August 24, 2010

Using Feng Shui to Create Harmony in the Home

Projects & Tips

It’s not everyday that a person undertakes a renovation project, so naturally it pays to do some due diligence before starting one. Among the things I promised myself I’d do before reconfiguring any spaces or painting any walls was to research feng shui, the ancient Chinese art of placement and design, and apply some of its principles to the home I share with my husband, Anil. I have reservations about the efficacy of the system, since aspects of the practice are mystical and hard to measure by scientific standards. But one of my goals with our improvement projects is to … Read Post

August 13, 2010

Super-Simple Centerpiece Idea

Projects & Tips

Sometimes, the simplest projects are the best. Take this easy idea, for example, generated by my stylist friend and colleague Donna Talley for Better Homes & Gardens’ Garden Shed magazine. All you need is an urn or two—hauled in from the backyard or a tag sale—some ferns, moss, and potting soil and you’ve got a instant pick-me-up for a console or an outdoor table. Place the plant in a small terra-cotta pot to allow for drainage before setting it inside the urn.

July 30, 2010

Designing a Home in Accord with Vastu

Projects & Tips

When my husband, Anil, and I visited our family in India last October, we were invited to the home of friends in a village in the hills near Pune, about 2½ hours by car from Bombay. There was an exceptionally serene quality about this home and I learned from our friends that it was designed with the input of an expert in vastu, a 5,000-year-old Vedic system of architectural planning that enables houses and buildings to be situated and constructed in harmony with nature and unseen energies. The system combines science with spirituality and was the precursor to feng shui, … Read Post

July 16, 2010

Understanding the Emotional Impact of Color

Projects & Tips

Everybody has a visceral response to color. We tend to either like a color or we don’t. Lots of studies have been done to document the physiological effects that color elicits in humans. Red, for example, has been shown to increase the heart rate, while deep shades of blue, like the sky at dusk, can make people feel drowsy. Yet little research has been done to evaluate the emotional impact of color. To find out more about how color can influence emotions, I recently spoke with Catherine Poole, a medical intuitive and former spokesperson for Home Depot’s Fresh Aire Choice paint. Catherine … Read Post

July 9, 2010

Landscaping a Terrace

Outdoors

My friend and colleague, Peter Walsh, the editor of Gardening & Outdoor Living stopped by yesterday to offer ideas on how I might enhance our small urban terrace. Much to my surprise, he suggested that I build a little tuteur. It wasn’t so much that I could have a tuteur (he knew I’d been thinking about this kind of garden structure just days ago—see my post from 7/7), it was that I should have a tuteur. You see one of the plants on my terrace is an unwieldly flowering jasmine, given to me by a friend for my birthday a … Read Post

July 7, 2010

How to Make a Tuteur

Projects & Tips

If I had a yard, I’d carve out a spot for a kitchen garden and grow tomatoes, zucchini, strawberries and rhubarb in addition to herbs and flowers. I’d also build an obelisk-shaped tuteur like the one I saw at The Hedges Inn in the Hamptons a couple of weeks ago and put it right in the middle of the garden. I don’t have a yard, so I won’t be building the tuteur, but a girl can dream. If you do have a yard, however, and would like to make a tuteur like this one, here’s how: Materials: •Four 2”x2” 8-foot-long … Read Post

June 30, 2010

Creating an Easy-Care Herb Garden

Outdoors

Unlike a lot of New Yorkers, I rarely visit the Hamptons during the summer months, so when I do I savor every minute. Such was the case, a few days ago, when my husband, Anil, and I drove out for a long weekend to attend a wedding. We spent our free hours driving along the lanes of Sag Harbor, Bridgehampton and East Hampton and taking in views of the charming houses and beautiful gardens the area is known for. One of my favorite stops during this particular journey was The Hedges Inn, a gracious old hotel in East Hampton, where … Read Post

June 29, 2010

Pretty, Simple-to-Sew Pillows

Projects & Tips

In general, I prefer neutral rooms with walls and floors and furnishings defined in shades of cream, oyster, amber, chocolate and gray. But there’s something about summer that brings out my colorful alter ego—and I love introducing pops of color that play off Mother Nature’s seasonal styling cues. One of the ways I like to do this is with easy-to-switch-out accents, such as pillows. Sometimes my husband will let me look through the showroom of Milli Home, a company he owns with his partners that produces affordable pillows, poufs and table linens for retailers such as Home Goods, Sam’s Club, Costco, … Read Post

June 15, 2010

Plants as Natural Air Purifiers

Outdoors

Most people know that trees and plants enhance the quality of the air outdoors by consuming carbon dioxide, converting it into food for themselves and releasing oxygen as a byproduct into the atmosphere. But new research from the University of Georgia now shows that certain plants are extremely effective at removing harmful volatile organic compounds from indoor air, suggesting they can play a critical role in improving the healthiness of homes and offices, too. I recently spoke to Professor Stanley Kays, one of the authors of the study, and he told me that among 28 plants the research group tested, … Read Post

June 9, 2010

Healing Herbs

Outdoors

Growing herbs indoors is practically impossible—at least for me—so I always look forward to spring, when I can grow fresh basil, chives, parsley, cilantro and oregano in pots on my terrace. I like to grow culinary herbs, but after talking to Carol Brzezicki, an herbalist who works at the Sage Mountain Herbal Retreat Center and Botanical Sanctuary in Barre, Vermont, I think I may start growing a few medicinal herbs, too. Among the herbs we talked about, calendula interested me most—partly for its sunny yellow-orange color, but mainly for its ability to soothe the dry, irritated skin, which is often … Read Post