In response to our many LEAP photos, and the recent one of a woman wading in (a slow leap) – a definite obsession – reader Maia Tabet emailed us this adage…with her tiny comment. It’s perfect – charmingly old-fashioned, almost children’s rhyme-ish – and speaks to the practice we work to cultivate, of having faith…
Read Morechic, minimalist gorilla tape cabinet door pulls
When we embarked on our renovation and move, we failed to realize the endless tiny details that make life liveable, and which we take for granted…like door pulls. We recently blogged the red twine pull a friend rigged in place of a bathroom door knob. Then another friend came up with a surprisingly chic version…
Read Morepractice makes!
‘back to the future’ by malte jäger, 2011 Reminder to self: this perfect flying move was the result of A LOT of practice and falling flat on face… via Gif me Berlin Related posts: skateboard in style! (1974) practice flying (via the uganda skateboard union) skateistan: skateboarding as antidote (to war, poverty, sadness…) joy ride: practice makes…
Read Morebook giveaway: sally schneider’s ‘a new way to cook’
Last week we posted a recipe for Strawberries in Beaujolais Sauce from Sally’s A New Way to Cook, and thought: what better way to kick-off the summer than to give the book away?! And a signed first-edition copy at that. These hardcover editions with the jazzy stripe-ed covers are now out of print and hard…
Read Mored-i-y color-block painting the aalto/frosta stool
As a tribute to the 80th anniversary of Alvar Aalto’s famous stool “60″, Artek commissioned Mike Meirè to make a fresh interpretation of that icon of Finnish design. Here, the artist painstakingly handpaints the simple elements of the stool: 3 bent-ply legs, one round seat (showing just how difficult it is to paint a straight edge). It gave us new…
Read Morewhen going slowly is ‘taking a leap’
We love pictures of people leaping – taking the leap – and publish them frequently. Then we came across this image of a woman tentatively wading in. We realized that sometimes going slowly, taking little step by little step, getting used to the territory is also taking a leap – an act of daring and…
Read Moremusic to work by: bach’s goldberg variations (free)
(Click here to listen while you read.) We are always looking for music we can work – and write – to. So we were thrilled to learn of a free, open-source Goldberg Variations by J.S. Bach, from the newly-released recording by Kimiko Ishizaka, performed on a Bösendorfer 290 Imperial piano in Berlin. The Variations are the quintessence of…
Read Moreflower + vegetables = charming arrangement
We love the surprising “flower arrangements” created by Sania Pell, author of Homemade Home for Children. Carrots, radishes, herbs and other market treasures give earthy charm to a glass vase of flowers. Great! via Remodelista. Photo by Rahel Weiss. Related posts: freehand, no-rule flower arrangements dill weed (and other edible) flower arrangements vase-less flower arrangement (right on…
Read Moreimprovisation is a guerilla action
In our hunt for material that resonates with ‘the improvised life’, we have decidedly subversive leanings. We love people who SEE the accepted order differently and put their mark on it, like this great, simple way designer Sebastrian Errazuriz transformed ordinary traffic lines into $$ signs, in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement. If…
Read Morerecipe: strawberries in beaujolais sauce
May offers a brief window when the markets are flush with fragrant local strawberries. We’ve been given a couple of cartons by friends who actually had time to get to the greenmarket: sublime little sweet bites perfect as is. But we were reminded of a recipe for Strawberries in Beaujolais Sauce from Sally’s A New…
Read Morereal presence + impromptu gift wrap via pascal anson
(Video link here.) When we checked in on Pascal Anson’s YouTube Channel and saw a video called “The Present”, we thought we’d see Anson demonstrating a clever way of BEING present. Well, we did, sort of: Pascal Anson’s inimitable way of…giving real presents/presence. Related posts: the beauty of old mirrors (with pascal anson) pascal anson…
Read More‘hip girls home’ giveaway: and the winner is…
We’ve come to the end of our most popular giveaway ever. Over 190 of you told us what projects you were intending to tackle over the summer in your home or garden in order to win a copy of Kate Payne’s fab The Hip Girl’s Guide to Homemaking, with its trustworthy, no-nonsense information on everything…
Read Moresaydaily features ‘the improvised life’: ‘one of 100 voices that matter’
Last September, we were crazy-honored when Remodelista Founder Julie Carlson chose ‘the improvised life’ as one of SayMedia’s 100 Voices that Matter. Today, the our pride flew off the charts with an interview with Sally on SayMedia’s Blog, SayDaily. Check it out, for the gist of what’s going on here, and “best of” links you…
Read Moresummer tubing party: out-there al fresco entertaining
This photo of members of the Seattle Tubing Society in full float made us WANT to be invited to a tubing party. If we were near a river or lake, we’d give one ourselves…What could be more delightful than lazily bobbing along with friends on a warm summer day? It seems that tubing parties…
Read Morecabin porn fave of the day: garden cottage, netherlands
…fuels our imagination…gives us a lovely vicarious experience: a fantazoom to will lead who-knows-where? via Cabin Porn Related posts: favorite escapist blog: cabin porn ‘tiny homes: simple shelter’ voyeur: suzanne shaker’s interiors evocative ideas from “the best of the selby 2010″ inside björk’s house (we’re back!)
Read Moreinstant chic lighting: the lunette shade
Good lighting is essential to making any space come alive, ESPECIALLY one suffering from disorder, as ours has during our recent move of lock-stock-and-many barrels. The solution was Lunette, lighting designers David Weeks’ and Lindsey Adelman’s inexpensive clip-on lamp shade we bought and blogged about a couple of years ago, but never had occasion to use.…
Read Moremakeshift solutions via a spool of red twine
In the days after our move to Harlem, friends came to help with the massive amount of unpacking, disposing of paper and boxes, and figuring out how to make the unfinished space as livable and pleasant as possible. As is typical with well-layed plans, ours did not go altogether smoothly.
Read Morecopy these: plywood chairs + tables (for kid’s or adults)
We are smitten with these vintage plywood children’s chairs whose very direct, modern lines and whimsical port holes make us envision an adult version. (Turned on it’s side, a chair could easily morph into a table…). There’s something Donald Judd-esque about them, softened by the curved corners. They wouldn’t be too hard to copy…They look…
Read Moreto do or not to do, that is the question
Yesterday afternoon, I looked at the massive to-do list that would keep me working into the evening and…actually for days – an impossible amount of tasks from writing posts to the endless details of moving to tending an elderly mom’s affairs. I wondered if there was another way to be handling things that allowed for…
Read Morecheckerboard stained floor and and…
The focus this picture from Remodelista is DIY: High-Style, Low-Cost Party Decor, but our eye went right to the checkerboard “painted” floor…NOT with the usual opaque paint, but with a wash of diluted black and white paint. It stains the wood so its character still shines through: a wonderful solution to jazzing up and inexpensive…
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