Decorating

You may have collected your fair share of antler-inspired decor last fall. Or you might be thinking about finding a spot for that bold tangerine color of the year or even adding one of the woodland-themed pieces expected to be popular. Stop thinking and start organizing. Blindly following home decor trends can result in a home that's an eclectic mess. With spring cleaning right around the corner, now is the time to assess and redefine your style. That means knowing what hot items to display, what items to store because they're destined to come back into vogue, and what items to dump.

Standing before the students who had assembled at his bakery to learn a bit of his craft, Duff Goldman issued a warning about cake decorating. "It's a very difficult art," he said. "It's very tough. A lot of people cry. Most of you will not succeed. " Then he laughed. "The thing to remember is: It's a cake," he said. "Don't get too freaked out. " But those words had faded more than two hours later as my hand, holding an X-Acto knife, trembled. Goldman, the owner of Charm City Cakes and star of television's "Ace of Cakes," was telling me to cut two circles out of fondant, which would become eyes for the sugary crab that would sit atop my masterpiece.

For some old-fashioned fun, bring the family to the bike decorating contest and parade followed by an ice cream social Friday, June 10, 6:30-8:30 p.m., at the Laurel Armory Anderson and Murphy Community Center, 422 Montgomery St. Kids can decorate their bikes and scooters inside the armory (bike helmets must be worn). Then a parade starts at 7:15 p.m. on Montgomery Street between Fourth and Fifth streets. Ice cream social follows the parade. Sponsored by the Laurel Department of Parks and Recreation, and Laurel Police Department.

Bring your elementary school aged kids for some old-fashioned fun, Friday, June 14 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Laurel Armory/Anderson and Murphy Community Center, 422 Montgomery St. Kids can decorate their bikes and scooters inside the Armory and then join in the parade on Montgomery Street. Decorations will be provided, and a n ice cream social will follow the parade. Please rememer that bike helmets must be worn. The annual event is held by Laurel Department of Parks and Recreation and the Laurel Police Department.

The usual cure for the decorating blahs is shopping. But hold your credit card. Mariette Himes Gomez, one of New York's leading decorators, says that if there's something wrong with your scheme, don't go on a collecting binge. Just take away a pillow or two. The extra breathing space might just be what your room needs. Gomez, a master of the sort of understatement that creates soothing, comfortable rooms, offers decorating Rx aplenty in her new book, Rooms: Creating Luxurious, Livable Spaces (Regan Books, $39.95)

Here are some general guidelines gleaned from interviews with design professionals to help homeowners avoid common decorating mistakes.* Develop a master plan, listing what colors and design elements you would like to add in each room. Also, inventory furniture, artwork and accents you like and want to keep in each room and things that can be replaced or added later. "You need a master plan so you have an overall vision of what you want and what you can work toward," said designer Richard Taylor.

For those uncertain about buying home accessories and antiques, Dan Carithers, a nationally known interior designer, recently offered these tips at a design seminar sponsored by Southern Accents magazine:* Be confident about exploring new styles. "Expose yourself to new things all the time."* Consider all price ranges. "Good design doesn't have to have a giant price tag."* Personalize reproductions. "Begin with store-bought furniture but glaze it, sand it, do something to take the 'new' off."

When looking for a new home, prospective buyers are often seduced by large, empty spaces. That's quite understandable, given the general shrinkage in the size of living accommodations over the past several years. The temptation to snap up a spacious contemporary home is especially acute when someone wishes to move from a tiny apartment or from a renovated residence that has been broken up into numerous small rooms and corridors.But open and airy spaces may prove to be less wonderful than initially imagined.

EACH YEAR, visitors to Crofton are welcomed by the sparkling lights of a Christmas tree in front of the Crofton Country Club. The lighting ceremony, which typically features local politicians, music, refreshments and a visit from Santa -- was scheduled for last night.My favorite community Christmas tree is the one behind Town Hall. This tree doesn't have lights. The ornaments filling its branches are not always elegant or sophisticated. Still, the decorating ceremony for the Town Hall tree, held Saturday morning, was full of love, fun and excitement about the holidays.

Borders, expanded vinyl, coordinating prints, ready-made ensembles and fabricated vertical blinds -- that sums up what's new in wallpapercoverings and design this year.Interior designers are finding the "fully-coordinated" look is in for their customers. Wallpaper patterns match comforters, shams and dust ruffles, curtains and accent pillows. Bathrooms play host to coordinating shower curtains, window treatments and rugs.Kitchens and bathrooms are the most wallpapered rooms in the home, says Jim Forsythe, co-owner of Wallpapers to go at the Festival at Pasadena on Ritchie Highway.

Clarence M. "Erick" Erickson, a decorated Korean War Navy flier and retired defense worker, died May 25 of complications from dementia at Madonna Heritage, a Jarrettsville assisted-living facility. He was 94. The son of farmers, Clarence Merlin Erickson was born and raised in Rhame, N.D. After graduating from Rhame High School in 1936, Mr. Erickson joined the Civilian Conservation Corps. Mr. Erickson enlisted in the Navy in 1944 and graduated from ordnance school. He entered flight school, from which he graduated in 1947.

Harry F. Hansen Sr., a highly decorated World War II veteran who landed in the initial wave of troops on Omaha Beach on D-Day and later became a Baltimore businessman, died on Memorial Day from complications of a stroke at Howard County General Hospital. The longtime Ellicott City resident was 96. The son of a butcher and a homemaker, Harry Frederick Hansen was born in Baltimore and raised on Ashton Street in Southwest Baltimore. After graduating from City College in 1935, he worked as a butcher with his father and as a jewelry salesman, before his marriage in 1939 to Edith Mae Stephens.

"We cherish too, the Poppy red / That grows on fields where valor led, / It seems to signal to the skies / That blood of heroes never dies. " - "We Shall Keep the Faith" by Moina Michael For many Marylanders, Memorial Day is the unofficial start of summer. It is a day marked with trips to the beach, backyard cookouts, baseball games, community pool openings and, for the next 90 days or so, paying attention to Friday afternoon traffic reports detailing the backup at the Bay Bridge.

Federico Lopez is proud of the food of his hometown. That town, Mexico City, should be proud of him, too. With his wife, Maria, Lopez owns Fiesta Mexicana, a tiny, friendly Rosedale restaurant dedicated to cooking authentic Mexico City cuisine. As the capital of Mexico and the country's largest city, Mexico City draws culinary inspiration from the entire country. The resulting cuisine feels familiar to the American palate, but fresh. Diners will recognize the tortilla-plus-meat-and-sauce concoctions on their plates; it looks similar to the food at any run-of-the-mill Mexican place in America.

Lionel A. Jones Sr., a retired noncommissioned Army officer whose career spanned 25 years, died April 30 of cancer at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. He was 76. He was born in Lancaster, Va., and moved to Baltimore in 1939. After graduating from Frederick Douglass High School in 1955, he attended what is now Morgan State University for a year. He enlisted in the Army in 1956 and attained the rank of sergeant major. During his career, he completed tours of duty in Vietnam, France, Hawaii, New Mexico, Alaska, Virginia and Washington.

Franklin W. Littleton Jr., a retired career Air Force officer and a businessman who was a big-band and Dixieland music aficionado, died April 20 of complications from dementia at Nichols Eldercare, an Edgewood assisted-living facility. The Bel Air resident was 91. The son of a contractor and a homemaker, Franklin Walter Littleton Jr. was born in Baltimore and raised on Clearspring Road in Forest Park. He was a 1939 graduate of Polytechnic Institute and studied law at the University of Baltimore at night while working at Montgomery Ward and the Glenn L. Martin Co. in Middle River.

What accounts for the staying power of certain throwback decorating trends? It may well be a collective craving for the look of longevity.What many of us are after is a decorating style that suggests permanence and rootedness. Socially footloose and financially fancy-free in the '80S, lots of us are now hunkering down, digging in and taking stock. Bombarded daily by the fallout from economic uncertainty, political and cultural turmoil, marriage, parenthood and careers, we're putting a real premium on stability, reliability and trustworthiness.

Shortly after the turn of the century, a plain-looking woman whose only true love was beauty banished the heavy dark curtains, dark corners and sullen colors of her Victorian era in favor of "plenty of optimism and white paint," propelling interior design into the 20th century.Following her decorative gospel of simplicity, suitability and proportion, Elsie de Wolfe rejected the cluttery Victorian design standard and opened up horizons of decorating."I think that it was so fascinating that she did it in one fell swoop," says Nina Campbell, co-author with Caroline Seebohm of "Elsie de Wolfe, A Decorative Life" (Clarkson Potter, $35)

Herbert A. Davis, a Baltimore real estate broker and decorated World War II veteran, died Monday of progressive supranuclear palsy at Keswick Multi-Care Center. He was 87. "Herb was always very enthusiastic and just a great guy," said Dorothy F. "Patsy" Ross, who works in real estate sales for Chase Fitzgerald & Co. "He was enthusiastic, positive and was always thinking on the bright side, and he really knew the business," said Mrs. Ross. "He was a great salesman. " Judy L. Bushong, a real estate agent, worked with Mr. Davis for 28 years.

On March 10, the Blue Ribbon 4-H Club made table decorations to be used at the Annual 4-H Achievement Night Banquet. The club also collected food for the Mason Dixon Food Pantry which was organized by Madie and Katie Poteet.