Lifestyle - The Ringling Museum

The John and Mable Ringling Museum is just a short drive from Tampa, and provides ENDLESS inspiration. If you're local, visit. If you're planning a visit to the Gulf coast of Florida, include a day at Ringling in your plans--as these pictures will confirm, the grounds alone are worth the effort.

To this day, Mable is credited with having one AMAZING rose garden. When they're all in bloom (April or May), we'll return. Two beautiful specimens already in bloom:

Naturally, what's inside isn't bad either. You obviously don't want to engage in any flash photography, but if you're lucky, you'll snag a couple of good ones without it... A few of our favorites:

The Goods - Hands & Copper

They say the story of a man is written on his face. Given the evident wear, we're sure these antique doll hands have quite a curious story of their own. That copper table has some history too...

If you stop by the store, you'll be amazed at how neat (albeit diminutive) these are.

The Goods - Cheese Accessories

Say CHEESE!

This cheese spreader, name tile, and wooden cheese tray--new at the boutique. Stop by and see us before your next dinner party. We've got some wonderful new wine accessories too. Of course, if your event is of a grander nature, we're happy to help you plan.

Design Tip - Cover It In Green(ery)

Outdoors, any wall looks immensely more stately covered in some sort of greenery. A favorite of ours is winter creeper euonymus. If trained religiously and given sufficient time, it'll do amazing things. For perhaps the best example of just how amazing it can be, look at the columns of the loggia at Villa Balbianello on Lake Como, Italy. (And yes, you've seen that loggia featured in a number of movies, including our favorite Bond flick...) Admittedly, this building would still look good with mud smeared on it, but trust us, a little greenery to soften and enliven your walls will do wonders.

Lifestyle - A Night in Paris

We stumbled across these wonderful images of Paris that emphasize the beauty of the place and capture exactly why the city of lights remains the epicenter of beautiful design. We hope you'll find these as inspiring as we do:

-images via F. Relaix

The Goods - Angels Among Us

Here's a high key photo of a favorite item in our boutique. It's one of a pair of eight-foot, wooden angel wings covered in gold leaf. Gorgeous, huh?

Of course, you can never have too many angels around you.

Lifestyle - Valentine Flowers

We hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's day!

The Goods - Antica Farmacista

Quite simply, this line is one of our favorites--scents that descend from heaven, yet emanate from simple, gorgeous vessels... Antica Farmacista.

Lifestyle - Garden Buildings

As financial markets contract worldwide and the gyre of nay-saying buzzards seems to grow ever tighter, we (smartly) no longer look to keep up with the Jones' and buy a bigger, more expensive home. Instead, we eye our current space, or even a smaller one, and imagine a long term relationship. Eyes have turned to decorating, beautifying, and appreciating what we have, and not what we wish we had. That said, an interesting and stylish way to expand your current living space is to extend it into the lawn or garden by making that outdoor "room" livable. To do so, we recommend anything from a simple arbor and bench, to a gazebo or sunroom--each of which is much less expensive than building a formal living structure. To be clear, these items come in many styles, so you can no doubt find something you'll love. Some of our favorites include:


-images via HSP Garden Buildings.

Design Tip - Rid the Clutter

Declutter. You hear that word from every decorator that graces your television screen as he or she helps an owner prepare a hopelessly messy home for sale. If that's a worthy enough goal in creating first impressions, it should be your goal every day. Why take the time to feather your nest only to entice another? Beautify your space today. Of course, if you're going to be sticking notes to the fridge, shouldn't the clutter be as stylish as possible? We recommend:

one of these magnets of clay and newspaper,

or one of these magnet boards.

The Goods - Valentine's Day

Just a few shots from the store's Valentine's display: