Home Make-over 9 - The Beauty of Plants.

 

Gardening is any way that humans and nature come together with the intent of creating beauty...

- Tina James, 1999 

He who cultivates a garden, and brings to perfection flowers and plants, cultivates and advances at the same time his own nature...

- Ezra Weston, 1845

Gardening gives fun and health and knowledge. It gives laughter and colour. It gives pictures of almost incredible beauty...

- John F. Kenyon

 Plants and Gardening - 

Therapy for the Mind, Body and Soul.

Why do plants have such a positive impact on us?

There are a number of reasons, including:

They have a predictable cycle of life that provides comfort in  our time of rapid change.

They are responsive but nonthreatening.

They form no opinions or judgments about their caretakers. 

They soften our man-made environment.

They provide relaxation and tranquility.

Like poetry, plants bring a sense of rthym, harmony and balance into any space.

You can close your eyes for a minute and envisage the serene and calming feeling you experience whilst taking a walk through a park, a little forest, through the woods or a mass of vegetation, and listening to the sound of the birds chirping away with abandon, the soothing cool breeze, the sound of the quiet streams flowing by or the sound of rushing waters from a fountain closeby.... its a picture of the tranquil, engulfing, beauty of nature.

You can  bring in this feeling of nature into your home by introducing indoor plants and also grooming a garden in your outdoor space. Plants also bring in fresh and purified air, whilst adding beauty and colour to your home.

The care of plants instills the expression of love and affection in its owner, but because of the constraints of our busy and working lifestyles, there is also the option of artificial plants, which only create the impression of the beauty and colour, but without the delicate touch of natural plants. Natural plants respond best to sunlight exposure, so there must be an inlet of sunlight

Enliven and vivify your home with plants, there is no limit to where plants can be introduced in your home.

Introducing potted plants in the kitchen

Plants gracing the hallway

Potted plants on a table by the window

Beautiful array of plants in the living room with a view to an outdoor garden

Rich mass of plants in the lounge

Plants on the porch stairs

Plants beautifully adorning the front porch seating area

the allure of outdoor plants, gardens, greenery, vegetation......

 

A review of North Beverly Park, Beverly Hills Billionaire Estate.

Aerial view of Beverly Park estate in Los Angeles, California.

The Hills around Los Angeles are famously studded with stars, but the real money lives in North Beverly Park. It’s the most prestigious enclave for high-end residential real estate in Los Angeles.

Accessible only through two guarded checkpoints, the paparazzi-proof development boasts 2-acre-plus parcels of level land, all behind more gates and overlooking the city below. Homes average 20,000 sq. ft. and $24 million each.

The gated community of Beverly Park, in Beverly Hills is the penultimate neighborhood for estate homes. It was developed in 1990 built in the West Los Angeles area. Initially planned to be a private golf course, but instead of a golf course, what was built was a master-planned, gated community designed specifically for the world's wealthiest people who wanted to build significant estates on large-scale real estate lots.

What mostly sets Beverly Park real estate apart from that of the other locations is its ardent privacy. The entire neighborhood is gated and protected by full-time guards. Most of the estates inside of Beverly Park are also gated and guarded. Another very appealing feature of the homes of Beverly Parkis the lot size. It's simply hard to find a location this private and protected, with lots that can accommodate homes in the 40,000 to 50,000-plus-square-foot range.

Because of the privacy, location and lot size, many notable hollywood sports icons, CEOs and entertainers own Beverly Park real estate.
Residents include wealthy A-listers like actors Denzel Washington, Eddy Murphy, Sylvester Stallone (see our review of inside Sylvester Stallone's Beverly Park home) and rocker Rod Stewart. Billionaire chairman Sumner Redstone of Viacom company lives toward the southern end of the development.  The ultra exclusive development has also attracted a smattering of rich Saudis who have purchased their stateside palaces covertly through limited liability companies. Billionaire businessman Saleh Kamel is rumored to be one such resident: the reported owner of a sleek Contemporary that’s currently asking an astounding $175,000 per month in rent. Property purchase prices in this estate ranges from $9 million - over $30 million.


The architecture of homes in Beverly Park is beautiful yet varied. There are French Provincial homes and Tuscan estates, as well as modern and spanish masterpieces. The common areas are manicured like a park at the Los Angeles Getty Museum, yet each homeowner tends to go even further with stunning landscape, hardscape, pools, water features and much more.

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Sources: www.jademillsestates.com; www.forbes.com

Sylvester Stallone's Celeb Home in Beverly Park Estate.

Let's tour the rocky star Sylvester Stallone's California Home set in Beverly Park estate. The actor's Spanish-style villa features a pool, an outdoor kitchen and stunning mountain vistas.

Priced at $4.5 million, the four-bedroom, five-bathroom home sits within the Madison Club, a gated golf community popular with retirees. Arched doorways, beamed ceilings and stone fireplaces lend an air of authenticity to the Spanish-meets-Mediterranean abode, while expansive patios and alfresco dining areas make the most of its mountainside setting.

The design of the home is spanish and vintage, with a harmonious colour mix of beige, peach and brown tones.

the porch and poolside with lovely greenery, trees and vegetation

Luxury bathroom with a soft beige color theme

Wide poolside.

Luxury patio

Outdoor dining area

Outdoor kitchen which serves outdoor dining area

Deluxe bedroom with a fire place and a wide entrance to the poolside.

Master bedroom with nice arched exit to bathroom area

The exquisite drive way

Master bedroom en-suite bathroom with lovely wall lighting and mirror designs.

Lovely kitchen with beautiful chandelier hanging over kitchen island.

Home office space with fine wooden finished floor, lovely beige colored rug, white coloured single settees with throw pillows, and wood frame patterned ceiling.

Large bathroom mirror at sink area

Beautifully designed living room

Guest bedroom with large glass door opening which leads out to the porch

Breakfast nook which is an extension from the kitchen area.

Family dining area, with lovely designed dining chairs and beautiful window view.

Source: www.frontdoor.com

Home Makeover-8- Kitchen Redesign

What does your kitchen interior look like? is it untidy? with chipped wooden surfaces, cupboards or drawers? or cracked granite, quartz surfaces, cracked glass lids for floating cupboards? Do you have a functional hood to suck up the excess smoke from your cooking? What is ventilation like in your kitchen space, is it stuffy or choking?

The kitchen is a place that signifies a high level of health and hygiene, as it is the space where all daily 3-square meals are prepped. Also, lots of time during the day is spent here, as cooking, eating, food storage and other related activities around the kitchen are continuous processes and part of our daily lives. Either to grab a quick cup of tea or coffee, or nipple on some chocolate in the fridge, either to prep a quick chicken sauce, pasta or noodles, or prepare a full 3-course meal for guests and family, the kitchen space is certainly a huge part of our family lives, hence, we need to pay more attention to it, and make it a more pleasureable space to spend time.

A few tips to prop up your kitchen appeal.

• Most of our kitchens have the conventional brown wood color for our shelves, cabinets and drawers. We can re-design these with so many other lovely colours to make this space more colourful.
• Choose a color theme for your kitchen and then design every item and element in the kitchen to fit into this colour scheme, it will give the space a feeling of order and harmony.
• If your kitchen is spacious, you can have an island fixed in the centre of your kitchen, this is functional and aesthetic as it increases the work surface area in the space whilst also giving your kitchen an upscale contemporary outlook.
• You can also have a kitchen hood installed over the cooker to trap and control the heat from cooking.
• Also have an AC installed in the kitchen to help better ventilation and make the general temperature in the kitchen cooler.
• Your kitchen surfaces can be made of wood, glass, oak, concrete, stainless steel, quartz, granite, marble, limestone, soapstone, tile, crystallized glass for high gloss surfaces, and many more. Here are a few tips to maintain your kitchen surfaces whichever material they maybe made of.
• Bright lighting is a necessity in the kitchen to aid detailing and precision in carrying out cooking, cleaning and other activities around the kitchen, it also helps lit-up the space and gives it a lift.
• Always put away kitchen utensils, pots, cookwares, plates, cups etc in designated cabinets, drawers and shelves to leave your kitchen surfaces looking clear, clean and organized. More tips on keeping your kitchen clean.

For some more kitchen and kitchen countertop designs visit