You know you’re a total nerd for homewares when you go to a restaurant and find yourself going ga-ga over their glasses instead of concentrating on their menu. That’s what happened to me on Saturday night at Superba Snack Bar in Venice (which was awesome, btw). I’ve seen Schott Zwiesel’s wine glasses before, and being a Riedel fan know that the two are often compared, but I’m new to their entire line. While I love the Riedel Vinum water glasses, I’m now a fan of the Schott Zwiesel Tritan Crystal Glass Pure Collection, especially the tumbler (pictured above) and whiskey glasses, which is what Superba had. After I convince my husband that the Costco pint glasses we currently have are way too outdated for us, I’m putting these on the list.
If you’re looking to register for a set of glasses, you’ll want to check these out. While Pottery Barn has a Schott Zwiesel collection, they don’t currently have the ones I’m coveting. However, Amazon offers them at $41 for set of six tumblers, which is a fairly decent price for nice glassware.
Redecker goat hair brush from Clean Slate at Crate and Barrel, $34.95
I have a problem.
I’m a little bit addicted to household supplies. If I have a chance to buy a new kitchen sponge, soap caddy, mop, or storage bucket, I will jump at the chance. Seriously. If you put me in a room and give me a choice between a designer dress or a sparkly red garbage can with some cool new auto-open feature, I will probably pick the can.
So when I recently received a catalogue of Crate and Barrel’s new Clean Slate line of artisanal utility products, you would have thought I just won something (Yes. It’s sad). The line has a lot of typical storage/cleaning products you would expect (IE: a not exciting plastic dustpan and brush set, and a wire shelf unit), but it also has things like handcrafted goat hair brushes from the German company Redecker, wooden lint brushes, a crumb brush, and yes…a fly swatter (pictured below).
I’ll save you the house-porny details, but if you’re registering at Crate and Barrel I would definitely check them out and add them to your list. Don’t judge me.
P.S.: This is not a sponsored post. I promise I don’t do those. I’m just generally this corny.
Fly Swatter, $9.95 from Clean Slate at Crate and Barrel
I’m typically not a fan of fake or dried flowers, even though they can often make a more realistic (and cost-friendly) alternative to real flowers. I think this stems (no pun intended) from years ago when I was obsessed with anything having to do with Feng Shui, and read that dried and plastic flowers (unless they were silk) were bad for your home. While I’ve stayed away from them since, there are a couple exceptions to this rule that I think would make great additions to your wedding decor (and are good Feng Shui to boot).
The first is lavender. I recently saw dried lavender on top of a cake and loved the casual and country chic look of it. Lavender, for those still interested in the Feng Shui angle, is both a flower AND an herb. And, since dried herbs can be considered good Feng Shui, they wouldn’t technically be bad just because they’re dried. Using dried lavender stalks on top of a cake is a simple, DIY cake decoration. You can buy them online here
While on the same website that sells the dried lavender, I stumbled across these gorgeous flowers made out of tapioca wood. While they’re technically fake flowers (which is a Feng Shui no-no), they’re made out of wood rather than plastic. Since wood is a natural element, this is a workaround you could get away with. These would be beautiful in a bouquet, in a centerpiece, or used as some sort of garland. You can buy them here.
For those of you interested in Feng Shui, a great beginner’s book is Lillian Too’s Easy-to-Use Feng Shui. It’s especially useful if you’re moving into a new house or apartment and want to get some good mojo flowing! I often found it interesting that a lot of my instincts for how to arrange furniture or what to pack/get rid of always seem to be rooted in the same school of thought. If you’re OCD like me, it’s the perfect guidebook! LOL.
I’m definitely of the belief that you should make your bedroom as cozy and relaxing as possible, with lots of pillows, soft sheets, and a warm and snuggly comforter. I’ve had down comforters before, but they were usually the cheap-y kind from Target. When we first moved to Nashville two years ago, our bedroom kind of got the shaft when it came to decorating (we still have our bed/box spring on the floor. Sad), and while we had decent sheets, we had been sleeping with a paper-thin quilt on top of us, which was less than ideal. Lately, I’ve been trying to give our bedroom some TLC, and we decided to splurge on a nice down comforter. If you don’t have one, I HIGHLY suggest registering for one. We paired ours with a Restoration Hardware linen duvet cover, and I seriously can’t wait to get into bed now. It’s like sleeping in a marshmallow, minus all the stickiness.
After doing some online research, we decided to get our down comforter from Macy’s. I was looking for a 700 fill power down comforter under $400, and the Hotel Collection seemed to have the best reviews. I also had a 20% off coupon. Granted, there are top-of-the-line comforters out there for over $1,000, but I think I would be too nervous sleeping on something that expensive! The one we got, below, has been great. And based on the high fill power, there’s not that much different between it and the 4-figure ones.
When registering for a down comforter, keep these tips in mind:
-What climate do you live in? Down comforters typically come in three levels of warmth: Light, Medium, and Heavyweight. If you live in Florida or a year-round warm climate, you should consider a Light. If you live in a warm/cold climate, a Medium will be good all year. And if you live in Minnesota or any other “freeze- your-ass-off city,” you should get a Heavyweight.
-The most important number for down comforters is fill power. Look for a fill power around 600-700 for the best quality.
-If you’re going to use a duvet cover, thread count doesn’t matter.
-Make sure it’s baffled. This will prevent the down from shifting, and will keep your down comforter nice and fluffy.
Product: Hotel Collection Medium Weight Down Comforter
Product Details:
Baffle Box Construction
only@macy’s
Thread Count: 450
Fill Power: 700
Fill Weight: 40 oz.
Measures 90×98″
Price: $379.99 on sale (if you register at Macy’s, make sure you check the prices of your registry items often, as they tend to go on/off sale a lot)
As a newly engaged writer, I had a hard time finding the practical information I needed to plan my wedding. While the wedding books, magazines, and websites I read had pretty pictures, they seemed to just skim the surface when it came to providing helpful ways for me to create the wedding of my dreams. Now that I'm married, I hope this blog serves as a resource for all you other bride-to-be's, with unique ideas for wedding venues, wedding decorations, wedding dresses, and more!
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