May is here and with it the official beginning of outdoor entertaining season. Since ambience is almost as important as the food (ahem), we have rounded up our favorite outdoor lanterns so you can concentrate on the menu.
This weekend, take your DIY skills beyond the craft room into your living room! Always on the lookout for new ways to spruce up our space, we found homemade projects that will freshen up your digs in no time. Whether you're looking to fill your walls with art or add a few custom pillows, let your creativity roll with it. Even if your living room isn't due for a little something new, these projects can be easily adapted to any space. So what are you waiting for? Check out the 24 options that leave those daunting DIY rumors behind.
Prince may have monopolized purple in the '80s, but we're happy to report its comeback for this millenium. Think of it as the exotic lovechild of classic red and blue — a warm-meets-cool tone that plays well on both sides of the color spectrum. Be it bold jewel tones or ladylike lavenders that tickle your fancy, these pieces make a convincing case for purple accents.
Hey, girl, the time has finally come for your first apartment — congrats! While being granted your new set of keys is exciting (just don't lose them!), the list of essentials can be rather overwhelming. Making style the main priority (as always), we set out to prove that you can do it on a budget. Sticking with necessities — like plates that aren't paper — we found you ways to save without sacrificing style. And for the times when only the best will do? Well, we found those options, too. Sure, welcome the hand-me-downs, but with a little savvy shopping and this guide, you can furnish your apartment with enough cash to spare for that security deposit.
Along with her Bravehearts campaign, Taylor Swift partnered up with Keds on a very fitting shoe collaboration. The collection — which retails for $50 a pair — features 12 Champion sneaker styles reimagined. "The sneakers are really fun and easy to wear, and the designs reflect some of my favorite things," said Swift. Translation: the classic silhouette comes covered in a quirky sunglasses print; chevron patterns are tinged with mini guitars, paw prints, and flowers; and a stars-and-anchors motif provides a preppier slant. And if the shoes don't already speak for themselves, Swift sat down with stylist Zanna Roberts Rassi to talk all things collaboration, personal style evolution, and "dressing like a fairy." Keep reading for the best Swift style quotes, as well as a complete look at the Swift for Keds collection inside.
Woven from Belgian flax and finished with a simple hemstitch, these Stone-Washed Belgian Linen Napkins ($36, originally $40) would be a great buy even if they weren't on sale.
The supersoft fabric also comes in a spectrum of moody pastel tones (20 to be exact), making them more versatile than you might think. Plus, the stone wash ensures that they get even softer over time. We're tempted to buy a set in lilac, mauve, and orchid for an ombré effect that works especially well with gray earthenware.
Tell us, which color would you be tempted to bring home?
I am always drawn to the boxes of old photos at my local flea market, but after stockpiling them over the years, I have to admit that I have no idea of what to do with them. Luckily, a company called Project B does, and the results are fantastic.
The team behind Project B seeks out anonymous vintage photos and makes them available in museum-quality, limited-edition prints — essentially rescuing bits of history and bringing them back to life.
The photos are strong on their own, but since they are already curated in albums such as Inside Hollywood and Americana, it's easy to buy prints that work well together. With prices starting at $95, you are going to be tempted to stock up on a little bit of history.
We'd all love to invest in quality furniture, but sitting down at that sleek new dining table can present some financial hurdles. Luckily, a contemporary Canadian furniture brand is setting out to change that — and at no expense to your aesthetic. By cutting out the middlemen in the industry, Bryght allows people to essentially shop directly from the factories, shedding mark-ups associated with importers, distributors, and sales people — and effectively saving them an estimated 50 percent in the process. Better yet, the brand offers a free 30-day home trial period with free shipping and returns in North America: commitment-phobes, the line starts here!
High-design and high-quality, Bryght's contemporary and transitional collection comes from top international designers who've cut their teeth at companies like Established & Sons, Habitat, and Stella McCartney. In our opinion, it competes with the Crate and Barrels and Room & Boards of the world, but see for yourself. Here are a few of our top picks from the collection.
If you're like us, chances are you've got Gatsby fever! Between the crystals, gilded furniture, and pearly white interiors, this film has a visual power that's hard to deny. Set to kick off Cannes Film Festival today, we're celebrating by counting down our favorite deco-driven moments from The Great Gatsby set design and showing you our picks for getting the look at home.
The intersection between healthy eating and good design has traditionally been a pretty lonely place. Tatyana Daniels Beldock, a former health care venture capitalist, set out to change that when she launched a line of plates under the name Slim & Sage. The concept is simple: since research suggests that 90 percent of weight loss is achieved simply by eating less, Tatyana worked with experts at Stanford and Harvard to come up with a plate that takes the guesswork out of portion control. Even if these plates didn't help reduce caloric intake by 59 percent(!), we would still love them — we don't think it's a coincidence that they resemble Hermès's famous Balcon du Guadalquivir pattern.
The bold geometric patterns on the plate hide the built-in grid for recommended portions: one quarter is for protein, one quarter is for whole grains, and one half is for vegetables. Made from porcelain, the plates are nice enough for company but discreet enough that guests will never guess the motive behind the pattern. We stole a minute of Tatyana's time to find out more.
POPSUGAR: What did you find when you researched why America has such a tendency to overeat?
Tatyana Daniels Beldock: Our plates have gotten out of hand. Plate sizes have been rising in the US over the last 50 years: the average plate in the 1960s was nine inches. Today it is 12! (Slim & Sage plates are 9 inches.) France, ever the throwback, measures in at just 10 inches. You may think all this expanding china has had little effect on your eating habits, but think again: a study in the journal Appetite found that people clean their plates an astonishing 91 percent of the time, no matter how much food is offered, even if they are no longer hungry. Also portions are larger in restaurants, fast-food joints, and prepackaged foods in grocery stories.
PS: That's an alarming statistic — 91 percent of the time, even if they are no longer hungry? Why do you think that it is? Some sort of primal throwback? Habit left over from our parents telling us to clean our plates?
TDB: Yes! Can you believe it? People clean their plates an astonishing 91 percent of the time, no matter how much food is offered and even if they are no longer hungry. I believe it's because we have been conditioned since childhood to clean our plates. The National Institutes of Health recommend replacing larger plates with smaller plates as a good way to combat this and trick people into eating less. "People eat what's put in front of them," they say.
PS: I think that we are all guilty of that! Why isn't this science more widely used and applied? It seems like a very straightforward, smart concept.
TDB: Often some of the best ideas make you think, "Wow — why haven't I seen this before?" I am not sure why it hasn't been done before, though. There was a study done at Google where they introduced smaller plates at their cafeterias and their employees lost an average of 10-15 pounds without even really trying.
PS: That makes it sound painless. I know that takeout is a great excuse for people to abandon portion control. When you order takeout, do you make a point to eat it on Slim & Sage plates?
TDB: Yes, absolutely.
PS: Right now the price point is about $25 per plate — do you have plans for rolling out a lower price point option? How about bowls?
TDB: Custom plates for spas and resorts are in the pipeline, and we are considering a lower price and children's line in the future.
PS: Great, we will keep on the lookout! Meanwhile, we just learned that Slim & Sage was picked up by Neiman Marcus. Congratulations!
