Before you host a soiree with your girls or enjoy a romantic dinner at home, dress up your place with accents of red and romance. Whether you love or hate it, Valentine's Day is filled with an abundance of hearts, florals, and rose-tone colors that every decor enthusiast should take advantage of — seriously! Leave the kitschy, crafty connotations of this holiday behind, and check out the pieces we're considering come Cupid's arrival.
When it comes to design, we love anything that brings style and interest into a space. Currently, we're turning to bookends to do the trick. The perfect way to add a pop of color or incorporate a hint of the unexpected, bookends are just the accent our shelves need. From polished agate to weighty steel brackets, even the most classic of books can be given an eclectic touch. Here are the six statement pieces we are currently coveting!
My living room needed an overhaul, so recently we scraped together what we could to purchase two new sofas. They're my dream pieces, but their spare mid-century design screamed for a little adornment, and our investment left little in the way of a budget for throw pillows. Additionally, I forgot to account for the cost of what seemed to be simple decor items (often $100 or more) and the fact that I would need more than one! Fortunately for pillow shoppers on a budget, there's a plush supply of inexpensive options out there in a diversity of design styles. We've rounded up some of our favorites under $50 as well as some easy DIY ideas for sewers and non-sewers alike!
Source: California Home and Design
These days we have a wide range of lightbulbs to choose from: halogen, compact fluorescent, LED, filament, and incandescent. While traditional designs attempt to diffuse and hide the lightbulb with lamp shades, now is the time to celebrate the bare bulb. These 10 inspired lighting designs emphasize the beauty of the bulb without the harsh, blinding light.
When it came to sprucing up your living spaces this year, one destination beat out the rest for top home accessories store of 2010. Congrats to modern furniture and accessories shop Design Within Reach! From gold-lined bowls to the reinvented Eames Hang-It-All, DWR knows how to mix the iconic with the off-kilter for a selection of high-end home goodies worth drooling over.
And great job this year to West Elm, who came in as a close second. Don't forget to check out all our Best of 2010 content!
Furniture may give you a place to sit or eat or work, but accessories are what makes your personality shine and your home stand out from the showroom. While antiques and travel souvenirs make unique home accents, there's plenty of beautiful things to find at chain retailers, too! What has been your favorite place to shop for vases, pillows, candles, and more this year?
Did I leave out your favorite accessories store? Then join our Best of 2010 group in the CasaSugar Community and tell us about it there. And vote on all my Best of 2010 polls now!
popsugar poll
Best of 2010: What's Your Favorite Home Accessories Store?
After the big renovations are done in a home, and all of the housecleaning has been accomplished, the real fun begins: accessorizing! Most of my design-savvy friends adore decking out their homes with cute accents and accessories and creating pretty vignettes around their homes. Accents are like jewelry for the home — a finishing touch that can take something from simply pretty to absolutely spectacular. (Speaking of creating vignettes, have you entered our Lovely Little Vignettes contest?)
In my home, I love to create lovely little vignettes in the smaller spaces. Forget the living room and master bedroom, I'm all about the entry and bathroom. I love creating a vignette on the console table that creates a welcoming ambiance for visitors. In the bathroom, a fresh bouquet of flowers, accompanied by an antique hand mirror, some handmade soaps, and a few favorite stones from the ocean, can create a nature-inspired vignette.
Tell me, what room is your favorite for adding accents and accessories to?
Target's designer capsule collections are always a huge hit, but unfortunately they also sell out lickety-split. Members-only sample sale site Gilt Groupe is offering you John Derian fans an exclusive chance to get your hands on his upcoming Sept. 5 collection for Target even sooner. Beginning at 9 a.m. PDT today, John Derian's charming découpaged tableware, picture frames, storage bins, and more will be up for grabs only on Gilt Groupe — more than two weeks before they debut in stores. Considering that Target stores all seem to have different selections, since the sale's online, you won't have to spend your Friday driving to every Target within 60 miles of you in search of those coveted housewares. Head here to shop the sale if you're a member or sign up here if you don't yet have one!
I love the buzz-worthy motif on the Honeycomb Doormat ($32) from Burke Decor. It's a fun, graphic pattern that I adore everywhere from bolsters to rugs. As a bold print on sheets and pillows, the hexagonal design can mix things up in rooms filled with stripes or florals. The structural replication of the bee hangout can also be integrated more discreetly, as in the unusual Softseating furniture. Whether you want to dress your walls in the hexagonal pattern or just incorporate subtle trinkets adorned with the motif, ogle some of my sticky sweet faves below.
Looking for a new place to hang your hat? Get a helping hand with one of these, er, hanging hands. Created by Thelermont Hupton, the artistic palms come in a variety of colors and suggest a few different emotions. From a thumbs up to an a-OK signal, the crafty Hand Wall Art ($116 each) can speak volumes to your guests without saying a word. Then again, if you're giving your guests the bird, it's probably better left unsaid.
What do you think of the hand art?
