Modern Wallpapers from Osborne and Little

Don't you just love "Mad Men"? Aside from the fabulous characters, clever dialogues and story lines, the set on the show is just awesome. They really got it down. Doesn't the wallpapers in the show make you just dizzy though?

Things have changed since then obviously. Nowadays you most likely see wallpapers in the bathroom, powder room, hallway or just one wall. They are used as an accent or an exclamation point.

We thought we show you some new patterns from Osborne and Little this spring. If you follow this post you'll see that this is our favorite wallpapers line. It's not for the faint-hearted though, as it's rather bold and daring. You'll have to have steady nerves to take on this line.

Osborne and Little wallpapers runs about$120-200 per roll. You can get a quote for specific pattern here. Note: the rolls is 11 yards x 22 wide, which covers about 55 sq feet. It is the equivalent of 1 1/2 American roll.

You can see the rest of the collection and the colorways here.

Fantastic Faux Leather from Silver State

The other day we came across an artitle about the danger of cheap food in Time magazine. The article talks about how our food has become so industrialized to make it as cheap as possible, and how we've endangered our environment and our health as a result.

We probably can easily dismiss it as one of the many things that is better not to know-- as it only makes us depressed, really. Besides, what can one possibly do? It's not like you can grow chicken in your backyard, right?

But the article did make us pause and think about what we do eat, and how by doing little things we can change our habits, and hopefully, do our part to help the world in the process.

If you are interested in the article, click here. A note of warning: it's really, really long. Like 3,251 words long to be exact! And it makes you want to stop eating for a few days...

So may we suggest looking at faux leather vs real leather when you decorate? We were doing a restaurant project a few months back and we discovered a great faux leather line from Silver State. No one heard of them, but if you follow this blog you'll know that we are suckers for small, boutique vendors that are not well-known.

We ended up using the faux leather for the restaurant banquets and they turn out marvelous. Not only that, they are way cheaper too. Whereas real leather is sold by the square foot, faux leather is sold by the yard like fabric, which means you get way more for your money.

What we like best about the collection is the colors. You might not be able to see the real colors here, but trust us, in person they just POP! The quality is really good too. It's very soft and supple, not plastiky at all...









The faux leather shown here sells for about $80-100/yard. You can find pricing information as well as the rest of the collection on our faux leather section. To see more of Silver State products, check out their web site. It's not a very well-designed web site though, so you have to click around a bit.

Suggestion: these are awesome as wallpapers as well. You need to find a good and patient wallhanger, but they look amazing as wallcoverings, and they are very durable.

Five Favorite Round Dining Tables

We love round dining tables, mainly because they are cozy and pretty. People say round tables make for more intimate conversation, but we don't think that's the case. It's not like you can't have an intimate conversation with a square table or a rectangular table!

At any rate, we think round tables are sexier and they fit better in a small room or a kitchen nook. Here are five of our favorites:

This one is a perential classic. It is called a Versailled Pedestal table and it's from Nichols & Stone.
This one is made of solid iron. It's from Noir.
This one has a stone base with a top that can be custom-finished. It's from Hickory Chair.
We love this one. It's from Oly Studio. We sell tons of these. It's fabulous in a black glossy finish. It's from Noir. If you need pricing information for any of the above, drop us a line.

Check our post on some fabulous dining chairs that you can use with these tables.

Candice Olson Fabric for Kravet

Candice Olson is everywhere nowadays. First she did furniture , then rugs, then lamps and now fabric for Kravet.

We love the Candice Olson show on HGTV. The problem with too much licensing, though, is that you kinda lose that originality that got people to like you in the first place. Remember Pierre Cardin or Halston, anyone? Also a great designer does not neccesarily makes the best product maker. There are many factors involved, such as manufacturing, distribution and other business issues that can impact how the products actually turn out.

So we have to say, we're not that impressed with the fabric collection from her. It's okay... It's kinda ordinary, actually. Most of the stuff we've seen before and it's like, heh...

We thought we show you some of the more interesting ones:







Most of the patterns retail for $119/yard (you can get it for less at the upholstery fabric store on our site). To see the rest of the collection, click here.

Chic Furniture from Noir

Being in the decorating business for a long time, we watch many manufacturers come and go. Sometimes it's heartbreaking, especially when a company has been in business for years and years. On the other hand, we also see some companies started out really small, and with sweat and tears and ingenuity, they grow it into something special.

Noir Trading is kinda like that. We first know them as a custom furniture maker. George, who came from Germany, makes the most amazing custom cabinets and furniture around. Then he started Noir Trading a few years ago. At first it wasn't that interesting, to be honest. Just the typical dark wood furniture and Budha--boring Asian import crap, basically. However, in the recent years their quality and style has gone up several quotients. If you like Oly Studio and think it's too expensive (which it is), this might be great alternative.

Here are some great pieces that we just love:

To see more of Noir products, visit the web site here. If you need help with pricing, drop us a line.

Is a deal really a deal?

We were looking through our closet the other day, contemplating an end-of-summer clean up. Now mind you, this is a task we perform say, once every five years. It's not that much fun, really, as it usually conjures up all kind of guilt and regret.

Let us give you a partial list of items here:

1. One Yoshi Yamamoto raincoat with THREE sleeves, bought for $800, never worn.
2. One 5" Gucci Platform shoes bought for $500, never worn.
3. One Narcisco Rodriguez black dress that was too tight to start with, but we were hoping we get into it one day. Bought for $800, worn for a minute and a half.
4. One Prada dress that really needs some alteration, for it is a bit too long and dowdy, but bought because it was Prada. Bought for $600, worn once.
5. One pair of Bruno Frisoni shoes bought for $500 at the Neiman Marcus pre Christmas sale that were way uncomfortable to wear except when sitting down.

What do these items have in common?

First, they were all bought on sale, and at the time, seem too good of a deal to pass up.

Second, they were bought because they were "designer" labels! A Prada dress marked down from $2000 to $600?

The point of all this is, if you buy something on sale, and you never wear it, is it really a deal?

Not really, because basically you are just throwing cash away. On the other hand, if you buy something you really like, and use it ALL the time, it is a better buy, isn't it?

Now excuse us while we try to unload this stuff on Ebay.

PS If anyone who is interested in a three-sleeved coat in a size 38, drop us a line!

Well-Made Dining Chairs from Jessica Charles

We were shopping for some dining chairs for a client the other day and we were surprised to see how much shoddy stuff is out there. Really. If you can pick an upholstered chair up with one hand it usually means it's not that well-made. In our experience, with most upholstered furniture, the more substantial it feels the better it is made. Solid furniture is made with solid wood, well-padded seat and sturdy construction.

So with that in mind, we recommend that if you are looking for high-quality dining chairs, take a look at Jessica Charles. It's a small division of Hancock & Moore, a very prestigious furniture maker in North Carolina. The style of Jessica Charles slants toward the more classic side, although they have introduced more modern designs of late.

Here are some samples:








The chairs are not cheap. They run about $650-800 per chair, but we think they are worth it.

To see the entire collection, visit Jessica Charles web site.

Modern Office Accessories

We were looking for something cool for our desk the other day, and let's face it, Staples is really not the place to go for stuff like that.

So we were thrilled to see a line called Prestige Identity at the LA Mart. Despite the boring name, it is actually a very hip European company specializing in modern gifts and accessories.

Take a look at some of our favorites:

This is actually a bookmark.

A magnetic for paperclips.
Don't you love these photo holders?
This is a USB card holder. Elephant bookends.

Most of the items are quite reasonable. You can buy them directly on the Prestige Identity web site.

Glamorous Furniture from Julian Chichester

We first saw Julian Chichester furniture about 10 years ago. At that time the line was really small and very quirky; it still is.

An English company, Julian Chichester furniture has that glamorous-but-not-too-chi-chi quality about it. Ten years later, they are still around so they must be doing something right.

Take a look:

You can see the full catalog here.

At this time we do not have pricing information yet, our apologies. If you need assistance, email us we'll be happy to contact the company for you. Just know that it's quite pricey...

Marvelous Mirrors from Made Goods

Certain things in life you'd think would be easy to find, but they are not. Do you find it so? Say the perfect black dress, for example. With so many black dresses out there you'd think it's easy to find the perfect one, right? But nooo...

We find mirrors to be like that too. Most mirrors out there are so gaudy, so UNinteresting, that we get bored just looking at them. This is why we were so excited to see this new line from Made Goods at the New York Gift Show this week. The line is FABULOUS!!

Take a look:













We don't have the pricing information for this line yet but we promise to post it as soon as we do. In the mean time, if you want to see the rest of the line, check out Made Goods web site. If you need help in purchasing it, drop us a line (the company only sells to wholesale).