I just heard from Sferra Brothers that they’re putting some of their table linens on sale now, in time for the holiday season.  So this year, instead of waiting until after year-end for a discount, you can get your table linens at 25% off now and use them for holiday entertaining or as gifts.

The following collections (or colors, where applicable) are being discontinued, so they are now 25% off.  Quantities are limited, so don’t wait – come view all the styles on sale now.

Chiara Table Linens – Italian linen collection with oversized cocktail napkins, napkins, and placemats; available in a range of pretty pastels.

Taylor Table Linens – available with a graceful botanical jacquard motif, this cotton/linen blendcollection has colors that are perfect for fall:

The lake blue color in the easy-care Orchard Table Linens is on sale; featuring a graceful scrollwork design and treated with a stain-repellant finish, this is perfect for everyday use.

If you like roses, Darby features an old-fashioned, intertwined rose damask in pure linen:

And Festival Colorblock is a great, modern take on our classic Festival linens:

To see the entire collection of table linens on sale, click here.

Gracious Style is an online retailer of sophisticated, high-quality products for every room in the house.  We love helping others create warm and welcoming rooms for themselves.  To read more, visit our blog.

If you’ve ever wanted to own Varga Art Crystal’s extraordinary crystal, this may be your best chance.  While quantities last, a limited number of pieces are now on sale.

Those of you who know Varga know that these pieces are works of art: they are made entirely by hand and feature exquisite diamond and copper-wheel engraving.  Varga Art Crystal is found in museums, embassies, palaces, and private residences around the world, and every piece is signed by hand.  Normally, these stems range from $115 – $325 each, and they are now on sale at up to 35% off.  These make really special wedding and anniversary presents.

Take a look.  If you love sea life, the Pacifica collection is available in six different designs:

The classic Renaissance looks positively regal:

Barcelona is exquisitely detailed:

And Captiva is clean and classic:

To see our whole collection of Varga Art Crystal stemware and barware, visit us here.

Gracious Style is an online retailer of sophisticated, high-quality products for every room in the house.  We love helping others create warm and welcoming rooms for themselves.  To read more, visit our blog.

Grey is my favorite color for the home.  I love how it creates a perfect canvas for any color you use against it.  In our home, we have grey everywhere.  Our living room walls are a medium grey, and they look great against the dark wood floors, white paneling, and coffered ceilings.  In the bathrooms, the light grey walls are wonderful against all our white windows, our white subbway tiles, white and grey marble floors, and nickel fixtures.
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We have a great sale going on all of our 1891 by Sferra duvet covers, shams, sheets, and pillows.  Sferra is not planning to introduce any new 1891 by Sferra styles for Fall 2010, so we’re thrilled to be able to pass along savings on all existing stock to you.  These collections will not be reordered, so it is strictly first-come, first-serve.
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Once our theme was set, I spent a lot of time online looking through Style Me Pretty, Martha Stewart Weddings, and The Knot.  I wanted something elegant and feminine which incorporated orchids.  Also, because it was a birthday party and I did not want the room to look like it was set up for a wedding, so I stayed away from all-white themes.  I found this image at finestationery.com, which I used for inspiration:

Since so many people were contributing to Aunt Carmen’s party, we needed to keep our costs low.  The best way to do this was to use as many the hotel’s services as possible, so I started with the room.  The hotel’s Arboleda salon is surrounded by windows and reminded me of a conservatory, so I thought it would be fun to turn each table into a miniature floral garden.
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To make Aunt Carmen’s 80th birthday party memorable, we needed to come up with a theme.  Great parties need themes to make them flow and focus the event.  We wanted this to be a celebration of her life, so we started by asking: what does she like?  Aunt Carmen has owned shops, hotels, and restaurants, designed shoes, and developed real estate.  But her latest passion is … slot machines!
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I grew up in Costa Rica.  My dad is one of eleven in his family and my mom is one of seven, so I grew up surrounded by lots of cousins, aunts, and our family’s friends.  Aunt Carmen, the oldest of my dad’s siblings, has always been extremely capable and well-connected; she’s the Vito Corleone (from “The Godfather” movies) in our family.  Anytime anyone had a problem, they went to visit Aunt Carmen and Uncle Arturo.  Do you need a doctor?  Call Aunt Carmen.  An architect?  Aunt Carmen.  An attorney?  Aunt Carmen.  A visa?  Aunt Carmen.
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In the September 2010 issue of House Beautiful, there is a story about interior designer Penelope Bianchi’s house in Santa Barbara, California that really resonated with me.  As many of you know, at Gracious Style we really believe in buying timeless objects because we only want to own things that we’ll still love ten, twenty, and thirty years from now.
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It can be hard to say goodbye to old friends.  Because every collection you see at Gracious Style was personally chosen for you, they all have a special place with us.  But things change, and eventually some things have to be discontinued.  That’s why each year we have a Summer Sale, where we put many of the collections we’ve loved for years at 50% to even 75% off.
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One of the questions we are asked most often at Gracious Style is, “What do you recommend for cleaning fine linens?”  And our answer is always Le Blanc Linen Wash.  There are many products out there for doing laundry, but here are ten reasons why we reach for Linen Wash again and again.

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