First let me apologize to all my Tastemaker friends, I have been a little distracted lately, but for good reason! After great response from my fellow Stylefeeders, I decided to launch my own blog, CreateGirl.

Along with setting up the blog, I have been working on some really great design projects, which I will share with you over the next few months. Now I am back with the promise of regular posts again. So please forgive me and if I may shamelessly plug, take a peak over at CreateGirl, where you will find even more budget friendly home decor ideas and even some fashion finds! OK, back to work.

Across my desk this afternoon came a fabulous email from CB2, one of my “go to” stores. If you write a review on one of their products, you will be entered to win a $1000 CB2 gift card! We all know you like to share your opinion on products, so hop on over; in this crazy economy, don’t we all want to save a little? The lucky winner will be drawn on December 17th…now that would be a great Holiday gift! Below are a few of my favorite CB2 products:

Oh, not to mention all the pieces above are on sale! Have you purchased from CB2? Share your favorite pieces…and happy product reviewing!

Did you know that sleep is still a mystery to science? Scientists know for sure that we need sleep, and that being without sleep for too long will literally make us go insane and eventually kill us. They know about how much sleep we need, too. But they don’t exactly know what we need sleep for. There are strong indications that sleep is a function that lets the body and mind rest and rejuvenate, but it has not really been proven…

In this posting, I will present some beds that may make you wonder if you are awake or dreaming. At the very least you will fall asleep with a smile on your face

The Floating Bed

I would love to go to sleep in this bed designed by Janjaap Ruijssenaars! Actually, I would love to go to sleep in this room… The floating bed is kept off the ground by enough magnets to keep 900 kg in the air. To make sure that the bed doesn’t float away (because of wind or other things that may rock your bed…), it is anchored to the walls by four cables. With a price tag at over a million dollars (yes, that is six 0’s), I doubt this bed will be more than a dream for most of us. But what a lovely dream…

A cheaper version of the floating bed is this round floating bed, which is a little less elegant and suspended from the ceiling.

The Cocoon Bed

The Lomme bed is a little on the science fiction side. I can imagine storm troopers sleeping in these. Well, at least it would match their uniforms. Talking about matching: you can change the color of the light inside the bed, allowing you to color coordinate with either your bedroom or your Star Wars pajama. The Lomme’s color changing feature is intended for light therapy, and it features a unique light therapy alarm clock.

Jokes aside, I do love the smooth and futuristic design of this bed, and the color therapy sounds intriguing, but what other furniture would it go with? The classic Bubble Chair by Eero Aarnio? Maybe this is a challenge for Julieann, the Tastemaker Diaries’ interior designer?

Get the whole scoop »

The new Crate and Barrel arrived in the mail today and I took a rare moment to sit and flip through it! Here are a few great finds for fall.

The Allegro Settee is a great deal at $499 (though it does say assembly required, which might mean nothing more than screwing in some legs) and looks substantial at 54 inches wide. It appears to slant back ever so slightly, which I like in a settee. I prefer it in the Mocha Micro. At this price, it would be a great piece to reupholster after a year or two if you get sick of the fabric! Stack a few brightly colored pillows on it and you have a unique new settee.

Another piece which caught my eye was this magazine rack. Goodness knows I can use all the help I can get in corralling the piles of magazines I have! I like the faux leather which is different than all the metal ones we see out there and the ivory stitching is a nice detail. At $21.99 it is available in green, red and white. Now if they had purple or orange, it would be ever so trendy.

The Alpha coffee table is a unique piece with its vintage looking printers blocks. It is a great conversation piece and could be the highlight of any living room. At $899, it’s not necessarily inexpensive, but it is a piece I would suspect one would keep for a long time!

What home decor pieces are you liking for fall?

When scouting for a client, I always try to look in unexpected places. Recently I was searching for bedding and I stumbled upon two great finds, both on linen/bedding sites. Isn’t it fun when you find a gem in an unexpected place?

I love The Company Store, their sheets are fabulous and always in really fun colors. Wait one minute, what do I see as I am flipping through their catalog pages? These absolutely fabulous Urbino ottomans!! They are so fun, I especially like the turquoise option. The embroidered medallion on top creates a unique accent. I see this ottoman as a lovely addition in a bedroom, perhaps next to a vanity, or as spare seating for guests in a Living Room! They have a very distinct Moroccan feel, which we’re seeing all over the magazines right now.

Get the whole scoop »

There in the corner sits the lonely chair I bought years ago at a flea market. Of course I had every intention of stripping the old paint and gracing it with a shiny new coat that very same weekend. We all know how good intentions can go; I never got around to doing it. Finally, this weekend I thought to do a bit of research. As much as I love my Ben Moore paint, I felt this chair needed something special and all its own. As I start my internet search I stumbled upon “The Old Fashioned Milk Paint Company,” which I am impressed with right away. Can we all say GREEN and free of any VOC?! Love it! To top it off they are a local company here in Massachusetts, even better. The Milk Paint Company literally makes their paint out of milk protein, lime, clay and earth pigment. It arrives in a small package and you just add water to the desired thickness. They state there is a bit of a milky odor when you first start to paint, but as soon as it dries you are left with an antique looking color.

Most of the photos they show online are of very “old fashioned”-looking pieces, but I think in this age of the “vintage” craze, an older looking piece mixed in with some contemporary pieces will give it the spotlight it deserves. In other words don’t get scared off by the pictures, think outside the box!

Fabulous, I have made some progress, now off I go to wait by the post for my “Soldier Blue” milk paint to arrive. I will post some pictures and give a review when it arrives…then again don’t hold your breath, we know how long it has taken me just to pick the paint!!

The term Modern Furniture can mean different things to different people. I belong to those who consider it a style of furniture influenced by modernism, designed and produced since the late 19th century. Most of you will recognize some of the modern classics below representing this style. It is hard to believe that some of these pieces have been around since before your parents, your grandparents, and in some cases even your great-grandparents, were born!

Egg Chair by Arne Jacobsen (1958), LC4 Chaise Longue by Le Corbusier (1928)

Noguchi Coffee Table by Isamu Noguchi (1944), Monte Carlo Bench – Eileen Gray (1925)

If you are lucky enough to find an original, and have the money to buy it, I truly envy you. But for those of us who are not so lucky, there are companies offering replicas of these modern classics for a cheaper price, so we can still enjoy owning one.

If you have a favorite modern classic, please let me know about it in the comments

Like most Stylefeeders, I love visuals. Discovering beautiful shapes, great colors, and interesting designs really makes me happy! I admire designers and artists who are able to create objects and compositions I cannot stop looking at. I secretly hope that I would be able to do the same if I only had more time available

My style can safely be called eclectic. The kinds of things that catch my attention are interesting and pleasing to the eye, make me smile, and have that unexpected extra dimension that gives them character. This includes modern furniture, ethnic antiques, artsy wall decor, silly gadgets, stylish recycling, and ingenious designs. I blame traveling and having lived in a handful of different countries, picking up aspects of various cultures and making them part of who I am.

Almost everything you’ll find in my Stylefeed are things I would love to own if I only had enough money to buy them and enough space to put them in. But who needs 27 beds, 54 lamps, and 32 couches! In future posts, I will share some of my favorites with you, and I hope you will enjoy them as much as I do!

As a little girl, I remember Saturday night was always Date Night for my parents. I would sit and watch my mom put on her makeup, which was neatly organized in a long drawer of her dresser. It seemed like a very grown up thing to do: paint your nails, style your hair and apply lipstick. Lately, my eye has been drawn to makeup vanities, and not until remembering this Saturday night ritual did I realize why this piece of furniture always makes me stop and take a second look. There is something so intriguing about a mirror which seems to flip up out of nowhere and little drawers which hold squares and tubes of various colors. So here are a few beautiful options for the little girl in all of us!

The William Sonoma Home Montmartre Vanity has a very Parisian Deco feel to it. The clean lines and square nickel hardware is just classic. I especially love the contrast between the dark Walnut finish and the parchment colored inset. The petite vanity chair with the slight curve to the back and plush ivory velvet just makes it feel even more sophisticated.

This 50’s styled dressing table, designed by Jamie Graham of Graham & Green in London is so glamorous! The mirrored top and drawers adds to the charm of a bedroom vanity. The dark legs look to be in a rich espresso finish, which gives the piece some weight. I like the idea of choosing your own mirror, the beveled triptych option they show is perfect for seeing all angles. The stylist of this photo positioned a comfy velvet chair next to the vanity, as if to anticipate a curious little girl looking on!

If you have the space why not indulge in a piece of furniture which is for the sole purpose of assisting us in looking even more beautiful everyday!

Via Toy Box from Portland, Oregon, understands the need for storage! Mothers are always asking for better storage options for all the toys but also want something that is stylish! As does this designer!! Here it is!

These 15 x 15 x 15 boxes are made in fun pastel and primary colors. The Geometric shapes are really what makes them stand out as something different. They are also so much easier for kids to grab toys out of than lifting a heavy storage box top. There are so many ways to use them, the options are endless. You can be as creative as your imagination will let you…. a nightstand, storage under their platform bed or tucked neatly along a living room wall where it blends in with the décor.

I especially like the fact you can mix door cubes with the geometric cubes, sometimes you just want the toys hidden! The above “6 pack” sells for $329; it’s a great deal and you can customize the shapes and colors to fit within your rooms color scheme. Very fun for you and the tiny tots who will fill them up quickly!

This is what StyleFeeder is all about…finding that one product that you never knew existed, never knew you needed, but seems so right, you can’t believe no one ever thought of it before.

The most popular product on StyleFeeder in the past few weeks comes courtesy of StyleFeeder sebastyne. For those of us space-challenged urban dwellers that need to maximize every inch of space, these stairs with built-in storage make a world of sense. Too bad they’re not available online – they’re courtesy of a joinery company in Australia. Hopefully, some online retailers will jump on this great idea soon. At the very least, file the idea away for future use!