The Five Most Tiresome Decorating Trends

You know how when you get too much of something, it becomes tiresome really fast?

Take reality TV for example, how many permutations of it can we take? Does anyone care about Jon and Kate, or the Real Housewives of whatever?

Sidenote: Eventhough this has nothing to do with home decor, here is an interesting article from the NY Times about reality TV.

Home decorating is kinda like that too. Once a trend is caught on it spreads like a virus and next thing you know, everyone is doing it.

Which leads us to the most tiresome decorating trends ever (in our humble opinion)...

Here they are:

1) The Faux Tuscany look. We see this in almost 50% of the household we go to. Usually they are McMansions. The kind that you see in Real Housewives of Atlanta or Orange County, for example. Lots of faux-finished walls, heavy Tuscany-inspired brown wood furniture, lots of fringe, lots of big rooms no one ever uses, lots of heavy drapes in jewel tones, lots of pillows on the bed, lots of granite counter. It's so dated!

2) The faux Hollywood Regency look-this trend was started by Kelly Wearstler & Jonathan Adler a few years back and now it's everywhere. Once you see it in Z-Gallerie, you know it's time to NOT get into it. This looks consists of a lot of fake white lacquer, lots of bright colors, lots of funky patterns. It could be fun (but only for a minute and a half).

3) The W-Hotel look-do you know this look? All the furniture looks like it's from the W-Hotel, and if you've been to one W-Hotel you've been in all of them. They are all brown and white and straight-edged and black and white and boring.

4) The faux-loft look-everybody is building "lofts" nowadays. But instead of authentic lofts that were converted from old buildings, the new lofts are cheap condos built without walls. It usually goes with the mandatory minimalist furniture that looks absolutely cold and uncomfortable.

5) The faux-Asian look. We were at this gorgeous, 7-million dollar home the other day and we swear, there was a Budha in every room. What is up with the Budha? One or two is okay, but lots of it, combined with everything Asian is an overkill. Like lots of red color, lots of bamboo, lots of elephants and horses! It just looks kitschy...

What do you think? What trend do you think is tiresome?

Los Angeles Taste Makers

The Los Angeles Time Magazine today has an excellent feature on the up-and-coming taste makers in Los Angeles, primarily in the field of fashion, interior design, architecture, arts and entertainment.

We find it so inspiring...It's so nice to read about people who are so incredibly creative. It's also nice to discover people & names we never heard of.

Featured here is Sally McQuillan:



"She doesn’t like to drop names—McQuillan prefers to let her résumé do the talking. But ask any number of decorating heavyweights, and they’ll tell you the fiercely inventive fabric designer, known for setting trends in color and pattern, is a home-furnishings sensation."-LA Times Magazine

Read on...

Smith & Hawken Closing All Stores

One of our favorite garden stores, Smith + Hawken, announced that it will close all of its 56 stores by the end of the year.

Another victim of this horrible economy....

Sales starts this week at all stores. The online store has been shut down.

Very Modern Lighting from Nuevo

We just saw some very cool lighting fixtures from Nuevo that we thought you might want to check out. This is a Canadian-based company and they make amazing barstools, modern furniture and lighting. We like their lighting collection quite a bit. It's are not too expensive and they are very unique. If you have a modern theme for your home decor, it'll be a great fit.

Here are some samples:

Now, because these are not too expensive they are not made of Murano glass or crystal or anything like that. They are made of acrylic, actually. They do look pretty cool though, and if you are in the mood for something fun but you don't want to spend a lot of money, it might be a good choice.

http://www.nuevoliving.com/ (this is a trade site only and you'll need a password to get in).

Fresh & Clean- White Home Accessories from Zodax

We just got back from Mexico lately and for some reasons, we are just so into white! Maybe it was because it was so hot in Tulum, the only appropriate thing to wear is white linen. And the only thing that looks good in a home is white furniture and white accessories.

So we were thrilled when we saw these home accessories from Zodax at the LA Home Show this week. This is a small home accessories company based in the LA area. They have very cute stuff!

Here are some samples:

This stool is adorable. It comes in blue/white and yellow/white...

This set of box is perfect for storing jewelry...

This lamp is adorable, don't you think?



We like this side table for setting down a drink or a book...

For some reasons this set is really pricey (like $750!), but we like the way it looks..

This mirror is adorable. The elephant is actually a table...

We'll be loading these items up on our site shortly...

Announcing the launch of Second Showroom

The idea started out with an epiphany.

Let us explain.

As an operator of an online store, we have our fair share of both pleasure and pain. The pleasure part is going to trade shows and buying all these wonderful things. The painful part is sometime we buy too much or when we have returns. What do we do with all these beautiful items that are brand new and absolutely too beautiful to sit in the warehouse?

So we are so excited to announce the launch of SecondShowroom.com.

This is the site where you can get overstock, showroom samples and excess inventory directly from the manufacturers, retailers and showrooms throughout the country at amazing prices, and we mean AMAZING prices. More often than not you can get new items at savings of up to 75% off. What's more, by buying directly from the retailers and the manufacturers, you'll get the added assurance of buying from a reputable source; and that the merchandise will be in good condition when you receive it.

Now, the site is fairly new and we only have a limited number of items up so far, but keep checking back as we add more dealers and more merchandise.

It'll be a great hunt! We guarantee it.

NOTE: RETAILERS, DESIGNERS, STORES AND MANUFACTURERS-WE'D LOVE TO HAVE YOU JOIN US. THE SITE IS ABSOLUTELY FREE. GO TO WWW.SECONDSHOWROOM.COM TO REGISTER.

10 Things You Must Have in The House

We love lists, don't you? We love reading other's people list too, mainly because we're lazy and sometimes it's nice to have other people to do the work so we don't have to think so hard.

We recently saw a list of 100 things you should do in LA before you die by Caroline on Crack and we thought it was great. For those who live in LA, it's a really fun blog to read. For those who live outside LA, it's a great resource to find things to do in LA if you visit.

So we thought we come up with our own list. Since this blog is about the home, we'll focus on that theme. And since 100 is way too many for our brains, here is a list of 10 things you should have in the house:

1) A fantastic bed. This is where you spend of your time and this is where you should splurge and buy the best possible mattress you can find. Hotel mattress are the best! We like the ones from Westin. They even teach you how to make up the bed at home.

2) Fantastic bed sheets. They don't have to be expensive. We find amazing ones at Nordstrom Racks that have very high thread count and get softer after each wash.

3) Fresh scented candles, and please, none of that Glade cheap stuff. Scented candles are like perfume, the cheap ones just give you a headache. We love Votivo and Dyptique.

4) Amazing wine. Even if you don't drink wine, have some anyway. Your guests would appreciate it.

5) A great sofa. This is another thing you should splurge on. Buy the best one that you can afford. You can always reupholster it later. We like ones from Moroni and Burton James.

6) Great books. Even if you don't have time to read, when you see books that you like buy them anyway; then stock them on the bookshelves to read later. Books give soul to the house, and they make you look smart, even if you are not (well, that kinda depends on what kind of books you buy...)

7) Great music. CDs are gone to the way side, and good things too, because they are messy and unattractive. Invest in an IPOD and a good sound system. If you have great wireless Internet, Pandora is amazing for free music.

8) Gorgeous home accessories. By home accessories we means things that add character and style to your house, like rugs, artwork, flowers, decorative pillows and such. Of course we will plug our own site, InsideAvenue.com, but we like ZGallerie too... Again, our mantra is less is more, and quality is better than quantify.

9) Fantastic cookware. Cooking is amazing relaxing and creative. Having great cookware inspire you. We love Sur La Table for high-end cookware. Williams Sonoma is a great store too.

10)A dog. Yes, a dog. A cat if you are not a dog lover. We're plugging dogs because they are so sweet, so loving, so adorable. There's nothing more comforting that coming home to a dog who is so happy to see you, all the time!

What about you, do you have a list of must-haves? Email us your list and we'll publish it.