By Yang Di (Shanghai Daily)
Updated: 2007-04-09 13:55

The Beverly Hills Collection. [Photo by nancyslifestyles.com]

Americana and luxury living is linked to iconic places like Hollywood and Beverly Hills, Manhattan and Cape Cod. And of course, Aspen, Colorado, in the Rocky Mountains.

Many people would love to live there, or at least furnish their homes, or a room in their homes, in the style of one of those locations that have captured the imaginations of people worldwide.

Now, you can do just that.

A new home furnishing store-Nancy's Lifestyles - has recently opened on Weihai Road, just half a block east of the Four Seasons Shanghai hotel.

The store - it's not just a store, it's an experience - is the dream-come-true of Southern California interior designer Nancy Weinstein.

She has long had a love affair with China and has traveled extensively, visiting Shanghai, Beijing and other parts of the country. Her two-story, 1,115-square-meter showroom offers homeowners the chance to shop by strolling through completely furnished living rooms, dining rooms, and bedrooms. They are inspired by the lifestyles linked to these five almost mythic American locations.

"Twelve years ago, I fulfilled a lifelong dream by visiting China for the first time," says Weinstein. "The amazing city of Shanghai thrilled me with its energy and optimism."

Weinstein began to visit Shanghai frequently, traveled regularly to Beijing and started to design fashionable homes and hotel living spaces for the wonderful people she met here.

"As I spent more and more time, here, I came to realize how fascinated the Chinese people were with American-style interior design," she says.

She experienced this craving for knowledge about American-style living when she spoke about the world of international interior design at Beijing University in 2005.

Hundreds of people showed up and many of then came up to her to ask questions afterwards.

Weinstein found her first showroom on Weihai Road a year and a half ago, and decided to transform it into a showcase for her own original American-style designs for home furnishings.

"I've designed and selected every aspect of this huge two-level space, from the elegant white-painted crown moldings, baseboards, and bead-board paneling, to the custom-paint colors on the walls, to the plush carpeting and beautiful hardwood flooring, to my five original collections of American-style furniture and accessories," she says.

Nancy's Lifestyles
Address: 321 Weihailu
Tel: 021-63401581/63401582