31Jul

Five Favorites: From Coffee to Organic Bugs Killer

I’ve been postponing Five Favorites posts for a while, only because there are so many interesting products I’ve discovered and there is only a small amount of time I can invest on each post for the blog every day. I’ve been excessively busy with new clients and exciting new projects. Here are my favorite products this month.

100% Freshwater Diatomaceous Earth: Organic Bugs Killer, Fertilizer, and Food

Please bear with me as I try to explain what this diatomaceous earth is. At the beginning of Summer, we were inundated with little ants. We would find them mostly in the kitchen around our sink, and it was very annoying. One day while browsing through Amazon I came across this organic bug killer powder that promised to be so safe you can even eat it, just don’t inhale it. We bought it, mixed it with a bit of water and applied along the countertop with a syringe. The next morning when we woke up there only about five ants left and by the third day they were all gone.

This product can also be used to eliminate cockroaches, and it has 100 different uses from helping purify water to detoxifying the body. I have not used it for more than just killing my summer ants but if you want to read more about its many uses, visit 6 Proven Diatomaceous Earth Uses and Benefits. “Diatomaceous earth (DE) is essential for anyone looking for natural remedies in their home, yard, garden or homestead. This amazing product is made of tiny, fossilized diatoms (plankton) that accumulated over millennia in freshwater lakes.” Amazon

30Jul

Myrtle Topiaries: The Artistic Elegance of Topiaries

Myrtle topiaries, topiaries, Julie Paulino Design

Myrtle and boxwood topiaries inside our fireplace at our home. Julie Paulino Design

Last week I had a photoshoot at our house for a local publication. I wanted to photograph the area around our fireplace, but alas, it’s summer so turning on the fire was out of the question. After a couple of days brainstorming about how to make a black hole, a big one, in this case, look good enough for a photoshoot, a lightbulb went on, and a picture of myrtle potted topiaries and boxwood topiaries inside the fireplace came spinning into my head. The result was more than satisfying, transforming an empty rather cold space into a warm and charming one. Myrtle topiaries can add that understated elegance to any area adding that soothing character to a home or garden.

Initially, I thought of using a few flower arrangements, but they would have gotten lost or distracted the entire ensemble. I was lucky to find what I was looking for, two tall double topiaries and two small rounded boxwoods to create different heights. The two double balls are Myrtle topiaries that can live inside and hopefully last year round if we take good care of them. The smaller rounded boxwoods are evergreen that later on, we’ll transplant outside. The dense evergreen leaves are meant to withstand cold weather, and they are a favorite for shaping into different shapes of topiaries since ancient times. Below, a few options of potted topiaries to bring a bit of garden inside your home.

27Jul

Tropical-Influenced Fashion Pieces You Should Buy

Two Tropical-Influenced Fashion Brands With Major Success. Rebecca De Ravenel, left, and Johanna Ortiz.

I’ve been seeing a significant Tropical influence in Fashion for the past year or two, and I love everything I see. From Johanna Ortiz’s dramatic floral ruffle dresses and separates inspired on the diversity of Colombia’s nature and geography to Rebecca de Ravenel’s latest coral inspired earrings. “Being surrounded by its tropical landscapes, dramatic mountains, and its huge variety of plants, birds… provides constant inspiration.” Johanna Ortiz

This latest tropical inspired fashion style can also be found in tableware as it can be spotted in many online favorite stores. Many people may think of only patterns when it comes to Tropical style, but it’s more than just patterns and graphics. This latest version of The Tropics shifts away from the pattern over pattern approach to focus on a more cosmopolitan sense where materials take center stage in the form of flirtatious silhouettes with a European sensibility.

24Jul

A 200-Year-Old Farmhouse In Mallorca Gets A Major Makeover

Ammonite fossils on top of an antique table welcome visitors in the entry way.

Imagine coming to your summer home and being greeted by an aromatic scent emanating from a line of olive, almond and cork trees that indicate the path to the house. This forever-summer home is located in Manacor in the south-east of Mallorca. It’s been entirely renovated in a way that preserves the house’s original Mallorcan spirit by Architect and Interior Designer Ramon Garcia Jurado. The clients’ request was for a ‘home where you can hang out all day in a sarong and be barefoot most of the time’. The final result is that and more, Garcia Jurado was able to interpret his clients’ wish while making the home also comfortable and sophisticated enough. The white walls and bare resin floors serve as the perfect background for the rich colored antiques throughout the house.

23Jul

Four Kitchen Instruments That Make Your Life Easier On Sale Today

Modern life is not exactly as simple and straightforward as they make us believe. Keeping up with all the constantly changing information about how to eat, how to cook and how to live can be stressful and overwhelming. Professionals recommend cooking at home as often as we can to help with savings and eating healthier. This Special Deals of The Week features those essential kitchen instruments that make cooking much more accessible and less stressful.

20Jul

Sexy Back: Backless Clothes To Keep You Cool In Summer

The hottest summer month is yet to come, but we don’t need to melt away or look like we just came out of the sauna. We can all keep our coolness with a top or dress that bares our back. Isn’t just the thought of it refreshing? The beautiful thing about wearing a backless top or dress is that it takes some stress off our head, we don’t need a sculpted back to wear one because frankly most of the humans don’t have sculpted backs. The other benefit is how wearing a backless top provides the illusion of a narrower waist and what lady wouldn’t want that? No matter what kind of open back clothes you choose, tie-back, laced-up or just a V-back, they all have the same Summer-Day-to-Night transition ready.

Month: July 2018

Five Favorites: From Coffee to Organic Bugs Killer

Myrtle Topiaries: The Artistic Elegance of Topiaries

Tropical-Influenced Fashion Pieces You Should Buy

A 200-Year-Old Farmhouse In Mallorca Gets A Major Makeover

Four Kitchen Instruments That Make Your Life Easier On Sale Today

Sexy Back: Backless Clothes To Keep You Cool In Summer

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