Home Design Video: Vintage Collectibles in Tokyo

Irwin Weiner ASID - When I was still in South Africa, I worked with my mother in our own antiques store in Cape Town. It was great fun, and I helped her source beautiful objects, particularly English silver and furniture. In my interior design work, I carry that love of antiques into my clients' projects, and that's why I was particularly interested in today's featured video, showcasing a small 1920s wood frame house in the heart of Tokyo, Japan that sells carefully selected antiques and collectibles based on periods of time. You'll like the story of the two different shops, one downstairs and one upstairs, and you'll come away with an appreciation for the collector's eye. I dare say that this video might give you the bug to go to flea markets and antique stores this weekend, which is always an enjoyable way to add layers of interest and storytelling to your home decor.

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High-End Design Is All About Having a Passion for Details

Irwin Weiner ASID - I want to usher in the month of November on Design2Share by reinforcing a point that's been made many times before: great interiors are all about the details. High-end furniture designer Promemoria has a video which lovingly shows the handmade ethic behind planning and executing all the details in furnishings that make them so beautifully high end.

From the sensuous curves of their signature Bilou Bilou chair (photo, directly above) to the beautiful finishes of their tables (see the Bassono table, top), they represent the tremendous attention to beautiful finishing touches that make our industry so satisfying to be a part of. Here's to maintaining a passion for all those beautiful details!
 

 

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Happy Halloween!

Irwin Weiner ASID - If you're celebrating Halloween this year, have a great holiday, and if you haven't gotten into the groove yet - or if a catastrophic storm like Sandy hit your area as it did with us here in New York City - you can always think ahead to next year. In today's featured video, you can see some of the spookier Halloween decorations you can purchase, and I'll bet that you can go online or to a local retailer and scoop up some greatly discounted decorations for next year's celebrations. Have fun!

For decoration discounts online, try the following online outlets.

• Halloween Paper Masks at West Elm
• Multiple Decor Items at Pottery Barn
• Grandinroad Halloween Decor & Accessories Grand Finale Sale
  

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Last-Minute Recipes for Halloween Cupcakes

Irwin Weiner ASID - We know you're scrambling to find a few easy-to-make goodies for your upcoming Halloween party this weekend, or in a few days when Halloween hits us in the middle of the week. (Don't you just hate it when that happens?) In the following video, you'll see how to make Tombstone or Graveyard Brownies.

This recipe comes from YouTuber Sara Parker, whose 31 Days of Halloween videos include many wonderful ideas for costumes and parties and decor and recipes to help celebrate the spooky side of our holiday. Here's her Tombstone Brownies recipe.

WHAT YOU NEED

Powder sugar
Green food coloring
Brownie, Ding Dongs, or Chocolate Sponge Cake
Grahahm Cracker or Shortbread Biscuit
Chocolate letters
Nutella
Plastic skeleton

HOW TO DO IT

1. Mix Sugar Powder and "Green" food coloring with a tiny bit of water or use green frosting/icing.
2. Use brownie or ding dongs or choclate cake as the base.
3. Use Graham Cracker or Shortbread Biscuit as tombstone, make edges a bit rounder.
4. Cut a gap for the tombstone in the brownie. Place the tombstone.
5. Write something on the tombstone e.g. name of the person you invited. I used premade chocolate letters and used nutella to glue them on. You can use a sugar powder to write on it, too.
6. Add the green sugar powder mix as grass. Let it dry.
7. Make a hole for your skeleton and place it in there. Leave some dirt around it. I cut off the legs of the plastic skeleton.
8. Enjoy!

In the next recipe, YouTuber and cupcake lover Tammy, alias Yoyomax12, gives us her take on a Broken Glass Cupcake. Watch the video, and then afterwards you'll see how she found this recipe and the process.

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