Whenever I am in New York, which isn’t often enough, I try to carve out a few hours to wander the floors of ABC Carpet&Home. It is THE COOLEST place-the building, the location, the smells, the sights, the feel of the fabrics, furniture, accessories. A total sensory experience. LOVE it! When I saw a page in the Sept. House Beautiful mag this morning featurinig a stack of floor pillows make from sumptious sari silks I hit the website almost immediately for a digital shopping experience. Here’s just a sampling of what can be found if you let your fingers do the walking (over your keyboard, that is).

When looking through magazines I seem to be drawn to the ads more than the articles, as the photos and colors are generally dramatic and I enjoy looking at good graphic design. One such ad that I tore out recently was for a company called Natori. They produce beautiful lingerie, clothing and bedding with a lot of embroidered detailing on silk. Now another design magazine I actually READ recently was discussing a debate amongst deisgners on whether beds should have throw pillows on them. The majority said “no”, but when you see beautifully coordinated ensembles such as these, how can you resist?

Personally I’m committed to having a useless collection of pillows on my bed, even though they just get tossed on the floor each night only to be dutifully arranged again in the morning. I just like the whole design aspect of combining patterns and trims and what better place or opportunity to employ that?

They also have some really pretty clothing and it’s always interesting to read the bio of a woman who left corporate succcess to pursue her heart and passion. Click the Profile link on the site to access that. Darn flash sites are cool but limit linking abilities….

  Yummy colors and exotic patterns abound at this website that Lauren in our office found. Papaya has great designs on cards, magnets, journals and art prints.

My favorites are these pretty calendars. Is it really almost 2008 already??

Inspiration saturation! While doing some online research about Jali designs for a post on the designamour website, I came across this website, Paperblanks, that offers amazingly beautiful blank journals, daily planners and address books. Their philosophy is to “combine conscientious bookmaking, elegant designs and careful handwork to produce some of the finest blank journals available.”

Just look at these pretties!! It’s enough to make me want to buy one and fill it with deep thoughts and love poems-or even just lay in on a side table as a pretty accent. Isn’t Christmas just around the corner?