A roundup of gifts for the gardener or the aspiring green thumb.

N.B.: To make sure we've got everyone on your list covered, we're running a new gift guide every weekday from now until Christmas. You can see all of our gift guides to date at Remodelista Daily: Holiday Gifts.

Above: A Box of Culinary Seeds features heritage varieties such as asparagus pea and drunken-woman lettuce; £17.50 at Labour and Wait.

Above: With a beech-wood handle and copper blade, the PKS Nunki Weeder from Austria allows you to tackle weed seedlings with finesse; $58 at Terrain.

Above: Deerskin Work & Garden Gloves are made of supple leather that conforms to the shape of the hands with use; $44 at Kaufmann Mercantile.

Above: Perfect for trimming herbs and smaller plants, Herb Snips are made of carbon-steel and come in a heavy-weight leather holster; $45 from Canoe.

We like this idea from New York designer Roderick Shade for creating a festive feel in a long, narrow hallway: a row of inexpensive paper lanterns, easily sourced from vendors such as Ikea or Pearl River.

Above: Photo by Durston Saylor for Architectural Digest; discovered via White and Wander.

Above: Wire Frame Spherical Paper Lanterns are available in 19 colors; prices start at $1.75 each at Pearl River.

It's easy to miss RTH Shop, Rene Holguin's tiny store on N. La Cienega, in a neighborhood otherwise teeming with swanky design stores. It's utterly worth a visit, though, even if it takes a couple of drives around the block to find it; Rene, who worked in visual merchandising for some of the biggest names in the fashion retail world (Ralph Lauren, J. Crew, Levi's, etc.) spent years circling the globe on business trips but became dismayed by the global "sameness" of goods and aspired to do his own thing. "I wanted a store where I could make things that I love and sell stuff that I liked," he says. "I was inspired by the old souvenir shop, where you could buy a trinket as a memento of your holidays."

His store does not disappoint. It's all very unisex and global, with an underlying vibe of the old American West (the interior is infused with the heady sent of cedar oil and leather) yet in a thoroughly modern and creative way. On offer: Rene's collection of leather goods, including his signature egg bags, nubby leather wallets, colored kilt pins, leather flowers and bows, as well as a rotating selection of clothing. For more information, visit RTH Shop.

N.B. Rene will be joining us on Saturday at our Remodelista Holiday Market at Big Daddy's Antiques.

Photography by Megan Small.

Above: The entrance sign made from scrapwood.

Above: Rene grew up in El Paso, Texas, and as a child learned to work with leather from his boot-making father; above are his Market Tote, Junior Market Tote, and Egg Bag

Above: Beaded belt buckles.

Above: An array of Rene's found trinkets gathered from his travels, including wooden beads, colored kilt pins, beaded bracelets, and beanies adorned with his leather arrows.

Above: A collection of colored kilt pins.

Above: Snap wallets in five different sizes and in a myriad of colors.

Above: A gray egg bag with scarf.

Above: A couple of the outfits Rene pulls together using his own pieces and others on sale in the shop.

Above: The RTH workshop where Rene and his team design and finish the leather pieces, many of which are sourced from Texas.

My friend Brian, who is generally frugal, has a rule: "I allow myself to buy whatever I want if it's a form of self-powered transportation," he says (in addition to a bicycle, he also has a kayak and a paddleboard). We think Brian would approve of these accessories for the dedicated cyclist.

N.B.: To make sure we've got everyone on your list covered, we're running a new gift guide every weekday from now until Christmas. You can see all of our gift guides at Remodelista Daily: Holiday Gifts.

Above: The Bike Shelf by San Francisco-based Chris Brigham is available in solid ash and walnut and starts at $299 (custom sizing available).

Above: The Bicycle Bell from Danish Sögreni comes in zinc, copper, and brass; $65 at Mjölk.

Above: From the Peterboro Basket Company, the Woven Hardwood Bicycle Basket is handmade from Appalachian white ash and comes in a natural, cherry, and honey finish; $42 at Public Bikes. (Remodelista readers can receive 20 percent off bike gear from Public Bikes. Simply type in the promotional code "REMODELISTA" at check-out. Offer is limited to non-sale items and runs through Dec. 15.)

Above: Limited Edition LMNH Christmas Ornaments shaped like bike parts; £15 from Look Mum No Hands.

Above: For the wine country picnicker: the Bicycle Wine Rack by Oopsmark in Montréal is made from vegetable-tanned leather; CAD $29 via Etsy.

Our friend Justine at Design Skool gave us her picks for holiday ornaments; we love their classic shapes and handcrafted qualities—and the fact that there are alternatives to what we see in the stores all around us.

Above: A selection of Delicate Wooden Snowflake Christmas Tree Ornaments from Quite Alright Designs; $12.50 each at her Etsy store.

Above: Snug Stars Christmas Card includes three wooden ornaments that are actually the asterisks from three fonts—Arial, Times New Roman, and Verdana—packaged together in a Christmas card; $17.90 at Snug Studio's Etsy shop.

Above: The Reclaimed-Art Garland Kit features circles cut from leftover letterpress prints and enough jute twine to make three 6-foot garlands; $15 at Branch Home.

Above: Blitzen Ornament from Royal Buffet, cut from a page of a vintage French magazine and embellished with gold glitter; $7 via Etsy.

Spotted at Alder & Co.: a special holiday version of the popular cotton Bowl Over covers, ideal for keeping leftovers covered (previously covered in Kitchen: Refrigerator Lids from Bowl-Overs). The Christmas Bowl Overs are $20 for a set of six (includes two each in small, medium, and large sizes).

You wouldn't think that an old concrete-block Shakey's Pizza with a big asphalt parking lot could suddenly be a cool handcrafted kind of hangout, but LA architect Barbara Bestor was able to pull off that hat trick for Pitfire Pizza. For the Culver City location, she stripped down the building to its shell and reoriented the structure toward the parking lot, so the space now opens through oversized sliding doors onto a garden of grasses, olive trees, and herbs. "We accepted the reality of parking in LA and repurposed this generic freestanding box to create a new type of building," says Bestor. The industrial bones and plywood booths underscore the artisanal nature of wood-fired pizza, while the custom furniture and sculptural pizza oven speak to the attention to detail of the whole undertaking.

Photography by Ray Katchatorian.

Above: Bestor was inspired by archiitect Lina Bo Bardi's work in São Paulo when she designed the pizza oven with two tiers of red steel. The yellow powder-coated steel bar stools are a custom design by the firm.

Above: The whole space, including the kitchen, is one big room; the open layout has proved to be very popular with parents, who are able to keep a visual bead on their children.

Above: Vintage chairs sit across from plywood booths outfitted with silver vinyl cushions. The tabletops are made of end-grain blocks of Douglas fir, a popular choice for industrial flooring.

Above: The simple lighting fixtures are Muuto's E27 Pendant Lights, available at DWR.

Above: The restaurant now opens to a garden, with the parking lot beyond.

Above: Bestor is known for her love of strong graphics; on the exterior, she plays up the building's pattern of concrete blocks. "A bold graphic move sets the atmosphere and allows you to be fairly minimalist with the rest of it," she says.

When McLean Quinlan, a small practice based both in London and in Winchester (and a member of the Remodelista Architect/Designer Directory), were asked to overhaul a 19th century villa in Holland Park to meet the needs of a young family, there was an additional request: to create a contemporary art gallery setting for their client's Renaissance frame collection. McLean Quinlan approached the problem by applying their signature quiet and assured modernism to the interior, and, with one grand gesture, inserted of a four-story atrium hall in the center, bringing light into the core of the home and creating a dramatic modern display for the ornate, mysteriously compelling frames at the same time.

Photography by Peter Cook.

Above: The frames stand in ornate contrast to the austerity of the interior.

Above: Modern details and materials provide a quiet and neutral background for the ornate Renaissance frames.

Above: The four-story atrium creates a dramatic gallery space while also letting light into the core of the 19th century house.

Above: Smaller Renaissance frames are displayed on a table in front of a large picture frame window.

Above: The original facade of the 19th century villa remains unchanged.

Above: The addition of a modern extension at the rear accommodate the family's living requirements.

London architect James Macdonald Wright posed himself a challenge when he designed a home for his own family: "Take a historical building and figure out how to completely modernize the interior." Wright's starting point was an 1893 late-Victorian terrace house. "I wanted to create a feeling of surprise," says Wright. "From the outside, it looks like every other house on the street. You walk in, and suddenly it becomes a very different environment." Wright accomplished this by stripping the interiors (save for a few choice details, including a gloomy Victorian mantelpiece), installing a German-made Bulthaup kitchen, and replacing the floors with timbers from Danish company Dinesen.

Photography courtesy of Macdonald Wright Architects.

Above: The brick terrace house was in a conservation district, so the facade had to stay the same.

Above: "The most interesting thing about the original house is that there's a change in level," Wright says. "You come into the house and then step into the belly of the structure."

Above: Wright created 14 different niches around the house, each lit with a strip of LEDs. "I wanted to create background lighting throughout the communal areas of the house, so there's a low level of light all the way through," he says.

Above: The wide-plank Douglas fir flooring from Dinesen was treated with lye and soap. "The soap finish brings out the grain, and the floor becomes a sculptural element in its own right," Wright says. "The finish is completely impermeable—my children draw on it with permanent marker pens and the marks come right off."

Above: The kitchen opens onto a small but verdant garden.

Above: The kitchen table is from Bulthaup, and the chairs are Hans Wegner's classic wishbone chairs. The home's original hearth (painted white) now accommodates a wood-burning stove from Morsø.

Above: The kitchen cabinetry is from Bulthaup.

Above: The Bulthaup system of kitchens includes options such as hanging knife racks.

Above: Teapots occupy one niche; on the left is the Rasymatto Teapot, designed by Sami Ruotsalainen and available from Marimekko; on the right is the cast iron Arare Teapot from Mariage Frères.

Above: The shadow gap between the edge of the staircase and the wall is deliberate. "It was important to show that we were creating a contemporary addition. There's also a two-millimeter gap between the planks, so you really have a sense of how big they are," says Wright.

Above: Wright added a curved landing to the staircase, making the narrow space feel more expansive. The chair is another Hans Wegner, the CH44.

Above: M.C. Escher would have loved this image; the stair appears to have a rounded bottom step, but it's the wall that is curved.

Above: A stairway niche holds a drawing by one of Wright's young children. "The light comes in handy when I have to go downstairs in the middle of the night because someone is crying," says Wright.

Above: The master bedroom; a horizontal strip of wood functions as a door handle.

Above: The guest bedroom features a vintage rocker (an eBay find).

Above: An original mantel in the guest room stands in contrast to the pale wood Scandinavian flooring.

Above: The bathroom features some of the house's original stained-glass windows, carefully restored. "It's nice to have some of these original details crop up in odd spaces," says Wright.

An alternative to conventional holiday string lights: handmade lights of cotton thread from Cable & Cotton, a UK-based company that recently established a US outpost. The lights are made by village women in southern Thailand in a process similar to paper-mâché—they wrap cotton thread dipped in gum around a balloon.

Above: For each string of Pick Your Own lights, you can choose the color of the bulbs and number of lights; prices start at $39 for a string of 20 balls.

Above: Red bulbs add a subtle holiday note to a potted indoor plant.

Above: A cluster of neutral shaded lights suspended from a ladder. You can see the pattern of the thread used to create the lights; the handcrafted technique is shown in a video on the Cable & Cotton site.

For the style-conscious family: decorative items for the minimalist nursery.

N.B.: To make sure we've got everyone on your list covered, we're running a new gift guide every weekday from now until Christmas. You can see all of our gift guides at Remodelista Daily: Holiday Gifts.

Above: Flock Mobile by Bookhou at Home, with birds in maple veneer; $160.

Above: Pigeon Light, designed by Ed Carpenter for Thorsten Van Elten; $112 at Gretel.

Above: Bear Face Mirror from All Lovely Stuff; $27.

Above: The Baby Animal Series by photographer Sharon Montrose; prints start at $25 and come in different sizes.

Currently coveting: Confetti System's Tassel Garland, spotted as a layered installation at Maryam Nassir Zadeh in New York. Made of tissue paper and mylar, the garlands are available in custom color combinations; $130 per 12-foot strand. For holiday shipping before January 1st, contact Confetti System directly.

Above: Layered Tassel Garland installation at Maryam Nassir Zadeh in New York.

Above: Tassel Garland in Neutral.

What could be nicer than using vintage items in your holiday decor? I asked some of my favorite Etsy vendors to put together a few vignettes to offer some inspiration; for more, see Design Skool: Vintage Holidays.

Above: A set of Lath Display Boxes & Letterpress Holiday Ornaments sit next to a Vintage Lard Tin; offered by Jersey Ice Cream Co.

Above: Vintage 1950s Ski Poles from Solstice Home.

Above: Vintage gold mercury glass ornament and silver creamer from 5Gardenias.

Fox and Flyte, an online purveyor of vintage wares, was founded by three like-minded friends who share a passion for beautifully made things with a history. When not at their day jobs ( Luke Edward Hall is a student of menswear fashion design at Central St. Martin, Duncan Campbell is an Acne Paper editor, and Haeni Kim is in fashion PR), the trio can be found trawling markets in search of objects they can repair and restore. Their mission is to find new homes for objects that might otherwise be considered old-fashioned or fussy. "It is our belief that beautiful things can improve the quality of your life," they say. "But then again, perhaps you just need some teaspoons."

Photography by Fox and Flyte for Remodelista.

Above: Fox and Flyte's holiday cocktail setting, anchored by a silver-plated 1930s Punch Bowl with Ten Cups (£260).

Above: A set of six Georgian-style Port Glasses (£48), displayed on an inlaid wooden Drinks Tray (£210).

Above: A silver-plated Victorian Nutcracker (£39) rests on a 1930s Snuff Box (£54).

Above: Seasonal comestibles, including clementines, walnuts, and mince pies, served on a Doulton Serving Plate (£72).

Above: Duncan Campbell wears the limited-edition Tropical Print Shirt (£129) handmade in the UK using Philip Jacobs for Rowan fabric, while Luke Edward Hall models the Liberty Art Fabric Cotton Tie (£65); both were designed by Luke Edward Hall for Fox and Flyte.

We recently revisited the offerings at Sally Baring's Borderline Fabrics in the UK (maker of some of our all-time favorite prints) and discovered these Indian-inspired fabrics, evocative of the British Raj, to add to our wish lists.

Above: Jaisalmer print on 100 percent linen.

Above: Sophie, available in black, red, or blue on a neutral linen background.

For the Anglophiles among us; we asked our friend Megan Wilson (proprietress of Ancient Industries) to recommend some gifts available on both sides of the Atlantic.

Above: Mohair Throw Blanket in coal black; £110 from Blodwen.

Above: From British ceramists Andrew and Joanna Young, the A & J Young Mug is £13.80 from David Mellor Design.

Above: Stumpie Beeswax Candles, made from Yorkshire beeswax; £8 a pair from Ancient Industries UK (in the US, similar candles are available from Napa Valley-based Hurd Beeswax).

Above: Hand-knit in Leicestershire, the alpaca-cotton Hot Bottie Cover is available in light and dark grey; $45 from Ancient Industries.

Inspired by the work of the French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson, James Ravilious began photographing in the 1970s with the intention of recording daily life in rural England. This sideline soon grew into a lifelong passion, and over the next seventeen years of his career, he amassed over 80,000 black-and-white images, capturing a moment in history when the rural traditions that had been handed down for generations were still part of daily life. To order prints of his work (prices range from £300 to £400), go to James Ravilious.

Above: Oak Tree (After Mondrian); Marsland, Devon, England; 1997.

Above: Farrier Shoeing a Horse; Bradstone, Devon, England; 1999.

Above: View Toward Iddesleigh & Dartmoor, Iddesleigh; Devon, England; c. 1985.

Mr & Mrs Smith describe the Archangel Hotel in Frome, Somerset, as a "masterful mash-up of medieval and modern." When owner Simon Waterfield and his team acquired this "once great inn," it was a dilapidated and dingy pub," as they say. "Parts of the building date as far back as the Domesday Book; unsurprisingly, there was a lot of work to be done to update it, and the whole process took two years." Architect Piers Taylor of Mitchell Taylor Workshops preserved the ancient walls and beams and added modern limewashed concrete baths; working with designers Louise Waterfield and Niki Turner, the team added wallpaper panels depicting renaissance angels by Benevento di Giovanni, Leonardo da Vinci, and Fra Angelico (in homage to the inn's original name, the Angel). For more information, go to the Archangel Hotel.

Above: Rows of candle-like porcelain lights by Bruce Munro perched on the rafters illuminate the dining room.

Above: In the Naval Room, the exposed rafters and rough walls reflect the building's ancient origins.

Above: Modern banquettes and dining furniture contrast with the medieval vibe.

Above: A wallpaper mural featuring a detail of Leonardo's Annunciation.

Above: The modern baths feature exposed copper plumbing fixtures and cabinetry painted in deep shades of purple.

It's a common issue in city dwellings; the unusable fireplace. Here are five ideas for coping with an empty hearth.

Above: A tiled fireplace (the J. J. rocking chair is by Antonio Citterio); image via B & B Italia.

Above: A grouping of pillar candles adds a note of color in this otherwise neutral space; image via VT Wonen.

Above: In photographer Paul Massey's London house, a minimalist fireplace opening is filled with stacked wood.

Above: Oversized gold-toned letters fill an unused fireplace in the Paris apartment of Jean-Christophe Aumas; image via Marie Claire Maison.

Above: A mirrored ball reflects light in this minimal hearth; image via Shelterness.

Above: Add this to the list (a reader just alerted us): a tumbleweed in John Derian's Provincetown house. For tumbleweed sourcing, go to Accessories: Tumbleweeds as Decor. Image by Martyn Thompson for Australian Vogue Living.