Meaningful Gifts

Isn’t it beaut-ee-ful?

Although I can’t say no to meaningful gifts, I can’t say that I need anything more than I have now. I have everything that I need – loved ones with whom I share so much, good health and a positively energy-giving philosophy that helps me live my days through highs and lows, and of course a beautiful comfortable home with a wonderful and practical kitchen.

But I do have to admit that little things, like receiving gifts when least expected, can make my day a little more interesting. Only recently, I got to know more Mayur and his beloved wife Bhavya who share similar interests as mine such as photography and of course, cooking and eating good food. From their last trip to India, they brought back this wonderful gift – a gold mortar and pestle. I remember feeling overwhelmed by the mesmerizing gold colour of this very useful kitchen tool – handed over in a small greenish – gold sheer satin bag. I haven’t used it yet – but it won’t be long before it becomes one of my favorite items for cooking.

Thank you Mayur and Bhavya !

Dream Kitchen

What is your dream kitchen?

There’s been a very good and exciting reason for putting temporarily new QlinArt recipes on hold…

…creating my ideal kitchen space in my new home!

This beautiful and functional space used to be a battlefield just a couple of months ago. Now, I can say it’s my cozy home where I rush to every evening after work to just sit down and sip a nice cup of tea; and to contemplate the warm colours and lines that contour the shape of this lovely kitchen. To be honest, I never thought I had decorating skills in me. I take that back. I did enjoy decorating in the past, but I was always afraid of colour. I was the beige-white type of girl, no clutter and very little furniture. In other words, my past homes would often be nice and clean, but lacked character and life. As they say, what you put in your home often reflects your inner self. As years have gone by, I’ve grown to enjoy and appreciate life better; to be more daring and to actually enjoy the shapes and different colours life has to offer. I also noticed that I put less importance into “things”. I’ll purchase and enjoy – but if I lose some “thing”, I’ll let it go and move on.

In any case, I realized during the entire renovation/decorating venture, which involved breaking down walls and dealing with feisty contractors, that a dream can be realized when fed by true passion and desire. Funny how as one grows and learns in this world, dreams transform as well. Initially, I always dreamt of having a spotless white (again… white) kitchen with granite countertops. Now I think – white kitchens are beautiful but…how BORING, for whom I’ve become.

This time around, I let my own intuition lead the way and decided to not take any advice, unless I asked for some. It took some time as I looked into a few magazines for inspiration.

Last December, we made the decision to put our condo up for sale and get a new place and start afresh. From QlinArt perspective, I was looking for a new place mostly to create a functional and practical kitchen. My idea of ‘functional’ is to have more countertop space than I had at the condo and at long last…windows… beautiful windows that provide abundant natural lighting highly sought after by food photographers.

Our house, built in the 60s, had old walls and floors, but still had a lot of potential to be rejuvenated. We wanted to preserve its original attribute by giving it a fresh, clean new look without going over board and over budget. To achieve this, I went for the IKEA kitchen designs. Personally, I had a wonderful experience with IKEA and I would recommend it to anyone who plans to redo or create his or her dream kitchen: they are very affordable, they have a variety of kitchen designs to suit almost anyone’s needs, very functional storage pieces, and they deliver within 3 weeks time, AND they install everything for you in just 1 day.

Most importantly, I love the amount of space I have now to cook and be messy!