Month: October 2010

A Peek into the Home of Designer Manolo Blahnik

Photographs of the Spanish fashion designer Manolo Blahnik at his beautiful Georgian house in Bath, England by Ivan Terestchecnko recently popped up over at Habitually Chic and we just had to take a closer look at them. Amongst Terestchecnko’s stunning photos are shots of Blahnik with his massive collection of books a trough of shoes that bear his name.  Marvin Gardens just loves the details of this cozy home and, ass Habitually Chic puts it, there’s something “quintessentially England” about the cluttered look of his abode and even more so, the classic English colors. But it’s the finer details of things like its rugs, fireplace, workstation and living room that really transform this house into a home. What are some of the details that make your house a home?

Photos Credit: Ivan Terestchenko via Style Frizz

The Many Faces of Halloween

Back in August, Marvin Gardens took you in a brief tour of the old dorm room of Edgar Allan Poe at the University of Virginia. Now, the macabre writer seems to be popping up in other places just in time for Halloween. Aside from the fact that he’s one of our favorite authors, we’re ecstatic that even today, Poe continues to inspire artists and designers alike. In a recent pumpkin carving contest for This Old House, his likeness was used as the muse for artist Melody M. Dallastown of Pennsylvania as she carved a portrait of him into a white pumpkin. How creative!

Marvin Gardens would like to know, what are your plans this Halloween? Leave a comment and tell us if you’re planning a haunted house for neighborhood kiddies, your own pumpkin-carving session at home or perhaps simply passing out candy to eager trick-or-treaters.

Photo Credit: This Old House

Accessorize Your Garden Today With Timeless Form, Function and Grace

Marvin Gardens’ chief designer, Amabel Chan, is constantly searching for home and garden elements that can be used both indoors or outdoors — whether antique, vintage and contemporary or traditional — to accessorize with timeless form and function with a goal of crafting a genuinely unique ambiance that cannot be found elsewhere. Marvin Gardens’ product line includes a large range of interior furnishing and accessories (antique, vintage, mid-century and modern), lighting and home décor accents, an extremely large selection of outdoor iron, cement and stone containers, interesting architectural elements, wrought iron garden and driveway gates, antique floorboards and hand hewn beams. Take a look below at some of our favorite home and garden elements!

Take a look through our gallery to see more of our collection!

Photo Credit: Marvin Gardens

Wallpaper That You Can Reach Out and Touch

While Marvin Gardens’ style of décor is more on the traditional side, we’re always interested in finding out more about the latest innovative design trends out there, even contemporary ones.

A new wallpaper concept from Ilias Fotopoulos really caught our attention. Using felt dots to create words in over-sized Braille, Fotopoulos creates patters that are illustrative and imaginative.

From Apartment Therapy:

Oversize braille! The concept from Ilias Fotopoulos is a rather unique one and for those that still have their sight, it doesn’t too shabby either. For those without, the idea of standing on a ladder to run your hand over all of it seems a bit perplexing, but none the less, it’s an interesting way to design a surface.

Photo Credit: Apartment Therapy

Favorite Fall Reads From Marvin Gardens!

At Marvin Gardens, we love books. We love the look and feel them and their weight in our hands, the stories that leap forth from their pages once opened and the simple statement of history their tattered spines make while lining an old bookshelf. They have the power to sweep you away to far away places and times and they can transform your world completely if you have a playful enough imagination. A chilly fall night makes for the perfect time to nestle up in your favorite comfy chair with a warm throw, a cup of tea and a good book. So we’d like to know, what are some of your favorite fall reads?

Here are a few of ours:

  • Too Many Pumpkins by Linda White
  • Poems by Emily Dickinson
  • Grimm’s Fairy Stories by Jacob Grimm
  • The Collected Works of Edgar Allan Poe by Edgar Allan Poe

Photo Credit: Good Reads

What’s Your Favorite Comfort Food?

After a long, hard winter’s day full of the hustle and bustle of life, there’s something so soothing and nostalgic about savoring a bite of warm apple pie just like mom used to make. Comfort foods soothe the psyche by reminding us of fun childhood memories and usually invoke feelings of nostalgia, safety, and security. For the most part, comfort foods  epitomize home cooking; dishes can range form casseroles and stews to pies and  puddings.

Over the next few months, Marvin Gardens will be making available to you our own line of specialty soups. These southern style soup mixes include Texas Tortilla Soup and Lone Star Chili and are designed packaged to be given as gifts. Keep an eye out for more information on all the delightful varieties we’ve got to offer.

In the meantime, we’d like to know, what’s your favorite comfort food?

Photo Credit: Big Blend Magazine

Recycled King Louis Tables

Even though the London Design Festival is done and over with, Marvin Gardens is still reveling in a few charming items that were displayed at the nine-day celebration of creativity. One such item that Inhabitat came across at the Lab Craft Exhibition is the gorgeously elegant, yet sustainable, King Louis Table made from recyclable cardboard from Gareth Neal. It’s rich, dark color and entertaining texture is enough to add a regal air to any space.

Take a look at what Inhabitat had to say about them:

Harking back to the grand ol’days when the French monarch reigned supreme, designer Gareth Neal gives these pieces a modern day twist using 3D computer drawing and CNC processing to create a sturdy cardboard honeycomb structure for these tables. An eye-catching, tongue-in-cheek creation fusing the old with the new, the Louis makes the perfect addition to any modernist home looking for a bit of irony.

Photo Credit: Inhabitat

Gorgeous Fall Planter Ideas!

There’s something so enchanting about a vintage, silver-plated item. Be it a serving platter, lettered cuff links or even an ornate chandelier, silver tells a story and adds character to any setting. If you’re searching for some decorative planting ideas this fall, track down some silver goblets or vases and transform them into gorgeous planters! Take a look at a few of our favorite silver containers-turned-succulent planters!


Photo Credit: Etsy

Contact Marvin Gardens for more design ideas by e-mailing MarvinGardensUSA@gmail.com.

Marvin Gardens Would Like to Hear From You!

Have a gardening tip you’d like to share? Want to learn more about a specific area of sustainable landscaping? Think we could stand to explore a bit more about exterior home design? Here at Marvin Gardens, we truly appreciate feedback from our readers. So tell us what we can do to improve, what you think about our latest blog posts or even simply what would you like to see more of. After all, this blog was initially created with the hopes of creating dialogue with our friends and customers and sharing information. So join in the conversation and tell us what’s on your mind! Don’t know how to leave a comment on a blog post? It’s easy: from the home page, click on the title of the particular post you’re reading, e.g. “Prepare Your Garden for Fall Succulents”. This will take you off of the home page and to the post. At the bottom of the post is an area called “Speak Your Mind” where you can leave your comment. Just fill out the gray boxes with your information and submit.