World's Wildest Hotel Concepts Ever!

Irwin Weiner ASID - I call wild architecture "that Dubai phenomenon." It seems that this Middle Eastern philosophy of More Is More is catching on, and there are some amazing, futuristic concepts afoot for new hotels on land, in the ocean, in outer space, and - attention, Newt Gingrich - on the moon. Today's featured video will show you some of these wild hotel concepts, including The Waterworld in China (see above), an imaginative vision for a new hotel in a former quarry. 

But not all wild hotel concepts involve Dubai-style excessive architecture. Some hotels have concepts that are imaginative without being over the top, like Das Park Hotel in Austria (see photos above), where you can stay in a hotel room made from concrete pipes. In a similar recycling bent, how about staying at the Capsule Hotel in The Hague (below), where your floating hotel room is inside a bright orange survival pod?

Or how about the Hotel Everland, a single-room luxury hotel suite that is completely mobile - it's moved around from city to city, sometimes winding up on a beautiful lakefront, and other times winding on the roof of a building overlooking the Eiffel Tower in Paris or perched atop a contemporary art gallery in Leipzig?

So now that your concept of real hotels has been exploded, it won't be too much of a stretch to watch the following video and imagine staying in an undersea or outer space hotel, right?

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3 Key Feng Shui Kitchen Design Principles

Irwin Weiner ASID - An open fire once cooked early man's food; now all of that meal prep is done in a modern kitchen. The hearthside or open fire may now be replaced by a modern oven and cooktop, but the principle of "fire for cooking" is the same. We still need air to prepare a meal - a well-ventilated place to cook our food is vital to avoid cooking fumes, smoke, and grease getting into other rooms of the house.

Feng shui has been applied to the kitchen - many times called "today's hearth" or "the heart of the home" - and we wanted to highlight 3 practical tips to help maintain this room as an inviting and comfortable place where people can gather, eat, and talk.

• Natural light - This is the best possible lighting for any kitchen. There is so much fire energy in the kitchen with the concentration of appliances that traditional feng shui advisors believe it's better to go with weaker fluorescent or natural light - as opposed to strong lights and particularly focused spots.

• Water and fire - Feng shui advises us to separate appliances that embody fire (stove, cooktop, extractor fan) and water (sink, dishwasher, washing machine, water purifier). If they can't be on opposite walls from one another, try putting them at right angles. As one feng shui book says, "The main principle to respect is never to put them side by side lest, like racing camels, they begin to fight." (from The Feng Shui Kitchen: The Philosopher's Guide to Cooking and Eating by Master Lam Kam Chuen with Lam Kai Sin)

• Calm atmosphere - Due to the strong concentration of opposing energies in a kitchen (think five versus water), feng shui experts advise that calm wall colors be used in a kitchen. Many consider white to be better than any other color; it's always a color that signals purity and cleanliness. Beige and pastels are fine, too. Earth tones work well in creating a good work atmosphere, e.g., light browns, beige, yellow. 

Perhaps your kitchen is A-OK, and you've gotten the feng shui in proper balance. What then? Design2Share's Feng Shui 101 columns provide monthly inspiration on the subject, along with easy-to-tackle "homework" projects. Check out March's new post from Franca Giuliani, our Feng Shui expert: 7 Ways to Better Feng Shui in Your Bathroom.

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Design2Share Travel Video - The Cellars-Hohenort

Irwin Weiner ASID - I enjoy returning to my native South Africa to visit family and rediscover truly exotic and beautiful places. Last October, Jay and I visited family staying at The Cellars-Hohenort. It's a beautiful resort in the foothills of the Constantia Valley wineland country, just north of Cape Town.

The Hohenort building is a historic Cape Dutch building that now houses 52 luxury suites and rooms, along with a chic lounge and restaurants.

The accommodations, which we didn't get to see, vary from luxury suites to smaller rooms - but we were told that all were meticulously appointed.

But to us, the amazing gardens took the cake. (Perhaps we'll "borrow" a few ideas for our own garden!)

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Beautiful Interiors from Downton Abbey

Irwin Weiner ASID - If you love beautiful interiors, Downton Abbey on PBS is giving you some early 1900s British decorating inspiration - the Library has a secret door that leads to the Music Room (above) and Cora's bedroom has beautiful 18th Century silk bed hangings (below). This hotly watched episodic mini-series shows the upstairs-downstairs world of an earl's estate - the real-life Highclere Castle - and we're swept away with the titled family's life, the intrigues of the serving class, and how both are swept up in the turmoil of World War I. 

Get a good story of the real Downton Abbey here, and click here to see Linda Merrill's fantastic survey of the rooms and set decorations in her Downton Abbey feature on Silver Screen Surroundings. And if you're not familiar with the television series, watch the following video trailers for the first two seasons of the show ... and be swept away.

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