d-i-y color-block painting the aalto/frosta stool

As a tribute to the  80th anniversary of Alvar Aalto’s famous stool “60″, Artek commissioned Mike Meirè to make a fresh interpretation of that icon of Finnish design. Here, the artist painstakingly handpaints the simple elements of the stool: 3 bent-ply legs, one round seat (showing just how difficult it is to paint a straight edge). It gave us new…

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flower + vegetables = charming arrangement

We love the surprising “flower arrangements” created by Sania Pell, author of Homemade Home for Children.  Carrots, radishes, herbs and other market treasures give earthy charm to a glass vase of flowers. Great! via Remodelista. Photo by Rahel Weiss. Related posts: freehand, no-rule flower arrangements dill weed (and other edible) flower arrangements vase-less flower arrangement (right on…

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improvisation is a guerilla action

In our hunt for material that resonates with ‘the improvised life’,  we have decidedly subversive leanings. We love people who SEE the accepted order differently and put their mark on it, like this great, simple way designer Sebastrian Errazuriz transformed ordinary traffic lines into $$ signs, in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement. If…

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real presence + impromptu gift wrap via pascal anson

(Video link here.)  When we checked in on Pascal Anson’s YouTube Channel and saw a video called “The Present”, we thought we’d see Anson demonstrating a clever way of BEING present. Well, we did, sort of: Pascal Anson’s inimitable way of…giving real presents/presence. Related posts: the beauty of old mirrors (with pascal anson) pascal anson…

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saydaily features ‘the improvised life’: ‘one of 100 voices that matter’

Last September, we were crazy-honored when Remodelista Founder Julie Carlson chose ‘the improvised life’ as one of SayMedia’s 100 Voices that Matter. Today, the our pride flew off the charts with an interview with Sally on SayMedia’s Blog, SayDaily. Check it out, for the gist of what’s going on here, and “best of” links you…

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instant chic lighting: the lunette shade

Good lighting is essential to making any space come alive, ESPECIALLY one suffering from disorder, as ours has during our recent move of lock-stock-and-many barrels. The solution was Lunette, lighting designers David Weeks’ and Lindsey Adelman’s inexpensive clip-on lamp shade we bought and blogged about a couple of years ago, but never had occasion to use.…

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