• Julian Buckner founded Vesta Homes, a luxury interior design company in 2018.
• He's worked with celebrities and high-end clients staging their homes and selling custom furniture.
• He gives his advice on how to make your home feel more luxurious without breaking the bank.

For luxury and elegance, homeowners often have to shell out for professional help finding the latest trends and big-ticket items. But what if you want your home to look expensive, but you can't break the bank?

According to an interior designer to the stars, there are still ways to communicate luxury via your own personal taste.

"Anyone with money can walk into a B&B Italia and spend $1 million on furniture and have it look like a B&B Italia showroom," said Julian Buckner, who founded the Los Angeles-based staging, interior design, and furniture sales company Vesta Homes in 2018. "Taste is knowing when to put in the ultra-modern leather casino sofa and then marry it with some vintage nightstand that you found at the design mart in Texas."

Buckner, who has worked with clients like LeBron James, Travis Scott, and Jonah Hill, said the average home he stages is worth about $6 million. But his advice applies regardless of price point. Below, he shares his tips for how people can make their homes feel more luxurious without the hefty price tag.

Bring a personal touch to your decorating.

Bringing something unique and unexpected into a room as decoration shows a level of thought that conveys luxury unlike anything else, Buckner said.

"Those small knickknacks or found items may be the single biggest thing to add personality to a space," he said. "I've seen those antique old wooden shoe horns, antique toys, plaster or marble busts, anything you just wanted to tie into the broader aesthetic."

Just make sure not to get carried away.

"I see people go to HomeGoods and just buy a bunch of random knickknacks and put them on every shelf, and I think that cheapens it," Buckner said.

"It's like informal men's dress wear," he added. "There are a couple of areas you can express personality, and it's maybe in your socks and your choice of a wristwatch. I think that same thing is true in luxury design, where it's in those found items, those antiques, and ultimately the accessories; that's a really unique opportunity to express yourself."

Make furniture unique by having fun with different fabrics.

There are other subtle ways to show off your personality, too. Buckner said a great way to add a unique fixture to your home is to reupholster furniture.

"I think that the average consumer does not appreciate, does not understand, or does not even know that reupholstering is an option," he said. "You can take a relatively inexpensive sofa and for not a ton of money, reupholster it in a really unique fabric that ties into the rest of the home, and that can absolutely make a space."

Try not to have everything match.

While having a theme to a room is fine, Buckner said having things too "matchy-matchy" is no longer in style.

"You can see that with the emergence and the popularity of a company like a Restoration Hardware, this more monotone type of furniture and people buying full rooms together and having everything matchy-matchy," Buckner said. "We're seeing a shift away from that and a real focus on curation — on things not matching."

Sometimes, things clashing can actually make a room more interesting.

"I think when things don't match, when there's a little bit of dissonance in the design, that's an area — when it's done tastefully, not tons of different fabrics and colors and textures everywhere — to make you stop and think, 'Oh, that's interesting,'" he said. "We're starting to see a lot more of that."

Window treatments are the most important and easiest fixes for your home.

Buckner's No. 1 fix for adding style to your home is adjusting your window treatments.

"Window treatments, I think, are often massively overlooked, and it's a very inexpensive way to make a space feel very high-end," he said. "Whether the curtains are too heavy, they're poorly positioned, or the rods look cheap, there's such an opportunity there in fabric and layering on the window treatment side that I think can add a ton to a room."

Trendy isn't always better.

It's hard not to be inspired when you see a celebrity's home with a special lamp or a certain style of couch (Buckner said Bouclé has had its moment), but it's often better to stay away from popular trends.

While Buckner's high-end clients change their homes around every three to five years, trying to keep up with trends isn't cost-effective for the average consumer. It's more important to find pieces that you like first.

"I would stay away from trends and focus on timeless design and products that you actually love. Spend the time on putting that together, whether it's something you found in a unique place, or has a story behind it, or something that resonates," Buckner said.

"When it's thoughtfully done, it really conveys the highest level of taste."

• I spent years saving $50,000 for a kitchen remodel that'd give me the space of my dreams.
• I'm glad I kept my layout the same and chose a timeless color palette for the space.
• Reupholstering my dining chairs saved me money, but I wish I hadn't done this project during summer.

I hated my kitchen for 19 years and spent just as long saving to remodel it.

My goals were to build a bright, modern kitchen that was more functional, offered additional storage solutions, and created a cohesive look when viewed from the two entryways to my living room.

After spending nearly $50,000 on my kitchen remodel, there are a lot of choices I'm glad I made — and only one I really regret so far.

I'm glad I kept my kitchen layout the same.

Early on, one designer who bid on my project proposed removing some walls and the soffit ceiling and adding an island to help me reach my storage and design goals.

The idea sounded great in theory, but it would've put me about $20,000 over budget, between the construction, ductwork, and the need for taller cabinets to fill the higher ceiling space.

The designer I ended up hiring urged me to keep my current layout and showed me how we could do so while adding the functionality I wanted.

Choosing a timeless color palette makes me confident that the kitchen will age beautifully.

For years, I'd dreamt of an all-white kitchen because I loved its classic, clean look. However, as my designer and I began talking and looking at my Pinterest boards, she noticed I also loved black accents.

She took the black-and-white theme and ran with it, outfitting half my kitchen with white cabinets and charcoal countertops and the other half with black cabinets and a white countertop.

She also chose coordinating tile squares: shades of white around the kitchen and a bold graphic tile in the dining room area.

This palette feels truly timeless — and I am confident I'll love this design for decades to come.

Buying little things that bring me joy helped me complete my space.

It can be easy to focus all your attention on the bigger-ticket items while remodeling, but the details really matter.

For instance, I visited Kohler, Wisconsin — home of the Kohler Company that's best known for its plumbing products — years ago and became obsessed with its sleek sinks and faucets. So, naturally, that's what I chose for my new kitchen.

Similarly, my everyday dishes no longer matched my new aesthetic, so I gave them away in my local "Buy Nothing" group and upgraded to the cutest stoneware set from Stone Lain.

The dishes were pretty affordable and have totally elevated my tablescape.

Reupholstering my old dining-room chairs saved me a lot of money.

The table and chairs on the dining side of the kitchen were still in excellent shape, and the perfect size, but the drab gray fabric on the chairs was a real eyesore.

Instead of replacing the entire set, I spent $500 to have them reupholstered with a striking fabric my designer chose. They look brand new again and have such a playful vibe.

I don't regret spending more than half my budget on cabinets and countertops.

Aside from labor, I knew that my cabinets and countertops would be my biggest line items — but they were also the largest pieces in the room, so that was OK with me.

My designer steered me toward a local company that offered a great mid-tier option on factory cabinets (read: not high-end and not custom), and they still cost $15,000. To be fair, though, adding cabinets to the entire wall of the dining area played a major role in that price tag.

I also paid a little over $11,000 for quartz countertops because we needed three slabs for this design.

However, these things are the foundation of the kitchen, and I don't think I could've skimped on either one and still achieved my desired outcome.

Still, I wish I'd planned my remodel during a different season.

It didn't take me long to realize that summer in Phoenix was the wrong time for this project. It started in June and went into September during a record-breaking heat wave (70 days with highs at or above 110 degrees Fahrenheit).

Workers were in and out of the house all day, causing my poor AC unit to work overtime. If I ever do another remodel, it'll be during a more temperate time of year.

This story was originally published on November 17, 2024, and most recently updated on October 22, 2026.

Los Ortiz dormían vestidos por si la casa ardía esa noche. Los Ortiz, o los Brennan, o los Washington, da igual, podría ser cualquier apellido, podría ser un apellido como el tuyo, exactamente igual que el tuyo. Vivían en South Bronx, en edificios de casi cien años, de fachadas de ladrillo con cuatro o cinco o seis plantas y ningún ascensor, y se acostaban con la ropa del día siguiente puesta, con los zapatos puestos, los niños sobre todo, porque bajar tres pisos en calcetines por una escalera en llamas podía suponer la diferencia entre vivir o morir. Las madres dejaban una bolsa junto a la puerta con documentos, una foto de la familia, el dinero en metálico que tuviesen disponible, siempre la misma bolsa, lista, como la gente que vive cerca de un frente de guerra. Porque, de algún modo, la década del fuego de Nueva York fue un frente de guerra.

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• Visa is rolling out a new "V" to pop on mobile screens as people move to contactless payments.
• It's the company's first refresh of this size since 2021.
• Other brands have increasingly leaned on symbols and pared-down names for better mobile visibility.

Visa is betting that less is more when it comes to how it shows up to customers.

Starting Wednesday, the letter "V" will replace "Visa" in the center of its credit cards and on its digital properties, the company exclusively told Business Insider.

Visa's move signals that after 50 years of using the name, it feels it has enough brand recognition to be represented by a single letter. The change is also meant to pop more on small screens as people conduct more of their lives on their mobile devices.

In addition to the "V," Visa is introducing a new font, called Visa Sans, lopping off the serif in the first letter of "Visa."

The changes were developed by Visa's in-house creative studio and Base Design. It's Visa's first significant refresh since 2021, when it introduced a blue, white, and yellow flag-like brand symbol and a new font. With the new "V," that brand symbol will go away.

"There was an opportunity for us to modernize that and make it feel fresh, particularly for the next generation of consumers," Frank Cooper III, CMO of Visa, told CMO Insider. "We think it marries well with the evolution of the brand overall."

Cooper said the process took about a year.

"We do not have an awareness issue. We have deep trust. Playing around with the brand positioning is no light matter," he said.

Other big brands have increasingly leaned on symbols and pared-down names for better visibility on smaller screens.

Mastercard dropped its name from its logo in 2019. Google introduced a sans-serif logo and a new, four-color "G" icon in 2015.

Dan Nicholas, design director at creative studio Super Okay, said the move to a singular V aligns with a mobile-first approach that tech and media brands like Verizon and The New York Times have taken, in which they adopt a single letter as an icon.

He said the move simplifies Visa's appearance but could undermine brand recognition.

"What remains to be seen in the rollout is how Visa manages this new equity," he said. "If thoughtfully and strategically executed and invested in over the next few years, we can see it becoming a strong way for the brand to express itself."

Visa sees its visual changes as a companion to an effort to associate itself with culture and aspiration. It enlisted celebrities like Pharrell Williams for its "Power of Small Steps" campaign and has a partnership with the FIFA World Cup that extends through 2030. This year's World Cup campaign promoted its contactless payment option to emphasize that Visa's long-running slogan, "everywhere you want to be," was more than just a physical destination.

"We see that phrase now as representing both a physical destination and a personal aspiration," Cooper said.

Little-known photographer John Baer captured everyday life before putting down his camera in 1954. His son discovered the images decades later after his death, and John Baer: The Extraordinary Ordinary / A Memoir in Photographs, 1945–1954 marks their first public release

• We asked interior designer Lane Mari to share which design trends she'd never have in her kitchen.
• The designer said she stays away from cheap appliances and synthetic materials.
• She also avoids black hardware and harsh overhead lighting in favor of warmer materials and shades.

The kitchen is often one of the most-used spaces in a home, whether you're cooking for family or hosting friends.

With so much time spent there, the design choices you make can have a big impact on how the space looks and feels.

To help you avoid any kitchen-design missteps, Business Insider asked Lane Mari, an interior designer with experience in both design and construction, what she'd never have in her own kitchen and what she recommends instead.

Here's what she had to say.

Black hardware can stand out too much.

When it comes to kitchen-cabinet pulls, Mari is skipping black hardware.

"It's too harsh and creates too much contrast on a white or light cabinet," Mari told BI.

If she wants something dark, she'll usually go for oil-rubbed bronze hardware instead. Its warm undertones can help make it look more balanced in a space.

Not all kitchens need an island.

Though kitchen islands are popular, they don't work in every space — especially not in smaller or awkwardly arranged ones.

"It never looks good to have something crammed in that doesn't really fit," she told BI.

Before committing to an island, Mari recommends consulting with a designer to get its scale just right. In some cases, you might realize a traditional option isn't the right fit.

If that's the case, she said, you can try having a more open piece of furniture custom-made to better suit the space.

Leaving a small gap above kitchen cabinets can look unintentional.

Mari said she often sees cabinets that stop 2 to 3 inches below the ceiling, but it's not her preference. In many cases, it can look like a design mistake.

"If you have shorter ceilings, like 9 feet and under, you definitely want the cabinets going to the ceiling," Mari told BI. "That's going to make the ceiling look taller."

For taller ceilings, she said, cabinets can look best if they intentionally stop farther below the ceiling rather than leaving just a few inches of space.

You won't find an all-black-and-white kitchen in her home.

The designer loves color and incorporates it into her kitchen designs rather than sticking to a black-and-white palette.

Mari recognizes how challenging and overwhelming it can be to choose colors to incorporate into a home, but she has a few tips.

"The best place to get color inspo is from your own closet in the clothes that you wear," she said. Clothes that look good on you can look great in your house — and make you look good in your home, too, she said.

If your closet doesn't offer much inspiration, Mari suggests looking to favorite vacation spots or outdoor spaces instead. Though she gravitates toward natural colors, she said the shades you choose should ultimately make you feel most at ease in your home.

She skips synthetic materials in favor of natural ones that develop character over time.

When choosing materials for a kitchen, Mari opts for stone and wood over synthetic alternatives.

"Natural materials, although they might be a little bit more sensitive, wear better," Mari told BI.

She added that these surfaces can develop a patina over time, giving them more character as they age. On the other hand, manufactured materials don't tend to wear in the same way.

Countertops aren't an area where she'd skimp.

For this designer, high-quality countertops are worth investing in.

"If you're going for an elevated and high-end look in the kitchen, I suggest choosing the nicest natural stone that you can afford," she told BI.

Quartzite is one of her favorites for its strength and durability, and she also likes marble. She suggests visiting a stoneyard, choosing a stone that speaks to you, and designing the rest of the kitchen around it.

You also won't find her opting for the cheapest appliances.

The designer said she often sees clients dealing with lower-priced appliances breaking or arriving damaged, which is why she recommends investing in quality when possible.

"Do your research and get the best ones that you can afford," she said.

For a higher-end look, the designer prefers to conceal appliances with panel-ready options integrated into the cabinetry. She also said retro-inspired styles are a more aesthetically pleasing alternative if integrated appliances aren't an option.

Too much overhead lighting can make a kitchen feel less cozy.

According to Mari, it is absolutely possible to have too much lighting in a kitchen.

She avoids track lighting and recessed lights, which can give off way too much light and make a kitchen feel more like an operating room, she said.

Instead, the designer prefers wall-mounted sconces, small lamps, or other forms of task lighting to provide "a warm and cozy vibe."

In addition, Mari recommends installing dimmer switches whenever possible to help set the mood and give you more control over the amount of light in the space.

Lastly, you won't see her jumping on kitchen trends unless they truly fit her vibe and needs.

There's nothing wrong with following the latest design trends, like colorful lighting strips under cabinets or mosaic-tile backsplashes, as long as you truly like them and they work for you.

"Every space is unique, and every family is different, and the best kitchen is the one that functions best for your needs," Mari said.

For her, designing a kitchen is about personalizing the space to fit each client's needs and lifestyle rather than following a trend simply because it's popular.

If she is going to hop on a trend in her kitchen, it's going to be because it suits her tastes and her lifestyle.

The late Christoph Schlingensief was one of German art’s great provocateurs. Can his B-Movie horror aesthetics still shock us into thinking anew about media power, colonialism, and the far right?

Christoph Schlingensief certainly knew how to provoke. “Fury at German play that shows Queen as a Nazi,” read the Sunday Express’s headline after Kaprow City first premiered at Berlin’s Volksbühne theatre in 2006. Drawing on the happenings of US performance artist Allan Kaprow, the play turned its attention to Diana, Princess of Wales’s death. In one scene, the then queen performs a Hitler salute. Another re-enacts the paparazzi chase that led to Diana’s fatal crash. Diana appears in bed beside two men with Down’s syndrome; and Camilla is pelted with animal blood. Schlingensief insisted the work was not meant as provocation but as an investigation into how Diana turned into a modern icon. But his art thrived on outrage, exposing the absurdity of societies that glorify their idols while consuming their lives as entertainment.

Kaprow City is at the heart of a new Berlin show – It’s Not My Problem Anymore, Deal With Your Own Shit – that revisits the artist’s legacy. In the Gropius Bau’s grand neo-Renaissance atrium, visitors encounter remnants of the carousel-like rotating stage he called the “animatograph”. Looking at this installation today feels like a glimpse into Schlingensief’s mind: a messy collage of childhood memories, violent fantasies and royal glamour.

The European Commission unveiled its EU Kids Act on Thursday (17 September), proposing sweeping restrictions on children’s access to social media and new obligations on technology companies to address growing concerns over young people’s mental health and online safety.

The proposal would prevent children under 13 from accessing social media, while 13- and 14-year-olds could use restricted “mini accounts” under parental supervision. From the age of 15, teenagers would be able to open their own social media accounts. The legislation also requires platforms to prove their services are safe for minors, reversing the burden of proof from regulators to technology companies....

In the new print issue of Esses, a quarterly print magazine covering motorsports and the culture around it, Duncan Fyfe writes about the most bizarre Formula One video game ever made. Centered around Gerhard Berger, a former racing driver from Austria who competed in F1 from 1984 to 1997, Gerhard Berger’s Formula 1 Quiz is a quirky video game from 1993 that raises more questions than it asks. Fyfe digs into the mystery, investigating the quiz’s grammatically awkward questions and the game’s developer, Austria Soft, whose existence is questionable. (Esses subscription may be required—consider becoming a member.)

THE REAL QUIZ, it soon becomes clear, is not a test of one’s F1 knowledge, but figuring out what the game expects to hear. This only becomes more difficult, and even sinister. Question nine: FROM WHAT COUNTRY IS JEAN ALESI REALLY? The answer is not France, where Alesi was born and grew up, and under whose flag Alesi competed for over a decade. To progress in the quiz, the game forces one to submit that Alesi was born to Italian parents, and thus is “really” from Italy.

The game’s questions all have correct answers that cannot be submitted, and yet they are less difficult to answer than these ones: Who made this game? Why? And what was Gerhard Berger thinking?

“Most people don’t get to buy their old homes back, or ever step foot in them again, and that’s okay. But we sure can spend a lifetime trying to re-create them.” In this poignant essay for Dwell, Emilia Petrarca celebrates the work of her late father, the New York City architect John Petrarca, and explores how his influence has shaped her own relationship to home and interior design. Petrarca reflects on the process of finding her own aesthetic while carrying her father’s with her, considering the ways belongings and spaces can hold our memories, legacies, and grief.

When I moved out of my mom’s house and into my first apartment with a roommate at 23, I brought with me a black rug my dad bought in Morocco. After graduating from Carnegie Mellon, he joined the Peace Corps and spent time in Ouarzazate designing government buildings. In a room full of cheap Ikea furniture, it was the only thing that truly felt like a reflection of me. Well, that and a rigid, plastic, yellow outdoor chair I for some reason bought to go with my desk. Looking back at photos now, I see that the choice makes more sense: The chair my dad got me for my room in the Big House was almost the exact same hue.

I gioielli hanno sempre avuto un ruolo sociale e spirituale che va oltre la semplice decorazione estetica, poiché l’essere umano affida da sempre ai metalli preziosi il compito di raccontare storie intime e personali. Indossare al polso un bracciale, in particolare, rappresenta un gesto quotidiano carico di significato, un modo per tenere sempre sotto gli occhi un promemoria visivo dei nostri traguardi o delle persone che amiamo. I bracciali si muovono insieme a noi in ogni istante della giornata e diventano i custodi silenziosi di ricordi preziosi, capaci di evocare sensazioni di protezione, appartenenza e calore profondo ogni volta che li sfioriamo. Questa connessione così intima trasforma un semplice accessorio in un vero e proprio ponte emotivo, un filo invisibile che unisce il nostro mondo interiore alla realtà esterna, offrendoci la rassicurante certezza che i momenti più importanti rimangano impressi nella nostra quotidianità, pronti a risplendere sulla pelle giorno dopo giorno.

I simboli che parlano al cuore e l’evoluzione del legame eterno

Ogni piccolo elemento inserito in un gioiello parla una lingua universale fatta di forme e dettagli che richiamano concetti profondi come la forza, la speranza o l’amore autentico. Molto spesso sono proprio questi dettagli a determinare il reale valore affettivo di un oggetto, trasformandolo nel regalo ideale per ricordare una svolta importante del proprio cammino o un’unione speciale. Questa filosofia si riflette, ad esempio, nel bracciale della collezione Infinity di Kidult, dove l’idea di un legame duraturo non viene affidata a un semplice disegno sulla superficie, ma a una vera e propria scelta strutturale. L’accessorio si allontana così dall’essere un elemento decorativo temporaneo, offrendo un modo concreto per portare sempre con sé il significato di una promessa.

I materiali e il sistema di aggancio

La particolarità di questi bracciali si lega alla natura del loro sistema di aggancio e alla resistenza dei materiali. L’acciaio inossidabile garantisce una lunga durata nel tempo mantenendo intatta la propria lucentezza. La caratteristica fondamentale è però il sistema di chiusura non reversibile: una volta uniti i due lembi, il meccanismo interno si blocca in modo definitivo e l’unico modo per rimuovere il bracciale in futuro sarà quello di tagliarlo. Questa scelta elimina la necessità dei classici moschettoni, offrendo una linea pulita ed essenziale, adatta sia a uno stile maschile che a uno femminile.

Un rito condiviso per sigillare una promessa indissolubile

Proprio per via della sua natura permanente, la scelta di indossare o regalare un bracciale di questo tipo si trasforma in un’esperienza unica che richiede una complicità consapevole tra chi lo dona e chi lo riceve. L’atto di unire le due estremità e attivare il bloccaggio d’acciaio diventa un piccolo rito condiviso, un patto silenzioso che unisce due persone in un momento indimenticabile di affetto sincero e reciproco. Che si tratti di celebrare un amore romantico, un’amicizia straordinaria che supera le distanze fisiche o un legame familiare profondo, questo oggetto si propone come il custode di un sentimento reale, destinato a brillare sulla pelle come una presenza costante che non teme affatto lo scorrere degli anni.

L'articolo Il linguaggio segreto dei bracciali: la promessa che sigilla un sentimento su Vanilla Magazine scritto da Antonio Pinza