Cyber Monday: Online Holiday Decorating Specials

Irwin Weiner ASID - It's the season to shop online, and Nov. 28 is designated as Cyber Monday (the virtual shopping equivalent of today's brick-and-mortar store Black Friday). We scoured the Web, and here are some of our favorite holiday specials. Home goods shoppers, rev up your engines and get out your credit cards!

Sale Price: CB2 Watu Kwa Amani Peace Dove 20" Pillow

Sale Price + Free Shipping: West Elm Egg Press Holiday Dessert Plates

Sale Price: CB2 Elf Candleholders

Free Shipping: Land of Nod You-Name-It Personalized Hanukkah Placemat

Sale Price + Free Shipping: Pottery Barn Velvet Monogrammed Stockings

Sale Price: CB2 Recycled Flowerball Ornaments

Sale Price + Free Shipping: West Elm 12 Days of Christmas Canape Plates

Sale Price: CB2 Red Mars Party Tub

Free Shipping: Land of Nod Personalized You-Name-It Ornaments

Sale Price: Crate & Barrel Red Ceramic Soap Dish with 4 Snowflake SoapsSale Price + Free Shipping: West Elm Hanukkah Canape Plates

Sale Price: CB2 Glass Toothpick Ball Ornaments 

CLICK HERE to see Design2Share's Favorite Holiday Decorating Trends for this year.

 Click here to subscribe to our daily design videos and features.   

Wish List: Gold Dinnerware from J.L. Coquet

Irwin Weiner ASID - Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family - and thanks for sharing your holidays with Design2Share. In our pursuit of the Ultimate Wish List for home goods, we're taking a tabletop turn ... fittingly on a day we celebrate a holiday with food around a formally set table. I'd like to think that entertaining will come roaring back into fashion - the state of the economy be damned - and we'll focus more on celebrating each day with special friends, neighbors, and loved ones. We "struck gold" recently and discovered the deliciously bold (and expensive) gold dinnerware patterns from premium china manufacturer J.L. Coquet. Click on each pattern to see the broader assortment of J.L. Coquet collections; then click on each collection for more information on the individual piece and place setting prices.

Opulent: Samoa Gold Full Band

Mod Squad: Hemisphere Gold Stripe

Click to read more ...

What Goes Into a Feng Shui Room Staging?

Jay Johnson - There are several schools of Feng Shui, but they all come down to a mystical and a practical side of approaching how objects in your home and life are positioned to maximize health and harmony.

A whole home or a single room can be staged using existing furnishings and accessories so that it flows better, reflects the residents' intentions better, and feels more inviting and beneficial.

Have you ever walked into someone's home and felt trapped or oppressed? Contrast that with walking into someone else's space and feeling a sense of welcome, peace, and wonder. The latter is what feng shui can help achieve.

We picked this video from Denver feng shui practitioner and stager Nicolette Vajtay. As part of her Inspired Living Feng Shui practice, she interviewed a young couple and captured before and after scenes of their living room to emphasize the practical aspects of furniture and accessory placement in feng shui.

Click to read more ...

Exotic Hotel Therapy Is Good for the Designer's Soul

(Hotel Amiris, Marrakesh, Morocco)Janet Ramin - One of my main thrills in traveling abroad is the hotel experience. Sure, tasting new cuisines and meeting the natives is always exciting but I look forward to kicking off my dusty shoes and just relaxing at my lodgings too. First, there’s the small but important detail – the room is already clean and neat – you don’t have to deal with personal messes. Then there are the amenities that you may not have in your own home – the powerful jet spray in the shower or the spa toiletries on that dual sink marble vanity. And of course, there’s that menu near your phone – cocktails and midnight snacks ready to be ordered in a moment’s notice. 

Besides service amenities, you have the lifestyle aspect. You may live in a cramped city apartment but for a few days or so, you can experience life in a lakeside rustic cabin or a petite villa by the sea. Then there are the grand old palaces that some enterprising soul converted into hotel rooms – borrowed luxury to be remembered for a lifetime. I personally look forward to checking out the hotel designs, especially those in foreign countries.

(Courtyard, Riad Amiris, Marrakesh)My first stop on my trip was behind the walled medina of Marrakesh. I opted to stay at a traditional riad, instead of a regular hotel. Riads are converted courtyard palaces – the word “ryad” comes from the Arabic word for garden. These traditional Arabic homes featured small windows on its exterior – to keep the hot sun out – and inner courtyards to maintain Islamic beliefs of privacy. 

Above are two photos of the Riad Amiris in Marrakesh. The courtyard has an opening above – with a retractable canopy - to let the light in but still allow for privacy for its guests. The walls and doorways are decorated with traditional Moorish carvings of intricate geometric designs. The low tables are also set with the traditional tea glasses and silver, ready to serve mint or verveine tea - a verbena-infused tea. 

Click to read more ...