Laura Handler
Designer Laura Handler of Interesting Found Objects spotted this scrawled sign in the window of a Manhattan dry cleaner. The owners identified something they have that would be useful to someone looking for work: a clean set of clothes. They also stated their simple philosophy. Beautiful. Generous.
It reminded us reminded us of Mohammed Ali’s fierce and brilliant rant against the word ‘impossible: read more…
(Video link here.) Paulo Goldstein sees himself as a craftsman in his approach to repair. It seems to us, he has the viewpoint of an artist, and certainly his repairs reflect a rare sensibility. We found this short video incredibly illuminating, for the many levels of living he addresses. Here’s the gist, but there’s way more in this 5 minutes:
REPAIR IS BEAUTIFUL began with the idea of solving frustration. A broken object delivers frustration because it doesn’t achieve its functionality, but the same principle applies to a broken system that caused the financial crisis, which has affected our lives since 2008. In a time of uncertainty, taking things into our own hands and having the feeling of control back can be very therapeutic. Repair is Beautiful aims to give back this feeling of control – by scaling down a major society problem to a human size and projecting frustration upon broken objects that can be repaired through design and craftsmanship. The final outcome is a collection of intriguingly repaired objects imbued with new meaning and functionality. The once rejected objects reflect the environment that created them and call us to question our society as a whole.
Check out Goldstein’s director’s chair repair inspired by a suspension bridge:
Maria Robledo
We found this wonderful image on Maria Robledo’s Instagram. Ohhh, what a great method of storing receipts (emptying pockets or bag then-and-there.) Thrown into a space between books —some amazing ones at that— they take on a curious beauty.
We have a box in an easily-accessible file cabinet that we throw them into to collate later. Whose got time to scan and organize ‘em?
What’s your method?
Thanks Maria!
Related posts: how to store fruits, vegetables and eggs without a fridge
cheap, chic, useful: anthropologie’s ephemera clip
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what’s the perfect desk (for you)?
http://arollingcrone.blogspot.com
Stumbling on this wonderful image of sculptural black-painted chairs on a wall of the La Gran Francia Hotel in Granada, Nicaragua got us thinking about ways to store un-folding chairs. This assemblage is a more playful, freeform take on the Shaker-esque practice of hanging uniform chairs on hooks (below).
Then, moving too fast as we scanned Remodelista, we mistook Williamsburg’s (and now San Francisco’s) store The Future Perfect as someone’s HOME, and thought, how cool is that: line up interesting chairs, and even a bench or two on a shelf, like a display of sculptures. read more…
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 center in Treviso, Ialy.’Next Cabane’ was a design exploration spurred by a foldable wooden structure found in a dark corner of an antique market in the south of Scotland. Fabrica’s designers viewed envisioned it as movable rooms that can be carried from place to place.
‘small, temporary spaces where we can set our boundaries, seek shelter or simply live a different life rediscovering the quality and simplicity of things.
personal, intimate havens in harmony with their surroundings; they reflect on subjects like work, pop-up culture, loneliness, games.
alternative settings were one can live in a better way with more awareness, where design is at the service of research into materials, forms and structures.’
All it would take to make the frame is a some drilled slats of hardwood, jointed with hex bolts and wing nuts* nut whose “wings” provide a grip for the thumb and finger. You tighten the wing nut to secure the form; untighten it to fold it up for storage. read more…
Sabrina Rothe
White steel Ikea PS cabinets ($99 each) lined up side-by-side, and stacked high with books, become curiously chic.
via Desire to Inspire; photo by Sabrina Rothe
Related posts: xhackism: the infinite diy possibilities of ikea’s LÖBBO shadex
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Susan Dworski
Mindfulness practice – learning to be present in each moment– is something many people are embracing these days. Business are incorporating it and classes abound. Perhaps the most often-recommended “exercise” is washing dishes mindfully, although we know few people who really do it. Recently, we heard of one that did, truly. No surprise, it is Susan Dworski who, we are finding out, is a kind of radical activist of the everyday:
Several years ago I ripped out the dishwasher, built shelves and installed a deep, double sink. A cottage kitchen forces such Luddite decisions.The peace that descended after its removal was profound. Dishwashing became less a chore, more a meditation. Hot soapy water and plates air-drying silently on the tiled countertop are a balm after the roar of the rinse cycle and clattering silverware.
How to Be a Minimalist, Grant Snider‘s wise info-graphic (below) states “Less is more difficult than it looks“. I didn’t really understand this idea until I was costing out ‘the Laboratory’s renovation. In trying to implement some of the clean, minimalist design ideas I’d been collecting for years, I discovered that minimal is generally more expensive than ‘standard’. While it gives the illusion of simplicity and spare living, it can cost a lot, largely because the various disguises that hide ugly joints and inner workings are stripped away.
Take doors with no mouldings or visible hinges like the one above, for example. Since the jamb (the vertical portion of the frame onto which a door secured) bears the weight of the door through its hinges, its strength is vitally important to the operation and durability of the door. In traditional doorway treatments, the jamb is built into the wall around the door and then disguised by moulding which is simply tacked on, like this one: read more…
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Spotted in Design Milk’s recent story about Rua Confettora, unconventional, international design shop in Brescia, Italy: a white-painted ladder used as the support for glass shelves: instant, rustic/modern chic, made from ordinary materials.
When we hunted around, we discovered that Lab::Istanbul’s had created a line of shelving based on the idea: read more…
Recently Dwell featured a slideshow of Brooklyn architect Tim Seggerman’s design to renovate a dismal brownstone studio with a sleeping loft. He was inspired by legendary furniture designer George Nakashima to “create an enveloping cabin of blond woods”. He managed to make a tiny 240 square foot space seem expansive by using the blond wood panels to disguise clever storage and cubbies. read more…
the marion house book
Scraggly, unkempt electrical cords can be the bane a well-designed interior. At L’Ouvrier Restaurant in Toronto, black electrical cords are wound and tacked onto walls in spirally designs, turning a normally ugly element into something visually pleasing, without trying to hide it. read more…
Desire to Inspire recently posted a reader’s mid century-style renovation. The kitchen’s ‘before’ and ‘after’ pictures were not side-by-side and we found ourselves moving the cursor up and down to really understand the clever transformation. Ahh, we get it: Beth, who’d masterminded the kitchen’s update, thought carefully about what REALLY needed to be taken out of the kitchen, and what could be revamped a bit to give it a new look.
She replaced the upper cabinets with sleek white modern ones, and replaced the doors on the far left cabinet to match them. She left the lower cornball-paneled oak cabinets in place, painting them a dark black/blue/gray and changing the hardware to make them virtually disappear. (These uniquitous cabinets are the bane of many a homeowner. It’s heartening to know that it is possible to shift their look.) Beth also replaced the counter and backsplash wall and, it seems, left the sink in place, swapping out the faucet to give it more modern look.
She saved a pile of money doing this and got and a great looking, functional kitchen to boot. A girl after our own heart: we used similar principles in the new Laboratory’s kitchen. Story to come soon.
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We are smitten with Lawrence E. Pierce‘s The Art of Fixing Things, principles of machines, and how to repair them: 150 tips and tricks to make things last longer, and save you money.
Tip 68: Practice Breaking Things
When a difficult problem arises, set up a test on a similar part.
Let your destructive instincts run wild with spare parts. Then you will know how far you can go. read more…
When we first saw the Sapien vertical book shelf, we were smitten. What a great idea: an impermanent shelf that stacks books vertically, making use of odd spaces. We bought one, well, er, a less expensive knockoff
We still didn’t love that way it looked: a busy tower of book titles, distracting to our minimalist slightly ADD eye. Then we saw THIS solution to that problem: read more…
After I had figured out the essential plan of the multi-functional space that was to become my home and ‘the improvised life’s Laboratory, I started bringing friends by to get their opinions and input. I also hired an interior designer to consult for a short time, to consider my ideas, challenge them, add to them, as well as help source the many items I would need, from sinks and plumbing fixtures to door knobs. Hiring a consultant for a fixed amount of time is a good strategy if you you’re don’t have the resources to hire a someone to see the project though, or don’t need start-to-finish service.
I met Scott McFarlane through friends and liked ideas he’d come up with for their recent renovation, as well as his attention to detail. Although I have a strong design sense, it was clear that there was A LOT of things I could use advice on. I hired Scott to consult on critical elements of my plan so architect Emily Johnson could draw up plans that contractors would understand. Scott and I spent many hours in the empty apartment busting holes in walls, tacking up images I’d clipped from design blogs, measuring, brain-storming.
Scott came up with A LOT of clever solutions to some extreme design problems (all pictures below are from the in-process days of the reno). For starters, read more…
