D2S Editor Favorites

  Favorite Hot Real Estate Spot

Leave your USA real estate blues behind and pack up for Abu Dhabi. This Middle Eastern country is experiencing a building boom like no other nation on the planet. Every celebrity architect is having a bit of fun, coming up with outrageous commercial and residential designs. All of the buildings pictured here are apartment buildings; some have commercial mixed in for good measure. Each has onsite amenities, from cigar lounges and gyms to spa treatment rooms and nursery/daycare facilities. These buildings look straight out of Futurama, and some are on their own manmade islands, with convenient access to the rest of Abu Dhabi City. To look into the real estate scene, check out Abu Dhabi Property.

  Favorite Reader Submission

Walt Lockley, architectural writer, wrote an obituary for us to observe the passing of Warren McArthur III. Read about the McArthurs and then check out Walt's cool website that covers wonderful architecture, like the Biltmore Bungalows he photographed above.

  Favorite Fun Decor Items

Chiasso has a selection of home furnishing and decor items that are going to be a bit too trendy for traditionalists (they just decorated the set of MTV's Real World: Hollywood, if that gives you a clue). But we think bits and pieces here and there can add some fun and sass to any decor. We liked their Optic Salad Servers, shag-tastic Chenille Floor Poof and Pillow, and a nifty Wavy Entry Bench, perfect for foyer, front hall, or mudroom seating and storage. 

  Favorite Art Idea

New York fashion designer Donna Livingston has turned her creative eye to fine art, opening up a comprehensive online resource for designers and collectors called Box of Crayons. We loved the unique Polished Fresco artworks (above) from an artist named Paul whose colorful abstracts look 3D, but are really flat, polished, and smooth to the touch. They and specially-commissioned works are designed to be mounted flush on a wall that he first treats with his special White Fog finish to create an ethereal floating effect. Paul's skills were honed during 20 years of work as a tinted plaster wall treatment specialist; his clients include Charles Gwathmey, Jerry Seinfeld, Christie's, Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon, David Geffen, and Helmut Lang.

  Favorite Pillow Talk

Vivre sets the scene for head propping, bed and sofa accessorizing, and pillow fighting with these three lovelies from Ankasa. From top to bottom: Moroccan Sequins Pillow, Rectangular Keshte Pillow, and Square Keshte Pillow.

  Favorite Yard & Garden Menaces

We were fascinated by a photo essay that warns of plants that are terrible for gardens. Read The Dirty Dozen: 12 Plants to Avoid. Do you know why you don't want the female maidenhair or ginkgo tree pictured above growing in your yard? Its fruit is amazingly messy and slippery and smells like someone threw up all over your yard. Now you know.