A chair by a different color

The Sheffield Side Chair from Home Decorators Collection are a very affordable chair option for the kitchen or dining room or any where you need a little extra seating. They come in a variety of antique colors from blue to red and they are the fun your dining area needs!

Friday Finds ~ Keep your cool

Keep your drinks cool without watering them down. Whiskey Stones from Far4 are stylish and functional!

Our Faves ~ Put a ring on it

Enjoy a little color splash with Diane von Furstenberg's striped napkin rings from Bloomingdales. A perfect accessory for bringing a little spring to the table. And speaking of spring, is it here yet?

Dandy Chandy Tuesday!

Make it tea time in your house all the time. Yes, it's a tea cup and a light! Get this kitschy light at the Mostaza Seed shop on Etsy. They have several fun tea cup designs AND some very cool jar lights too.

Our Faves! (8.11.10): Cooking with comfort

The French Bistro Comfort Mat from Ballard Designs will be a cushy place to stand while your prepping dinner.

Our Faves ~ Find Your Place

These Andrea by Sadek Peacock Place Card Holders would be great for dinner parties to label seating, a fun girls night, or can be used to label food for a potluck. They would look fabulous with your finest china, or the dinner plates you use on a daily basis. Mix, match and have fun!

Design Tip of the Week (7.12.10): Making the Most of a Small Kitchen

Meredith from DC asked, "Help me p4d! I have a small studio, a tiny kitchen and a billion pots and pans..I need some tasteful storage ideas"

Many of us have to work within a small kitchen space. Sadly, if you like to cook and have many kitchen gadgets, this can be a challenge. Here are some ideas to mazximize your kitchen storage space and create the illusion that your kitchen is bigger than it is.

Create more space!
For the avid cook with a large collection of cookware, a dual purpose pots/pans hanger plus shelf is the perfect solution to save critical cabinet space. The Enclume RACK IT UP! Bookshelf Pot Rack as seen below is a good option.


Better utilize your current cabinetry with an organizing system.
This two-tier cookware organizer from Rockler pulls out to hold several pots, pans, and lids.


Or this stackable organizer with slide out bottom from The Stoarage Store


For a great slideshow on small kitchen ideas, check out Better Homes and Gardens.

Friday Finds ~ Teacup Planter

I have officially fallen in love...with this teacup planter from Garden Artisans. It would be perfect for the center of your outdoor table, or in the center of your dining table. It's great because it's a pretty centerpiece that people will love to ask about.

Enjoy your weekend everyone!

Friday Finds ~ Fun Wine Rack

Hey guys, check out this really fun wine rack from Revival Home & Garden ~ it was originally $150, now on sale for $75! It would look really nice in a modern kitchen, or why not give you traditional kitchen a fun feature? Have a great weekend!

Our Faves! ~ I'm a Little Teapot...Bright & Cute!

Oh my goodness, I just love this teapot from Bauer Pottery. Very fun colors! Check out all their other bright and beautiful dinnerware, beverageware, servingware, garden, and household pottery.

Friday Finds ~ Pretty Petite Plates

How pretty are these petite plates featuring various chairs from The Inglenook Decor? They would be great as serving plates or all 4 displayed up on the wall in a bathroom, bedroom or kitchen.

Check out the rest of The Inglenook Decor's site. It's my new fav site - search by Styles Modern Vintage Decor, French Chateau, Rococo, Shabby Chic Decor ~ you won't be disappointed!

DIY Tips & Tricks ~ Wine Crate Kitchen Cabinets

Ohhhh, check out this FUN eco-friendly project over at Readymade. The article is about a couple in Barcelona that made their kitchen cabinets out of wine crates!

Friday Finds ~ Flowered Enamelware

Lovin' this Flowered Enamelware from VivaTerra. So great for your outdoor patio. How exciting is it to think about being outdoors after this brutal winter?!?! :)

Friday Finds (2.26.10): A Serving Plant?

Check out Blum and Black's salad servers that are uniquely stored in a terra-cotta colored pot to give the illusion of a plant! This is very inventive - who'da thunk to do that? Get your own at Arrango Design.

Feng Shui & the Kitchen Stove

{Photo via This Old House}

One of the most important considerations in feng shui is the location and placement of the main entrance, bedroom and stove. Today we will focus on the stove.

In feng shui, the stove is important because it governs the health of not only the cook, but all occupants of the home. The stove is used to prepare our meals, and when we consume our meals our body uses the energy from the food to sustain our lives. It is for this reason that we want the stove to be facing one of our best directions.


{photo via Moon-Goddess~Earth's flickr stream}

Depending on your date of birth and gender, each person has four different auspicious or positive and four malevolent or negative directions. Having the stove facing our positive direction will infuse the prepared food with energy that is favorable and supportive of good health. To find out what your favorable directions are please click here and enter your birthdate into the 8 Mansions Feng Shui Calculator.

So how do you find out what direction your stove is facing? Using a good compass, stand with your back in front of the stove (as if you were inside the oven facing out) and use that compass direction to find out the direction the stove is facing. If it turns out to be one of your positive directions there is no need for change. If the stove is facing one of your negative directions you may wish to consider changing the location of the stove. This would only really be necessary if you are planning to live in your current home for the long term.

Another consideration is where the stove is in the kitchen. Ideally, the stove should be supported with it's back against a solid wall. This protects the stove from receiving any unstable or negative chi from adversely affecting the cooking. An island stove, although a popular modern kitchen feature, is not so desirable in the eyes of feng shui. We do not like to see the back of the stove exposed as the chi will not be able to effectively support health.


{photo via Country Living}

One more thing to consider is the sink in relation to the stove. The stove represents fire element while the sink is the water element. Remember the cycle of the five elements? Water controls fire. This is not a productive relationship in the cycle of the elements therefore the sink and the stove should not be side by side. The least recommended distance between the two is at least 1 foot.

If you are living in the home that you plan to spend the rest of your life in then it is advisable to consider that the stove has been properly placed with in the kitchen. Short term living (less that 5 years) will have less impact, and when you do move to a new place you will be armed with the feng shui guidelines for good health.

Please visit Elke Zoe over at International Feng Shui if you are interested in finding out more about this ancient Chinese practice.

Our Faves! ~ Bamboo Knife Box

Say goodbye to that boring butcher block and hello to this eco-friendly bamboo knife box from VivaTerra. Hundreds of bamboo skewers housed in the box hold knives in place. Very cool...very chic!

Friday Finds ~ Wine Inspired!

For all of you Wine-o's out there, LOVE this Wine Country Large Tray {shown above}, along with these Dessert Plates and coasters ... and they are ALL ON SALE! Take advantage of the HUGE After-Holiday sales. I might just get myself a set! :)

Design Tip of the Week (12.7.09) ~ A Tall Order

Inspired by P4D reader Caitlin who asked us to help her in her search for an affordable "hutch" that can replace a broom closet and provide a lot of storage in a small space, we decided to explore the options of small space storage.

If you live in an apartment or don't have a lot of room to work with in your house, tall and thin furniture is your friend. They take up less room and maximize the height of a wall that tends to not get utilized. These storage options can make up for a lack of dining room, kitchen or bathroom storage. Depending on what you want to store, here are some good space saving options in various design styles to maximize your space and match your look.

Some good storage options for things you would want to display (wine glasses, dishes, books, etc.)

Liatorp from Ikea


Target's Celtic Baker's Rack.


Green Curio Cabinet from Pier1 Imports


Storage options with doors to hide away some of the unsightly clutter!

Hampton Bay Cabinet from Home Decorators Collection


Fieldcrest Armoire from Target


French Country Cabinet from Home Decorators Collection available through Amazon)



Cadet Cabinet from CB2


If you have a little more space to work with....
Brady 2-Piece Closed Entry System from Pottery Barn

Friday Finds ~ Timber!

P4D readers enter to win your free (and signed!) copy of The Comfortable Home. Just click here and follow the contest rules. Good luck!! Here are our Friday Finds ~
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Feel like a lump on a log? How about a bowl in a log? Well do we have a log for you! Designer Doha Chebib creates these eco-friendly bowls by using reclaimed logs from fallen trees! These are available at GoodEgg Industries.

Friday Finds ~ Rehabilitated Dinnerware

The best way to contribute to the environment is use what we have. And Sarah Cihat does just that. She rumages through secondhand stores and thrift shops to find the dishes that nobody wants. She then puts her own mark of creativity on them(reglazes and refires them)and literally recreates ugly old dishes to fun, chic and innovative dishware. Visit Sarah Cihat's site and check out her patterns and her contribution to the sustainability movement.