So Chic, So Cool-The Mercer Collection from Safavieh

We just go back from the Las Vegas Furniture show last week. These shows are usually really fun. It's a chance see new things and old friends.

There are a few vendors that we really like this year. We'll be writing about them in the next few days....

The first vendor you might want to check out is the new Mercer Collection from Safavieh. Known for their rugs, Safavieh has expanded rapidly into furniture the last few years. They are doing a pretty good job with it. Here are a few that we really like (and if you are into the Hollywood Regency look, we think you'll love this collection).

If you need help with this line, drop us a line...

Fabulous Stationary

People don't mail anything anymore, do they? But don't you just love getting a hand-written note once in a while instead of email? A real invitation instead of an evite?

Here's this adorable stationary company that makes wonderful, modern stationary. They are not too expensive; and they are so chic, so cool. It's a great line to use for invitations and personal note cards...We particularly love the personal calling cards--they're like business cards, only more glamorous...

Fabulous Stationary.com

Win this Pillow! February Give-Away

We never hear anything from our readers. What's up with that? We know from our web analytics that we have hundreds of you coming to our site a day, but the only comments we ever get is from people who are looking for free links. Now, there ain't nothing wrong with asking, but what we really want for comments are fun, interesting, thought-provoking, life-changing, or just plain silly comments, get it? We really don't want free porn, fake Gucci bags, cash advance from Nigeria..anything like that. Really.

So to motivate you a little, we are giving this pillow to one lucky person in the month of February. The only catch is, in order to enter the contest, you have to leave a comment by answering the question of the month in the comment section of this post.

The question of the month is:

"What are you doing to make your home a better place in this tough economic time?"

Down Pillow 22 X 22 Value $250



We will pick a winner on March 1st.

Thanks in advance for participating!

Sad News-Shabby Chic in Chapter 11

Things have been tough all over, especially in the home furnishing industry.

A few days ago Shabby Chic filed Chapter 11 bankrupcy protection. See the complete posting here...

Shabby Chic was a pioneer in its time twenty years ago. Making slip-covered furniture into a style that is widely-copied, it made girly decorating into a huge trend that is still going strong even today.

Let's hope that the company will come out of this ok.

Photo of Shabby Chic's first store:

November 2009-UPDATE

Shabby Chic has re-invented itself. Read more about it from the NY Times.

Modern Wallpaper from Astek

We've been seeing a lot of Astek lately. From "Top Design" to "Elle Decor", we see their products featured everywhere. No wonder, as the company makes some wonderful wallpapers with a wide range of styles. We particularly like their modern collection. It totally rocks!

Pricing is reasonable too (about $50-60/roll). You can buy them directly at the Astek web site.

Here are some that we thought are really cool:

Luxury Bedding from Legacy Linens

We love beautiful bedding. To us, it's the first thing we look at when we enter a bedroom. It's also one of those things totally worth splurging on. After all, was it a true statistic somewhere that we spend 2/3 of our lives in bed?

We found this bedding line from Legacy Linens that we just love. It's luxury bedding that you can actually sleep on, you know. We can't stand frou-frou bedding that looks great but totally impractical. To us, luxury linens must look good but most importantly, it must be comfortable to sleep in.

Here are some samples of Legacy Luxury Bedding. We don't have it listed on our web site (it's way too complicated to sell bedding on line as there SO many pieces in a bedding ensemble). If you need product or pricing information, please drop us a line.

As pretty as there are, they look even better in person!

Michael Smith-The Interior Designer

Michael Smith is in the news a lot lately. First because he is the interior designer that was chosen to redo the White House for the Obama (we heard through the grapevine that the budget was $100,000. A hundred Ks? It must be a joke, no?).

But more importantly, Michael Smith was the designer who did Thain's office (the recently-ousted CEO of Merrill Lynch) for $1.2M. Ever heard of a $87,000 rug? We haven't either.

All that aside though, Mr. Smith is a brilliant designer. Elle Decor just did a full spread on him that worth checking out.

Here are some pictures (courtesy of Elle Decor).

What do you think? Is it all that?

If you are interested in learning more about Michael Smith's style, here are some books worth checking out: