One of my favorite things about meeting new people is hearing their stories.  I especially love hearing about people like designer Martyn Lawrence Bullard, who started doing one thing, moved on to something else, and then finally took all those pieces together and ended up creating something that’s unique to him.

So when I found out that RabLabs founder Anna Rabinowicz went from designing prosthetics to working with gemstones, my ears were piqued.  How did that happen?

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Founded in 1735 by a Florentine aristocrat, Richard Ginori is one of the oldest porcelain manufacturers in Europe. It is easily the most distinguished manifattura of fine porcelain tableware in Italy, meaning that all production takes place under one roof, so quality is very consistent.

For nearly 300 years, it’s been very closely associated with Italy and its history. Its pieces have graced museums, luxury liners, restaurants, luxury hotels, and fine tables around the world. It has made collections for the Vatican and has featured designs by top Italian architects like Gio Ponti and Paola Novane. Read more

Thomas Keller.  Among all the celebrity chefs, he is known as the ultimate perfectionist: The best ingredients.  Flawless technique.  Perfect finish.  This is probably why he has won numerous James Beard awards and is the only American chef with two top-rated Michelin 3-star restaurants: The French Laundry in Napa Valley, which revolutionized fine dining, and Per Se in New York, which took it to a new level.

The secret of his success, though, is not just great cooking. Keller also knows how to make his culinary creations look like art.  He’s such an expert on presenting food, he even designed his own Limoges porcelain dinnerware.

After some studying, we uncovered some of his secrets for showcasing food as art.  Whether you’re a star chef or rely on uberEats, we hope these techniques will take your meals to new levels of sophistication:

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After my last video, I started to get more curious: How good is Green Sweet’s stain repelling technology?  Sure, it worked on Orangina, coffee, and red wine.  But would it work on tough stains like ketchup and barbecue sauce?
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Considering that we use our beds and pillows every day, very few of us think about properly protecting them.  But between the inevitable accidents, allergies, and concerns over dust mites and bed bugs, it’s a good idea to be proactive.  Here are a few simple solutions to keeping your bedrooms clean.

1. Keep your bedroom cool and dry.
2. Eliminate clutter.
3. Choose a hypoallergenic mattress.
4. Use mattress, pillow, duvet, and featherbed protectors (more on that below).  They offer protection against spills and accidents, and reduce the amount of sweat, dirt, hair, and body cells that make it onto your bed.  If bugs are a concern, wrap your mattress, box spring, and pillows in allergen-blocking bed coverings.
5. Air out your bed for 10-15 minutes before making it each morning.  If you have a ceiling fan, turn it on to circulate air.
6. Wash your linens once a week, using your regular detergent or Linen Wash.  Wash your pillows and duvets with Down Wash as needed.
7. Vacuum regularly.  Vacuums with double-layered micro-filter bags or a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters are best for containing dust.
8. Keep your windows closed, or install screens in all your windows.
9. Keep food and drinks away from your bed.
10. Have your pets sleep on a separate bed.  Even the best behaved pets walk outside, drool, shed hair, and have the occasional accident.

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Previously we’d told you about Garnier-Theibaut’s Green Sweet technology: It’s a nanoparticle coated fabric that repels liquids and stains, just like leaves in nature repel water.

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Late last year, we traveled to Marrakech, and it was a revelation.  Behind dusty doors, we got to peek inside lavishly planted courtyards full of bright pink bougainvillea, olive groves, and lemon trees.  Imagine waking up to this after hours and hours of flying:

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TRADITION

There’s an old Scandinavian tradition that when a woman got married, her parents would give the couple a new down duvet and pillows made by her mother, with a coin sewn into the duvet for good luck.  At St. Gèneve, this charming tradition continues.  All St. Gèneve down duvets have a coin sewn in, with the same spirit of good wishes.

HOW TO CHOOSE YOUR DUVET

Higher quality duvets are more versatile: they will be warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer than lower quality duvets. This is because higher quality down is better at insulation, lightness, and breathability than lower quality down. The table below illustrates how this works.

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You’d be surprised how often we are asked this question.  And we are happy to say that you can get Thomas Keller’s dinnerware here at Gracious Style.

Eating at one of Thomas Keller’s fine restaurants – like The French Laundry in Napa or per se in New York – is truly a magnificent experience.  People have flown half way across the world just for that experience.  But he has created a set of dinnerware that lets you re-create the experience at home — if you’ll do the cooking.

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If you live with pets, we bet you’ve had to part with a rug or two after the why-didn’t-I-see-this-coming happens.  But you’re not alone, and we promise you there’s a way to keep both your adorable pets happy and your home looking stylish.

Here’s our primer on how to pick the perfect pet-friendly rug.

Materials

1. Indoor/outdoor rugs are the best choice.  They’re virtually chew- and scratch-proof, can handle lots of foot traffic, and easily wash up with a little detergent and water.  And don’t worry, the new ones are so soft, you could easily walk on them with bare feet.

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