Life lessons from the December issue of House Beautiful

We can always count on our friends over at House Beautiful to deliver a lush monthly magazine full of hope, optimism and other such words of the season. Remember all the warm ‘n’ fuzzy life lessons hiding within the folds of the magazine’s November edition? Turns out the December issue follows suit. We had to do a little more digging, scraping and scouring, but here’s the heartwarming takeaway:

• In for a penny, in for a pound. The finishing touches: they do matter. A floral-patterned roll of tape, brightly colored shoelaces, animal-shaped keyrings and elephant-shaped luggage tags are all featured in "The Best!" column.
• You can’t know where you’re going until you know where you came from. In a feature on Roman Alonso, the Los Angeles-based designer cites a visit to his native Cuba, recalling how his aunt’s house, while devoid of furniture, burst with pride and personality. That has informed his design sensibility today.
• Go local and go green. When asked what’s inspiring him for 2011, designer Michael Smith says, "Things by local artisans made with environmentally friendly, renewable resources."
• Have fun with it. Even if "it" is a formal high-back chair; a feature shows their many whimsical possibilities.
• Kick off your shoes and take a load off. Particularly if it’s on one of the featured three-dimensional, textured rugs.
• Follow your dreams. Fashion designer Peter Som has just released a line with linens giant Sferra; Som recalls designing his own bedroom as a youngster. "Early on I had (a) blue Marimekko striped bedcover," he says. "Then I moved on to zebra Perry Ellis sheets."
• Good things come in small packages. Featured in "The Best!" gift section is a teeny, tiny, modernist dollhouse.
• Shine on. The issue endorses high-gloss paint, a polished-brass table from Jonathan Adler, 18-karat-gold toothbrush holders from KONTEXTUR, and "glam" as one of 2011’s design trends.

Reposted with permission from Curbed.com. View the original blog post.