Fabulous trays, distinctive serving pieces, elegant cutlery and beautifully crafted serving bowls are part of Taigan’s summer party on the patio according to Julia Reed, Taigan.com’s Creative Director.

Miami, FL – July 6, 2010 - The trends this summer bring dining and entertaining back home al fresco style, according to Julia Reed, Creative Director of Taigan.com. Taigan features dining and entertaining collections by specialty retail shops such as Digs, Hollyhock, Georgia Tapert Living, Revival, Haven, Niba Home and more.

Now serving at Taigan.com are these 7 must haves for summer:

1. Serving Trays! Taigan Digs these trays
Digs’ vibrant green enameled tray and charming rattan tray can be used for carrying serving bowls or as a centerpiece when paired with floral arrangements.

Nashville-based Digs on Taigan.com specializes in antiques, custom lightings home furnishings, great gifts, pottery and lamps.

2. The Dish from South Of Market: Serve in style
South Of Market’s white ceramic rectangular serving dish enclosed in a woven basket adds a classic touch. It’s the perfect choice for serving appetizers or a small entrée. Atlanta-based South of Market is one of Taigan’s specialty stores famous for French and Belgian antiques and gorgeous European finds.

3. The Versatile Clam Shell @ Taigan’s Bungalow Classic
Bungalow Classic’s resin Clam Shell Bowl is best teamed with colorful beverages or filled with fresh seafood for effortless summer entertaining. Bungalow Classic is a Taigan.com retailer known for sophisticated, sensible and timeless finds.

4. Tablescapes via Hollyhock
This 3-pint glass jug is great for serving up some old-fashioned lemonade, fruit juice, water or simply filled with bright-yellow lemons to add an accent to the bar or serve as a centerpiece on the table. Hollyhock, Los Angeles by Suzanne Rheinstein is on Taigan.com and has a reputation for classic lines and custom textiles.

5. Picnic –ready! Throws and Pillows via Revival on Taigan.com
Bright-hued quilted throws available in honey, orange, deep red, olive, green, teal and more teamed with Cotton Utility Pillows by Revival set the mood for a laidback summer picnic in the backyard, a pool party or the lounge. Chattanooga-based Revival on Taigan is a purveyor of uncommon goods noted for crashing the ancient with modern.

6. Blown Away! Glass Urchin Bowl: Niba Home, Miami
The Blown Glass Urchin Serving Bowl (available in yellow and white) can be used as a standalone centerpiece or for serving. Nothing says summer like bright colors and that seems to be the vibe at Niba Home in sunny Miami and on Taigan.

7. Bud Vases, Home-decorator’s Haven on Taigan.com

This Indigo Bud Vase adds splashes of cool and calm teamed with faux or fresh flora. Designed by Judy Jackson, this vase is a part of the Judy Jackson Stoneware collection for Haven. Dallas-based Haven specializes in urban furnishing and decorating trends.

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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

Why give a newly engaged couple a boring plain vase from a mainstream retailer when you can give a set of beautiful and Seductive Teardrop Vases from Lush Life in Atlanta? These are just one of hundreds of unique him and her gift ideas savvy shoppers will find at the Internet’s new luxe online shopping mecca Taigan.com. Spearheaded by interior design author, Vogue writer alumni and pro shopper Julia Reed, Taigan is a collection of one-of-a-kind high style shops that sell first class merchandise which can’t be found anywhere else online.

Continue Reading…

One of the perks of writing StyleBlueprint is interviewing someone as compelling and funny as Julia Reed, the newly appointed creative director for Taigan. You may know her name from the 20 years she spent at Vogue.  Talk about passion:  it runs through her blood.  Her job is to keep Taigan members interested and coming back for more– can’t think of a better job for Julia. Continue Reading…

Just in time for Santa! Its like shopping the best a chic town has to offer without ever setting foot there. Taigan, a new, highly curated e-commerce boutique shopping site, provides access to stylish finds around the country that are unique to their locale. Under the creative direction of longtime Vogue writer and pro shopper, Julia Reed, Taigan, is named after a treasured hound from Kyrgyzystan. It is said to be a keen hunter and national treasure,as well as an endless seeker. This highly prized dog is their staunch logo. Continue Reading…

Attention all you lovers of the good life. Boy, do we have something for you. Taigan, a masterful, exclusive shopping site featuring unique, tasteful items from boutiques across the nation, has arrived. The brainchild of some well-known Nashvillians, Taigan is named after a tenacious sighthound, famed for its ability to seek and find the best game for its master.

Well, as I am creative director of a new retail website called TAIGAN.com (which the dear and always amazing Liz Smith so generously announced in her wOw column a few weeks ago), I am very high on online shopping right now.

Taigan differs from most online shopping sites in that it is not a retailer itself — it collects wonderful, one-of-a-kind boutiques that are already known for having great merchandise and great customer service and steers the shopper directly to them. It’s like being on the most well-edited, fabulous shopping street in the world (containing purveyors of everything from estate jewelry to cured meats and coffee), and once you are on it, you’re taken care of personally by these great visionary retailers and their staffs. Continue Reading…

Launched in time for holiday shopping, Taigan.com, named after a rare breed of hunting dog, features uncommon wares from more than 30 topnotch purveyors-faux-shagreen desk accessories from Georgia Tapert’s New York shop, Atlanta chef Anne Quatrano’s charcuterie, English pasteware from Suzanne Rheinstein’s Hollyhock in Los Angeles many of whom had no Web presence until now.