TIME Magazine's Design Roundup

This may be old news, but I just discovered that TIME Magazine has released its "Design 100" list, which includes the "people and ideas behind today's most influential design." I stumbled upon the list while visiting design*sponge, one of my favorite blogs and a TIME Magazine design honoree in the "websites" category. It's a fun list. Here are some of the highlights:

(1) The Tides, a South Beach hotel, made the list. I guess that my brother has good taste after all, or at least taste that would pass muster at TIME magazine (he recommended the hotel when I was planning a trip to Miami in January). TIME noted that the "diva of Ocean Drive" will only get better after designer Kelly Wearstler completes an overhaul of the interior. (Click here for the hotel's official website.)

(2) Several design websites made the list. In addition to design*sponge, which was recognized for its "city guides, guest blogs by interior stylists and sneak peeks into cool apartments and lofts across the country," several other websites, which I can't wait to explore, made the list. Those undiscovered sites include Green Home Guide, which offers advice on how to "go green" in each room of your house, Better Living Through Design, which offers a smorgasbord of design tips, and Fab Prefab, which makes prefabricated homes seem cool and modern. I'm especially excited about Fab Prefab...my opinion of prefab homes changed completely after I watched an episode of TLC's "My First House," during which a very young, newlywed couple purchased a HUGE prefab home on over an acre of land in North Carolina for under $100,000.

(3) I love Kiehl's products, and I was thrilled to see that Kiehl's was featured in the "More [Design] Stories" category. (And as a Kiehl's groupie, I am apparently in good company--according to TIME, Brad Pitt and Oprah Winfrey are Kiehl's fans, and Jackie Kennedy frequently requested that the products be delivered to her apartment at the Carlyle Hotel.) As the piece points out, the packaging is no-fuss (that's the "design" angle). In my opinion, the packaging can afford to be no-fuss because the products speak for themselves. Some anecdotal evidence: First, I keep a bottle of Creme de Corps, the lovely, magically light and rich all-over body creme on my nightstand and use it virtually every night. Second, the Kiehl's coriander fragrance smells like an herb garden and has universal appeal; I know men and women who count it among their favorites. And finally, when my mother tried to replenish her supply of Kiehl's Original Musk Oil only to discover that it was on backorder everywhere, she had me call the Kiehl's flagship store directly and place her name on a pre-order list so that she could stock up on the fragrance as soon as it became available again. Seriously. (Click here for the Kiehl's online store.)

For TIME Magazine's complete "Design 100" list, click here.