When we were renovating the bathroom of our new place, we chose a wall-hung sink in order to make the small 7’x5′ room look bigger (vanities take up a lot of space and close things in – see below). We were very careful to give the plumbing sleek lines to keep the spare look, at…
Read Moresue austin’s wheelchair: ‘re-envisioning the familiar’
(Video link here.) When Sue Austin got a power chair 16 years ago after an extended illness, she felt a tremendous sense of freedom — yet others looked at her as though she had lost something. ‘Limitation’, ‘fear’, ‘pity’, ‘restriction’ were the words people used when they tried to imagine using a power chair. I was…
Read More‘wrong is the new right’
This art work by Egor Kraft is echoing what a lot of people are finally getting with (or trying to): making mistakes are a way to learn, part of the path, the way things work… Yeah! (The guy loves papering the streets with signs by the way. Check these out.) via uncopy Related posts: discover…
Read Morethe improvised lives of trees + 5 simple ways to save em
Ever since we moved in view of massive old trees in a New York City park, and witnessed first-hand the devastation wrought on some of them by Hurricane Sandy, we’ve been obsessed with trees. Sandy woke us up, big time. We’d always enjoyed trees, but seeing the 150 years of rings in a downed oak…
Read Moregood idea: an ipad on a fridge door
fridge + duct tape + tablet-or-phone…. A strangely swell idea, low on style (though it sure beats those ugly water dispensers.) It reminded us of the great video Jesse Rosten made showing how-to secure an ipad to just about anything using velcro, possibly a slightly more elegant and practical solution to the one above. We could see…
Read Moremore bill murray: ‘being relaxed’ (+ how to get there)
In the the Bill Murray interview we excerpted recently we held back an essential chunk, perfect for right NOW: I realized the more fun I had, the more relaxed I was working, the better I worked. Q. That seems to be a philosophy you apply not only to your work but to your entire life. A.…
Read Moreskipping as exercise (we dare you to try it)
(Video link here.) The other day I was in the park across the way doing my ad-hoc workout while listening to the great Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s My Heart, My Life on my iPhone. (Click to listen while you read.) There was NO WAY I couldn’t dance to that music. Suddenly skipping seemed like the rhythmically perfect move to make.…
Read Moreballpoint wallpaper!!!….diy?
We LOVE New York-based creative alissia melka-teichroew‘s series of ballpoint pen wallpaper designs, part of rollout‘s artist series. The made us want to got right up into a corner and start doodling, and drawing stripes…
Read Mored-i-y tree branch and string light chandelier
In an effort to bring more nature into this urban home, Polish architecture firm mode:lina conspired with the own to make a chandelier out a tree branch. “It can not be just any branch!” said the owner, “I will bring one from the place where I used to spend my childhood holidays.” We’re adding it to our file of tree…
Read Moregary snyder ‘don’t… be victimized by your lesser talents’
We were reading a packed-full-of-revelations1992 interview with poet Gary Snyder when we came across this amazing, of-the-cuff line. What a concept! The context is his answer to the question about whether he’d work as Secretary of the Interior or other political post if asked: I’ve never thought seriously about that question. Probably not, although I am foolish…
Read More‘yes to all’
It’s amazing how good this sign makes us feel. via uncopy Related posts: ‘yes yes yes yes…oh..oh…oh.. yes yes’ (nora ephron) what happens if you say ‘yes, and…’ (instead of ‘no’)? salvador dali says ‘yes’ to everything ‘there is no such word as “no”‘
Read Moretwo-tone chairs, using paint or upholstery
A rather ordinary chair with good simple lines becomes much more interesting with an assymetrical two-tone paint job. We love that color-blockish thing! Here’s a chair transformed by two-toned upholstery: mattress ticking and velvet in tandem:
Read Morebreakfast pizza: how ideas come from visual associations
(Video link here.) The first 20 seconds of this wacky video illustrates an essential tenet of improvisation – especially in cooking: the associations of ideas in your field of vision. Here, a classic breakfast next to a frozen pizza sparks the brilliant idea of a breakfast pizza. For us, it’s lead to the discovery that…
Read Morearomatherapy sniff box: diy or buy
Recently, we were enticed to buy a travel-size-two-fer of Les Floralies Sniff Boxes: one to encourage sleep, the other “focus”. Sniff boxes are little vials of “aroma beads” infused with various mixes of essential oils designed to assist well-being. We enjoyed Les Floralies‘ scents and charming packaging — and found that opening a sniff box did…
Read Moremonday morning wonder: dig these birds of paradise!
(Video link here.) Photographer Tim Laman and ornithologist Ed Scholes journeyed into the remote jungles of New Guinea in search of crazy dazzling Birds of Paradise, whose wondrous plumage is the result of some wild evolutionary development.…improvisation. Says Scholes: The Birds of Paradise represent one of those singular events of evolution that stand out, that…
Read Morewondrous leaping via the emeralds
(Video link here.) Sublime riff of LEAPS.
Read More‘proceed from gratitude’: personal lists and principles
The other day we received this email from artist Siobhan Humston: On the theme of New Year & lists, I thought you may enjoy this list from a former school mate of mine, Mark Alessio. He was killed in Africa a few years ago and on the Facebook memorial page, a friend of his posted…
Read Moreladders as pot racks in wood or copper (diy)
Recently, Design Sponge featured the three-level Copenhagen apartment of Camilla Ebdrup, half of the Danish duo behind LuckyBoySunday, and her husband, photographer Andreas Stenmann. Their style is a mix of modern and vintage, with many items foraged from the nearby canals, where interesting items are washed in from the sea. We especially loved the wooden ladder…
Read Moremaurice sendak on aging, seeing, loss and living
(Video link here.) One of the very best things in the New York Times’ recent The Lives They Lived was a clip from Terry Gross’ last interview with Maurice Sendak; Christophe Niemann found and illustrated it. It is full of achingly tender, wise words from the 80-year-old Sendak: There’s something I’m finding out as I’m…
Read MoreAbout Improvised Life’s Laboratory
Improvised Life’s LABORATORY is a space where we experiment with all sorts of ideas for home and daily living. It’s transformation from homely, vin ordinaire apartment to a clean-lined loft-like space has been a lesson in seeing through the surface to the bones beneath, and envisioning possibilities. It started with a renovation and carried over into problem-solving…
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