Custom Computers
Adding a little pizazz to your PC or desktop system is as close as a few keystrokes on your telephone.
Sys-LAN, Inc., which specializes in painting and upholstering computer systems, can cover that gray or beige hardware to match any home-office decor. With more than 500 colors and fabrics such as Ultrasuede and leather available, nearly any combination is feasible. “Anything you can do on a car, we can do on a system,” says Philip Brandsey, CEO of Sys-LAN, based in Burnsville, Minn. “The technique we use took us about eight to 10 months to flesh out. The process isn’t simple, but the result is color that looks like it’s been there all along.” Sys-LAN, which has been overhauling computers for about two years, is happy to customize your existing system--you have to send it to them--or you can buy one from them.
An all-over paint job costs from around $550 to $750. Customizing a monitor is about $265, unless you want it done in Ultrasuede--then the price is $1,500. It takes about five days to complete a job.
For more information, call (800) 398-1933.
No Ordinary Rose
Everything will be coming up roses in your garden, thanks to the Flower Carpet rose, a new generation ground cover bloom that is disease-resistant and requires little care.
It’s popular in Europe, New Zealand and Australia and needs no spraying, dusting, fancy pruning or dead-heading.
“It grows like a perennial,” says Dan Davids, owner of Davids and Royston Bulb Co. in Gardena. “It’s a low-flowering shrub that happens to be a rose. All you need to do is water and feed it, and it will flourish. In our climate, it will bloom nearly all year.”
The Flower Carpet (about $16 for an eight-inch pot with fertilizer) is an iridescent pink and suited to massed plantings along fence lines and driveways and on slopes.
It will be available starting next week in garden and home centers throughout Orange County and from select mail-order sources.
Rod On
Simple lines and whimsical shapes are the foundation of Blome’s newest looks for finials, hooks and tiebacks.
Moving away from opulent silver and gold, designer Riccardo Dalisi, a professor of architecture at Naples University in Italy, chose metals found throughout the house for his works.
In the Magic Metal collection are 10 designs (small finial, $106 to $362; large, $162 to $463), including crystal, butterfly, crown, leaf, fan, square, flower, sea and bud.
For more information, call (800) 875-0042.
