Clockwise from left: Flower Fantasy dinner plate by Versace, $110 at Enchanted Owl, Greenville; (in back) Mottahedeh Tobacco Leaf dinner plate, $165 at The Wooden Indian in Rehoboth Beach; Jardin des Orchidées dessert plate by Hermès, $125 at Enchanted Owl, Greenville; Herend American Wildflowers handpainted “Blue Wood Aster” dinner plate, $350 at The Wooden Indian, Rehoboth Beach; Missoni Margherita charger plate, $155 at Everything but the Kitchen Sink, Hockessin; (in front) Handpainted dinner plate from Tracy Porter’s Lemon Chiffon Collection, $20 at Everything but the Kitchen Sink, Hockessin; and Copperglass planter by Pacific Arts & Crafts, $284 at Everything but the Kitchen Sink, Hockessin.
Page 2: Absolutely Fabulous
Absolutely Fabulous
In the market for an 18th century bureau from England? Looking to add that perfect touch to your living room? Fabulous Finds for the Home (5800 Kennett Pike, Centreville, 777-2100), a home design and furniture shop, can help you do just that.
Owner Susan Trezise attends auctions throughout Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland, where she uses a meticulous eye for quality and style to choose each accessory and piece of furniture she sells.
Though the inventory is constantly changing, the store always has a number of true antiques, such as a hand-built chest of drawers from the upper Connecticut Valley built in the late 1700s. The store, located over the Centreville Café, occupies several rooms, each designed to look like a living room or den. Each piece of furniture and accessory on display is for sale. Shoppers can find a variety of gilded mirrors, end tables, lamps, and wood pieces built more than a century ago or within the past 50 years. Trezise says customers are welcome to bring a cup of coffee upstairs to browse or to relax and flip through books of design ideas.
Fabulous Finds also offers a home makeover service. For $75, Trezise and her design partner will visit your house to give one room a facelift with your existing pieces. They will re-arrange the furniture, bring new accessories and make suggestions for other ways to update. You can join the store’s mailing list to receive updates on new pieces as they arrive. —Lauren Zaremba
Page 3: Now That’s Smart | A local detergent makes laundry irresistible.
Now That’s Smart
A local detergent makes laundry irresistible.
Laundry is a chore for a reason: It’s not glamorous. Despite what TV ad executives would have you believe, women don’t celebrate doing the wash by running through meadows in freshly laundered sundresses. But thanks to Denise Ross of Unionville, Pa., laundry can be more enjoyable.
All you need is love, as in Love Potion Home Products. This collection of scented laundry detergents boasts names like Breakfast in Bed, Moonlit Walk and Summer Love. Obviously designed to appeal to more than our olfactory senses, Love Potion leaves clothes smelling like freesia, lemon or summer flowers. The scents last longer than those from traditional detergents.
The cleaner is made with high-quality fragrance oils and low-suds detergent, so it’s appropriate for rinsing delicates or washing regular loads. Its base detergent is used at nursing homes and hospitals, and people with sensitive skin tend to react well to the product.
“This is a luxury product, so it’s not for everyone,” Ross says. (The detergent costs $24 for a 35-ounce bottle.) “But I did have one customer who said she didn’t want to like this product. She thought it was ridiculous. Now she can’t be without it.”
For more, visit lovepotionlaundry.com. —Maria Hess