Journal

Amber Murano glass vase with yellow flowers on a marble side table beside an open notebook

How to choose a vase: shapes, sizes and flowers that suit them

Choose the shape first, based on the flowers the household actually buys. Then match the scale to the room. Buckets suit short stems, ollas carry full heads and tall columns...

Gold-and-white Minerva porcelain tray holding a string of pearls beside a gilded bottle

Tray decor ideas: ten ways to style a tray in every room

A tray turns loose objects into a composition. These ten room-by-room ideas show how to match Baci Milano and Mario Luca Giusti trays, plus Seletti statement pieces, to each space,...

Amber and gold Duccio Di Segna crystal horse head on a wooden coffee table in a living room

Coffee table decor ideas that still leave room for coffee

Style any coffee table with five elements — a tray, one sculpture, one vase for height, a three-book stack and something living — then leave 40% of the surface clear...

How to choose a dinner set: material, style and what to buy first

Choose the material by where you eat: porcelain for the dining room, melamine for the terrace and pool. Then match the pattern to your room, buy dinner plates first and...

Mixed patterned porcelain plates of different sizes on a set table with macarons, fruit and tea

Dinner plate size guide: every plate on the table, explained

Most dinner plates now measure 26–28 cm (10¼–11 in). Each smaller plate sits about 5–7 cm below the one above it. Once you know what each plate is for, you...

Red toile Le Rouge porcelain plates, cup and saucer layered on a dining table

Porcelain vs ceramic: what the difference means at your table

Porcelain is a ceramic fired hot enough to vitrify, so it absorbs almost nothing, chips more cleanly and carries pattern more crisply than earthenware. For hard-working dinnerware, specify porcelain indoors...

Bone China vs Porcelain: What the Difference Means at the Table

Bone china is lighter, warmer in tone and more translucent. Porcelain is whiter and denser, with more forgiving edges. For designed tables that get used every week, porcelain is usually...

Vivid hand-painted Sicilian-pattern porcelain plates layered on a saffron and magenta cloth outdoors

Diwali Gifts in the UAE That Outlast the Sweets Box

Sweets are eaten by Thursday. This is a guide to Diwali gifts in the UAE that stay in the home — Murano glass, Italian porcelain and considered objects chosen for...

Glassblower shaping a molten amber vase with applied glass drops on the blowpipe in an Italian glass workshop

Murano Glass Brands Compared: Who Actually Makes What

Not every "Murano" vase comes from Murano. Here is how the real Venetian makers differ, what separates a mouth-blown piece from a lookalike, and which Stories of Italy vase suits...

Artisan finishing a gold-flecked glass horse head sculpture on a polishing wheel in an Italian workshop

Gift Ideas for Men in the UAE: A Considered Buyer's Guide

Most gifts for men fail because the category is exhausted, not because the budget was wrong. Three routes work reliably here: a sculptural crystal piece, outdoor drinkware he will use...

Blue and white toile porcelain collection displayed in an arched showroom alcove with cushions and tea sets

Wedding gift ideas in the UAE: choosing a gift that lasts

Gulf wedding season runs September to March, and the gift that works is the one still in use three winters later. Decide how the couple hosts first — formally, outdoors,...

Mamma Mia porcelain pitcher and small espresso cups with gold details on a patterned Sicilian-print tray

Espresso Cups: The Italian Standard for Size and Material

Italian espresso cups follow a quiet standard — around 60 ml, thick-walled, narrow at the rim. Get the size and the material right and the rest is styling. Here is...