking! ( or did I?).

The recipes were read and things were being measured, stirred, whipped, beaten and rolled. OK! I thought, just keep shooting because you are behind the scenes (like I usually am in the Interior Design Styling world) these gals have everything under control.
The first batches were ready to go and the ovens were to temperature, everyone was excited about their cookie labour…

Until, the oven light was switched on and to everyone’s dismay the whipped shortbread cookies with maraschino cherries looked like flat little??? I will let you look at the enclosed pic and come up with your own description.

Then I saw that the Chocolate Chewy Cookies were being mixed by hands that looked like Cookie Monster had fallen into a pile of??? mud! yes, that’s it MUD! and the Peanut Butter Cookies came out as one big flat cookie sheet that we could have used as a Magic Carpet Snow Sled.

The cookies ended up tasting delicious and just a couple of batches were redone. I managed to get some great pics

and blog content ,but more importantly the laughter and fun that was

shared, not forgetting to mention the memories ( and mess ) made… was all worth the effort!

From my Staged Kitchen and Tradition to yours

May you Create Magic, Have many Laughs,

Memories and especially FUN!!

This Holiday Season!

A Featured Design and Styled Cabana

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Well, I am not ready to let go of Summer just yet!

Are you?

What a Summer, it has been. Firstly, it has been incredibly hot, and trust me, I am not complaining!!! The hottest part was the feature of my Design and Styled Cabana in August’s issue of Style at Home Magazine. The feature truly captured the essence of the Cabana, Space, Design, and reasons Why the Cabana was built in the first place? In case you missed it and wanted to have a look, I decided to end the Summer (sob)! by taking you for a quick peak into my cabana and styling interiors world. Take a look, I am cool with that, I guess I have to be??? In this world of Social Media…EEK! It’s not easy to put yourself out there when your somewhat of a private person, but you have to show Who you are? What your capable of?, and so, here it is…

Photo Credit: Robin Stubbert Photography

This space was Designed and Styled with Inspirations from Travels to places I love like California, the Mediterranean, and of course, Portugal where it’s in my blood (now you know why? I love the heat!!) It is also an example of How I can? Design and Style a space to transport you. Many years of experience Designing and Creating Visual Displays for top Retailers in Canada and USA has allowed me to work in any Interior Environment.

Transforming Interior Environments and transporting you to another place… is part of the fun when working in and with many different Interior applications.

This for me comes with experience,

and an incredible eye for the details!

This is where my versatility comes into play. When you can work in any creative scenario from Residential Interior Styling, Commercial Styling which encompasses Retail, Hospitality and Photography, as well as Event Styling and you thrive on Creativity you are…

Photo Credit: Robin Stubbert Photography

A Versatile Design and Interior Stylist!!

Photo Credit: Robin Stubbert Photography

Yes, no turning back now!

Welcome to your Style!… How can I help?

Farm to Table Setting up of an Event

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A Farm to Table

Setting to host an Event

where two 50th Birthdays were celebrated with some

c2-interiors.com Event Styling.

SURPRISE!!!

This little gem located just north of Grand Valley, Ontario was the perfect setting to host a special event. It is a working farm with a great story and history which you can read about here-> https://www.landmangardens.ca , and hopefully have a chance to visit!

I had the opportunity to visit and experience Landman Gardens and Bakery and captured some moments of this the event, which I Styled and Decorated as a special gift to my friends and husband.

It’s all about the food!…especially being brought up in a European household, as I was.

At Landman Gardens and Bakery it is about the food and more.

Finding the right venue when hosting an event can be a daunting task but, when you do…surrounding yourself with the right vendors and event executors is crucial, all the details that one can only imagine should be taken care of if you surround yourself with the right people and venue. Lately there is a lot of DIY’ers in this department, thanks to Pinterest!! which is great for inspiration, but there are some key things to take into consideration when you are thinking of hosting or throwing all these themed events you have been pinning.

a. Is it worth my time?

b. Do I have the skills to execute at a high level to make my event a success?

c. What is my Budget?

Most of the time decisions are made based on budget and often there is the thought of “doing it myself will save me money!”. In some instances you do, but most of the time surrounding yourself with the key resources will save you both time and money. It’s all the details that can be overwhelming for you, especially when you are hosting and attending your event, from food preparation, bar, flowers, and decor…there is a lot to consider.

For this event…the setting didn’t need much addressing in terms of decor, as they say in the home renovations part of my world “the bones are there.” The touches of flowers, garland, and some detailed props added a subtle touch to the occasion to make the event a little more memorable.

Knowing where to start and stop is a major part of any Event Styling plan!

For me it’s all about the details in making memorable moments…

Welcome to your Styled Event!…How Can I help?

Staging a Fireplace for Spring and Summer

How to stage a fireplace for spring and summer

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Stage your wood burning Fireplace!

WHAT???

There are many things to do when it comes to the Spring and Summer months around your home and garden,
and the thought of staging or decorating your fireplace when it’s hot and humid outside maybe the last thing on your mind.
Well ! it’s not on mine, because no detail when it comes to styling, decorating and staging interiors should be left untouched.
Fireplaces tend to be the focal point and feature of many rooms such as living rooms, dining rooms, bedrooms and even bathrooms. This is why, when it comes to the months when you are not using your fireplace you still need to pay some decor attention to this area/feature of your home.

The idea of staging the interior firebox of a fireplace primarily works best for wood burning fireplaces of course, because the thought of taking out a gas fireplace insert to place a basket with florals would be quite the challenge (not highly recommended here). If that is the case then focus on the decor of the mantel and surround by adding hurricane vases with candles and sea shells and other Spring and/or Summer decor items that work with your decor style.

What is recommended are the simple steps to take below in order to stage your fireplace!

Simple steps to take:

Find the right sized basket to fit inside your firebox.
Make sure the basket/container has the aesthetics that will compliment your decor style.
Depending on the size of the basket find the right container to place inside. Here I used 2 glass vases which were on hand to hold the arrangements.
Fill vases/containers with water and place inside basket.
Trim your arrangements to size and place your arrangements in water filled vases/container within the basket.

Using florals or forged plantings (like lilacs used here) that permeate a wonderful aroma is a great idea.

The idea of staging your fireplace instantly changes not only the aesthetics of the room , but it also changes the scent in the room from wood burning to the fresh scent and feeling of Spring and Summer!

Enjoy!

Event Styling with open heart tassel craft

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With the impending event season upon us I thought I would take the opportunity to showcase the “Open Heart Tassel” I created once again.

These were featured in one of my previous premiere blog posts. In that blog I show the steps on how to make the open heart tassel in a Valentine’s inspired Event setting. So, yes! you have to go back in the c2-interiors.com blog archives to search because sometimes things in life aren’t easy to find or do, but making these decorative hearts are!!!

Using the open heart tassel in a simple styling application for a Wedding Event (like shown here in these photos) is not only cost effective decor, but they create a wonderful

Visual Impact

A good Event Stylist can transform and work with your vision to help take your event to a whole other level. Event Stylists can also coordinate details, and work with other vendors to give your event the extra touches. The difference between Event Stylists and Planners are subtle, there is a lot of cross over between the two ,but non the less there are a few.

The main difference to me would be the managing of budgets. Event Planners work and try to adhere to an entire event budget and an Event Stylist works and also tries to adhere with the budgets that primarily relate to decor details.
There is more information that is not covered here when it relates to this topic.
Remember it’s more about the visual for me then lots of information that is already flowing out there, If you have been following my blog posts you should know this about me by now! 😉

Why? Is Event Styling added to your repertoire of things you do, maybe something you are asking. Well, for me it is simple in many aspects. Firstly, I come with the experience of creating environments that captivated and engaged people through my retail and other work experience. Event Styling like Interior Styling has allowed me to create environments that are FUN, WELCOMING , and INVITING.

Creating these Open Heart Tassels has allowed me to show how an Event can be styled with them and what

a Visual Event Stylist can do…

and let’s CELEBRATE with a Open Heart Tassel Craft!!

Choosing paint colour tips for your interiors

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Choosing paint colour for your interiors

can leave some people with their heads spinning and mine is spinning with what to blog about!

So, blogging about tips on choosing paint colour… it is.

One of the most economical ways to effectively change any interior in my opinion is to paint. Whether your refreshing an interior space or staging your home for a move. Knowing what colour or colours to choose is always the challenge for many people. There are many shades to a colour, and knowing what shade will work best?… does take a special eye. People do see colour in many different ways.

In the below pics I have put together a collage of white shades to show an example of how many shades the colour of white can be. These white paint samples show shades of creamy whites, cool crisp whites, and true whites. Is your head still spinning? hold onto it! There is more…fun tips info below.

Tips:

Many paint manufacturers have colour wheels or strips of paint chip samples for you to take with you which are helpful (try to take the larger sample of the colour swatch) to see in the space.
Some Designers/Decorators suggest you paint small colour samples directly on the wall area to see if the colour works in it’s environment and if it’s the right shade.
Try to see these samples in different lighting (day and night settings).
Take note of the colour shade and the saturation or intensity of the colour i.e.. there are reds that have a more orange tint in them and others that have a blue tint. This makes reds with orange tints feel warmer and reds with blue tints feel cooler. Think about your environment and how the colours will play into it.

Colour Rules were meant to be broken!

Just because it’s a girls room doesn’t mean you have to paint it pink. You can add pink with accessories if you choose.
Just because a room doesn’t have windows; doesn’t mean you can’t paint a dark colour on the walls.

A Featured Design and Styled Cabana

Well, I am not ready to let go of Summer just yet!

Are you?

Photo Credit: Robin Stubbert Photography

Photo Credit: Robin Stubbert Photography

Transforming Interior Environments and transporting you to another place… is part of the fun when working in and with many different Interior applications.

This for me comes with experience,

and an incredible eye for the details!

Photo Credit: Robin Stubbert Photography

A Versatile Design and Interior Stylist!!

Photo Credit: Robin Stubbert Photography

Yes, no turning back now!

Welcome to your Style!… How can I help?

Farm to Table Setting up of an Event

A Farm to Table

Setting to host an Event

where two 50th Birthdays were celebrated with some

c2-interiors.com Event Styling.

SURPRISE!!!

Knowing where to start and stop is a major part of any Event Styling plan!

For me it’s all about the details in making memorable moments…

Staging a Fireplace for Spring and Summer

Stage your wood burning Fireplace!

WHAT???

Using florals or forged plantings (like lilacs used here) that permeate a wonderful aroma is a great idea.

Enjoy!

Event Styling with open heart tassel craft

With the impending event season upon us I thought I would take the opportunity to showcase the “Open Heart Tassel” I created once again.

Visual Impact

and let’s CELEBRATE with a Open Heart Tassel Craft!!

Choosing paint colour tips for your interiors

Choosing paint colour for your interiors

Colour Rules were meant to be broken!

When it comes to choosing paint colour and your head is still spinning

the best T I P is to…

hire a professional

{like me}

to help!!! 😉