When you hear the word investment, most people think of stocks and bonds, property, or business ventures. Purchasing quality design pieces can sometimes take you through some of the same processes as your other assets. Like stocks and bonds, you must decide where you feel comfortable spending your money and what is more likely to yield a return on your investment. When it comes to purchasing property, you think about what area is going to continue to rise in value. Think about what areas of the home will help to increase your home's worth. Like a business venture, you need to have money to put into something, in order to see a return.
The first places to invest in good design are the kitchen and the bathroom. These will yield the highest turn around because the things you spend money on there are more likely to stay in the home, and add value because is shows the home has had recent updating. Cabinets are always a safe bet, and if you get a brand name like Woodmode or Brookhaven, they can be just as good of a selling tool as natural stone countertops (granite, limestone, and marble are very popular). Spending extra on counter depth refrigerators, and professional looking ranges and hoods is also a good idea. These items are good investments, not only because they look great, but also when it comes to appliances, you get what you pay for. The more expensive and professional brands last longer, and work better than a generic value brand. Same deal applies to plumbing. Look for faucets with ceramic seals, those brands that still use rubber and plastic are made cheaply, but might be just as pricey as the better brands. Look into Kohler, Rohl, Dornbracht, Hansgrohe, and Grohe.
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Posted by J. Chandelle, in General.
Take a look at the diverse collection of residential and commercial seating by La Cividina of Italy. Many of their modular seating systems, sofas, and armchair offerings are used extensively in hotels and office environments, but just may find a home in your living room. The La Cividina line has secured its name as a leader in private and contract furniture in Italy and on the international scene where design is important. The collection rich in personality and elegance and as you can see diversity. This is merely as sample of their contemporary and modern sofa sectionals and seating groups, but you can see the entire collection here.
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Posted by Will, in Sofas.
The Amazon Kindle first made a splash last year when it sold out at Christmas time and was hard to find. Since then the Kindle has continued to grow a great reputation in the market. Looking at Amazon today, there is an amazing 3,601 reviews on this product. That is just a staggering number for any product. The reviews average 4 out of 5 stars which again is no small feat.
I felt obliged to write a story on this gadget after conducting my own informal "straw poll" last week. I asked 10 of my friends and family if they had heard of this product. Only 1 of the 10 had said they heard of the product, but he really did not know much about how it works.
The Kindle is a wireless device where newspapers, magazines, and books can be downloaded into it to be read by the user. Now, when I made this statement to the 10 people I polled, the lights did not go off in their head right away. I must admit it took me awhile to consider the amount of paper I could save by not having a newspaper delivered each day to my home. Frankly, I do not read the entire paper. It pains me to put it in the recycle bin each day after I am done reading. How much paper is one year's worth of newspaper? I know how heavy my bin gets, because I drop it off once a week. Over the course of the year, I could save a lot of trees.
Continue reading "Amazon Kindle - The "Going Green" Gadget for Saving Trees" »
Tangram refers to an ancient Chinese game composed of seven geometric figures obtained by the breakdown of a square. Lago of Italy has expounded on the concept and given this modern interpretation of the wall mounted bookshelf life with help from designer Daniele Lago. The Libreria Tangram can be combined to create just about any shape you desire as long as it's not round. Available in Red, White, Black and Blue
Here is an interesting piece of vintage modern furniture from the 1950s. This is a lounge chair by Warren Platner. Lehigh Leopold was the manufacturer for this chair and at the time had a line of desks featuring other Planter pieces. The walnut sides create a great vintage look which complimented the line of office desks as you can imagine writing atop a desk of with this color wood. The Platner chair was finished with a chrome base and leather upholstery. In today's market, this lounge chair would be around $1,500.
