The Enduring Appeal of Leather Sofas

It is fair to say that leather sofas remain as popular as ever. Indeed, while many other furniture options have been in and out of vogue, the appeal of the leather sofa remains is as strong today as it has been at any other time in the past.

So why is this?

Well, versatility is certainly a key reason for the leather sofa’s enduring appeal. To be sure, the fact that this particular piece of lounge decor will compliment practically any other kind of furniture is definitely a very significant advantage.

Another reason why consumers remain loyal to leather is the price. As well as being relatively inexpensive, leather is also hard wearing and durable so it makes for a very shrewd long-term investment. Indeed, the combination of competitive retail pries and impressive longevity make leather sofa purchases very cost–effective indeed.

A further reason for leather’s lasting appeal is that it is so easy to clean. Whilst fabric sofas can look very attractive when they are brand new, they can become stained very easily. In fact, a stain on a fabric sofa caused by a spilled drop of coffee or red wine can be extremely difficult to remove. A leather sofa on the other hand can be easily wiped clean so spills and marks of all kinds can be removed with ease.

Quite simply, leather settees and suites provide living rooms with affordable, versatile furniture options that look good for a long time.

bio: This guest blog post is written by Webmaster of sofaland.com, offering Leather sofas and leather settees services!

Consumers are heading online to source classy birthday gifts

There are lots of products available for consumers to choose from when they want to source birthday gifts, but many of these simply don’t hit the mark. Discerning individuals often want to achieve the wow-factor with the presents they hand over and so it’s important that they know where to look.

Thankfully, by heading online and choosing a suitable website, people can source an impressive array of products, including designer home accessories.

One woman who was no doubt showered with classy birthday gifts recently was actress Gwyneth Paltrow. The glamorous blonde turned 40 and, following celebrations in Italy and London, she got together with friends and family at a New York eatery.

Among those on the guest list were hubby Chris Martin, singer Beyonce and Paltrow’s actress mum Blythe Danner. As if that were not enough, it was reported that other famous faces including Steven Spielberg, Ethan Hawke, Jessica Seinfeld, Chelsea Handler, Jake Gyllenhaal and Kristen Wiig also attended the meal.

With so many A-listers in-tow, lots of impressive birthday presents must have been handed over.

Meanwhile, according to US Weekly, the revellers ate chocolate cake, drank and “mingled to a low-key, lounge-like piano soundtrack”.

Before she arrived at the restaurant, Paltrow reportedly got ready with fellow 40-year-old Cameron Diaz. About this, a source told the magazine: “They are really fun and close. They were having a great time getting ready for the party. There were lots of laughs.” 

When consumers use the internet to source luxury home accessories as gifts, they can benefit from total convenience.

  bio: This guest blog post is written by Webmaster of hellomayfair.com, offering designer home accessories and luxury home accessories services!

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She needs and autumn quilts

 

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Home decor and gardening Pix

America's most expensive homes

$150 million

The Manor Holmby Hills, Calif.

The home that Candy Spelling, widow of television producer Aaron, put on the market in 2008 outprices every other property in the U.S. The 56,500-square-foot English-style mansion has a bowling alley, wine cellar, rooms for gift-wrapping and silver and china display, a library, gym and media room. Its 4.6 acres include pools, a spa, landscaped gardens, a waterfall and parking for more than 100 cars. Jeff Hyland of Hilton & Hyland Real Estate and Sally Forster Jones of Coldwell Banker Previews International have the listing.

$125 million

Fleur de Lys

Beverly Hills, Calif.

This 35,000-square-foot home, listed in 2007, is said to be modeled after Versailles, and the mansion makes no attempt at understatement. Its 12 bedrooms, 15 bathrooms, 50-seat screening room, Italian marble and gold-embossed leather walls ooze wealth. Owner Suzanne Saperstein hasn't compromised on the price in three years. After all, it's a relative bargain compared with the manor, just a few blocks away. Shari Chase of Chase International has the listing.

$100 million

Tranquility Estate

Lake Tahoe, Nev.

Tommy Hilfiger co-founder Joel Horowitz's 210-acre spread features the third-highest price tag in America. The 20,000-square-foot main house has extras like a cigar lounge, art studio and sports gym, while its grounds feature a golf course, boathouse and views of Lake Tahoe. A staircase in the home replicates the stairs of the S.S. Titanic. The home has been on the market for almost four years. Shari Chase of Chase International has the listing.

$80 million

Kaiser Estate

Honolulu

Separately, the three coastal parcels that comprise the former estate of industrialist Henry J. Kaiser wouldn't make this year's list, but together, the 5.5-acre property becomes one of the country's most expensive. The island getaway offers coastal views and a sleek, midcentury-style 15,000-square-foot home, extensively landscaped tropical grounds and a 12,000-square-foot boathouse and marina. Tech tycoon Fred Chan and his wife, Annie, put the home on the market in January 2009. Mary Worell of Sotheby's International Realty has the listing.

$75 million

Humming Bird Nest Ranch

Simi Valley, Calif.

Though it's named after the tiniest of birds, this property spans 123 acres. In addition to a 17,000-square-foot Spanish-Revival-style main house, six guest homes and 10 town houses grace the estate, as do a fully equipped equestrian center and parking for 200 vehicles. If driving doesn't suit you, there's also a helicopter pad. It has been on the market since late 2007; Joyce Rey of Sotheby's International Realty has the listing.

Convert your crack house to modern house

Architect Patrick Michell and his partner, Claire McKeown, bought a three-bed house in Hackney, east London. The area boasts handsome terraces, but this house, a boarded-up former crack den, was in a sorry state. Fires had ripped through two rooms and there was a shabbily psychedelic paint scheme. Bailiffs had removed any character features that were left.

But to an architect wanting to make a property his own, it was perfect. "If there had been period features, we'd have worked more sensitively with them, but because it had all gone, we were free to give it a modernist slant," says Michell, 32.

He opened up the two front receptions, and transformed and expanded the narrow kitchen space at the back with a glass roof across the side return. The glass is one huge single piece, appearing to balance unaided on a wall of stone. The back wall is largely glass, too, with a ceiling-high, pivoting glass door to the garden and a glass box punched into the wall to create an appealing window seat. In summer, sunlight streams in, while at night trees tower in silhouette above your head. With a concrete floor inside extending out to the patio, the design aims to merge the two spaces.

Easy crops for beginners for gardening

Easy crops for beginners to grow in the garden

Growing veg plants in the garden is an easy task. No, really, it is.

I can do it, and I'm fairly useless at most practical things. It's a bit like cooking: the first time I turned a hob on, I was terrified I would burn down the whole house, and then give any survivors salmonella. Looking back, I think I left the hob on for about an hour after I had served the food, which just goes to show you can be pretty gormless and still grow plenty of veg.

But when you start cooking, you start with the simple stuff: an omelette here, the odd bolognese there, and after a while, you're serving up roulades and stuffed pheasant galore.

And so with vegetables. If you're growing your own for the very first time this year, start with these five easy crops to build your confidence, and you'll find the fancy crops far less terrifying. Of course, there are a few caveats to saying growing veg is easy. You do need to water the things, and keep an eye out for odd pest. But on the whole, these crops will make you burst with pride, and hanker for more veg-growing exploits.

Radishes

These are marvelously simple and quick to grow, and are often the first vegetables to crop on your plot. Start sowing in March, and thin to 5cm apart, watering well during dry spells. Within three weeks, the radishes will have sprinted their way to a harvestable size, and you'll be crunching away happily. Sow every three weeks for continuous crops.

New potatoes

Leave tubers out to sprout in a warm, light room until the sprouts are 2.5cm long. Then plant 15cm deep, with the end that has the most sprouts facing up, 30cm apart. When the new shoots reach 20cm tall, pull earth up to their tips. The potatoes are ready once the plant has flowered for a couple of weeks, but have a grub about in the soil to check the buried treasure first.

Garlic

A very forgiving crop that really just asks to be planted in either autumn or spring (check the variety), four inches deep, and then left to its own devices.

It isn't a big fan of heavy soils, but other than snipping off the lovely, edible, loop-the-loop flower buds of hard neck varieties, you'll find the next thing you do is harvest the big bulbs in mid-summer.

Courgettes

Even if you are a courgette-eating fiend, you'll find yourself rapidly overwhelmed by the number of fruits these plants produce.

Soak the seeds overnight in warm water before sowing on their side in pots of compost in early May.

Plant out in rich soil once all danger of frosts has passed (probably early June), and feed once a fortnight.

Chard

This is easy-peasy, and something you can't buy in the shops. Just sow the seeds outdoors from April, and thin to about 20cm apart.

You'll have beautiful spinach-like leaves and multicolored stems all the way until the next spring.

Are you planning to grow veg for the first time this year, or are you a seasoned GYO-er? We want to hear what you're sowing, and what vegetables you'd recommend for newbie.