Ask Auntie A! Helping children cope with school violence April 2018
Alisa Murray’s “Fresh Finds!” Bring on the sunshine! Summer 2018
Alisa Murray’s “Living the Sweet Life” Finding your Good Stuff April 2018
- Before you go to sleep write down your thoughts… like a dairy? you ask? yep… just like that. It can be a problem that is bugging you or it can be a loved one you miss that has passed away. It can also be how much you want to go on vacation with a visualization of that place including the smells and scenery description.
- Get in the bed and think some more about what you just wrote… think bout it til ya fall asleep!
- When you get up don’t roll out of bed and start your day… snuggle in and try to remember what you dreamed about. Whatever comes to mind, no matter how disconnected the thoughts…write that down. If you keep consistent with it, you can bet that some of your good stuff will eventually come to the surface too!
Alisa Murray Interiors “Love Where YOU Live!” How to Hang Art April 2018
Perhaps the most important one thing you can do to personalize your home is to hang pictures of your family. That is why almost every realtor asks first thing for new listings to remove all personal items before they can show the house. There on your walls is a lot of space that can be personalized and not just with actual portraits but with art, with cool grids and textures. Walls are a very important part of any space and hanging art creatively will dramatically change the way each space feels.
There are several ways that I like to hang art for my clients. Here are some examples of what you can do to elevate your living space with your photography or paintings in any space.
You can make one large Statement by selecting a piece of art that hangs alone and make it a size worthy to see and admire. Like a 20×30, or larger… add a cozy chair or an accent table in front of it. The next style is what I call the Collector. Collect several pieces with varying sizes and stack them on floating shelves along the wall. This style is very free and appears that you are more creative and laid back than the prior.
The Gallery wall style is nice because it allows for multiple sizes and multiple mediums freely without creating an unorganized and lost look. I usually use different but coordinating frames and do collections such as all of the art is in one medium say photography and all of that is the same…say sepia or black and white. This keep a streamline of consistency in what look you are achieving. However, mixing multiple mediums such as paintings and shadow boxes and photography is equally interesting and the best way to do it is to trace out the design first and then place painter’s tape on the walls and then start hanging. The most structured style of hanging is the Grid. It is very simply achieved by hanging in a tic tac toe pattern six exactly the same size in exactly the same frame pieces. For my clients that thrive on symmetry and are never able to just purchase that one lamp for feeling like they will be off balance… this is what I always recommend for them. You must measure all of this out again similar to the gallery style so that exactly the same space is calculated between each picture. I usually do 1-2 inches between the frames. For the library or home office I like to utilize the bookcase. The Bookworm is really cool because it stares back at you from a backdrop of books. Easy to install because all you do is hang it on the actual bookcase! The Mantle is one place that should always have some art. Coupling candles and leaning pictures with a mirror is aesthetically pleasing and personalizes the space. Small spaces between windows or accent panels of brick can always be dressed up by hanging art that is vertical. Whether it is hung as one long piece or as a grouping vertically, each offer more interest in spaces that are often overlooked in decorating. Traditional hanging is best described as balanced. It is comfortable to your eye and easy to achieve by first selecting a mirror say as the center star and then surround that with a vertical hanging on either side in exactly the same size smaller frames and spaces in between each.
As you can see there are many ways to hang art in your home and countless ways to create beautiful spaces with art. The design is created once you select the style that best suits you. Each deliver an impact to any space and I advise my clients to hang in multiple styles throughout their living spaces. In this way your home is a unique statement of you!
~Alisa
Have a design question? Email me at alisa@absolutelyfocus.com
Alisa Murray’s “The List” Top Ten Things to do in the month of April
1.Designate an area in your backyard or if you’re daring in the front, and plant yourself a cutting garden. See my Lifestyle column for more info on how to’s.
2.Get to the farmer’s market and seed company store and plant started and seedlings for the summer harvest. Cucumbers and tomatoes with the basil and rosemary in a place all her own!
3.Dust off the bikes and check them to see if they need new tires and plan for a family biking time around the neighborhood while it is still not so hot outside.
4.Make my Asparagus and Lobster custard, pair it with a salad and crisp white Texas wine and invite over a few ladies to discuss the Oscars and what’s on their nightside tables.
5.Plan for a quick getaway to Galveston end of month for just the two of you to reconnect and unwind before school is out and the house is full of children again.
6.Gather cereal boxes and take to the food bank so the supplies are full for when the children are home and are not able to receive free breakfasts and lunches. We always have a need for these items and one box of cereal will feed a child over the weekend in a household that is financially compromised.
7.On my own nightside table now…Tin House Summer, Shutter the sales and marketing edition and Erin Gates Elements of Style.
8.Take a class online on anything that interest you. I am always enrolled in something. Right now I am studying French, Cooking and Interior Design.
9.Schedule a visit to the salon for a “new do” for summer and go ahead and spoil yourself with a full mani and pedi since those toes are coming out to play!
10.As always… take the children for a picnic and do not let one little moment be taken away by electronics. Ask them some hard questions about God or what they think about things that are important to them and most importantly LISTEN… they’ll only be little for a while!
Auntie A’s Asparagus and Lobster Custard
2 cups of chopped asparagus RESERVE you’re tips cause you’ll need them later)
6 eggs
1 cup of bone chicken broth
1/2 cup of milk
1/2 cup of cream
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons of lemon zest
1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese
2 cups of chopped and cooked lobster
Preheat that oven to 325
Place in the blender the asparagus, eggs, stock, milk, cream, lemon juice and zest and cheese in your blender and make a smoothie. Then take 6 oven stage containers and divide evenly the lobster into each of them. Pour the smoothie over the top of the lobster evenly into each of the containers. Divide those tips of asparagus into the cups as well. Sprinkle over all of them some cheese. Place each container in a bain-marie and bake for 25-35mins until custard is set.
This is excellent for a ladies brunch paired with a simple spring mix salad and a glass of cold and crisp white Texas wine.