Ad Categories: Home and Garden

Our hometown source for down, United Feather and Down, has teamed up with the famed cosmetic company Borghese for a new luxe bedding line. The new comforters and pillows are made of 300-thread-count Italian Tile Dobby Cotton and finished with an aloe vera treatment to make them super soft. All bedding comes with samples of Borghese skin-care products. Villa di Borghese bedding is sold exclusively at Bloomingale’s. A king-sized comforter is $500. Hmmm. Wonder if any of this will eventually find its way to one of United’s popular warehouse sales?

—JAN PARR

I stopped in to see my friend Tom yesterday (he’s in the midst of revamping his shop to include more mid-century items) and fell for this lamp—the base is a stunning clear blue. It looks like it came from Holly Golightly’s apartment, but it’d look great in yours, I bet. It’s one of a pair. 

—JAN PARR

By popular demand from her clients, Cindy Galvin of Bardes Interiors has opened a new shop in Winnetka called Maze Home, filled with new and antique furnishings ranging from sofas, tables, and chairs to lamps, pillows, and linens—all with a sophisticated-yet-cozy European feel. In addition to carrying her own line of upholstered pieces (in the most amazing, richly embellished fabrics), Galvin also exclusively represents in the area New Jersey–based artist John C. Traynor (a collection of his peaceful pastoral scenes and still-lifes fills a room in the store), along with the Parisian linen company D. Porthault, which was founded in 1920 and is famous for its colorful screen-printed patterns that have graced the beds of Audrey Hepburn, Coco Chanel, and many other luminaries (the company also makes towels, robes, and pajamas).

—GINA BAZER

Got a bathroom in need of serious revamping? The Tile Shop is holding a contest to find the ugliest bathroom in the area. When they find it, they will bestow upon the owner tile, cabinets, fixtures, lighting, paint, and professional design and installation advice. Find all the details and enter by February 4 here.

—JAN PARR

Photograph: Courtesy HGTV.com

Just the other day I blogged about the staying power of yellow, but the folks at Pantone have other ideas. The color authority has selected 15-5519 Turquoise as the 2010 color of the year. Come to think of it, I have been craving a turquoise purse lately, and I got a scarf in that color last year, and have been happy to have it this season. Stop controlling my mind, Pantone! Still, for my home, I’m not loving this hue. Too harsh, I think. (Although Kartell’s Frilly chairs by Patricia Urquiola, shown above, are pretty fun. So is the floor in this Nantucket boathouse kitchen, featured in the current issue of House Beautiful.) Any other opinions on the matter?

—GINA BAZER