UNIQUE PERSPECTIVES
By Sarah Binder and Lauren Varga
Water, Water Everywhere
Rainwater collection is not sexy. Until now, that is. Aquascape has developed a rainwater harvesting system that is both environmentally friendly and aesthetically pleasing. Aquascape’s RainXchange System combines a decorative water feature with a sub-surface rainwater harvest storage system to retain and re-use the rainwater it collects.
TRD Designs in New York and Canyon Pondscapes in Arizona are two companies that are certified by Aquascape to install the RainXchange System.
Tom Dieck, owner and chief designer of TRD Designs, combines traditional design principles with modern methods and tools, such as the RainXchange System, to produce peaceful outdoor living spaces. “In addition to recycling rainwater, our greatest natural resource, the system adds beauty to a property and therapeutic sounds of nature via water features,” says Dieck. According to Dieck, the system’s ability to capture excessive amounts of rainwater to help reduce flooding is another positive feature.
Canyon Pondscapes understands that to make any backyard a retreat, one must work with Mother Nature, rather than against. With water usage restrictions and regulations set in place, it is often a challenge for homeowners to use public supplies of water freely. Canyon Pondscapes’ installation of the RainXchange System helps in creating a picturesque setting that is self-contained, natural and beautiful. By generating one’s own water supply, daily tasks such as watering plants and washing down patios and cars are made simple.
While the RainXchange System is capable of recycling rainwater for multiple uses and producing a serene setting, perhaps its most beneficial feature is its ability to improve property value.
Editor’s Pick
Triple world champion Vincent Facquet has combined his love for billiards with his love for good design, resulting in the world’s most luxurious billiards tables — Royal Luxury Billiards Table, Majeste Luxury Billiards Table and Noblesse Luxury Billiards Table, each of which retails for €130,000. Facquet has said, “This is the Rolls Royce of tables, and it runs like a Ferrari.” Each table features high-quality professional cloth and microfiber pockets with built-in LED or fiber optic lighting, according to San Francisco-based retailer BallerToys. Inlaid platinum diamonds and 18-karat gold diamonds are just a few of the extravagant materials implemented in each table’s intricate construction.
Details: Sweet Dreams
Catching some Zs. Getting your beauty sleep. Hitting the sack. No matter how you say it, getting a good night’s sleep is essential. Magniflex, Italy’s most prestigious mattress company, has introduced its Precious Metals Collection to provide a luxury sleep line unlike any other. “In addition to being unreservedly comfortable, each piece is naturally thermo-regulating, anti-bacterial, odor-proof and anti-stress,” says Marco Magni, sales director for Magniflex.
Magniflex’s platinum bed retails for $75,000 in queen, which makes it the most expensive mattress in the world. The mattress is tailor-made per special order to meet the individual comfort levels of the consumer.
For $24,000, a queen-sized gold mattress is the second product in the Precious Metals Collection. Twenty-two-karat gold is woven into the covering of Magniflex’s flagship mattress, calling for a fresh, dry and cool night’s sleep.
Rounding out the collection is a silver queen mattress that retails at $3,399. The Dualcomfort Magnifico is a removable cover made of Argento fabric, which consists of 100-percent cashmere and silver fibers.
Clive Christian Expands
Withstanding the test of time as well as the current worldwide recession, 30-plus-year-old British furniture company Clive Christian continues to bring its philosophy of timeless, ultimate-quality luxury design to showrooms all over the globe. A new New York City showroom opened in May, and additional offices are due to open this year in Paris and Monaco, according to Victoria Christian, daughter of Clive Christian and brand ambassador for the Clive Christian group.
Credited as the first designer to introduce chandeliers into the contemporary kitchen, Clive Christian has revolutionized the room, transforming it from a hidden, purely functional space into hand-built, hand-painted, individualized works of art, ranging from the classic Victorian design chosen by Shania Twain and Rod Stewart to the ultra-sleek, couture Alpha, inspired in part by Stanley Kubrick’s “Eyes Wide Shut.”
While the Clive Christian name is most synonymous with luxury kitchens as well as the world’s most expensive perfume, the company’s designs are available throughout the entire home, including the music room, library, dining room, bedroom and bath, and the company is no stranger to over-the-top visions. “The most extravagant request was for a miniature replica of a client’s home, top to bottom and complete with grand piano in the music room, for her 40 Chihuahuas to live in, just so they could be as happy as she was in her Clive Christian home,” says Victoria.
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