A Very Diva Christmas Gift Guide: A Few of My Favorite Things

Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet. A dream come true for me: my two favorite vehicle design styles combined to create a perfect blend of SUV roominess (the roomy trunk fits two golf bags perfectly and there’s plenty of back-seat leg room for the tall people in my life!) and fun-filled, sun-in-your-face, wind–in-your-hair freedom that’s synonymous with convertible driving.

Le Chic Cocoon by Jennifer Duchene is the ideal book for discovering and setting free your inner diva and creating the space you deserve.

A chic, elegant and very luxurious living room dressed up with SNUG furniture. Actually, I can easily visualize a SNUG piece in each room of my dream home!

The Loom from New Ravenna Mosaics’ Ikat Collection, is the most beautiful and divine mosaic I’ve seen in quite a long time. It’s artistic design work such as this that makes my heart sing, and fills my soul with light and joy.

Ecoya French Pear Pillar Candle is all natural, eco-friendly, has a divine fragrance and burns clean for up to 100 hours. This is a personal favorite I like to burn when I’m working-helps relax and focus me when I need it the most.

Method Peppermint Candy Cane Dish Soap is absolutely FABULOUS! Love, love, love the fragrance. I typically don’t do dishes-impossible to have perfectly manicured hands otherwise – so I have an amazing dishwasher that tackles that nasty chore. But ever since getting this holiday candy cane scented dish soap I’m finding myself wanting to get my hands wet and sudsy while unleashing that delicious candy cane fragrance as I wash dishes. I guess my dishwasher will get the holidays off, for now.

Samuel Heath’s Fairfield Bath Faucet.  I’ve written about this magnificent faucet in the past, and it still holds an emotional grip on my heart.

Elegant metallic, chevron-patterned drawer liners with a touch of fragrance, from Hammocks and High Tea. Sophisticated and pretty, these liners set the tone for those who take style and fashion seriously.

A Daily Dose of Design Goodness from interior design and project management hub, Modenus. Love this site, written by design lovers for design lovers. This is one to stick in your virtual stocking and reference throughout the year for inspiration, project ideas, and for all things design.

The Agatha Suspension Lighting from LZF. My top Global Lighting pick this fall. It’s graceful, gorgeous, and diva-worthy.

A weekend  ( hopefully one of those delicious 4-day holiday weekends! ) shopping expedition to the Irwin Feld Design gallery in Connecticut. This is a must-visit design shopping destination for those who appreciate exquisite mid-20th century furniture and decor.

Holiday Gift Guide Resources

• Modenus
• Samuel Heath
• Irwin Feld Design
• Le Chic Cocoon
• Method Home
• SNUG Furniture
• Hammocks and High Tea
• NISSAN Murano CrossCabriolet
• Ecoya Candles
• Global Lighting
• New Ravenna Mosaics

Samuel Heath: Old World Craftsmanship meets Modern Technology

Fairfield Exposed Shower.

Samuel Heath’s name, in the interior design world, is synonymous with quality, elegance, and a stunning combination of intricate craftsmanship and advanced technology in all of the bath and architectural hardware products they design and produce.

I first learned about Samuel Heath at the 2010 International Contemporary Furniture Fair, and was immediately smitten with the beauty of their plumbing fixtures. Surprisingly, given my affinity for contemporary design, I was drawn to the Fairfield sink fixture shown below:

Though traditional in design, there was something that captured my heart about this bathroom faucet. Normally, I wouldn’t give a more traditional design a second thought, but the design was so well crafted – it was like a beautifully sculptured work of art. I thought to myself, this is a bathroom fixture that my style icon Coco Chanel would certainly have had gracing her bathroom sink. It wasn’t hard at all to imagine Mademoiselle standing at her lavatory spritzing herself with Chanel No. 5, with her strands of pearls,and gold and silver chain necklaces elegantly draped near the Fairfield’s classic black levers.

I was delighted to learn that Samuel Heath is a sponsor of BlogTour 2011 London, and that I would be getting to see their bath and hardware collections, again, during the London Design Festival next week.  I’m looking forward to sharing their beautiful bathroom fixtures with you over the next week or so. I will be publishing design updates live from the London Design Festival and Decorex via Twitter and Facebook.

Disclosure:  I am one of several design, lifestyle and travel bloggers and writers that have been invited to participate in BlogTour 2011 London.

HeadSprung- Artsy & Chic Storage Solutions

Innovative design for space-saving storage solutions from HeadSprung
{ Booth at International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York City, 2011 }. I fell in love with the  like the Ribbon Coat Rack (shown above).

Z-shaped metal magazine wall rack.

Versatile wire rack for stylish shoe organizing.

Design Source: HeadSprung

Wall Decor by Jennifer Khoshbin

Black and White Wallpaper – Handmade Wilderness ProjectChrysanthemum – Handmade Wilderness Project

Pomegranate Wallpaper – Deer’s Head

“Division”

“Dressed Pest”

Available at Ruby’s Lounge – Jennifer’s etsy store.

Design Resource:  Jennifer Khoshbin

What’s Hot at Architectural Digest Home Design Show 2011

Moura Starr at booth 317.

The New Traditionalist at booth 106.

Bornholm Kitchen at booth 368. SNUG Furniture with wall coverings by Black Crow Studios at booth 339. Mitchell Gold & Bob Williams at booth 110. Ligne Roset at booth 211.Fendi Casa at booth 215.

Electrolux at the Culinary Pavilion.

Bjorn Bjornsson and Andy Young – Dream Team Designer for ASID First Annual Dream Team Design Challenge at booth 379.

Jamie Drake and Bryon C. James – Dream Team Designer for ASID First Annual Dream Team Design Challenge at booth 478.

Maya Romanoff’s Wallcoverings Spring 2011

Flexi Mother of Pearl Brick™

Fabricadazzle™

  Polyhide Lightning™

I’ve been an adoring  fan of Maya Romanoff wallcoverings going as far back as 2006 when I first saw the Bedazzled collection, and my love for this company’s amazing and beautiful wallcoverings continues to grow with the release of every new collection.

Neoteric Luxury’s Organic Style for Outdoor Furniture

Design Trends Spotted at HD Boutique 2010: Organic luxury and style was clearly apparent at the Neoteric Luxury booth. The outdoor collection sported a neutral, earthy color palette punctuated with strong red and orange accent colors, and interesting organic textures.

The organic shape of this orb swing calls to mind an elegantly designed bird’s nest that offers the promise of a nurturing embrace.

Neoteric Luxury dispels all arguments that eco/organic styled furniture has to be ugly with this outdoor seating arrangement- which is equally as beautiful as it is fabulously creative. The floor lamp comes complete with a rock base (real rock!)

Currey & Company – Creative Lighting as Decoration

Design Trends Spotted at HD Boutique 2010: Currey & Company had one of the best booths at the Hotel Design Boutique show. They quite cleverly displayed their amazing lighting fixtures draped as if precious jewels and ornaments off of a large tree. Proving that interesting and unexpected elements in design bring style personality to interior environments.

Porcelanosa Proves that Neutrals can Dazzle

Design Trends Spotted at HD Boutique 2010: Porcelanosa illustrates that the use of visual and tactile texture can transform neutral color palettes from boring and safe into eye-catching and exciting.

Global Views Embraces Refined Contemporary Elegance

Design Trends Spotted at HD Boutique 2010: With a nod to Mid-20th Century design, Global Views ushers in a new design era of updated contemporary chic.