5 Favorite 1940s Glamour Furnishings from Metropolis Modern

Irwin Weiner ASID - This is Hollywood Regency Glamour Week at Design2Share, and I can't help but focus on some of the amazing 1940s antiques that epitomize this chic decorating trend, courtesy of NYC's Metropolis Modern. Not every piece from the Forties carried regency domination; some, like the divine X-shaped black-and-white magazine rack from France (top photo), have startling modernist appeal - but glamourous, nonetheless. Click on each photo for more information, and visit the Metropolis Modern website to see other incredible, well curated collectibles.

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5 Favorite Dorothy Draper Furniture Reproductions from Kindel

Irwin Weiner ASID - This is Hollywood Regency Glamour Week at Design2Share, and we're celebrating by remembering the amazing work of inspirational interior designer and businessperson Dorothy Draper. I forcefully underscore "businessperson," because Ms. Draper was really one of our first American designers to build her own legendary brand, dominating popular taste with her commercial and residential projects from the 1930s through the 1960s; folks like Martha Stewart and every other brand-name designer owe Dorothy Draper a debt of gratitude for her trailblazing. (Click here for Design2Share's Bio on Dorothy Draper.)

Kindel Furniture, in association with Dorothy Draper & Company owner and president Carleton Varney, keep the Dorothy Draper Collection alive and well, with stunning reproductions. I'm showing five of my favorites in this post (click on the photo for more information). I encourage everyone to be bold and daring with this furniture! You can order the Camellia House Bench, for example (see photo above), without upholstery, take it to an auto body shop, have it spray-lacquered a hot color, then add

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Video Tour of Dawnridge - Tony Duquette's Hollywood Fantasy House

Irwin Weiner ASID - One of the major movers and shakers in American style is Tony Duquette. His over-the-top glam-on-top-of-glam accessorizing underscored the Hollywood chic of the Golden Age of Movies, brought over into personal style and home fashion. An influencer of the Hollywood Regency Style of glamourous interior design, Duquette was also a major jewelry designer - from homes to individuals, he was all about the jewelry and accessorizing ("More is More.")

The following video tour of his Beverly Hills home, Dawnridge, shows you some of the beautiful interiors and gardens as well as personal jewelry, brought out for visiting celebrity filmmaker and jewelry designer

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How to Safely Clean Mirrors

Irwin Weiner ASID - There are so many inexpensive mirrors available for home decorating; it's nice to finally see the prices going down on essential home accessories! But with the rise of popularity of inexpensive, cheaper mirrors - as well as the collectibility of antique mirrors - comes an epidemic of what's known as "black edge."

This is the condition where a chemical like ammonia from many window cleaning products seeps into the cracks or edges of a mirror and begins to eat away at the silvering on the back edge of the mirror. This can also occur on mirrored walls or on smaller mirror panels when the cleaning product is sprayed into the cracks where two pieces of mirror butt up against one another. And in the case of antique mirrors, you have enough spotting and silvering and natural streaking with age without ruining something beautiful and weathered through improper mirror care. 

The solution is to use a non-ammonia based or green cleaning product, or to make your own natural cleaner. Apply the cleaner to a cloth or spray it in the center of the mirrored panel and swoop down on it with a non-soy-based-in newspaper sheet or paper toweling before the drips get to the edge or in cracks and crevices. For more complete information, go to this thorough How to Clean Mirrors article from HowtoCleanStuff.net.

And today's featured video is from Julie Edelman, author of The Ultimate Accidental Housewife - learn a simple trick for how to keep a bathroom mirror defogged for several weeks!

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