Archive for May, 2010
Posted by Chris Gardner to Decorating on
28 May 2010, with 3 comments so far.
Psst… have you heard? Clouds are the new moustaches, which were the new cupcakes, which were the new owls, which were the new bird silhouettes, which were the…. Whatevs. Clouds are cool, and they bring a fine element of the outdoors and some playfulness to your home decor.
To get in on the nimbusness, try this quick and easy DIY cloud rug how-to from Lifeflix.
“I purchased a yard of “Grey Shaggy Pile Faux Fur” fabric from this ebay seller (they also have a website). At first I was afraid the fur was too long, more hairy than puffy… but now that I’m done and the rugs are in place, I love the way they look and feel! Keep in mind that because I painted my floors using paint with an eggshell finish, I didn’t need to attach a non-slip backing to my rugs. Depending on what type of floors you have, you may need to add some sort of anti-slip pad or stickers to the bottom. Ikea sells really cheap anti-slip pads.”
The trick seems to be in Fray Check, a liquid seam sealant for fabrics, available at the craft store.
[How to: Faux Sheepskin Cloud Rug at Lifeflix, via Creature Comforts]
Tags: cloud, clouds, diy, floor, How-To, rug
Posted in Decorating | 3 Comments »
Posted by Chris Gardner to Uncategorized on
27 May 2010, with no comments so far.
I love other people’s children. But I’d love them even more if they were snuggling atop an tiny Eames lounge or enjoying a coloring book in a Saarinen womb chair.
Turns out, I can get my wish. Little Nest is an Australian company that makes tyke-sized modern kids furniture. Even more adorably, they give each model a kiddish twist on the name: so the Swan chair becomes the Cygnet, the Egg Chair the Yolk, and the Bertoia wire chair the Little Bert.
There are lots of understandable debates in the mid-century communities about originals vs. knockoffs, respecting artist works vs. their extremely high prices, etc. But these things are so adorable, you’d think Charles and Ray and Eerio and Arne might just be okay with it.
[See them all at Little Nest]
Tags: Furniture, kids, mid-century
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Posted by claire to Decorating and Furniture on
27 May 2010, with 14 comments so far.
Ever since Garth and I suddenly had a large new house to fill with furniture, I have been trying my hand at upholstery. My first attempt was a five-dollar chair we picked up at a garage sale. I found that carefully removing the original fabric from the chair and noting the order in which you had to remove the fabric seemed to be the key to a successful job. Keeping the fabric for any given area in one piece when you remove it automatically provides you with a pattern to help cut from your new fabric. I recently tackled another chair reupholstery project and followed this same logic.
We stumbled on this new chair at a thrift store several months ago and I fell in love with it. The curvy back and button tufting is great, and reupholstering it didn’t seem like a task that would be too impossible as long as I was attentive with my chair dissection.
Our living room is painted a bright shade of green and I wanted an upholstery fabric with a fun print that could hold its own against the green walls. I decided on this Alexander Henry tattoo print in an upholstery weight—I liked the quirky print and the colors went well with artwork I already have hanging on the walls. To determine how much fabric I would need, I consulted an upholstery chart and selected a similar chair. Once the fabric was cut and I was back home, I realized that the white and gold wood of the chair just wasn’t going to sing with the new fabric. I would have to paint the chair as well.
Before I could paint, I carefully removed all the fabric from the chair and masked the areas I didn’t want to paint. I primed the wood with a spray primer and headed off to find the right paint color.
I like to use spray paint for a job where I want to avoid brush strokes and this was one of those jobs. A local gallery stocks a wide assortment of high quality spray paints with waaaay more color options than the hardware store. The brand I used, Sabotaz 80, turned out to be really excellent spray paint. Sabotaz is a medium pressure spray, which means the paints comes out evenly and smoothly and when buying a can you are given two different spray caps to help control the size of the spray area. I was very impressed with how easily I could control the paint and how evenly the color was distributed. Next time you have a spray painting craft get your hands on some of this!
(more…)
Tags: DIY upholstery, How-To, reupholstery, spraypaint, tutorial, upholstery, wing chair
Posted in Decorating, Furniture | 14 Comments »
Posted by Megan Jeyifo to How-To and Lighting on
26 May 2010, with 3 comments so far.
Ah, Anthropologie. How I love to meander through your store, caress your goods, picture my home outfitted in your charming wares. If I could afford to, I would snatch up everything down to the fixtures and make my apartment into an Anthropolgie bunker. But sadly, I can’t. I’m forced to stick with thrift and hardware stores most of the time…which is okay until I open your catalog or peek at your website. The glutton in me has to avoid doing so because everything about you is so perfect for my house, my wardrobe and my jewelry box.
But wait! I can make an Anthropologie-inspired item with stuff from said thrift and hardware stores. Photographer Ashley Ann of Under The Sycamore shows how, with a beautifully shot step-by-step tutorial on making her own version of Anthro’s pretty pendant lights.
Supplies
spray paint
metal outlet cover
ready-to-go pendant light kit
metal basket
(more…)
Tags: anthro, anthropologie, ashley ann, diy, Lighting, pendant light, under the sycamore, wire basket
Posted in How-To, Lighting | 3 Comments »
Posted by Chris Gardner to Decorating on
24 May 2010, with no comments so far.
Joel Pirela of Blue Ant Studio–an outfit known, among much other work, for their alphabets of mod furniture silhouettes—had a large textured wall that he and his family simply hated. Sick of using square panels and wall art, they came up with the simple solution of installing 4×8′ sheets of birch plywood onto the wall, secured with visible hardware. The birch panels create a brilliant and warm backdrop that shows off their impressive collection of George Nelson and other great mid-century clocks, and stands up well to their striking Nelson bench, Noguchi table, and Eames chairs.
[Via Design*Sponge]
Tags: baltic birch, birch plywood, clock, decor, midcentury, Nelson clock, plywood, wall
Posted in Decorating | No Comments »
Posted by Megan Jeyifo to Decorating and Stores on
19 May 2010, with no comments so far.
I’ve seen a huge amount of brightly painted vintage frames around the interwebs lately. Have a peek at Flickr Group Flea Market Style and play a quick game of Eye Spy. How many do you see? (Well, maybe just a few, but they’re all awesome!)
The photos in Flea Market Style led me to super-cute Etsy shop Amye123. Super bright and quite affordable, Amye123 is stocked with tons of gorgeous upcycled vintage frames in pretty colors. The light blue would be just perfect in my living room.
Let’s be serious: I would love to have all of Amye’s frames in my living room. Take a peek at her shop here.
[All images: amye123]
Tags: amye123, etsy, painted frames, picture frames, vintage frames
Posted in Decorating, Stores | No Comments »
Posted by Megan Jeyifo to Decorating on
18 May 2010, with no comments so far.
Nashville Flood Relief Poster, Lift Up Nashville, by Ty Mattison, $10
According to ABCNews, almost 2,000 homes were destroyed or damaged in the May 1st flood in Tennessee. You can donate to flood relief in Nashville with the Red Cross here or purchase the poster above and many others from Lift Up Nashville. All proceeds go to The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee.
Blogger Collyn of ModFruGal allowed me to share the photo above of her driveway and mailbox after the storm. Thankfully, her home was not among those with major damage but the pictures on her site show the severity of the flood. Collyn also posted a link from Nashvillest with detailed information on how to help the relief effort with time, money or goods. Please consider donating in whatever way you can.
For brighter news (and only after you’ve donated!), check out Collyn’s blog for some Nashville style and her guest post over at Design Crisis for a tour of her fabulous modern-on-a-budget Nashville home. Viva Nashville!
Tags: lift up nashville, modfrugal
Posted in Decorating | No Comments »
Posted by Sonia Zjawinski to Pets on
17 May 2010, with 1 comment so far.
Have you ever spent a ton of money (or time) on a cat scratcher only to have your felines poo poo the new item? Major bummer. Don’t fret though, it’s all about figuring out what your kitty’s preferred material to rip up is.
Look around the house and take note of what your cat particularly enjoys shredding—the couch, cardboard boxes, wooden bookcases, etc. From there you’ll know what they like sinking their nails into and can buy or make the appropriate alternative.
If your cat likes fabric, I recommend getting them something made of either sisal rope or carpeting. If they like chewing or scratching moving boxes or packaging, throw down on a lounger made of sandwiched cardboard. But if you notice your cat particularly likes to dig into wooden furniture, consider buying a cat post made of lumber to satiate their needs.
(more…)
Tags: cat, cat scratcher, cats, cedar, natural scratch, scratching post, wood scratcher
Posted in Pets | 1 Comment »
Posted by Chris Gardner to Decorating and How-To on
14 May 2010, with 4 comments so far.
The jar lid screwed to the underside of a shelf is a popular tip for space-saving home organization, but the goal there is usually to see and access what’s in the jar itself. This through-the-table vase by Tomokazu Hayakawa offers a fresh spin—hide the jar under the table and use it to nourish floral blooms.
Simply screwing the jar lid to the bottom of the table and then drilling a hole through the table and lid (the post suggests IKEA’s Vika Furuskog) makes it simple to support a single flower, or several in series.
[Read more at IKEA Hacker: Table Vase]
Tags: flower, How-To, ikea, ikea hacks, illusion, table, vase
Posted in Decorating, How-To | 4 Comments »
Posted by Chris Gardner to Decorating on
12 May 2010, with 7 comments so far.
Each time I visit the MoMA Design Store, I’m always taken by these Spectrum Mobiles by Swiss designers Brigitta and Benedikt Martig-Imhof. And every time I say, “Someday, I’m gonna make something like that.” And someday, I will. But, Jordan Ferney has beat me to it, and shares a great how-to ’bout how she whipped ‘em up!
Her design uses 1″ vellum strips which she feeds through a sewing machine, leaving an inch of thread in between each.
Follow this link for the whole tute: DIY: Modern Colorful Mobiles
[via Creature Comforts)
Tags: Color, diy, How-To, mobile, moma, paper
Posted in Decorating | 7 Comments »
Posted by Sonia Zjawinski to Pets on
10 May 2010, with 9 comments so far.
Julie Eakin is a Detroit native who, last year, signed up her three-year-old pup to walk in the dog parade that wags through her mom’s small Michigan town. When the local library heard, they quickly reserved Eakin’s dog to represent them in the procession.
To properly embody the reading center, Eakin, who trained as an architect, made her dog Finn an Elizabethan collar out of old books. “The collar is one item in a series of artifacts I’m making called Bookish,” Eakin told ReadyMade. “It’s based on a Rembrandt portrait called ‘The Scholar.’ I call it the Scholar Collar.”
(more…)
Tags: costume, diy, e-collar, ecollar, elizabethan collar, Julie Eakin, mario batali, michigan, northport, pet costume
Posted in Pets | 9 Comments »
Posted by Garth to Places on
7 May 2010, with 1 comment so far.
Recognize the house above? If not, you don’t watch enough television. You’re looking at a replica of the Simpson house (Bart, not O.J.) that Pepsi and Fox built for a 1997 giveaway. The house, which is located in Henderson, Nevada, was accurate down to the tiniest details, such as Homer’s orange BBQ grill and green-colored logs in the fireplace. Television obsessives have noted that the Simpson house has a mystery door that nobody ever enters or exits from, which is situated right next to the peg where Homer hangs his hard hat. Of course that door was lovingly recreated in the real house, along with details like Lisa’s saxophone, a can of Duff beer on the coffee table and dirty dishes in the sink.
Top of the stairs
I haven’t been an active Simpsons watcher for years, but I managed to catch the 20th anniversary special earlier this year, which was hosted by Morgan Spurlock (of ‘Super Size Me!’ fame). I wasn’t too shocked by how far Simpsons obsessives go in their quest for celebrating and commemorating the show—there was a particularly memorable section on tattoos. One particular target for fan obsession is the Simpson house, which is on 742 Evergreen Terrace in Springfield. Of course Wikipedia has an exhaustive entry on the Simpson house, which puts the Wikipedia entry on Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water to shame (I’m serious! You should check!).
The Wikipedia entry chronicles the house’s interior and exterior design, color scheme, tchotchkes, furniture and condition. Wikipedia even notes that the kitchen was rebuilt in one episode, and that Moe declared the house free from Silverfish in another.
(more…)
Tags: 742 evergreen terrace, cartoon house, simpsons, simpsons house, springfield, the simpsons
Posted in Places | 1 Comment »
Posted by Chris Gardner to Places on
6 May 2010, with no comments so far.
Gary Chang has truly created the world’s most space-efficient home. Though it boasts a meager 344 square-foot footprint, its unique series of sliding walls allows the Hong Kong-based architect to create 24 different living combinations.
The framework of this truly unique space, affectionately dubbed the “Domestransformer,” has been in Chang’s family since for more than thirty years, when he moved there with his family at fourteen. Now, the apartment contains one main room, awash in warm, yellow-tinted natural light, that utilizes a briefcase-like moving wall system that slides away to reveal the kitchen, linen closets, media storage, a large soaking tub, and a guest bedroom.
The above stills of Mr. Chang’s space are helpful, but to get the full experience, watch the video below from ‘The World’s Greenest Homes”
Read more at Unclutter, “An Efficiency Becomes Efficient” and “Incredibly Efficient Effieciency.”
[Photos by Marcel Lam for the New York Times]
Tags: apartment, eco, efficient, gary chang, green, hong kong, small, small spaces, space, studio apartment
Posted in Places | No Comments »
Posted by Megan Jeyifo to Decorating and Organizing and Storage on
4 May 2010, with 3 comments so far.
My cheese grater earring display was (mostly) declared cute and not crazy by you, ReadyMakers! Thank you for the validation.
Today, I’m thinking about do-it-yourself necklace displays and as usual, the internet is proving to be a treasure trove of useful, pretty and inexpensive ideas.
How do you display your necklaces?
Clockwise: Knob Necklace Display, Decor8 via Mustard and Sage; Make A Necklace Rack, Painted Fish Studio (with tutorial) via Thread Banger; Solaana’s Jewelry Display, Apartment Therapy
Tags: display, diy, diy jewelry display, diy jewelry organizer, jewelry, necklace, organize, Organizing, Storage
Posted in Decorating, Organizing, Storage | 3 Comments »
Posted by Chris Gardner to Furniture on
3 May 2010, with no comments so far.
The shipping pallet furniture move is no stranger to ReadyMade: the magazine has featured how-tos to make a picnic basket, a bed, heck, even a whole house!
So these handpainted pallet coffee tables by French collective Doobi are right at home. Sure, they aren’t entirely unique, but they’re plenty beautiful, and easily DIYable? Though Doobi doesn’t provide specific step-by-step instructions, but I imagine their process is pretty clear: grab a pallet, sand it, paint it, add some casters.
Doobi’s only apparent web presence is their Facebook group, which you can join to stay on top of their latest projects.
***The fine artists of Doobi emailed us to let us know they have a blog at http://doobi.over-blog.com/. Check it out!
[Pallet Coffee Tables (custom): Recyclart, via Make]
Tags: coffee, painted, pallet, shipping, table
Posted in Furniture | No Comments »
