Hawai‘i’s epic landscapes are stories embedded in rock. Sometimes the story is told implicitly, in the massive emerald cliffs buckled with time. In other places the story is told explicitly, in the form of prehistoric petroglyphs. Big Rock Manufacturing Inc. of Honolulu lets homeowners take these stories into their own backyards. This highly creative company is the place where nature's magnificence meets with manmade masonry, offering landscaping solutions that complement the distinctive aesthetics of the Islands.

Sometimes it takes a lot of work to make a dream come true. Jeri Lynch and her husband Jerry discovered that when they purchased their Kahala home in 2001. “The interior décor was very French,” recalls Lynch. “The living room had floor-to-ceiling wallpaper in pink silk, and the bedroom looked like Marie Antoinette slept there; it was froufrou and frilly, which is not our taste at all! We envisioned an Asian/tropical style.”

When Bill Indich put his Hawaiian University philosophy degree to the test teaching in Baltimore, he could not have guessed that this move would set the stage for what later became the largest carpet business in the Pacific.

Pacific Home, the young furniture and design store begun by Jenn Johnson and Aubrey Yee, takes on a third partner and moves to the heart of Kaka‘ako.

Opened in the spring of 2005 and located on the first floor of Ward Centre near Borders Books and Music, Welcome to The Islands offers consumers an affordable selection of high-quality Island-themed merchandise. Designed to appeal to visitors and residents alike, the store has everything from elegant porcelain dinnerware sets and etched glassware items to a collection of bath and body products and gourmet jams and jellies.