In the 1700s, Josiah Wedgwood carried on the medallion tradition when he inherited a pottery shop. Wedgwood lived at the same time as British neo-classical architect and interior designer Robert Adam. Wedgwood took advantage of the classical influence that spread over England and produced pottery that harmonized with Adam’s furniture and other interior decorations. Adam sought to transfuse the beautiful spirit of antiquity with novelty and variety.

Wedgwood’s greatest fame rests in medallions on a smaller scale — on his jasperware, a dull white bisque capable of being colored and ornamented, used in a wide variety of collectible tableware, from mugs to plates to cups. The colors of the background were blue, olive green, black, lilac or sage, most often with white ornaments.

In earlier days, his larger sculptural pieces were often used as panel insertions in walls, mantels, door trim and furniture appliqués.

Now the designs are back in style. To keep the foyer connected to the rest of the house, use the same flooring as in the adjacent spaces. For interest, you might add inserts or a contrast border: stone or tile in a wood floor; Tile Medallions, or marble borders in a limestone floor.

Lighting is another consideration. For a softer ambiance, my favorite choice is a beautiful chandelier with shades and a dimmer switch. If possible, add architectural details, such as a dome where the light fixture could fit or moldings that could be faux finished or gold leafed.

A custom area rug using commercial grade carpeting is another solution. Even with a mat outside, people will wipe their feet on the foyer rug. But I’ve found that if the outside mat is sisal, people are more likely to use it. And the inside rug should be professionally sealed to resist dirt and stains.

Beaded curtains, in years gone by a feature of almost every home, are making a colorful comeback.

With the attractive effect they give as they move in the breeze and the many different color variations and combinations now available, they add an interesting and decorative touch to all styles of home.

The first creative choice is to decide what visual impact or atmosphere you are trying to achieve in a particular room: 1. peaceful simplicity; 2. comfortable abundance; 3. discreet subtlety; 4. immense luxury; 5. bold drama.

If curtains are not going to be floor-length, they should be below the sill. Anything less looks as if you’ve run out of fabric.

The current fashion for brilliant blue combined with vivid yellow was perfect for bathroom decor.

Sheers, scrims, draperies, panels and other lush fabrics passing themselves off as curtains, are leaping beyond the windows and shower stalls to produce a woven surround. Cotton, velvet, silk and linen swaths are now room dividers, alcove walls, romantic retreats, outdoor nooks and floating doorways.

Decorating with curtains adds drama, conjures settings and provides stimulus to the imagination. They can also muffle unpleasant sounds, add rhythm and movement to space, produce texture and dimension, and skillfully transmute the harshest light. Curtains are soft sculpture playing at being solid architecture.

Rich and opulent, simple and starched — curtains speak volumes, and with so many wonderful fabrics and materials available today, trend-setters are finding all sorts of ways to charm with curtains.

Please visit Zappobz.com - the largest manufacturer and supplier of Beaded Décor and LED curtains.

Outdoor lighting has become a favorite project for American consumers. As more and more homeowners have become concerned with not only protecting their homes, but also with the appearance their homes project, they’ve increasingly turned to a variety of outdoor lighting products. But while security lights and motion detectors have been, and continue to be, big sellers for retailers, outdoor decorative lighting - for driveways, decks, gardens and other areas - is also beginning to make a name for itself in many hardlines outlets.

People are staying home more and they want their houses to look nice. Today’s lights are easy to install, relatively inexpensive, and are available in a variety of fixtures to light many types of outdoor locations. There are lights and fixtures for driveways, sidewalks, patios, gardens, pools, garages, doors, lawns and decks, just to name a few. And retailers say customer demand for these products is growing rapidly.

Among the different types of outdoor decorative lighting are accent lighting, uplighting, downlighting, grazing, shadowing, path lighting, cross lighting and others. There are fixtures available for the far-reaching needs, and price limits, of all your consumers, both residential and commercial.

With such a variety and selection of lights available, take advantage of this trend by providing the consumer with everything he or she needs to illuminate the exterior of their home. This does not mean simply displaying a wide selection of outdoor lights. It means providing the accessories, training and advice needed to install these lights as well.

There’s something about a cuckoo clock that piques a person’s imagination. People either think they’re gaudy or they love ‘em. But they all stop and look at them. In our modern mass-produced world, cuckoo clocks stand out as impressive displays of skilled labor. Unfortunately, you don’t find that much anymore. Just look at the site clockshoppes.com

The price from 1-26-2011 depends on the amount of hand carving, music and animation. A clock embellished with a chalet that has individually carved shutters will cost more than one without that feature. Anyone willing to work into a busy schedule the chore of winding a clock by hand - every day on 30-hour models and about once a week on those with an eight-day mechanism - probably is thinking more about the nostalgic aspect of a cuckoo clock than practical considerations.

Many people initially are drawn to cuckoo clocks for the way they sound, that happy Old- World bird’s call achieved through a series of weights and counterbalances triggered most often when a clock strikes the hour. Customers who purchase cuckoos are all across the board, from younger couples to their grandparents. But they all seem to have in common that, first, they can appreciate something unusual. Sometimes half-forgotten memories surface, perhaps of a parent having one in the house when they were growing up or at least having heard one as a child.

Children seem to be drawn to cuckoos. But watch out: In order for a cuckoo clock to run properly, the weight chains have to hang down almost to the floor, presenting a pretty tempting invitation to a child as something to play with or yank on.

Of course, the value of antique or vintage cuckoos handed down as family heirlooms needs to be evaluated on an individual basis. As with many collectibles, it can vary widely depending on how well a timepiece has been cared for.

Before you visit a frame shop you need to do some home work, literally. Think about where it’s going to hang in the house. This is important from both an artistic and practical point of view. On the artistic side, preselecting a spot for your artwork will help you choose the best frame for both the print and the room. It will give you a sense of the overall design depending on whether the room is traditional, formal or contemporary.

But there are practical considerations as well, specifically whether the room is bright or damp. If a piece is very valuable and will be in a room with high light, you should consider a UV reflective glass. Though it’s more expensive, it’s worth it to protect your frame and print.

If a paper print is destined for a bathroom or kitchen, you need more matting or spacers between the print and the glass to prevent condensation from getting on the artwork, which could then stick to the glass. And because of moisture and potential splatters, I would avoid hanging giclee prints in these rooms because they have no glass to protect them.

Try to keep an open mind. No matter where you go, photos on canvas are “investments”. To get the best job possible, let the framer be creative in making suggestions for you artwork. You may find the style you like most is one you would never have chosen yourself.

I like the artwork to shine out, so I do the framing as simply as possible. The image, especially a photograph, should have a lot of space around it. I wish people would be more understanding about the quality of paper, which will change due to humidity. Seal the covering glass to matting at edges to prevent moisture from getting in. Mold can stain the paper. It’s important to have artwork regularly cleaned and maintained.

Please, visit point101.com. There you can find a lot of information about canvas prints, switchframes, giclee and perspex prints. You can upload your photos online and you will get high quality prints.

Quilts are thought to have originated some 200 years ago in rural areas where women out of necessity turned patches of discarded cloth and clothing into bedcovers both decorative and warm. Comforting in its simplicity, the patchwork quilt embodies the best of the can-do American spirit.

Quiltmaking almost died out in the early 1900s, until a concern for preserving America’s own crafts led the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City to open its American Wing in 1924. This prompted the first revival of collecting and making quilts.

The very modern American women of the 1920s rising middle class were newly able to afford ready-made clothing and dry goods and had to be persuaded. So women’s magazines promoted quiltmaking with images of smartly dressed women choosing quick projects such as patchwork pillows and ready-cut quilt kits.

In the 1930s quiltmaking surged again, this time because of the Great Depression. Making do was the order of the day, and creating quilts fit the bill. Mail-order companies and daily newspapers sold copies of hundreds of new patterns. Quilt contests attracted thousands of quilts, and not just from rural areas. Sales of thread, cloth and batting soared for a while.

Quiltmaking suffered its next decline during World War II when the domestic sale of cloth was restricted. At the same time, many women took wartime jobs out of their homes; when the war was over they weren’t enthusiastic about jumping back on the quilting bandwagon.

In fact, quilts and quiltmaking didn’t come back into vogue until the nation prepared to celebrate its bicentennial in 1976. Once again, the quilt was looked at as a way to inspire pride in America’s traditions and heritage.

That’s about the time I had my quilt awakening.

My modern mother sewed clothes for my sisters and me in the 1950s but never made a quilt. Although a modern young woman myself, living and working in a bustling, urban setting, I succumbed to the back-to- earth movement of the 1970s and learned to weave and knit. One Saturday morning in 1974 while I window-shopped, a brown-and-green North Carolina Lily quilt caught my eye and my heart. Its unconventional design and colors grabbed me.

I walked into that store, handed over $100 and walked out with a quilt under my arm. What have I done? I wondered. I’d spent a lot of money for a quilt that wasn’t even meant for my bed. I planned to hang it on the wall above my loom!

Without intending to, I had started a quilt collection that would soon grow and grow. I had also made a life discovery: I was so inspired by quilts, their makers and their stories, that I soon quit my job to research and write about quilts and quilting.

Back then I thought I was different from others because I decorated with oversized quilts, but I soon found a major quilt revival already under way, fueled by baby boomers who had discovered America’s folk heritage. In 1974 the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City organized a groundbreaking exhibit of quilts made by anonymous artisans. Stores with fabrics, tools, books and classes opened to serve the special needs of quilters. Quilt magazines provided patterns and support for the quiltmaking movement, and annual quilt festivals attracted tens of thousands of people.

Quilt guilds formed, including the American Quilt Study Group in Mill Valley, Calif., a network of quilt historians who exchange and publish their quilt findings. A nationwide grassroots campaign soon launched to record stories and photograph quilts.

The late-20th-century resurgence of interest in quilting prompted a plethora of books by academics and enthusiasts, exhibits across the country and documentary films chronicling quilting’s history, artisans, designs and their meanings, and techniques.

All this attention to America’s historic quilts has led to an increase in collecting and preserving quilts and a growing interest in quiltmaking that will continue for generations. And why not? Quilts have a magnetism all their own. Maybe it’s the familiarity of their components or the excitement of seeing the larger pattern emerge as the pieces are sewn together. Maybe it’s the storytelling that goes on around a frame or the joy of seeing hard work admired and loved. Maybe it’s the recognition of women’s ingenuity and craftsmanship. Maybe it’s the satisfaction of continuing a tradition and creating a legacy.

It’s no surprise window blinds comprise nearly half of all window coverings currently installed in homes.

It’s also no surprise that white remains the bestselling color. It may surprise some dealers, however, to know one of the hottest trends in window blind styles is in wood and faux wood blinds.

While the style has become increasingly appealing to homeowners in the past several years, many home centers seem not to have noticed. They should. Retailers who’ve been successful with them say they offer many benefits over standard plastic or aluminum blinds.

The faux wood blinds last longer than standard blinds, they’re more stylish and easier to buy because they look good in most rooms without having to be color-matched to the rest of the room. In addition, they’re higher-priced, higher-margin items that appeal to upscale consumers.

Wood blinds are more of an investment for consumers than aluminum and PVC window blinds. Customers are investing in them like a furniture purchase. Sometimes, wood blinds can be financed with the house, the same way you can with shutters.

It’s that shutter look, in part, that’s fueling some of the growth in wood blinds. The wider the slats get on window blinds, the more they look like shutters. The more they look like shutters, the more they remind consumers of their parents’ homes.

People are going back to things that remind them of the past. Our parents didn’t have any other options but wood shutters. Wood blinds have that southern charm and feel that works with nature. It’s bringing the feeling of the environment back to the house, a warmth (over windows) that shutters are too heavy for.

In addition, wood blinds provide an airy, open look to homes. As sunlight brightens rooms, wood blinds help create a pleasant living space.

Customers appreciate the quality look of wood blinds. Wood blinds don’t look as inexpensive as the standard blinds you can pick up at any discount store. Wood blinds look nicer.

For those who want that look without the cost, imitation wood blinds are the answer. Some consumers like the fact that they offer the look of wood without using natural resources.

Imitation wood blinds have other advantages in certain applications. You can’t put real wood blinds in the kitchen, because a lot of water and humidity can make them warp.

The hookah or shisha, which is part and parcel of Eastern culture, has been used for pleasure throughout the ages. A hose called a “marpuc” is used to inhale the smoke of the tobacco, on which there is a small fire, and the smoke is filtered through a reservoir of water. It is believed that the sight and sound produced as water bubbles up is rehabilitating. This is the easiest way for people who like metaphysics to embark on a trip to the stars. The journey of the spirit away from the body and the eventual union of spirit and body is only one of the pleasures of the hookah.

Though it originated in the Middle East 400 years ago, the hookah is a tobacco pipe with a long tube that cools smoke by drawing it through water. First, the tobacco is put on a small, ventilated plate on the narghile, then burning pieces of charcoal are placed on top. Sucking on the shisha pipe then draws smoke down into the water-filled bowl and out again into the mouth.

Connoisseurs describe it as a “sweet” smoking sensation because the nicotine is taken out by the water. Traditionally, flavored tobacco - consisting of dried fruit pulp mixed with tobacco leaves - is used.

With the shisha, you can choose from an oriental orchard of flavors. Shisha smokers can choose from a variety of flavors, including apple, apricot, strawberry, mixed fruit and mint. There is, it has to be stressed, no outlawed substance inside the hookah tobacco. Shisha adepts consider the elaborate preparation and total attention required part of its relaxing effect. Shisha, they say, is for contemplation, not stimulation. Decor notes for your hookah smoking area: go with big pillows, oriental rugs and lots of couches to create that Night at the Casbah motif.

Until recently, air filtration wasn’t a product category of much interest to consumers or retailers.

For consumers, remembering to change their furnace or central air conditioner filter was just one more mundane household maintenance chore that was honored more in the breach than the observance.

For retailers, air filtration meant giving up precious space on the sales floor to an unproductive commodity item they had to carry as a service to customers, but on which they were lucky to count their profit, if any, in pennies.

Now, all that has changed along with the nation’s changing focus on environmental and health issues. As the nation has taken steps to clean up its air and water, there’s been a growing awareness that our indoor environments-the air inside our homes and offices - are polluted, too, and that we can do something about it.

Sure, the inexpensive, disposable furnace filter is still around, and will be for years. And it still accounts for the great percentage of unit sales in the category. But today, consumers have a variety of products to choose from among high-efficiency filters that offer far greater performance than anything on the retail market a decade ago. These new filters create substantially greater sales and profit opportunities for retailers than traditional disposable filters. And consumers are actively seeking them.

With so many air filter choices, and limited floor space, choosing what to carry and from whom can be difficult. Lennox Air Filters are essential for indoor air quality.

Pot plants in the workplace can keep stress in check and boost productivity.

While indoor pot plants are generally introduced into an office to soften a sterile environment, there is plenty of evidence to suggest the improvements they bring are more than just aesthetic.

No longer regarded as mere decorations, office plants can improve physical and mental well-being among workers. High levels of stress in the office lead to decreased productivity, absenteeism and high staff turnover factors that will affect a business’s bottom line.

According to a study by a number of American universities, however, having plants in a working environment results in lower levels of stress and higher productivity.

In one study, Dr Roger Ulrich of Texas University found that college students exhibited less stress, fear and anger when sitting an exam in a room with plants in full view.

In another study, Ulrich observed a number of patients recovering from gall-bladder surgery and found that those who recovered in a room that overlooked the hospital’s garden recovered faster and required less medication than those whose bed did not have a view of the garden. So spending money on office plants and Office Plant Maintenance can actually help reduce costs and improve productivity.