Video Tour - Luxury Japanese Vacation Ski Home for Sale

Irwin Weiner ASID - With snow falling throughout Canada and the Midwest, my thoughts turned to skiing - which I don't do! - for some bizarre reason. And I found the perfect home tour video to go with my extreme winter sports musings. Take a tour of this lovely (inside, at least; not sure where to begin discussing that forbidding roofline) Japanese contemporary ski home in Minakami.

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

House-Up Builds New Green Homes from Shipping Containers

Irwin Weiner ASID - I'm always fascinated with the home design and building process, and a group in northern France called House-Up has got the formula right. They use recycled shipping containers as their primary building source, and their custom-built homes are greener and more modern looking than most new construction on the market - at an average of 20% less cost, with construction completed in 3 or 4 months.

Targeting the vacation and second home market in France, House-Up has a good thing going, and click here to read about other Shipping Container Homes or click on the top house photo (which isn't a House-Up project, but it also utilizes shipping containers). I love to see smart new housing solutions around the world! Our featured video today shows the House-Up design project, from shipping containers to interior design. Enjoy.

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

Meet Deborah Jiang Stein - Author of Even Tough Girls Wear Tutus

Jay Johnson - It's exciting to see an old friend do well, and I'd like to invite all D2S readers in the New York metropolitan area to join "A Conversation with Deborah Jiang Stein" at the Judson Memorial Church (55 Washington Square South, NY, NY 10012) on Sunday, May 6 at 3pm.

Deborah, who lives in Minneapolis, wrote the memoir Even Tough Girls Wear Tutus: Inside the World of a Woman Born in Prison. The name of her memoir says it all, and you'll learn the remarkable story of a woman whose rough start in life drives her to find true purpose even as she struggles to accept and overcome her own past, born in prison to a heroin addicted mother.

Readers of Design2Share come to us for inspiration about home design - but hardly anyone can imagine what starting life in a prison home is like. My friend Deborah Jiang Stein had to "go home" to prison before she truly found inner peace. She's now crossing the country, speaking up for a brighter future for incarcerated women and their children ... the truly forgotten people in our society. You'll love listening to Deborah's story and asking her questions. She's all about resilience and fun (okay, sometimes downright silliness!), taking hold of your life and having the courage to just plow forward. As Deborah says, "Please join me for conversation and a great time - and tutus are optional!" For more information about Deborah and her journey, check out her blog, Mutts Like Me, and her nonprofit venture, The unPrison Project, to serve women in prisons and their underage children. Deborah also blogs for Huffington Post, and you can find her - socially - on Facebook.

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

3 Tips for Decorating Red in Your Home

Jessica Ackerman - During these chilly months, the winter weather is often quite bleak and cold outdoors. However, this doesn't mean that the inside of your home has to look bleak as well. This year, why not spice up your home's look with some exciting touches of red? Not only is red the perfect choice for Valentine's Day decor, but it's also just a great color to add an overall warm and inviting look to your home long after Love Day has passed. Here are 3 tips you can use to help spice up your home with red.

1. Decorate with Hearts

Heart shapes can offer a lot of decorating versatility, not only for Valentine's Day decor but also throughout the rest of the year. Whether you prefer small, frilly and romantic looking hearts or the bold look of large heart shapes, the overall look will be warm and inviting. If you like the look of wooden art, look for pieces that feature a heart motif. For a subtler look, kitchen towels decorated with small red hearts or a wallpaper border featuring red hearts could be just what you need.

2. Go Bold

If you want to give your home a warmer look for winter, try going bold with your color scheme. Darker and bolder colors often work quite well for winter decorating schemes, providing a much-needed touch of contrast against the white snow and bare tree branches outdoors. Red can be a perfect choice to use, especially since there are so many different red shades from which to choose. For example, you might choose a deep burgundy shade to blend nicely with a traditional decorating scheme, or a bright light red shade to add a more contemporary touch.

Click to read more ...