How about some lovely bookends to keep your reading materials nice and organized? I’m on the hunt for bookends at the thrift this week but if you’re not near a good shop, these vintage Etsy sellers have you covered. From genuine Travertine originating in Death Valley to a pair of upcycled spindles, any choice will keep your books in great company.

clockwise from top right
Brass horse, $58, Lucy and Ellen // $22, Vintage French Iron Bookend, French By Design // $24, Mid Century Bookends, Mary Grace Thomas // $295, Death Valley Travertine Bookends, Vintage Zen // $21, Spindle Bookend, Funkie Finds // $8, Library Bookends CometWreckage

In the last few years, industrial designers have continued to push the boundaries of material and texture towards creating amazing new home decor products made from things that were previously impossible. But, many of these designs rely on expensive machines and manufacturing techniques that have kept them out of reach of the average DIYster.

So, it’s always reason to celebrate when some clever soul comes up with a project that rivals those high-end efforts. And, oh boy, is this DIY woven wood lamp one of ‘em. Strips of wood veneer (available at woodworking shops, or as edge-banding at your local home improvement center) are wrapped and glued around each other, housing a single bulb powered by an IKEA Hemma cord set.

Just be sure to use a low-watt bulb, and then bask in its warm, wooden glory.

[Via: Poppytalk: DIY with Bookhou: Woven Lamp]

Furniture, like the best things in life, comes in a variety of flavors. But normally, once you’ve committed, you’re living with the piece for the long haul, or at least until you’ve used it enough to justify whatever you’ve spent.

Not so with the Darwin chair by Stefan Sagmeister, presented at Design Miami/Basel a few weeks ago. The chair features 200 uniquely patterned sheets that can be torn off as they wear.

“The Darwin chair utilizes a free swinging structure that includes about 200 sheets of attached prints. As the top sheet gets dirty or tired, the user can simply rip it off thereby transforming the chair’s appearance (and the remaining perforation eventually forms a comfortable head rest).”

As for the each of the patterns themselves? Apparently, they’re an in-series interpretation of the growth of the universe—beginning with the formation of the planet, to the development of lifeforms, and through the digital revolution.

[Dezeen: Darwin Chair by Stefan Stagmeister; Via: 1DesignPerDay]

]]> http://readymadeblogs.mydevstaging.com/blogs/home-and-garden/2010/07/20/200-chair-designs-for-the-price-of-one/feed/ 0 http://readymadeblogs.mydevstaging.com/blogs/home-and-garden/2010/07/19/how-to-create-a-stylish-diy-photo-wall/ http://readymadeblogs.mydevstaging.com/blogs/home-and-garden/2010/07/19/how-to-create-a-stylish-diy-photo-wall/#comments Mon, 19 Jul 2010 14:21:58 +0000 Chris Gardner http://readymadeblogs.mydevstaging.com/blogs/home-and-garden/?p=1195

Blank, white walls can intimidate even the best of us. On the outside, we say, “Oh, it’s modern, it’s classic, it’s, so…Scandinavian,” while our insides are shrieking, “Oh my gosh, it has such potential! I don’t wanna mess this up,” or, at other times, “I’ve got nothing.”

Liz from Paislee Press, who in her bio claims her “fondness for white space and uncluttered counter tops,” decided she had one white wall too many, a choice blank space betwixt two bookshelves in her office:

So, she created a stylish photo wall display that rivals the best we’ve seen. Liz says:

I decided to go with a square format so I could include both photos and layouts in the mosaic arrangement. All of the photos were printed with a white border. I like how the white borders “frames” each individual photo and also acts as an anchor, visually bringing together all of the photos. The layouts were printed without the borders.

And the best part? She’s created a free, downloadable template so you can easily format your pics in Photoshop!

See it all on the Paislee Press

[Via Creature Comforts]

ReadyMade’s Editors’ Notes blog recently featured a fantastic round-up of ceramic plate reuses. At the end of the post, Katherine writes: “If all else, and I mean all else fails, you can hang them on the wall.”

Gotta disagree with Katherine on this one: I think plate walls are a first rate choice for ceramic and plastic dishes, especially suited for the dining room or above the kitchen stove. Plates won’t catch fire in the event of a wok flair-up and if grease happens to spatter upwards, you can simply remove, wash with the rest of your wares and rehang. In fact, I love plate walls so much that I have three of them! Two in the kitchen and one outside on the back porch.

The majority of my plates came from thrift stores for less than a dollar apiece, making the plate wall a cost effective way to achieve big impact in any space. Craft and hardware stores have wire plate hangers in a variety of sizes and you can trace your plates onto wax paper and tape up a template for perfect planning or start with one and go random. Use different sizes, shapes and colors or go monochromatic. The possibilities are endless.

Monochrome plate wall by Flickr user abchao

Stairwell plate wall by Flickr user reesedixon

What’s your verdict? Plate walls: hot or not?

I had the great pleasure of visiting our nation’s capital last week smack dab in the middle of the Fourth of July activities. While checking out the White House and the National Mall was fun (and insanely sweaty during that heatwave), my visit to resale shop Hunted House stood out as the trip’s highlight.

How could I not stop in? Mid-century furnishings strung together with security wire on the sidewalk will always catch one’s attention.  Up one flight of stairs and I was smack dab in the middle of vintage heaven.

All of the rooms in the former apartment that is Hunted House are set up as… rooms in an apartment. No showroom style here; you’re able to visualize the items just as they would look in your own home. Owner Mark Johnson told us that New Yorkers travel down with trucks on the weekends to stock up on his mostly mid-century modern pieces and I believe it. I have never wished to own a Ford F-150 as badly as I did during our visit to Hunted House. With super reasonable prices, everything from credenzas to paintings to salt and pepper shakers and a quickly rotating inventory, the citizens of DC—and traveling New Yorkers—definitely have a gem on their hands.

Johnson also told us that 14th street was quickly becoming a design destination in DC and when I got back to our hotel I sent out a tweet to amazing urban life resource @urbanbydesign asking for the not-so-usual DC must see tourist destinations. One of her replies: “Last wk @radecor wrote a blog post on DC’s emerging mid-city design district http://bit.ly/bdMBKs.”

Right on 14th, where I had just left. Read more about DC’s mid-city design district here. I’m already planning my next trip and this time I’ll rent a truck. I would love to hear about your favorite resale shops around the country. I’m always game for a road trip!

Hunted House
Hours
1830 14th Street Northwest
Washington, DC 20009
(202) 549-7493

Ten years ago, an 1869 brownstone in the East Village was to be boarded up with a check-cashing operation filling its ground floor.

Go to this same spot today, and you’ll find a clean white condominium, and if the weather’s nice, you just might be able to see the entire second floor. From New York Magazine, in regards to the architect:

Peterson…imagined the brownstone tilting back and up like a garage door, updating the traditional parlor-level balcony into a 21st-century porch….The architect went to Stone Panels in Coppell, Texas, to source ultralight brownstone, which weighs three and a half pounds per square foot rather than 60. A thin veneer of real stone is bonded to a three-quarter-inch aluminum honeycomb, and the resulting blocks can be used like quarried rock. The hardware on the moving wall is custom, and McLaren Engineering Group, the firm Peterson eventually hired, also works for Cirque du Soleil.

The resulting space is still the original 16 ft wide, but now opens up to hear the bells of St. Mark’s and the din of nearby Stuyvesant Square.

Whatcha think? Has anyone actually seen this space in person?

[Via BoingBoing]

A quick bit of mid-century trivia from Make It! Mid-Century Modern, a How to Guide:

The word mobile conjurs up two images: the tinkly contraption hanging above cribs in nurseries ‘round the world, and the work of Alexander Calder….His early experiments with wire sculpture and kinetic toys eventually led to his famous kinetic sculptures, dubbed by friend Duchamp as mobile, meaning both “movable” and “motive” in French. Over the next decade, Calder perfected his articulating mobiles, capturing the realtivity of weight while exploring the movement of wire and steel in time and place.

So, see? The mobile fits in your fresh-modern lounge just as well as it fits in your nursery. And…da dum da! They’re totally easy to make at home.

Heather from Dollar Store Crafts whipped up this geometric guy, taking her inspiration from JennSki’s print of a mod mobile. She used some fancy cuttin’ software contraption, but it’s nothing that a trace and pair of sharp scissors couldn’t handle.

[Via Dollar Store Crafts]

With an Ikea gift card given as a wedding gift, I set out to make my own. Along the way, with the help of my sculptor father (who is a crafty carpenter, plumber, and general genius on the side), I made some adjustments to Kim’s original schematics. After the jump, how to make my version of Kim’s clever hack.

What You’ll Need:

-Ikea Sniglar
-Styrofoam
-Batting
-Fabric of your choice
-1″-by-1″ scrap wood cut into 6-inch sections (x8)
-1″-by-2″ scrapwood cut into 6 inch sections (x4)
-1-5/8″ wood and drywall screws
-1″ wood screws
-primer
-paint(s) of choice
-paint that matches your wall
-drill
-table saw
-sand paper

Building the Shelves:

1. Using a table saw, cut the particleboard shelf tops in half, lengthwise.
2. Cut the two (shorter) sides of each shelf frame in half.
3. Sand the cut ends so they’re relatively smooth.

4. Paint the frame pieces with primer.
5. Once dry, brush on a layer of the color of your choice. I chose to paint the shelf frames a light blue (Ace Hardware, Timeless, B41-3) and the frame’s legs a darker blue (Ace Hardware, Water Flow, A40-4). Let dry and then do another layer.

6. Once dry, put each half of the diaper table together.
7. Prime the scrap wood.
8. For every 1″-by-1″ piece of scrap wood, use a drill bit to bore pilot holes towards the middle of each 6-inch section.
9. For each half of the diaper table, flip it upside down, line up a piece of scrap wood on either side of the back of the frame so that the screw hole is underneath the shelf top and the scrap wood doesn’t pass the outer edge of the shelf. Use your drill to create pilot holes through the scrap wood and into the back corner of the frame’s underside.

This photo was taken before I realized I should sand and prime before I attach everything.

10. Drill a 1″ wood screw through the new holes to attach the two pieces together.
11. Do the same for each back end corner of the top and bottom shelves.
12. If you’re working with drywall, use a stud finder to locate a stud on the wall you’d like your shelf to be on.
13. Place the shelf so that one of the attached pieces of scrap wood can be screwed into the stud.
14. Use a 1-5/8″ wood screw to affix the shelf to the stud.

15. Affix the other scrap wood to the wall using either drywall screws or wood, depending on where the scrap wood meets with the wall.
16. Bore two holes into the 1″-by-2″ pieces of scrap wood, roughly an inch in from each end.

17. Place each piece directly below each shelf top and attach to the wall using either drywall or wood screws (again, depending on what kind of wall you’re dealing with). These pieces will help the shelf top from sagging from the weight put on the shelf.

18. Paint all the scrap wood the same color as your wall.

Create the Cat Pillow:

1. Cut Styrofoam and batting to the size and shape of one of the shelves.
2. Upholster the padding with your fabric.
3. Tuck the newly covered pad into one of the shelves, sprinkle on some catnip and watch your kitties climb aboard!

]]> http://readymadeblogs.mydevstaging.com/blogs/home-and-garden/2010/07/12/turn-an-ikea-diaper-table-into-a-pair-of-wall-shelves-for-kitty/feed/ 4 http://readymadeblogs.mydevstaging.com/blogs/home-and-garden/2010/07/09/an-apartment-made-entirely-out-of-cardboard/ http://readymadeblogs.mydevstaging.com/blogs/home-and-garden/2010/07/09/an-apartment-made-entirely-out-of-cardboard/#comments Fri, 09 Jul 2010 14:33:44 +0000 Chris Gardner http://readymade.com/blogs/home-and-garden/?p=1164

Artist Don Lucho decided he wanted an entire apartment made from nothing but cardboard, and so artist Don Lucho built an entire apartment made from nothing but cardboard, complete with dirty dishes and sneakers on the floor.

“Casa de Carton” is rife with details – a roll of toilet paper, a stack of books on the nightstand, utensils hanging from the wall, and is certain to make anyone who enters feel like they’re inside a drawing, perhaps even two-toned and line-arty, themselves.

Looks like this dude’s been up since November! How did we not know about this yet? C’mon, internet! Do you instant gratification magic!

[Casa de Carton: Don Lucho on Flickr, via Laughing Squid]

The  project, created by Jennifer Wong and Daniel Goers of Wongoers, includes a sanctuary of 50 birdhouses and feeders, designed by the couple and built by people in the community. The bird favela is meant to house and feed some of the boroughs native birds.

The avian accommodations, according to Wongoers, “express creative use of both natural, recycled, and found materials. Throughout the project experimental fabrication, detailed carpentry, and materials science were employed.”

The installation is located at the Northwest corner of Fort Greene Park (Myrtle Avenue & St. Edwards Street) as well as Person Park (Myrtle Avenue & Carlton Avenue). Just remember to look up!

I plan on checking these guys out in person in November — before heading over to Cake Man Raven’s for a slice of delicious red velvet cake — but if you can’t make it to New York to see these in person, check out Flickr user Atomische’s great snaps of each of the birdhouses in the collection. After the jump, some of my faves I’d love to reproduce…

[Images: Myrtle Avenue Bird Town; Flickr user Atomische]

There’s nothing more romantic than a outdoor dinner by candlelight. Since patio tables can get filled quickly with plates, bottles of beer, and accouterments, you may find yourself wondering where to place your mood lighting. Well, here’s a great DIY project from the folks at CalFinder.

Their project turns an empty wine bottle into a wall mounted sconce, using pieces you can easily find at your local hardware store. Use citronella Tiki torch oil and you’ve got a DIY bug repellent that’s stylish to boot.

[Image: CalFinder]

So, this hack, which takes an existing headboard and makes something from it, is both welcomed and refreshing. Kate of Centsational Girl came up with this unique approach for creating a coat rack.

“A little while ago, I bought a spindly old-fashioned twin headboard at the local thrift store with every intention of turning it into a bench.  I’d seen the idea traveling around on some blogs, and loved it.After some thought, I decided I had less use for a bench, and greater use for a coat rack in my guest space.  I had a bare wall, so why not fashion the headboard into a rack for scarves, sweaters, jackets, robes, or hats for my guests?…  Now, the twin headboard has been transformed into an architecturally decorative piece, providing both form and function.”

[DIY Headboard Turned Coat Rack]

Through Shelterrific I found this rad litter box hideaway. What makes Out of Sight more than just a box hiding a litter box is that it also helps keep litter from tracking all over your home. An Astro-turf style carpet both on the second floor, where the litter box is, and the first floor entrance, catch loose kernels from your cat’s feet.

The box is made of 1/2 inch thick panels of high grade plastic coat melamine. All the edges are “edge banded,” which seals them from absorbing litter box misses. The back panel is coated as well, and features ventilation holes. The Out of Sight Litter Box sells for $170 to $190 depending on the finish you get and doesn’t include an actual litter box. You can fit most trays (up to 19 x 16 inch) within, though Out of Sight also sells its own high wall box for $45.

Another great litter box hideaway… Kim’s basement litter room.

There’s nothing better than a double-duty DIY project—one how-to, two uses, infinite glowbasking.

This double header uses just a bit of fabric, an embroidery hoop, and a string of lights to create a mod windsock/garden lantern. “During the day, it will add interest & texture. At night, it gives off a soft, ambient light that glows like a firefly—a nice touch for a summer evening lazing outside.”

Jan, from the organic fabric company Daisy Janie, provides a fine how-to that you can whip up in about an hour. Spend an afternoon, and you can fill your outdoor space with soft glows and bold graphic punches. Your yard will never have looked so mod!

[How to make a fabric windsock garden lantern, via craftzine]