Rhythums of Rest and Seclusion

Sounds of the wind a rhythmic repetition of motion can create a mood of sensuous relaxation that becomes hypnotic. This mood can be created in your home by soft musical beats or the swing of a grandfather clock's pendulum or gentle breezes from a ceiling fan. The repetition of a sound or action time after time, such as a heartbeat or waves on the shore, creates feelings of reassurance and serenity. Predictable rhythms of sound and movement are comforting; an animal sitting in your lap or the deep breathing of someone sleeping allows a calming background against the days anxieties. Rhythm is the basis of meditation techniques, quietly stilling the mind's stresses like rocking a child to sleep. If you have difficulty sleeping, place a softly...

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Garden Moods

A view from a window can be calming, but to experience the sights, sounds and scents of the natural world there is nothing like an outdoor garden. When planning your garden or patio, consider the diversity of tranquil scenes, arranging your furniture toward your favorite view. This can be created by adding a variety of plant life, palm trees, and flowing plants. As you step into your garden, you enter both your private sanctuary and view with nature's wonder. Simple furnishings and comfortable seating add a compliment to the mood of serenity. As we move to the outdoor environment, our artificial perspectives are soothed by the recognition of nature's inexorable cycl...

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Tranquility of Water

The presence of water brings us into harmony with nature. To regain a sense of tranquility, listen to to a soft rain. The restorative power of water is widely acknowledged, and certain beliefs invest rivers and lakes with mystical and magical power. A water garden or pool revealing gentle ripples when disturbed by a leaf gently falling or by wind or rain-leave a mesmerizing and soothing feeling. Sounds and the sensation of flowing water revitalize our thoughts and souls. Larger homes and offices may incorporate flowing water in an interior area, such as a sheet cascade or steady streams falling into separate pools filled with rocks and dimmed lights. You can add water falls to any room in your home which breaks silence in a room and adds the...

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Visual Symphony

Greg Natale is a hot young Australian interior designer. He’s a master of pattern, a lover of retro and an out and out exponent of glam.  I have featured him many times on my blog because his designs are so hot (and because he kindly shares great shots of his commissions!). This photo being one of his latest apartment designs in Sydney. Ouch! It’s so glamorous and luxe it hurts. What amazing views of Sydney from the windows of this high rise apartment. I didn’t even notice the stellar views at first because I was devouring the design.Greg Natale has done a stunning job with this design. The decor emits sensuality. You can almost hear slow sexy jazz or Bach playing in the backgrou...

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Heavenly Dance

Gary Benfield was born in the West Midlands, Great Britain, in 1965. He studied at Stourbridge College of Art and then went on to do further study at Wrexham College of Art.After leaving the academic world, he set up his own studio near London and concentrated on drawing and painting figures. Within a few years his work was collected throughout Europe and his reputation firmly established.Benfield has a natural talent for depicting things as seen. His work is spontaneous and is reflected by his drawn lines and dashes of color. The figures dissolve in and out of their backgrounds and move across the paper. He paints rapidly and disregards most of his paintings and drawings, keeping only those that he feels are perfected in their conception rather...

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Prairie Princess

"Art refers to a diverse range of human activities and artifacts, and may be used to cover all or any of the arts, including music, literature and other forms. It is most often used to refer specifically to the visual arts, including mediums such as painting, sculpture, and printmaking. Aesthetics is the branch of philosophy which considers art.Visual art is defined as the arrangement of colors, forms, or other elements "in a manner that affects the sense of beauty, specifically the production of the beauty. Traditionally the term art was used to refer to any skill or mastery, a concept which altered during the Romantic period, when art came to be seen as "a special faculty of the human mind to be classified with religion and science".Generally...

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Still Life

A creative arrangement of objects can introduce a serene note of order to any room. This arrangement is displayed in a kitchen as an accent. Simple, everyday items, such as stemware, flowers, or fruit make the most effective still life display, the impact of which lies less in their individual components than in the overall display. Composing still life is a very personal form of art; choose harmonious colors and shapes that will relate well to one another and to the space around them. Diverse colors and scents of flowers can bring an imaginative focus to still life settings. Ikebana, is a Japanese art of flower arranging, emphasizes form and balance in its deceptively simple compositions. This can be created by a simple flower blossom placed...

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Simply Scent-ual

Most homes and workplaces may be transformed with fragrance. Aromatic candles and room sprays allow us to match our mood with invigorating scents of the seashore or floral scents, different fragrances evoke memories, such as fresh linen, or cinnamon. Accent on aromatherapy today offers fragrances for the mind and body such as essential oils extracted from plants to relieve both physical and mental ailments, or simply to relax and revitalize. In the home, oils may be used in a burner to create a romantic, uplifting and soothing atmosphere. There is nothing quite like fresh dried plants to provide a feast for the sense's. Herbs in the kitchen,such as vanilla have a "motherly" smell which is reassuring and comforting, while lavender in the bedroom...

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Rooms for the Mind

The type of environment in which you work best depends on you, work spaces at home allow you flexibility to surround yourself with personal items meaningful to you which give a peaceful area for contemplation and thought. Most office environment work spaces also allow you to personalize your work area. This is usually achieved by adding personal photos or a plant and or allowing the employee to furnish their office with their choice of furnishings, rugs, lamps, art, etc.Good lighting is important, use natural sunlight whenever possible. Supplement a lack of lighting with an indirect lighting source, which is most calming to the mind, a lamp on your workspace is the most effective. Use your space creatively, by using a credenza beside or...

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