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FLIGHTS OF FRUGALITY A good gift is one someone will actually use. When it comes to travel, that means choosing things that reduce stress—and up the enjoyment. If that’s not in your budget, choosing a gift that they’ll find useful and that you can afford can be tricky. Bells and whistles: A zippable laundry compartment ensures dirty socks never defile dry-cleaned blouses. The option to use either short or long handles allows for, respectively, close-to-chest security or easy pairing with a rolling suitcase.

Persons: Martin Ramin, that’s, Cotopaxi.com Organizations: OF, Street, Getty, tote

☆ 10 Supremely Tasteful (and Affordable) Home Decor Holiday Gifts for 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Nina Molina | Christina Poletto | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Here, we present a passel of gift ideas we’re quite excited about—all likely to impress design aficionados, without breaking the bank. Keep an eye out for designs from emerging makers that might stand the test of time, like these stoneware vessels from South African artist Helen Vaughan. Helen Vaughan Ceramics Vase With Handles, approx. 7 inches tall or approx. 9 inches tall, $90 each, SarzaStore.com

Persons: Helen Vaughan, SarzaStore.com Organizations: WHO Locations: South African

These food-and-drink gifts offer outstanding value as well as deliciousness and delight. Gifts of food and drink and the trappings that go with them—a party in the making. This tart-sweet marmalade delivers the complex flavor of calamansi—a fruit that’s like lime, kumquat and tangerine all in one—grown on Oahu. There, jam master Akiko White relies on her grandmother-in-law Tutu’s recipe to produce a citrus stunner that makes a marvelous croissant topper, vinaigrette booster and cocktail brightener. Aloha Bites Tutu’s Calamansi Marmalade, $19 for 7 ounces, Zingermans.com

Persons: Martin Ramin, marmalade, Akiko White Locations: Oahu

☆ How to Display Family Photos Without Losing Your Mind—or Your Sense of Style
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-30 | by ( Nina Molina | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

IT’S A SCENE so familiar as to be cliché: Staggered along a staircase wall or atop a dusty mantle, prom-night snapshots and Sears portraits perch haphazardly. Why do family photos always seem to get short shrift? Displaying these mementos stylishly can feel like a daunting challenge—but “a well-designed family gallery is one of the best storytelling opportunities you have,” said Paulina Perrault, a Sausalito, Calif., designer. Thankfully, sprucing up your snapshot act needn’t take long. Here, interior stylists share five strategies for creating displays that dodge both chaos and cheesiness.

Persons: ”, Paulina Perrault Locations: Sausalito, Calif

☆ Finally: Some Outdoor Heating Lamps That Aren’t Plain Ugly
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-26 | by ( Nina Molina | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

THE HOST WITH THE TOAST A new class of heat lamps combines utility with understated good looks. Photo: West ElmDURING THE AUTUMNS of my Midwest youth, desperate to prolong backyard s’mores season, I donned layers of fleece and down and swore it wasn’t that cold even into November. Heat lamps never crossed my mind as an alternative to insane amounts of layering until the Covid-era outdoor-entertaining craze made them a must-have. And even then, most were merely a means to an end—practical but undeniably ugly.

Organizations: Midwest

☆ Sorry, Adirondacks: This Summer’s Best Seat Is a Modern Rocking Chair
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Nina Molina | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

PROGRESSIVE ROCK Contemporary rocking chairs, affectionately known as ‘Mod Rockers,’ tend to have sexier, bolder designs than their stiff wooden antecedents. Photo: living4mediaTHE PORCH ROCKING CHAIR: It’s an American classic on par with apple pie, the Louisville Slugger and the folksy works of Norman Rockwell. But given how few of us have Rockwellian homes and families, or porches that offer bucolic views, the traditional wooden seat—rigid and staid—can feel out of place in our urban outdoor spaces. Rocking chairs are “designed and built so well,” said New York interior designer Tina Ramchandani. “[They] just needed an updated look.”

Persons: It’s, Norman Rockwell, ”, Tina Ramchandani Organizations: Louisville Slugger Locations: New York

☆ How Well (Or Badly) Did You Decorate Your First Apartment?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Nina Molina | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/articles/first-apartment-memories-the-challenges-and-joys-of-decorating-when-youre-penniless-fcfaebf6

Persons: Dow Jones

☆ Are You Up For a ‘Soft’ Adventure? 3 Vacation Ideas for the Mildly Outdoorsy
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Nina Molina | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

EASY DOES IT A trek to Haida Gwaii includes a hike to old-growth forests. Photo: Entrée CanadaWREN HUDGINS has “always been an outdoorsy person”—but while still drawn to the planet’s wilder locales, the retired psychologist from Issaquah, Wash., has been taking fewer risks since entering his 70s. In recent years, Hudgins and his wife, Leigh, have embarked on a handful of trips with Aurora Expeditions, a travel company based in Surry Hills, Australia, specializing in cruises and tours to places like Svalbard, Norway, where the couple experienced “adventure in small doses.”

Persons: WREN HUDGINS, Hudgins, Leigh Organizations: Aurora Expeditions Locations: Issaquah, Wash, Surry Hills, Australia, Svalbard, Norway

☆ Make Your Garden Look Bigger With This Smart Decorating Move
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Nina Molina | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

DOUBLE THE PLEASURE An arched window with mirrors for panes adds romance and depth to a courtyard garden in Surrey, England, designed by Nic Howard. Photo: GAP Photos/Leigh ClappNO ONE hesitates to deploy mirrors inside a house—lengthening a cramped entryway or bouncing light around a dim dining room. Why not in the garden, then, where a mirror could multiply lush hydrangeas, reflect cloud-dotted skies and make sunshine dance? Garden designer Toby Musgrave, the Copenhagen-based author of “The Garden: Elements & Styles” (Phaidon Press) considers looking glasses a fantastic way to play with your patch of green: “I like the idea of optical illusions—a bit of fun, drama and theater.” Besides, an open-air mirror yields the same benefits as one indoors. A garden becomes more cozy and warm, said Karen Rogers, a London landscape designer, and the reflection “makes it actually look bigger.”

Persons: Nic Howard, Leigh Clapp, Toby Musgrave, ”, Karen Rogers Organizations: Phaidon Press Locations: Surrey, England, Copenhagen, London

ONE OF grilling’s greatest virtues: the way the smoke does most of the work for you, infusing every bite of the food it touches with intense flavor. But even pitmaster-level proteins can use a saucy soul mate—just a quick swab of something sweet, sour, rich or spicy to translate a grill-hatched slab of beef or salmon or maitake mushroom into a meal.

☆ Need More Light in the Kitchen? Here’s a Stylish, Adjustable Fix
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( Nina Molina | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

DOUBLE DIP Landed Interiors & Homes, which is based in New York City, draped a couple of matte-black adjustable pendants above a kitchen island in Piedmont, Calif. Photo: Haris KenjarHAVE YOU ever yearned to yank the ceiling light in your kitchen closer to the radishes you’re julienning? Adjustable pendants can get you out of your own way. London designer Susie Atkinson thrifted a 1960s double adjustable pendant for a local Queen-Anne style kitchen. This discreet concealing trick is still available on some models, but Los Angeles interior designer Martha Mulholland, for one, admires the visible, “industrial meets decorative” look of those with visible ballast. “It’s a design born out of a practical function,” said Ms. Mulholland.

☆ ‘I Never Spend a Lot On…’ Interior Designers Open Up
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Nina Molina | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

CUT CORNERS New York City design firm White Arrow draped a bed in Parachute sheets in this Brooklyn bedroom. Photo: Thomas RichterEVERYONE LOVES a bargain—and savvy designers know that when it comes to outfitting your home, even if you have a fortune, it doesn’t always pay to spend one. The trick, according to high-end stylists, is to think strategically, pinching pennies on inexpensive yet well-designed utility pieces and flexing your budget on statement items that really wow. Need guidance? Here, six items pros won’t pay a lot for.

☆ How to Avoid the 5 Most Common Dining Room Decorating Mistakes
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Nina Molina | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

DINING ROOM décor gone awry can kill appetites. Whether your guests are flinching from an eerie portrait their chairs face or squeezing into too-tight seats, bad decorating can take the joy out of even the most well-concocted meal. Los Angeles-based designer David Netto believes dinner guests are rarely eager to enter these stuffy rooms. “So what a dining room must have, above all, is atmosphere,” he said. Here, interiors pros detail five mood crushers in dining rooms, and palate-pleasing alternatives.

☆ 5 Inviting New Reasons Why Train Travel Beats Flying
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Nina Molina | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The chugging, rumbling romance of trains has always appealed to travelers who favor a leisurely pace. An enamored Emily Dickinson wrote of one, “I like to see it lap the Miles/And lick the Valleys up/And stop to feed itself at Tanks/And then-prodigious step/Around a Pile of Mountains....”Monisha Rajesh, a London-based travel writer, likes the chance encounters a train affords. “You don’t know who’s going to come into that compartment or who you’ll chat with,” said Ms. Rajesh, who clocked some 10,000 miles on trains in 2022. “People talk very willingly in a way they normally don’t. It’s great fun.”

☆ The Bathroom Design Trend That Pumps Up the Luxury
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( Nina Molina | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

UNLIKE BACKSPLASHES in kitchens, where slabs of marble or showboat tiles can elicit oohs and ahs, backsplashes behind bathroom sinks “are usually just square rectangles and don’t go past six inches. Why?” asked Brigette Romanek, whose Los Angeles design firm masterminded the powder-room shown here. “There are no rules, so make it a bit more fun and interesting.” Here, a guide to zhuzhing up a prosaic powder room or water closet with a marble wash station. The AppealA pro way to make a décor statement in a powder room? “We love an eccentric splashback for the very reason that they’re often overlooked as a creative device,” said Gillian Khaw, co-director of Handelsmann and Khaw, a design studio in Woollahra, Australia.

☆ 5 Holiday Candle Holders to Bring Some Glow Into Your Home
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Nina Molina | Photographs F. Martin Ramin The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

SPARKS FLY The holidays are prime time to appreciate candlelight, and to decorate with the accessories that go with it. STRIKING A MATCH produces more than just flame and smoke. The move echoes eons of religious ceremonies and rituals; it triggers memories of burning cedar, and lips sticky from melted marshmallows. Especially during the year’s dimmest days, candlelight faithfully ushers warmth into our drafty rooms. “When it’s dark, depressing and cold outside, you want it uplifting inside,” said Estelle Bailey-Babenzien, founder of New York City interior design studio Dream Awake.

So much waste happens in the kitchen; too many tools are of the flimsy plastic variety. From an artisanal iron foundry in England to the saffron fields of Morocco, the producers represented here take the longest possible view. Mannie Berk , founder of Rare Wine Co., has an 1802 Madeira in his cellar that he opened 25 years ago. This delicious 2001 bottling, rich and warm with luxurious caramel tones, is one for the ages. 2001 D’Oliveiras Boal Madeira, $150, RareWineCo.com

Gifts with inherent stability and even history appeal right now. Meanwhile, the Technicolor tree skirt in our selection is stitched together from hearty wool blankets handwoven by indigenous women of the Andes. When your giftee’s grandkids pull it out from their closet down the road, they’ll think of their parents, and their parents’ parents, and maybe even you. Brand New Serving Plates With Ancient PatinaHaand’s three-piece serving set looks as if it were hewn from centuries-old trees. 3 Piece Serving Platter Set in Burl, $265, Haand.us

☆ How to Avoid the 5 Worst Living Room Design Mistakes
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Nina Molina | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

DO IT (BEAUTIFULLY) RIGHT In a local semi-detached house by Warsaw design firm Colombe Studio, carefully chosen décor doesn’t crowd the room or the view, resulting in a truly inviting living room. THE RELATIVELY NARROW function of a bedroom or dining room largely dictates those spaces’ décor. With so much asked of living rooms, the potential for decorating missteps can daunt even experts. “The worst error I see in living rooms is overcrowding,” said the founder of New York City’s Nea Studio. Meanwhile, Aileen Warren, of Jackson Warren Interiors in Houston, warns against filling the room with every stick of furniture on your wish list.

☆ How to Avoid the 5 Worst Kids’ Room Decorating Mistakes
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Nina Molina | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

CHILDREN’S ROOMS confront decorators with competing demands. You must acknowledge the child’s interest in, say, hideous insects, without overdoing it on themed décor; you must hunt down furnishings that suit small people but will endure as they mature; and you must secure your wee client’s aesthetic buy-in without turning the space into a cartoonish nightmare that sets elders’ teeth on edge. Here, design pros share common mistakes and strategies for striking a just-right balance between playful and polished. Theme FeverOverindulging your fledgling ballerina’s or baseball fan’s enthusiasms can get cloying. “Do not make every element theme related,” said Lindsey Jamison, a lead interior designer at Rumor Designs in Steamboat Springs, Colo. “I’m here to tell you that you don’t need to paint the room team colors.”

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