Albert Pinto: Table Settings

Irwin Weiner - Are you one of those super-organized people who have all your holiday gift purchases wrapped up before Thanksgiving? I can only marvel at that. I wait until the last minute, but one thing is for certain - I will be purchasing a few copies of Alberto Pinto's Table Settings for good friends. It's filled with essential inspiration for tabletop fans.

Alberto Pinto is a highly respected specialist in photography, interior architecture and design, tabletop, and entertaining. I was not surprised that his generosity of spirit drives his love for entertaining and surrounding his guests with beauty, luxury, and whimsy. He respects guests who smoke, too, providing elegant containers for cigarettes at the placesettings.

His trick to making memorable tables is having vast collections of silver, china, stemware, linens, and other decor items on hand at his various residences - a Paris flat, a summer home overlooking the Mediterranean, and a NYC apartment. Company coming over? Not to worry. Mr. Pinto takes an average of 15 minutes to expertly style and dress a table.

He dips into his well-organized cupboards, pantries, and storage areas (beautifully photographed for the book, and certainly putting everything I've seen about storage to shame) and comes up with a glorious juxtaposition of objects which ranges from simple and refined to gloriously festive.

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Notice Great Hotel Details

Irwin Weiner - With autumn upon us, are you sharing "what I did on my summer vacation" stories with your friends and neighbors? I had a memorable summer trip to Italy - as readers of Design2Share already know - and came back wiser design-wise.

It's always important to travel. It broadens taste, gets one out of a rut and comfort zone, and exposes the traveler to new ideas. It's vital for homeowners and interior designers to get first-hand exposure to fresh ideas and decorating inspiration. It is far better than reading the pages of a shelter magazine or browsing photos online. You have to walk up to and touch a detail like a finely carved door, a beautiful set of draperies, or astounding molding.

One of the splurges I made on this trip to Italy was to stay at classic 5-star hotels. I particularly liked the Hotel Principe Di Savoia in Milan. It's a grand hotel done in simple, yet ornate "Liberty" style architecture. The interior design reflects the Lombardy warmth of the 19th century.

The rooms had been decorated recently and expensively, and they contained details that made my eyes go wide. I've filmed some videos

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