The rose bush in my backyard is blooming like crazy right now, and I've been bringing one or two flowers into the house at a time. In design, roses easily can go granny, but they also can be fun, graphic, sweet, and in some cases wonderfully fragrant.

I just got a tip about a fantastic hidden gem of a NYC design week experience. Held in a home in Nolita, this not-your-usual show home is open just one more day...

I highly recommend if you live in Southern California, and even have a passing interest in the botanical, to make your way to the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens to see their current exhibition, When They Were Wild: Recapturing California's Wildflower Heritage, an ideal complement to the explosion of springtime flowers currently blanketing the region from coastline to desert. Similarly, those with a love of exploring the beauty of the floral may appreciate these botanical blueprints which offer a whole new perspective revealed by technology...

As are many of you, I'll wager, I am passionate for names. I have been slowly collecting my favorite children's name displays from Apartment Therapy Family and across the web.  Parents with a knack for picking great monikers also tend to get creative with their kids' rooms.  Click through for inspiration beyond the traditional cookie-cutter mold.  

As the daughter of a painter and an organic farmer, artist Molly Hatch spent her youth alternating between creative play and physical labor. This early training ground would prove important later in life, providing the discipline and hard work for life as an artist. Today, Molly's colorful designs and illustrations adorn tableware, wallpaper and furniture. 

Artists Thyra Hilden and Pio Diaz created this sculpture of an elaborate tree root system around a light fixture. When lit, it projects a forest that changes as the light is dimmed or brightened. It's moody, perhaps even a bit spooky, like a Grimm's fairy tale come to life.

Mantiques Modern transports you to another time when brass and metal were materials of choice. At every glance there are hidden gems in their vast Manhattan gallery. From restored airplane engines as coffee tables to vintage European jewelry, these guys have it all. Their attention to detail, and an eye for quality, puts their collection at the forefront of antique dealers in New York.  

I love huge, beautiful pieces of art, but I don't have a wall at home big enough to hang anything large, so we've started a little trade with our friends over at the Clic Gallery. This is one of my favorites by Lulu DK, and the reason I really want to meet her. Her collages are beautiful and trippy at the same time. Click below or more info and to see this one close up as well as the other artworks we've hosted.

In a charming show now on view in Brooklyn, two artists imagine a series of animal match-ups: lobsters vs. butterflies! Zebra vs. horse! Rabbit vs. frog! Which animals would you love to see painted in hand-to-hand (hoof, paw, etc.) combat, and who do you predict would win?