BRASS
"There is a warmth brass gives an interior, whether it be a modern or traditional space," Marisa Marcantonio of Style Beat says. "The golden hue of the metal provides a subtle, elegant gleam. It's having a comeback because it mixes well with other metals and its patina gets even better with age."
INFORMAL GARDEN DESIGN
"Gardens have changed dramatically over time," Paige Johnson of Garden History Girl says. "In earlier centuries, wilderness was plentiful and civilization was scarce. So gardens were formal — hedged in, clipped and controlled — a triumph over the fears and the dangers of the wild. Today, the more we view the wild as precious, the more we seek to create it."
LOUIS STYLE
After a two-year sojourn in Paris, Louis XIV furniture became a favorite of design blogger Emily Evans Eerdsmans. "Straight lines, precision of form, and classical ornament — strigillation, anyone? — send my pulse racing."