Interior Design and Decorating

As regular readers of mine know, your hotel reporter's strength is not actually staying up to the early hours, so we will have to take Virgilio's word on this one. What we can say is this is truly one of Europe's most fun luxury hotels. Imagine Italian design transported into London tradition and this is what you have. The five-floor brick building may look its century-age outside but, once inside, you are in a different world. Black and gold are the colors that permeate the lobby that reaches round, so to speak, to the bar - which has black Murano chandeliers overhead - and, continuing in a right wheel movement, to Brunello restaurant, and, weather permitting, back out to the terrace, looking across Hyde Park Gate to the Gardens. Kensington Palace, where Princess Diana lived, is about two hundred yards north across the parkland. There are 66 rooms and suites, decorated - uniquely - by Gilles Dez. Room 208, looking out over a side street, De Vere Gardens, has a wooden f

This massage chair has effectively combined the function of a superior massage tool and the look of an attractive piece of furniture. It will cater to the most discriminating pain sufferer and interior decorator!. Only the finest of leather is used, covering a versatile and aggressive mechanical massage therapist. This chair uses the reputable Human Touch technology, simulating a human massage therapist working the most tense area of your back. The massage track is curved with exaggeration, to follow the natural course of a healthy spine, therefore promoting proper posture - which, in turn, helps maintain normal disc space and joint health. From top to bottom, the massage track measures 27.5 inches, working from the base of your neck to your pelvis. Quad (4) rollers effectively relieve the most common areas of tension and pain, the width adjustment of the rollers allowing you to determine where the most intense 'knots' are located. You can also inflate or deflate the air pressu

When someone says Christmas, the vast majority of people envision joy, family time, presents, snow or other pleasant things. But during this period we're also surrounded by a lot of decoration, lights and electronic devices that might cause unnecessary danger if we don't take a few simple precautions. To ensure a safe Christmas, read the following tips which will help to make your holidays pleasant and risk-free. The Christmas tree     If you're buying a living tree, make sure it's fresh. You can test this by tapping the tree on the ground and see if green needles fall down.     Buy only artificial tree which are marked fire-resistant.     Keep the tree at least 3 metres away from all equipment and appliances producing heat.     If the tree is wobbly, take it our from the stand and redo the screws and bolts. You should also secure it with wires to prevent it from tipping over.     Clean the tree stand before the holidays for improved water intake. Check water levels sev

An old friend of mine moved into a beautiful, late 19th century, Victorian style home a little more than 12 months ago. At a recent party she held at the home many of the guests commented about the quaint old fashioned style of the kitchen and how cozy and friendly it seemed. At this point my friend declared that she and her four children all absolutely hated the kitchen area and would love to renovate and modernize it but were utterly daunted by the task and so had not attempted it. Her main fear was the perceived high cost of renovating an old home as she had heard many home improvement horror stories - People spending tens of thousands of dollars on what started out to be quite modest renovations, only to find a number of non-budgeted repairs and maintenance were also required, therefore significantly blowing out the estimated costs. My friend did not relish the idea of finding herself in a similar predicament so the idea of undertaking restoration and renovation work had been shelv