Here's How to Celebrate Chinese New Year

Jennifer Allen Frank - Chinese New Year landed on the new moon of January 23, 2012 in the U.S. It is the Year of the Black Water Dragon. The Chinese New Year is a time to welcome longevity, wealth and prosperity and to eliminate negative chi from the past. This year will be marked by excitement, unpredictability, exhilaration and intensity. The year of the dragon is traditionally associated with new beginnings and good fortune. Those with entrepreneurial spirit are particularly favored to see much success in the coming year. Generally, it's predicted that any new venture may benefit from the outstanding luck often associated with the dragon. Therefore, 2012 will be a very good year to get married, have children, and/or start a new business.

The water dragon is a less imperious type of Dragon who favors optimum growth and expansion. He can put aside his ego for the good of all and is less selfish and opinionated. He can assume a wait and see attitude, and his wits are as formidable as his strength of will. The water dragon lives by the “do unto others” philosophy.

Since 2012 is the year of the Water Dragon, the liquid element is predicted to calm the dragon's usually tempestuous nature, and will give a thoughtful perspective to the plight of the less fortunate. Water is calming and beneficial to this lunar sign, enabling him to know how to act wisely and do what is essential for his progress. He is quick and reliable and is capable of marketing his ideas with untiring devotion. He is likely to be successful as a negotiator; He must learn to make difficult choices and relinquish whatever is unfeasible or unnecessary. This way, he will be able to devote his energies to fewer but more rewarding endeavors. As the world suffers through one of the worst economic calamities in recent memory, bold new leadership will help ease the circumstances of those suffering most from recent financial setbacks.

Dragons who can pursue their own passionate ambitions while meeting the needs of others are best suited to navigating the year ahead. Those compatible with the Dragon — the Rat and the Snake in particular — will also find 2012's circumstances inspiring them to greater personal happiness and professional success.

House cleaning should be done on or before the day of the eve of Chinese New Year. Starting early in the morning, someone goes to the flower-market to buy red flowers for the worship events and new year’s day decoration. Red is the auspicious color in China.

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CB2 Shakes the Interior Design Establishment

Irwin Weiner ASID - Did that headline get your full attention, home designeristas and -istos? With the opening of the new CB2 store at the front of the D&D Building in NYC, Crate & Barrel is signaling to the pillars of the design world that their lower cost, trendy, more youthful brand of interior design is knocking at your door. The styles and trends were fresh as Jay and I explored the new store on 3rd Avenue last week - but the immediacy of sales to anyone off the street or on the Internet challenges interior design professionals that here is yet another high design resource that is no longer only "to the trade." 

Not that the quality of manufacture was flawless as in higher-priced custom furnishings ... we saw the occasional askew legs on a cabinet which brought to mind clients receiving catalog merchandise in the past in all stages of disarray. Many of the pieces are made in India, which means a lower price but considerable shipping distance. One designer told me recently that she had a table shipped from one company (not CB2, to be clear about it) that looked as if the trucker had punched a hole through the box and put a huge dent in the tabletop. You take your chances when you avoid white glove home goods treatment. But all in all, sprinkling some of the beautifully designed objects you can get via catalog with other higher end custom pieces can create a pretty compelling look for most homeowners.

You'll get a great idea about the store's edge and younger vibe in this video of the grand opening at their Georgetown/DC store.

Here are some of our favorites from CB2

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Online Design Kit Helps Newlyweds Mesh Furniture and Decorating Styles

Irwin Weiner ASID - Overhearing couples discuss decorating their home - when they think you're not listening - is one of the most fascinating experiences ever! With their guards down, decorating can be a huge, contentious issue between married folk.

New York interior design Ada Gonzalez kept overhearing newlyweds talking about "your furniture" and "my furniture" and couples qualming over how to incorporate two sets of clashing furnishings and accessories into a consolidated interior design scheme - so she developed an online e-decorating service she calls the Dream Design Kit to help couples decide what to keep, what to toss, and what to add in a new living space that they'll be sharing. She explains more in the following video interview with Daryn Kagan.

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Just Released - Alberto Pinto: World Interiors

Irwin Weiner ASID - The confidence of a masterful interior designer is present on each colorful page of the new book  Alberto Pinto: World Interiors (Flammarion, 2012). I could gush about the individual treatments Alberto Pinto has created in the yachts, jets, apartments, and houses pictured in the book - from the Caribbean and Manhattan to Kuwait City - but that would not do justice to Mr. Pinto's thoughtful, inspired, detail-oriented work. But let me leave you with two overall impressions.

• It's exciting to see what an unfettered and creative interior designer can accomplish. It's clear that in most cases, budget was no object - only excellence. And it's also clear to me that clients trusted Mr. Pinto to "do his thing" and create spatial masterpieces.
• Alberto Pinto really understands his clients and gets into their head. There is no cookie-cutter approach to his interiors. Each is as individual as the space, the setting, and the client. There is no clamor for "The Alberto Pinto Look," which I like ... but rather, he brings out the best in each space for a client.

So, please click here to immediately purchase a copy of  Alberto Pinto: World Interiors - and click here to see photos and captions of representative interiors from this extraordinary title. I'm finding so much inspiration on each page, and I know you will too.

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