4 Home Office Looks (and Functions) That Really Work

Irwin Weiner ASID - Home office setups are no longer boring overstuffed executive chairs and the old-fashioned aircraft carrier topped desk from Father's den. We've selected several contemporary alternatives to the home office setup so you can see that working from home can now be chic, stylish, and highly efficient.

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6 Master Bedroom Additions from Gracious Home

 
Irwin Weiner ASID - The Gracious Home catalog just arrived, and it's a nifty teaser for the many wonderful home goods products the company carries. While the store is under seige from all the many retail and discount chains, not to mention high-end, to-the-trade showrooms offering pieces of what Gracious Home sells (e.g., lighting, decorative hardware), it's staying cutting edge by including relevant and updated products. Here are six of our favorites from their bedding collection line, like the Pom Pom Manhattan Throw (see top photo), a handmade cable-knit beauty made from natural fiber that we'd love to use in our master bedroom. Click on each product photograph for more information.

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What Does Your Sofa Say About Who You Are?

Oliver Bray - The problem of picking a couch is that all members of my family will demand to sit on it. It may sound a little harsh but at best, most of them deserve no more than a plastic bean bag flung into a far corner. Let them languish there eating their popcorn, pizza, or pork pies. After much deliberation regarding the wisdom of bringing anything shiny and new into my home, I visited a website that suggested my choice of sofa revealed much about my personality. Having misplaced my personality in some laundry basket or emergency room many, many ages ago, I was about to post a caustic comment when I suddenly realised that maybe the website advice was right. I’m a survivor and every couch I have ever bought was chosen for its potential to survive.

For this website to suggest that I make a "style statement" was salt in the wound, but I survived the sting by hatching an evil plot to drop my two kids off at their showroom for an hour. Did they think that my present couch draped in an old, freshly tomato-sauce-stained sheet was really a statement I willingly chose to make? While I drooled over the Italian furniture and luxury sofas they described so seductively, my three-year-old dribbled another baked bean onto the sheet and squished it firmly into place. I was now invited to select from an array of colours and fabrics, a reflection of how I lived. Once I stopped weeping I did just that. Being the multi-tasker that I am, I even incorporated my little fling with the fab set into my children’s story time.

Once upon a time, in a faraway land where mummies chose furniture just because it looked good, your mummy visited websites and by heavens, it did! Luxury sofas in soft, Italian leather fit my personality as snugly as support stockings and I was informed, it also spoke of my inherent classiness. The option to go with a sectional couch was tempting, especially as it suggested a flair for style, but this was married to common-sense functionality and mummy had no intention of letting common sense ruin a perfectly wonderful shopping experience. Italian wizards were showcasing two exciting new designs in high quality leather that as well as being perfect for the spring/summer season, were also perfect for the uncluttered house mummy has in this perfect land of make-believe.

With my babies sprawled in peaceful sleep on the carpet at my feet, I pulled the stained sheet from the couch we had purchased seven years ago and studied its clean lines and slightly faded fabric. What had it said about me then: that I was totally unprepared for motherhood and its inevitable mess? Aah well! When the children have eventually flown the nest and my husband has taken up residence in the garden shed to be closer to his fishing gear, I will revisit this site.

Oliver Bray of Web Marketing London has been interested in interior design and furnishing since first refurbishing his house a decade ago. Evangelising how our environment affects our performance, he now researches and writes about the latest trends in fashion, technology, and interior design to help you transform your life.

Design2Share Recommends - Summer Reading for Design Lovers

Irwin Weiner ASID - Whenever I'm in Los Angeles, I make it a point to visit the Hennessey + Ingalls Art & Architecture Bookstore. They have an excellent selection of books and sidelines that are outstanding, and here are some of the titles that really caught our eye while we were browsing through their tremendous stock. Click on each book cover for more information on what we think will be great summer reads; example: The Wallpaper Book by Genevieve Brunet (top photo) is a glorious full-color ode to the history, utility, craftsmanship, and artistry of wall covering, and the new artists who are expressing themselves in this decorative medium will amaze you.

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