repurpose
Ellen Silverman
Years ago, when I was putting together my very make-shift kitchen, I searched and searched for a pot rack that was the opposite of the ones that seemed to be everywhere – clunky or “country”-ish, overly ornate or verging on Medieval. Nothing I found accommodated my personal pot rack idiosyncrasies that includes not liking pots hanging over head, or making my small space looking cluttered.
So I turned to towel bars. It was a small shift in thinking to envision these sleek steel bars hung with hooks and copper, rather than terry cloth. Why not use a towel bar as a pot rack? (Or simply change its name?) read more…
08.05.09 |
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in bathing, elements, hard, repurpose, solutions, storage |
I’ve come across a number of posts about furniture made of pallets, those flat rectangles of rough hammered-together wood platforms commonly used to move bundled goods around by a fork lift. This lounge chair by Studiomama is a particularly good one; it has clean lines and looks like it would be comfortable – perfect at a beach house or on a patio. It is made out of two pallets and 50 screws, from an inexpensive, down-loadable plan. It would be great painted, or naturally weathered.
The ever-innovative Studiomama has other well-designed examples of pallet furniture read more…
07.29.09 |
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in furniture, garden, hard, how-to, materials, plans, repurpose |
Ellen Silverman
I’m a big fan of rocks, which I haul home from the beach or country to use in various ways around my apartment, for Chicken Under a Brick Rock, or keep the air conditioner from rattling. They make beautiful, rather elemental doorstops. They’re also wonderul to look at with no use at all, piled up somewhere.
I know a guy who piled beautiful smallish round stones in shades of white and gray in the corner of his shower, to remind him the beach every morning…
07.15.09 |
comments (3) |
in elements, housewares, inside, nature, repurpose, solutions |
Ellen Silverman
Although I have a big built-in bookcase, there always seems to be books floating around my apartment; either there’s no room (because books – like food -are the purchases I make weekly), or they are books I am currently using. They need a place and a way to be that isn’t a mess, but is accessible and nice looking. My solution is to stack them on “stands” that I’ve found on the street, and that are to me, pleasingly elemental, like the three above. read more…
05.23.09 |
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in floors, reclaim, repurpose, solutions, storage, why not? |
Pierre-Jean Verger
For a while now, I’ve been collecting pictures of dream houses. Collectively, they fuel my imagination for the house I hope to have one day. Most aren’t perfect, but either have a feeling I like, or some elements that I’d cut-and-paste into the design of my someday home. They are a way for me to recognize what I’d like even when I haven’t been conscious of it.
A favorite is this one from Marie Claire Maison (via Remodelista): a penthouse of a former pasta factory, overlooking the port of Marseilles. read more…
05.16.09 |
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in cool spaces, dream houses, outside, repurpose |
Ellen Silverman
Many years ago, I bought an amazing yellow mantle, salvaged from an old house in Maine, to surround the fireplace in an apartment I thought I’d live in forever. Then things changed (life’s operating principle) and I had to leave that beautiful space, and make a new home amidst the the harsh realities of the New York real estate market. My new apartment had no fireplace. Still, I thought: Why not have a mantle without any notion of a fireplace at all?
read more…
04.01.09 |
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in elements, inside, living, reimagine, repurpose, why not? |
Among Ikea‘s constantly updating home furnishings offerings, are a handful of constants that represent perfect, enduring, truly practical design at a really good price, and that don’t scream Ikea. My favorite is the Frosta stool, a $12.99 birch veneer version of Alvar Aalto’s classic mid-century stool. I have four in my office and they are so useful, I’ve contemplated getting a few for my apartment. read more…
02.19.09 |
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in elements, furniture, housewares, repurpose |
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 one into thirds to make an “envelope”. She inserts her letter inside and seals the edges with a bit of tape, or an adhesive seal. A self-stick address label provides a white space for the address. read more…
01.26.09 |
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in how-to, identity, media, repurpose, why not? |
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.)
01.26.09 |
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in repurpose, solutions, why not? |
Living Etc. via Style Files
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 a great fabric store.
It’s basically an elaboration of a basic upholstered headboard like this one made from a tablecloth. (Tablecloths are often made of wonderful hard-to-find fabric. So why not use them like fabric?) Charming tea towels and linen place mats would make great patchwork panels.
via Designer's Library
There’s lots of info on the internet about how to make an upholstered headboard; I recommend reading a few to figure out your strategy. Here’s a start:
How to Make an Upholstered Headboard (sew a panel of patchwork pieces to use as their single sheet of fabric)
How to Make an Upholstered Headboard Using Pillow Shams (essentially a patchwork headboard that you could do with other fabrics).
01.24.09 |
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in elements, free + flea, furniture, how-to, repurpose, sleeping, soft |
From her small shop in the vast Clignancourt flea market in Paris, Silvie Corbelin sells extraordinary jewelry that she has created from the damaged, odd or incomplete bits of antique jewelry she scouts: an ancient Persian turquoise fashioned into an deco-ish gold ring with tiny rubies; a classical cameo entwined in a gold serpent; a “space voyage” ring: a chunk of meteorite and a diamond set in rough-hewn gold (all can be found in her websites virtual book). “I love to give unloved elements new life”, she told me the day a friend took me to see her work. Corbelin’s thoughts on jewelry making (and life) are as compelling as the pieces themselves.
read more…
01.19.09 |
comments (2) |
in apparel, inspiration, materials, people, repurpose |
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 goat cheese, or a slice of cheddar or brie to melting to spread on that warm bread. Just leave it on the paper it came wrapped in or place on a plate you’ve swiped from room service. Those little chocolates the maids leave around can be melted on the radiator and paired with some warm bread to make a lovely improvised pain-au-chocolate. And of course, you can warm any take-out sandwich or bowl of soup.
01.07.09 |
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in eating, repurpose, road warrior, strategies, travel, why not? |
