Bedroom Wallpaper Decorating Tips from UK Designer Jeff Banks

Irwin Weiner ASID - UK fashion and home goods designer Jeff Banks is a busy guy! When he's not dressing the well-tailored man, he's dressing their homes, from tabletop to walls. In this video, he covers some bedroom decorating tips and shares the stage with a design expert from Wallpaper Direct UK.

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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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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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5 Accessorizing and Decorating Tips from Bradley Thiergartner

Irwin Weiner ASID - We started Design2Share many years ago to showcase the best of interior design, and to "share" the projects, tips, and solid experience designers have had with clients and their homes. That's why I'm so excited to showcase some of the beautiful projects from the two designers behind NYC firm Bradley Thiergartner, Benjamin Bradley and David Thiergartner.

Their 20-year collaboration has produced a number of impressive "tailored traditional" homes with precision and contemporary overtones. You can view some of their featured projects and read what this decorating duo has to say about them in our D2S Scrapbook photo essay- Bradley Thiergartner: Accessories at Work. And we asked them about the oftentimes difficult step of accessorizing a room. First, they commented about the interior shown in the top photo.

The power of accessories! Built-in bookcases provide a natural display space for a variety of accessories. Books, boxes, and objects create a visual feast. Our standard accessory - throw pillows - invite you to sit. Colorful artwork in multiples hang above the sofa.

 And here are five accessorizing tips Benjamin and David wanted to share with you.

1. Add your personality to the accessorizing process. After we provide many of the basic accessories for a space - artwork, lamps, throw pillows, throws, etc. - we then like for the client to purchase things on their own so that the room takes on a personal feel. Many times a room lacks personality if all of the items are selected by a designer. While the room will undoubtedly be beautiful, how it reflects its owner is a crucial factor to the success of the “feeling” of the room. Accessories are such an important element. They add tremendous warmth and interest. They provide “eye candy” and allow you to discover elements of the room long after you have taken in the feeling of the space. They also give us great insight into whom the room belongs, what are their interests, hobbies, etc. Finally, accessories can add comfort to a room ... a wonderful down-filled pillow, a cashmere throw, a good reading light, the soft sent of a candle. All of these accessories add to the comfort of any home.
2. Sprinkle in the unique. We love to haunt antique shows, antique malls, and flea markets for one-of-a-kind accessories. Many times we will have already spoken with the client and reviewed where we need accessories and what we might generally be thinking. We let them know that we will be attending an antique show or such and we'll discuss a budget. We find that, in most cases, the client is thrilled to know that their designer will be selecting unique and interesting objects that none of their friends will have. 

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