big black bag

Really big bags are essential for all sorts of projects, like hauling food home from the farmers market, or a brick or two or a piece of pipe from a construction site, or [rocks] from out of town.  I’ve had a variety of bags over the years, some which are still with me, though pretty…

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magazine pages as envelopes

Pamela Hovland, the extraordinary designer who has been so essential to the design for The Improvised Life, often uses pages from magazines as her envelopes. Periodically, she culls compelling images from magazines, cuts them out with an Exacto knife and straight edge (or just rips them out, leaving a pleasingly rough edge), and folds each…

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necklace as plug chain

Here’s simple, pretty solution to those ugly generic plug chains. There’s infinite possibilities for stringing beads (waterproof) or using other materials like waxed string,which often comes in beautiful colors. (The friend that sent this to me didn’t remember where she found it. So we’re unable, yet, to give credit.)

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real-life interiors

A pleasurable antidote to the nothing-out-of-place, perfect fabulousness  of mainstream interiors magazines is  The Selby which blogs photographs (by Todd Selby) of creative people and their spaces, sometimes with a brief, handwritten interview attached.  It is a relief to see real, un-styled totally personal spaces.  Scroll down the page of notated images of people in their…

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diy patchwork headboard

I love the idea of this patchwork headboard from Lockwood Design. There are endless possibilities for combining cool fabrics and textures and it’s definitely a do-able project.   I can imagine using all sorts of vintage fabrics, which can be found at flea markets and on Ebay. Or buying 1/2 yard of several fabrics from…

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alt candleholders

You’re camping in a borrowed summer house and have candles but no holders.Or you’re just tired of your usual candle holders. A photo of pencil candles in a galvanized bucked of sand, seen at Dee Puddy, a U.K. garden and interiors store, provides a great gist of a solution for improvising on.

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hotel room oven-ette

  This image from Emma’s Blog reminds me of the usefulness of radiators when traveling in the winter.  A hot radiator is a good place to warm bread you’ve swiped from a room service delivery, bought at a local store or have leftover from takeout. Same with cheeses, saved or bought: you can warm some…

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