"Design Happens"

Today’s National Chess Day, so I’ll reveal my secret shame: I have no idea how to play chess. My dad tried to teach me when I was in grade school, and it didn’t stick. All I remember is Blitzkrieg (German for “lightning war”), which is the occasional name given to a four-move chess attack, and the fact that I was more interested in that term than the game itself is telling about me. But I digress.

I may not know how to play chess, but I do know how to enjoy wine, and these chess bottle stoppers from Kikkerland are perfect for preserving those half-full Cabernets I am left with at the end of the night. Are they pretty? Check. Are they practical? Check. Are they both? CHECKMATE.

Briana is a writer and senior editor for HGTV.com. Her self-described design style is "mid-century modern magpie." She lives in a Brooklyn apartment with her fiancé, their spoiled dachshund, Chauncey, and approximately one million old shelter magazines. She cannot wait until she is a home owner, and can wallpaper and/or tile just about every available surface.