Luxury

Jonathan Harker, the character of Bram Stocker's Dracula, the famous novel about the vampire, first saw Dracula’s castle at night. He described in quite romantically: «We were in the yard of the vast and destroyed castle with gloomy high windows, and the broken toothed walls stretched in the zigzag line in the moonlight… And the yard seemed big in the darkness». And such places have to be full of vampires. When Mr. Harker examined the place more thoroughly, he proved his preliminary opinion that the castle is the vampire place to gather since: «… suites are located in the southern part of the castle, while the windows of that room look to the west and south. A vast abyss lies from both sides. The castle was built on the edge of the huge cliff and it is completely inaccessible from those sides. There is a big valley and behind it the toothed cliffs elevated located one byanother; all of them are covered with mountain flowers and blackthorn the roots of which catch on the splits and rock ruins».

Venetian Plaster is the finishing technique when thin layers of plaster are applied with a spatula or trowel and then the smooth surface is created on the base of illusion of depth and texture. Venetian plaster is American-made term for the variety of different techniques and materials used to create the polished stucco finish. Venetian Plaster tells about its glamorous look of polished marble and natural stone to the design of your interior. The lavish and smooth finish is layered with the double-tone appearance of marble surfaces bringing the visual attention and charm. Natural marble is exceptional in Italy, however, it is the material for prosperous people to afford and, thus, the local craftsmen would aspire to create amazing less valuable of higher usability, and finally they came to the Venetian plasterwork.  

A sitting-room is a place which is mainly decorated and designed to meet guests. This is the place where people sit and spend the time discussing over something. The dining room is for the loud parties and feasts. The meal is taken in the dining room and guests – in the sitting room, to be stated by one of classic writers. When you can boast with the apartments of eight rooms there, this is a perfect base to follow this principle providing you have a small family. The modern flats are rather smaller, unfortunately, and the place is used for many purposes then.

When passing by the windows of the jewelry shop, we stop to stare at those silver items with the ornament, whether intentionally or not. The frozen ornaments are encircled with the black paint in thinnest line against the silver glass. The lock of niello is fancifully twisted to admire. The Niello technique, nowadays almost forgotten, is one of the oldest ornamenting techniques in the world. The jewelry from niello perfectly shade a gentle woman skin and those made for men emphasize the status and individual style of wearer. The silver is created with the tint of aristocratism, lavishly and worthy to come to collections of family jewels. Niello is a black metallic alloy of copper, silver, sulfur, and lead, used as an inlay on engraved metal. It can be used for filling in designs cut from metal.

Black pearl always enticed and captivated the passionate fashionistas of all times, though the gem was afforded by the members of royal family only. It is the same today and the pearl of black color is the accessory for people from high society. Divers who get the black pearls faced the chance to gain fortune for jewels since this is the rarity affordable to few people. On the top of it, pearl is one of the majestic works of nature that appeared many centuries ago, long before other jewels appeared.

Armand Hammer is one of the mysterious and conflicting figures among the American businessmen of the previous century. And the point is not the fact that during his live he gained profit of millions and after his death he left debts of millions, and there are many cases in the history of capitalism. Armand Hammer is one of American businessmen who proceeded to collaborate with the Soviet Russia. This is too curious and worth considering especially when it was the period known for the harsh ideological conflict between USSR-USA, so-called cold war.

Today people are spoilt with the designer solutions offered in any spheres of life to choose to meet the preferences and tastes. It is not difficult at all to find the applicable solution to any problem regarding interior design. And today extraordinary interior design is more than preferred. The hot African style is too exotic to think of something more encouraging and provoking the fantasy. Thus, the Afro style appears to be one of popular styles among those who tend to live in ethnic beauty. Hot Nubian pretty girls and charm f the primitive violent sensitivity felt on the level of subconsciousness, excitement of a lion hunter and bliss of midday African heat – all these are the images the interior provides made in motifs of the black continent.

Beautiful antique jewelry often looks too traditional and even old-fashioned: it is perfect for a ball, a reception, a formal event, but sometimes you want something fresh and edgy, yet classy and traditional in a good way. This kind of jewelry is the specialty of the relatively new British jewelry brand David Morris. It offers jewelry fit not for the costume dramas and romances, but for modern action movies that feature smart, elegant and sophisticated ladies - like Bond girls in the three Bondiana films: Diamonds Are Forever, Tomorrow Never Dies and World Is Not Enough.

A grandfather or floor clock is a sign of wealth and prosperity. The traditional grandfather clock lends a weight of character to any common area of the home and is clearly so much more than just a timepiece. Grandfather clock is not a mere interior decoration piece, but a family heirloom. It looks good anywhere in your house - in the living room and or in the bedroom, in the office, and even in the kitchen or hall. The very concept of floor clock suggests that this is an attribute of luxury lifestyle, or at least something very close.

A few people know that Julia Roberts was literally programmed for commercial success. This is probably wouldn't do justice to the acting talents of the Hollywood diva, but Roberts' name is hardly associated with the prestigious awards she received such as the Golden Globe and Oscar. Apart from her roles and dazzling smile, she is known as one of the highest-paid actresses in the world, topping the Hollywood Reporter's annual power list of top-earning female stars from 2002 to 2006, and the first Hollywood actress to be paid $20 million for a movie. However, as it turns out even one of her first movies, «Pretty Woman», which brought Roberts fame and recognition, was initially called «$ 3000». Say what you like, but money makes money.

Any rating or evaluation system, even based on highly objective criteria, cannot be absolutely true and fair in all cases. Take, for instance, the hotel rating system which uses stars to classify hotels, one being the lowest rating, and five - the highest, as higher star rating indicates more luxury. The famous Crillon hotel in Paris does not have its own golf club or a helicopter landing pad (there is simply no place for these luxury indicators) but it doesn't make the hotel in any way inferior to its counterparts.

Modern living room in a prosperous home is the meeting space, which brings together family, numerous guests and friends. Since this room is open for visitors, it should be the hallmark of the house. Its design can reveal much more that one intends to show and give guests some tips regarding the lifestyle of the owner, their tastes and status. The living room serves a variety of purposes as a playground, relaxation zone, negotiation room, and entertainment area. These functions largely define  the living room design. The first and foremost task when designing your living room is planning its segmentation or zoning. Remember that a living room must accommodate miscellaneous groups, and should be comfortable and suitable for everybody, regardless of age, gender or occupation.