sighting: porch built around a tree (urban tree house?)

Wandering around Harlem recently, we spotted this structure in the back of someone’s brownstone. It appears to be a clever combination porch and treehouse, literally built AROUND the tree growing in the yard. Whoever made it clearly didn’t want to mess with the old tree growing very close to the house. So they found away…

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maria robledo’s stunning instagrams will change your view

We’ve just discovered photographer Maria’s Robledo’s crazy-beautiful Instagram, a trove of images that will make you SEE the everyday differently and put you right in the moment. Only Maria could have come up with this simple, curiously moving arrangements of pussy willow blossoms (which people usually just throw away once they’ve been knocked off their stem). The…

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pop-up guest rooms + room dividers redux

Of the many imaginary inventions in my head, a pop-up guest room has had many iterations. Living in a moderate-sized New York City apartment with only one bedroom, I’d love a separate, somewhat private space to offer guests who come to sleep in my big open livingroom/kitchen/workspace. My latest inspiration comes Fabrica, Benetton’s communication research…

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staircase of succulents + succulent sculpture

Dig this wondrous display of succulents on an unused staircase (well, er, we assume it’s not used, otherwise it would quite an unusual challenge to navigate)! It shouts JOY and a kind of uninhibited artfulness. Succulents are in the wind…or are we just SEEING them now? Maria Robledo brought us one as a house gift.…

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how christoph niemann’s app failure was a big success

When the wise, inventive, not-terribly-technological Christoph Niemann tried to create an app, it became pretty “interesting. He documented the process in the New Yorker recently and in doing so, a wonderful distillation of the creative process and struggle: I explored countless (but crucial) dead ends, and it all came down to the most important struggle…

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an outdoor room made of flower pots

We are big fans of outdoor rooms—outdoor spaces defined in such a way as to make them feel like rooms in plein air— and have featured a number of them over the years. (One of our favorites is the lovely outdoor “room” that Constantino Nivola created on his Long Island property.) We were smitten when we saw this…

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omg recipe: dorie greenspan’s armagnac chicken

The headnote to Dorie Greenspan‘s crazy-simple, unbelievably good ‘M. Jacque’s Armagnac Chicken’ begins “This recipe, une petite merveille (a little marvel), as the French would say…”. The recipe IS une merveille, taking almost no work to make, with the most ordinary of ingredients, yielding spectacular results, as we discovered when cooking dinner for friends the…

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how to make tree trunk furniture, max lamb style

One of many things we love about artist/designer/craftsman/journeyman Max Lamb‘s work is that he ALWAYS has an unusual take on the practical AND he loves to reveal his process, offering in a powerful lesson in EMPOWERMENT.  This video shows him making a wood stool out of huge chestnut tree log he hauled home from Springfield…

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house tour: brilliant urban shipping container home

(Video link here.)  When this very resourceful couple found that they didn’t have the money to build even the traditional brick envelope of their 20’x40′ lot in Brooklyn, they used 5 shipping containers and went from there. It’s a totally inspiring and charming story of perserverence and outside-the-box (!!!!!) thinking, as well as a swell…

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use if-then planning to achieve your goals

According to  motivation scientist Heidi Grant Halvorson at at 99U  “Making if-then plans to tackle your current projects, or reach your goals, is probably – without exaggerating – the most effective single thing you can do to ensure your success.” Yikes! Sign us up! What do we have to do? If-Then thinking works like this: You decide…

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diy: clever string room dividers

Always on the lookout for clever way to divide and define a space, or give the illusion of different areas in an open space, we really like these clever “screens” from Swedish firm Karin Matz Arkitekt. They’re made of made from blue polypropylene string strung tight from floor to ceiling with hardware store fittings: simple, inexpensive materials, carefully…

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