Lucite (Acrylic) Furniture & Sources

I don't know about everyone, but I LOVE acrylic and lucite furniture. I've listed several sources of acrylic furniture below with photos of some of my favorite pieces including one of the "Mandarin" table which is the table I have in my living room.

Muniz Plastics - Dining sets with chairs and side tables.

Spectrum Ltd. - Large selection of coffee and cocktail tables.

Acrylic Innovations - Very nice dining tables.

Light Energy Studio - Wide range of products. A bit of everything Acrylic including Acrylic Flooring.

Plexi-Craft - A bit of everything in tasteful pieces.

Acrylic Decor - Some fun and unique pieces. Such as an Acrylic Buffet as shown below.

CA-Acrylic Design - A nice link referred to me for more acrylic designs.

Light Energy Studio

Mandarin Coffee Table - 1" thick, 58"L.

George Chair. Both (Plexi-Craft).

Fun Bar Stools. Acrylic Decor

Love the cocktail base. Spectrum Ltd.

Wonderfully Long dining table. Spectrum Ltd.

Pure Lucite Dining Table! Acrylic Innovations

I want this bar cart! Acrylic Decor

Whimsical Buffet in Acrylic. Light Energy Studio

And the ultimate...Acrylic Flooring (with LED lights for a disco effect.)
Light Energy Studio

Tracy Porter - A certain charm

Tracy Porter may not be for everyone, but I really loved looking at her 2007 Winter catalog. It has a certain charm and chic coziness to it. I've posted some of my favorite photos from her catalog below. I have more but decided to group them with other things for a future post.

Fun and Beautiful Tea cup Candles!

Love these "Tea for One" Sets. The colors are just brilliant.


Whimsical Vases


LOVE the rug and I'd really like this lamp.

What can I say? I love bamboo.


Gotta Love the patterns and contrast on these bowls.


And the not-so-run-of the-mill cups.

Two of Tracy Porter's books which I enjoy.

Weekend Clip

To all my friends out there, have a beautiful & magical weekend
enjoy the clip of
Le Fabuleux destin d'Amelie Poulain
one of my all time favorite movies

Home Office Organizer

Practical & cute :)
Link

The Korean Hanbok

I noticed a post of these beautifully photographed Korean Hanboks on the All Things Bright and Beautiful Blog. Click the link to check out her post on these beautiful Korean dresses.

Tea Addiction. Nothing like Afternoon Tea.

I can honestly say that I drink tea like a fish. It's almost my water replacement. Which may not be the best for me but what can I say? I'm addicted. It's fascinating all the different types of teas there are out there. I've chosen to highlight some Chinese teas below. Why can't fashion be served with tea? Fabulous embroidered Chinese dress!

This is one of my favorite types of teas when I have company over and as gifts. They come in the shape of a hand sewn round ball and open up with a flower as it steeps. It only comes from a certain region in China.

Inside of a traditional tea shop.

Photos from a Korean tea shop.

These two photos shows the same kind of tea in two different shapes. Known as Pu-erh tea, it is one of the most fermented teas there are. Most teas are best drank within a year's time of purchase. This is one of the only teas that, like wine, gets better with age and time. It comes from the far south of China and among the fermentation process was the long road to deliver the teas to other provinces. They used to come in the form of bricks where you would take a hook and break pieces off to brew. The photo with the round pieces of tea with Chinese characters is neat because the tea is pressed into the shape of Chinese Chess pieces. You can literally play Chinese chess with pieces made of tea! If you drink Pu-erh tea though, you might want to mix it with Chrysanthemum or Roses and put too many leaves in. Because it is so fermented, it has a very strong flavour and you may just be up longer than you had intended.

Clean Machine

I love whats happening to laundry rooms. No longer dank and in a cold basement (well mine is) they are actually being well thought out spaces. Smaller machines for smaller spaces too. Where would your perfect spot be for your machine? Near the bedrooms seems logical to me, I'm seeing them mounted under kitchen cabs too.

Contemporary Moroccan Furniture and Accessories

The above beautiful photos were taken by my brother Jamal when he was in Paris
- Great simplicity in those items , yet they still carry the Moroccan identity- we got used to see the classic & very busy style of Moroccan designs (like the photo below) but I sure love the modern one, because it can fit anywhere without stealing the focus point in the room.
Thank you Jamal :)

If you love classic Moroccan designs , I found for you this amazing link

Japanese Hot Springs - One with Nature...

I was never one for baths until I lived in Japan, the land of natural hot springs (onsen.) In the beginning, I was embarrassed in my prudish American ways and not used to the Japanese bathing culture where the spring water is considered pure and one must strip down to nothing to cleaning one's self before getting into these hot springs. And now, I'm hooked. I can't visit Japan without visiting a traditional hot spring now. The Japanese have such a way with building their landscapes into the natural environment. It's like the heaven, when soaking in a hot spring by a river or forest. The following are examples of very traditional outdoor hot springs in Japan. You certainly won't find this in a city like Tokyo...but if you venture out far enough, there are many of them to explore. I've always fantasized about building such a landscape/soaking place for myself if I had a yard.

Riverside Outdoor Hotspring A Secluded Hot Spring


Secluded hot spring by a River



A soaking spring taking advantage of the view.

On to Christmas...

Ok, so Thanksgiving is over. Its officially now Christmas. You can't deny it any longer. I will be away from home for the first time ever. I'm not quite sure how much decorating I should be doing. But since thats a month away, I figure I can still pull out stuff. I have noticed that every year I'm doing less and less. I do think less is more, but I also get when people go all out too. I just know I'll have to put it all back in a month!