Like the website Knock-Off in Style, we love the challenge of finding an affordable version of some great piece of design – not necessarily a “knock-off” but an object of similar lines and intention, that is cheap. We’ve loved this wool Ikea PS Stuga rug (9′ x 9′, $299) from the moment we saw it,…
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The New York Times recently reported that the Finnish technology firm Nokia had developed a prototype for the an internet-ready touch screen years before the iPad. The company didn’t pursue developing it for the market because they got cold feet, worrying it would be an expensive flop: “It was very early days, and no one…
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One of the blogs we love to check into is Anonymous Works, which features creative, often odd works made by anonymous souls, that are for sale at various sites. Many of its images, like this basket made by cutting and twisting a paint can, make us go “Wow, a human being made that!” and tap…
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At first glance, this attic bedroom seems utterly cozy and charming, until we imagined ourselves lying in bed with the light on, and the light bulb glaring in our field of vision, since we’d be looking right into the underside of the light (hot, too!) We’re wondering if the designer was so smitten with the…
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We think the gradated paint on the vertical back posts of these wooden chairs gives them great character and charm. You could order them done from Colonel, OR buy some nice-looking chairs at an unfinished furniture store and d-i-y, using a slightly darker shade of paint from one post to the next. via Hunter Gatherer
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…perspective… via Reference Library
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Holton Rower and his daughter Sofia are in Russia on Patch Adams’ Clown Tour. Patch is the famous radical-thinking medical doctor and founder of the Gesundheit Institute who believes in laughter, joy and creativity as immune boosters. Every year he takes a group of folks to Russia for two weeks, to spread clown medicine in…
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Warren Ellis posted a compelling chunk of Pitchfork’s long interview with musician Brian Eno about the value of “structuring ideas” in improvising. (We’ve added a paragraph from earlier on in the interview…) To listen to Eno’s ‘In Dark Trees’ while you read, click here: “… we have two different ways of working. One is completely…
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A couple of weeks ago, we imagined what it would be like to apply Austrian artist Otto Zitko’s beautiful scribble scrabble to a REAL living space. We just stumbled on just that: the interior designer team of William Diamond and Anthony Baratta commissioned Zitko to do his thing on the walls and ceiling around a…
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…wooden table as percussion instrument and choreographer’s palette + arms/hands = table dancing (no fancy footwork needed) We never thought of that!… …Just watching gets your energy moving (We love the ‘BE AMAZING’ sign in the background). (The video’s surprising origins are traditional Irish dance under the influence of hip-hop, contemporary dance and electro-pop, created by…
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There are many wonderful things in the latest issue of Canal House Cooking. The self-published cookbook by Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton are like a grown-up’s kids-book, with photos, illustrations, writing and recipes that will take you away from wherever you are, and into a very magic (and attainable) world. There are also treasures you…
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Thank you for bearing with’the improvised life’ going “dark” for a bit. We appreciated the very warm words and wishes we received and took them with us, heartened. We’re back, changed by having spent time with someone whose long life is winding down; we find ourselves viewing things through a different lens. Instead of jumping back…
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Wabi sabi is a Japanese way of appreciating the beauty of impermanence and imperfection. Plum blossoms, the theme of many great Japanese poems and paintings, are a perfect expression of wabi sabi: they are beautiful, fragrant and hardy, but they only last for a few days. When you focus your heart on plum blossoms you…
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We recently got the news that a dear friend is seriously ill, and with it this message: sometimes you need to put your plans and schedules aside to show up elsewhere, and rise to challenges that may break your heart. So rather than worrying about posts and internet connections, we are going to just be…
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We LOVE Isabel Rower’s brilliant idea to put posters on the ceiling…
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Sofia Rower alerted us to this astonishing video by Danny MacAskill, which goes way beyond his technical brilliance. We love the first minute best: a glimpse of the setbacks and difficulties that come with achieving this kind of mastery…A big reminder of what it often takes to be able to LEAP! with ease and push the…
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About a week ago, in our post about treadmill desks, we were bemoaning (and marveling at) the concerted ugliness of treadmill design, wondering how we could ever improvise a desk that would be pleasing to look at. Then we stumbled on Core 77’s amazing in-depth post of attempts to rethink the treadmill (with tons of…
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Tara Mann alerted us to Mashable’s slide show of unusual offices. We especially like this impromtu cardboard office designed by Paul Coudamy, who cleverly used corrugated cardboard as walls and shelves (more photos follow). Of course we instantly started hunting down that really thick cardboard that’s so perfect for making furniture like this chaise…
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This is the front door of some friends who live in Brooklyn. They didn’t any ‘real’ house numbers when they moved into the house, so they made these artful numbers out of thin masking tape. Because the doorway is somewhat protected, the impromptu numbers have survived wind, rain, sleet and recently even a tornedo. Now…
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