Guest blogger : Susi from Arcadian Lighting

Hi, I'm Susi and I write for Arcadian Lighting, a fantastic online source for the latest in lighting fixtures and trends. I'm so happy to be guest blogging here at Beautiful Anything today on one of my favorite topics: gray. Love gray as neutral, as an accent; for walls, floors, upholstery and fabric. When paired with silver, gold, mirror and crystal, gray is definitely a luxurious, rich color. Here are some of my favorite examples of luxury in gray. Enjoy!

Shades of gray in this living room make for a sophisticated palette. When paired with white and black, the gray creates a nice bridge between the two opposite colors.

Silver and gold are a luxurious color palette. The cool gray walls perfectly offset the warmth of the gold on the starburst mirror.

Soft gray and white combined with mirrored furniture give this bedroom a luxury feeling. Velvets, silks and linens are all beautiful luxury fabrics for the bedroom.

Gray and white are elegant in this luxurious bedroom, bathed in the glow from the lovely chandelier, table lamps and recessed ceiling lights above the bed. Gray paint draws the eye to the architectural detail of the beautiful ceiling.

Charcoal gray velvet is perfect for a luxury living room. The dark gray feels even richer than another neutral like cream or tan.

Palest shades of gray have a French elegance in this chic living room. Pale gray pillows and upholstery on the bench nicely complement the crisp white tufted upholstery on the sofa.

Gray painted furniture is typical of Scandinavian and French style but works well for modern pieces as well. The gray feels more luxurious paired with shiny silver accents and unique mix of light fixtures.

The sweeping curves, gold trim and ornate detail give these impressive bookcase elegance and panache. A gray and white harlequin floor complete the luxurious look of this library.

Don't you love those gray designs! Comments are welcome! Don't forget to check out Arcadian Lighting for more pendant lights to go with your gray design.

Images: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |

seeing stripes

What better way to dive into spring with those striped sweaters and shirts. Jump on board and get an all time classical sailor inspired trend. Ranging from red to green with white stripes, but for that timeless look go something classy and subtle with navy and white stripes. Pair it with either worn jeans or khakis to pull it off. Dont stop there. Dig in into your grandpa's closet and try on his old loafers for a change. Might look preppy but a good pair of loafers would take you very far. Super comfy and practical. On the other hand, switch it up to a pair of brogues for a formal event. Give it alternate days for each shoe that usually solves most things. Hah!

Before leaving the house grab one of those oversized antique watches. Better still those oversized rounded frames with black leather straps. Which you might find it somewhere in dad's closet.

Dont fret if you've been wearing those jeans over and over. Pull out something that says more comfort with a pair of dark shades of khakis. Roll it up for that hint of ankle and you're ready to go. Never leave out the belt--always the under rated piece most if not all the time. Pick a good hardy, thick black leather belt.

Pair it with skinnies, baggy worn jeans or khakis--with the right classical sailor striped sweater one can never go wrong. What's good about this is it never goes out of style. Having said that, might as well go all out and buy one that you know youd turn back to in the future. Invest in them. Someone once told me that you're supposed to get a return when you invest in something. As long as it makes me look good, whatever, I'll invest. like these ones;

Bring out the sailor within and sail out looking good. All aboard! okaybye.

Sources : 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Guest blogger : Geek Chic Watches

Toywatch has become the 'it' wristwatch and a must have item amongst style influentials including followers like Katie Holmes, Oprah Winfrey, Owen Wilson and Mark Wahlberg to name a few--and it keeps growing by the day. Made from high strength steel, its classical design caters to the younger market with a wide range of striking colours! What makes it more interesting is that one can mix and match colours of the frame to the watch. Personally I like the red and blue ones. But colour blocking on these watches are even cooler!

As if thats not enough, Toywatch has made its debut television appearance on Oprah--Oprah's favourite things list--and The Ellen DeGeneres Show grabbing more attention and allegiances.

Whether its a passing trend on watches which until another brand sweeps mankind off their feet or its a classic to stay until the coming years, only time will tell. nevertheless, I think its still a very hip look which would take more than a few years to die out. What gets me going on Toywatch is that some have compared it to 'a Rolex meets Swatch watch' , which reminds me on something I read on a blog suggesting that its as good as a Rolex but costs less for an equal taste of luxury and good taste.

Retail prices of these watches start from £120 to £1000 at Selfridges, London.

Apart from Toywatch, Nooka seems to grow on me as well. It has an interesting way of telling time day and date through horizontal bars. In the attempt to get as much press, Nooka has appeared on cable on gossip girl where Penn Bagdley's character Dan Humpfrey gets a gift from guest star Hilary Duff's Olivia Burke.

Getting plenty more press through articles in Teen Vogue (October 2009) , Nylon guys (September 2009), GQ (March 2008) and VMAN (Fall 2008) to name a few with references.

And get this, Nooka had custom made glow in the dark Nookas for Kanye West for his glow in the dark tour. Aint that something! As a gift to the superstar. Yes, a gift. Sadly no plans for Nooka to make them available to us mere mortals. These super trendy watches have been sighted on famous wrists like Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg and The Pussycat Dolls.

Like Toywatch, Nooka comes in many different colours too. However, it might get some getting used to reading the time but could be easily understood along the way. Nookas start off from £80 and above at Selfridges, London.

Put away those Rolexes and Swatches. And say hello to the new 'it' watches. Maybe I'll get lucky and someone would slip one on my doorsteps HAH!

images (1) , (2) , (3) , (4) , (5) , (6)


ps: HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALONG, HAVE A SAFE FLIGHT HOME. WE LOVE YOU!

Guest Blogger : Styling Your Scarf

Hello my name is Azwa Elena im a guest blogger :⦈

Ive been getting some request from my friends on how to style my scarf lately, Im not an expert to talk about this but i can share a few styles/tips (please refer to the pictures below)..

Here goes..

That's all for now. Have fun trying :⦆

Guest blogger : Snoods

Stay warm this winter with layers of clothing and a snood! Its a scarf which goes all around and does not have an ending. You wear it as a scarf or even as something to cover your head when it snows or rains by popping it onto your head, leaving half covering the neck and the other half on the head! Very much like a convertible car. Very economical? I say very trendy.

While some may think that its odd, I think this hoodie-scarf hybrid is very cool. Especially when it comes in chunky knits and worn over a perfect suited suit. Meant to wear it over jackets and suits as a bodiless turtleneck but much better looking.

Emerging from 2009 Missoni and Burberry shows when designers decided to put knitted and plaid snoods on their models. This loopy style has grabbed more and more high street retailers' interest with the likes of H&M and American Apparrel making it the perfect accessory since seen on the likes of Joe Jonas and Justin Bartha.

Couldnt be more dapper and dashing.

images via : burberry

double breasted jackets

Hello there, my name is Aleq and I was invited to give write on looks that I fancy a few weeks back but kept putting it off because of exams. Now that I'm finally on holidays (yeay!), I've decided to start on my first piece. When I first thought of what to write about, the first thing that came to my mind on sharing how I am intrigued by early 20s 30s looks. Ever watched the movie Changeling starring Angelina Jolie, yeah that sort of era.

Apart from military trend that is setting in this season, I have to say double breasted jackets are one of my favourites. Popularised in the 1930s, double breasted suits and jackets boasts masculine elegance and has become a wardrobe staple for every Tom, Dick and Harry including me.

Double breasted jackets makes casual wear look cooler and it brings the look up a few notches.

Seen on the likes of Tom Cruise and Jude Law, double breasted suits is an all time classic. It never looks bad either for casual wear or formal wear. Classic looks have never been mashed with casual wear creating simple get ups like Chris Pine below.

I think what sets it apart from normal blazers is that double breasteds oozes class. Although its suitable for casual, I think it should always be kept buttoned because of its design making it flabby and saggy-just hanging there, unbottoned-well you get the idea, that it wouldnt look neat.

Alternatively, try pulling it off with geeky glasses and a pair of good old fashion brogues- or a pair of sporty sneakers.

Maybe for my next post I'm going to write on brogues and cropped pants where the focus of the outfit are the socks? sounds cool, no?