Adorable Garden Stools

Ceramic garden stools are everywhere nowadays. We think the trend started with the boutique hotel chains like Mondrian, where they were using white garden stools everywhere. More often seen indoor as decorative items, they are actually meant to be used outdoor. Super easy to clean and versatile, decorative garden stools can be used as seating, side tables, or just for decoration.

We thought instead of the typical white ceramic garden stools, we show you some other ones that are more colorful and interesting.









These range between $200-$250 each. All are from Emissary USA and can be found on our garden stool section.

Pretty Rugs from Surya

We have a soft spot for dainty & pretty looking things. Like things with soft, muted colors; subdued patterns, delicate designs.

It's the reason why we really like this rug collection from Surya. It's full of all the things stated above.

Here are some of our favorites:










The rugs are really inexpensive. They run about $400 (for a 4 x6) to $1100 (for a 8 x 10). They are machine-made with wool/vicose. Purchasing information can be found on our modern rugs section. If you like to see more of Surya's products (they also make fantastic pillows and throws), visit their web site.

Modern Silk Flowers from NDI

Silk flowers have a bad rep, don't they? They are perceived as chinzy and cheap, but truly, they do not have to be. The quality of silk flowers has improved tremendously over the last few years. Now you can find very nice, high quality arrangements that look almost as good as the real ones.

We think the key to pick silk flowers is to find arrangements that are as simple as possible. The simpler they are the more realistic they look. Mixing them with fresh flowers or branches is an effective way of displaying them. Finally, buy the best quality that you can find. Cheap silk flowers are like cheap shoes--you can spot them miles away.

NDI just came out with a new catalog and we thought some of the arrangements are quite nice. Here are some that we like:














You can see the rest of the catalog at NDI. Purchasing and pricing information can be found in our silk flowers section.

Hotel Collection Block Curtain Set Chocolate

Interior Design : Tie-Up Shade Hotel Stripe Insulated Thermal Blackout Window Shade 63"L

Best Home Fashion introduces the new Blackout Tie Up Shade. It features innovative fabric construction. Compare to the other shades, our product is extremely SOFT and DRAPERY. The sophisticated designs allow you to decorate your windows with great styles. NEVER compare our Blackout Curtains with those cheap ones that are stiff and looks like a shower curtain. Blackout is perfect for : Late sleepers Shift workers Seniors Infants & parents Students Computer operators Care instruction : -Machine wash warm with like colors. -Use only non-chlorine bleach when needed. -Tumble dry low. -Warm iron as needed

Features
Color: Gold

* Keep your home under wraps with these thermal, insulated blackout tie up shade.
* insulate against heat and cold, saving you money and energy.
* Independent laboratory test shows curtain blocks 99.9% of light.
* Features rod pocket and can be hung from a standard or decorative curtain rod.
* Contains single tie up shade. Shade measures 63 inches long x 42 inches wide

Interior Design Inspiration : HOTEL COLLECTION-Thermal Blackout Window Curtain 84"L

Interior Design Inspiration : HOTEL COLLECTION-Thermal Blackout Window Curtain 84"L

Best Home Fashion introduces the new Blackout Curtain. It features innovative fabric construction. Compare to the other curtains, our product is extremely SOFT and DRAPERY. The sophisticated designs allow you to decorate your windows with great styles. NEVER compare our Blackout Curtains with those cheap ones that are stiff and looks like a shower curtain. Blackout is perfect for : Late sleepers Shift workers Seniors Infants & parents Students Computer operators Care instruction : -Machine wash warm with like colors. -Use only non-chlorine bleach when needed. -Tumble dry low. -Warm iron as needed

Features
Color: Burgandy

* Keep your home decor under wraps with these Solid thermal, insulated blackout curtain.
* Laboratory test shows these curtains insulate against heat and cold, saving you money & energy.
* Independent laboratory test also shows curtain blocks out 99.9% of light.
* Curtains feature innovative fabric construction and Machine washable for easy care.
* Set: 104 "W x 84" L / Panel: 52"W x 84"L and Can be hung from a standard or decorative curtain rod.

Interior Design Ideas : Hotel Stripe Insulated Thermal Blackout Window Valance Set

Interior Design Ideas : Hotel Stripe Insulated Thermal Blackout Window
Valance Set

Features
Color: SKYBLUE

* Complete your window treatment with the insulated blackout valance.
* Keep your home decor under wraps with these blackout valances.
* can be hung from a standard or decorative curtain rod (not included)
* Each panel measures 20 inches long x 52 inches wide
* Set measures 20 inches long x 104 inches wide

Home Interior Design Ideas : Spa Collection Curtains White and Taupe Stripe Set of 2 Window Panels Coverings Treatments

Home Interior Design Ideas : Spa Collection Curtains White and Taupe Stripe Set of 2 Window Panels Coverings Treatments

Window treatments are the quickest, simplest and most affordable way to change the look and feel of your bedroom. These SPA COLLECTION Window Treatments are 1.5 inch rod pocket panels. It is easy to add a classy crisp style to your room with these elegant window panels. These panels coordinate with the SPA COLLECTION Hotel Bedding Sets from Miller Home Fashions.

Features

* These Spa Hotel Collection Window Treatments are 1.5 inch rod pocket panels.
* Dimensions: 42 in x 84 in
* These Window Treatments coordinate with Miller Home Fashions Spa Collection Hotel Duvet Bedding Sets
* Easy-care: Machine Washable, Hang to dry

Our new decorating blog launched today!

We are pleased to announce the launch of our new decorating blog , Digging Decor.

Our new blog will cover interior design much more extensively, including design products, design ideas and design news. Think of it as a huge addition to this web site, which will still be updated regularly by our staff.

We'll hope you'll come visit soon. It's a great looking site, we're very proud of it!

Classic Kitchen Style: The Essential Handbook for a Timeless Design

A classic-style kitchen is perfectly functional, with a warm and inviting look that can transform it into the heart of your home. But without the know-how, renovating your kitchen can be a confusing and difficult process. Now, the experts at Woman's Day SIPS bring you Classic Kitchen Style, the essential guide for anyone trying to achieve a timeless, elegant look completely hassle free. Not only will Classic Kitchen Style help solve all of your design dilemmas, it also serves as a comprehensive handbook for those who want to infuse their kitchen with a lasting flair all of its own. With so much valuable, easy-to-follow advice from the experts, it's sure to be the essential reference for anyone looking to make their ideal kitchen a reality.

White Decor-So Refreshing

Did you see the latest issue of Elle Decor? It features the home of Monelle Totah, vice president of design for Williams Sonoma. We thought it's worth a feature post because it's such a refreshing style that is so achievable. By that, we mean you can find everything in the home quite easily. Not like those features where the owners alway tell us they brought home these chandeliers from some Paris fleamarket on their backs, you know? For some reasons a Paris fleamarket always sounds more glamorous. What's wrong with a flea market in, say, San Jose?

Anyway, you can find most of the items in the feature (from Williams Sonoma, of course, but other sources as well).

Here is a picture of it:



To see the rest, click here...

The Five Most Tiresome Decorating Trends

You know how when you get too much of something, it becomes tiresome really fast?

Take reality TV for example, how many permutations of it can we take? Does anyone care about Jon and Kate, or the Real Housewives of whatever?

Sidenote: Eventhough this has nothing to do with home decor, here is an interesting article from the NY Times about reality TV.

Home decorating is kinda like that too. Once a trend is caught on it spreads like a virus and next thing you know, everyone is doing it.

Which leads us to the most tiresome decorating trends ever (in our humble opinion)...

Here they are:

1) The Faux Tuscany look. We see this in almost 50% of the household we go to. Usually they are McMansions. The kind that you see in Real Housewives of Atlanta or Orange County, for example. Lots of faux-finished walls, heavy Tuscany-inspired brown wood furniture, lots of fringe, lots of big rooms no one ever uses, lots of heavy drapes in jewel tones, lots of pillows on the bed, lots of granite counter. It's so dated!

2) The faux Hollywood Regency look-this trend was started by Kelly Wearstler & Jonathan Adler a few years back and now it's everywhere. Once you see it in Z-Gallerie, you know it's time to NOT get into it. This looks consists of a lot of fake white lacquer, lots of bright colors, lots of funky patterns. It could be fun (but only for a minute and a half).

3) The W-Hotel look-do you know this look? All the furniture looks like it's from the W-Hotel, and if you've been to one W-Hotel you've been in all of them. They are all brown and white and straight-edged and black and white and boring.

4) The faux-loft look-everybody is building "lofts" nowadays. But instead of authentic lofts that were converted from old buildings, the new lofts are cheap condos built without walls. It usually goes with the mandatory minimalist furniture that looks absolutely cold and uncomfortable.

5) The faux-Asian look. We were at this gorgeous, 7-million dollar home the other day and we swear, there was a Budha in every room. What is up with the Budha? One or two is okay, but lots of it, combined with everything Asian is an overkill. Like lots of red color, lots of bamboo, lots of elephants and horses! It just looks kitschy...

What do you think? What trend do you think is tiresome?

Place for towel wrap and preschool Nap Mats

Place for towel wrap and preschool nap mats.

Are you looking for a wonderful place for buying wonderful gifts? Are looking for some amazing fun things to buy? Then Posy lane is the site for you. They have the most fun amazing things for your kids also. The towel wrap, laundry bag, kindergarten nap mats preschool nap mats are available in this site. They will definitely love the things in the Posy lane website. You might have been faced with the tough job for finding the right place for buying things for your kids. You don't have to think any longer, because Posy lane is here for you. It has the most wonderful stuff for your kids; they will surely love you for the things that you buy for them from Posy lane. The Posy lane site provides you with the most fun stuff which you won't find any where else. These items are also low priced; they will certainly not hurt your wallet much.

The Bedroom : The Interior Design and Decoration

If you long for a magical space to dream in, a luxuriously appointed contemporary or downright cozy room of your own, you'll find a bounty of inspiration in the lush photos and idea-filled captions in this gorgeous book. Glimpse the secret retreats of designers, architects, antique dealers, and other arbiters of taste (including fashion dignitaries Bill Blass, Karl Lagerfeld, and Valentino), and learn how they dress the bed, decorate the walls, arrange the accessories, and solve storage dilemmas, as well as how they convert nonbedroom spaces like studios, libraries, and living rooms into spectacular sleeping areas. Even those without unrestrained budgets or architecturally distinguished homes can adapt many of the ideas to their more modest arrangements. --Amy Handy

Los Angeles Taste Makers

The Los Angeles Time Magazine today has an excellent feature on the up-and-coming taste makers in Los Angeles, primarily in the field of fashion, interior design, architecture, arts and entertainment.

We find it so inspiring...It's so nice to read about people who are so incredibly creative. It's also nice to discover people & names we never heard of.

Featured here is Sally McQuillan:



"She doesn’t like to drop names—McQuillan prefers to let her résumé do the talking. But ask any number of decorating heavyweights, and they’ll tell you the fiercely inventive fabric designer, known for setting trends in color and pattern, is a home-furnishings sensation."-LA Times Magazine

Read on...

Smith & Hawken Closing All Stores

One of our favorite garden stores, Smith + Hawken, announced that it will close all of its 56 stores by the end of the year.

Another victim of this horrible economy....

Sales starts this week at all stores. The online store has been shut down.

Mediterranean Style: Relaxed Living Inspired by Strong Colors and Natural Materials

Home Interior Design Ideas:Mediterranean Style: Relaxed Living Inspired by Strong Colors and Natural Materials

ivid colors, bold simplicity, textural contrasts, stone, tile, and stucco--these are the hallmarks of this refreshingly unpretentious style, which is easy to live with and surprisingly simple to evoke at home. Vibrant photos and detailed, practical text explore all the elements of the look and explain what to do with your own walls and floors, windows and doors, furnishings and accessories to re-create the look. And the 12 step-by-step projects (including sand-textured or distempered walls, a pebbled floor, a fretwork window screen, studded doors, and a mosaic tabletop) prove that it doesn't take a huge effort or a huge budget to achieve the relaxed grace of this popular decor. The sun-drenched rooms filled with natural materials and accented with the occasional exotic touch (a filigreed lantern, Moroccan dishware, a kilim rug, Moorish arches, Spanish-style wrought ironwork) are extremely inviting--you'll want to sprawl on a cushy divan and sip a cool beverage as you drink in the enticing warmth of this wonderful style. --Amy Handy

This is one idea of home interior design. This home interior design apply Mediterranean style. This home interior design can become the information in designing a house.

Very Modern Lighting from Nuevo

We just saw some very cool lighting fixtures from Nuevo that we thought you might want to check out. This is a Canadian-based company and they make amazing barstools, modern furniture and lighting. We like their lighting collection quite a bit. It's are not too expensive and they are very unique. If you have a modern theme for your home decor, it'll be a great fit.

Here are some samples:

Now, because these are not too expensive they are not made of Murano glass or crystal or anything like that. They are made of acrylic, actually. They do look pretty cool though, and if you are in the mood for something fun but you don't want to spend a lot of money, it might be a good choice.

http://www.nuevoliving.com/ (this is a trade site only and you'll need a password to get in).

Fresh & Clean- White Home Accessories from Zodax

We just got back from Mexico lately and for some reasons, we are just so into white! Maybe it was because it was so hot in Tulum, the only appropriate thing to wear is white linen. And the only thing that looks good in a home is white furniture and white accessories.

So we were thrilled when we saw these home accessories from Zodax at the LA Home Show this week. This is a small home accessories company based in the LA area. They have very cute stuff!

Here are some samples:

This stool is adorable. It comes in blue/white and yellow/white...

This set of box is perfect for storing jewelry...

This lamp is adorable, don't you think?



We like this side table for setting down a drink or a book...

For some reasons this set is really pricey (like $750!), but we like the way it looks..

This mirror is adorable. The elephant is actually a table...

We'll be loading these items up on our site shortly...