Taigan.com’s Art, Antiques, Home Interior Shops Help Create Places to Live, Work and Play. Find out what two top interior designers from the ASID have picked as sophisticated summer finds.

New York, NY – June 4, 2010 – When members of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) pick places to shop, people follow.

Taigan’s Creative Director Julia Reed caught up with two of America’s top interior designers who shared their favorite design shops on Taigan.com, an online collection of specialty shops including names such as Digs, Hollyhock, Georgia Tapert Living, Revival, Haven and Niba Home.

Reed’s circle of interior design friends includes Jan Showers and Joe Nye, who have shared some of their favorite Taigan finds and summer trends.

Designer Jan Showers Finds Glamour on Taigan

Dallas decorator and designer Jan Showers is no stranger to great designs. She knows the secret to great style: “glamour is always necessary in a room. I am in love with certain unusual materials and their applications–parchment, leathers, Venetian glass, and always, glorious mirrors.”

Showers also knows a good thing when she sees it and found plenty of inspiration when browsing in the designer shops at Taigan. Pointing out Georgia Tapert Living, multi-colored silk Ikat pillows. “I’m crazy about the blues/yellows on white — so crisp and fun for summer in my living room,” said Showers.

Yet Showers’ eye goes beyond home designs, “The Gisèle Croc Bag – the color and quality are simply divine,” she said about the Susan van der Linde collection.

Just in time for summer, Showers found the best napkins for entertaining: “Kim Seybert white linen napkins with green bamboo. These are great for summer entertaining, especially al fresco. And I love anything with a bamboo motif,” she noted.

More Taigan Finds from Shower:

• Bone & Celadon Embroidered Jewel Dress, Bonnie Young, Aspen

• Stella McCartney Sequin Floral Skirt, Forty Five Ten, Dallas

• Yigal Azrouel Striped Crisscross Top, G. Gilbert, Atlanta

• 1970’s YSL Gold Cuff, House of Lavande, Miami

• “Happy En Vipere” Purse, Weinstein’s, New Orleans

• ULYSSE riding jacket, Style Paris by Susan Sutherland, Palm Beach

• Blackberry Jam and Creamy Crunch Peanut Butter, Blackberry Farms, Walland

• Globe-Trotter Centenary Urushi 21” Trolley Case, Sid Mashburn, Atlanta

• Truefitt & Hill Dopp Kit/Toilet Bag, Aidan Gill For Men, New Orleans

Joe Nye’s Favorite Finds on Taigan

Recently featured in Fetch, L.A.-based designer, decorator and entertainer extraordinaire Joe Nye is also finding great pieces on Taigan.

• Josh Bach Valet Tray, Aidan Gill, New Orleans

• Wire Bird Cage, Bungalow Classic, Atlanta

• Clear Glass Mug, Georgia Tapert Living, New York City

• Dodie Thayer Large Serving Dish, Hollyhock, Los Angeles

• Christopher Spitzmiller Faux Bois Lamps, Hollyhock, Los Angeles

• Neoclassical Fruitwood Arm Chair, Hollyhock, Los Angeles

• Blumarine Belted Floral Dress, Mimi, New Orleans

• Billie Holiday Photo by Herman Leonard, Richter Gallery, Nashville

• John Derian 6’ Field Bench, Pied Nu, New Orleans

• Vintage Turquoise Torchieres, Niba Home, Miami

• Peking Glass Jarlet in Persimmon, Niba Home, Miami

It’s no secret Vogue alum Julia Reed is passionate about home design and entertaining, she’s well published on the subject. So who better than Reed to browse Taigan.com online boutiques for spring and summer home finds and inspirations?

Tennessee – May 4– Taigan celebrated author and editor Julia Reed’s vision for home design and entertaining is recognized worldwide. Today she tours the online shops of Taigan.com for home and entertaining inspirations and gifts. From her most popular book, “The House of First Street,” Reed’s passion for the rare, the special and the remarkable in her own home is clear. This month she shares her favorite discoveries from Taigan’s collection of online shops, including South of Market, Georgia Tapert Living, Revival, Bungalow Classic and more.

South of Market – antique green lockers and bedside tables from Belgium

An Atlanta shop overflowing with rare finds, custom furniture and lighting, Taigan’s South of Market makes it possible to go antiquing online. Reed loves the antique green lockers, uncovered in Belgium, for “the perfect burst of color and uniqueness a room needs; perfect for an office, playroom, or the chicest mudroom ever,” says Reed. “The brilliant Axel Vervoordt has turned me, and at least half of the world, onto all things Belgian, and Kay Douglass at South of Market shares the passion.”

Another gorgeous Belgian find from South of Market are the antique demilunes, perfect for an entryway or bedside tables. “I adore the lines and the color of South of Market’s painted Belgian demilunes,” Reed says.

South of Market is one of Taigan’s online specialty retailers focusing their collection in antiques from France and Belgium, featuring a large selection of lighting, re-purposed objects, three lines of upholstery and an assortment of European finds.

Georgia Tapert Living – wooden lanterns, gin and tonics and garden parties

“The wooden lanterns from Georgia Tapert Living in New York make me want to throw a garden party,” says Reed. With waving lines of light pouring through the open weave design, these wooden lanterns provide the perfect lighting for outdoor entertaining.

Reed also discovered the tall tortoise tumblers from Georgia Tapert Living – they’re “perfect for warm weather Gin & Tonics or Southsides.” They’re chic yet durable and can be a great functional, yet conversational, piece to any party.

Georgia Tapert Living is another online specialty shop found on Taigan.com, incorporating a unique blend of furniture, art, objects and tabletop accessories that range from systematically traditional to contemporary and whimsical. It is a reflection of Georgia Tapert’s belief that design has no boundaries or rules, and is simply an expression of one’s individuality.

Revival – unusual tables, uniquely sculpted benches and more

Reed explains, “I am a sucker for all things with hooves—animate or inanimate. Which means I covet Revival’s stag leg drinks table with a slightly gilded finish, as well as their hand-carved horse-legged bench.”

“Both have patinas to die for and add a wonderful sculptural dimension to modern or more traditional interiors.”

The hoofed drinks table is ideally used chair-side, in attendance to a bathtub, or pulled to a table as a stool and pays homage to John Dickinson’s early 1970s California designs.

The horse-legged benches are hand-carved and offer a beautifully sculpted addition to either traditional or modern interiors.

Revival prides itself on being uniquely distinctive with exquisite objects and lush gifts, unusual antiques, unlikely vintage, and unfamiliar luxury, whose uncommon goods are curatorially presented in Chattanooga’s rows of Victorian brick railroad warehouses, and online at Taigan.

Bungalow Classic – green glazed horse statues to cherish and protect

“Bungalow Classic has this fabulous Chinese green glazed horse,” says Reed. “At 22” x 22” and $150, it looks old and fine and delivers a whole lot of bang for your buck.”

A pair of these would be fabulous grazing on a big dining table or console.

Bungalow Classic, a Taigan.com online specialty retailer, offers refined yet livable sofas and chairs that are stylish without sacrificing comfort, aimed at achieving individuality for their customers while maintaining a timeless sensibility that appeals to a sophisticated aesthetic.

Reed also notes additional Taigan home picks
• Niba Home, Miami – true celebration of color and eclectic, contemporary style
• Hollyhock, Los Angeles – classic lines and custom textiles by owner Suzanne Rheinstein
• Digs, Nashville – remarkable new talents in lamp and pottery, stunning lighting and gifts

About Taigan.com
Taigan.com represents a highly edited collection of the world’s best shops from across the country and abroad. Showcasing specialty retailers of women & men’s fashion, home décor, art, antiques, jewelry, gourmet food and fine gifts, Taigan brings the best shops to your fingertips. Connect on Taigan’s Facebook Fan Page or Follow us on Twitter @TaiganFinds.

About Julia Reed
Taigan’s creative director Julia Reed, formerly a writer and editor at Vogue, is also the editor of fetch, the online magazine at TAIGAN.com. She is a longtime contributing editor at Newsweek, where she writes the “Food and Drink” column. She contributes to a variety of other publications as well, including Conde Nast Traveler and the New York Times, and she is a founding contributor to wowOwow.com, an online community for women by women. Reed is the author of: “The House on First Street, My New Orleans Story”; “Ham Biscuits, Hostess Gowns, and Other Southern Specialties: An Entertaining Life (With Recipes)”; and “Queen Of The Turtle Derby and Other Southern Phenomena”.

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