ourhaus

Brimming at Brimfield

2011-09-19T00:41:00.000-04:00

We recently got to check off one of those "must do" items on our bucket list, and that was to attend the Fall Brimfield Antiques show. I have wanted to go to this for YEARS. And after seeing it for the first time, we definitely plan to make the trek every Fall. Plus, we are lucky enough to live only about an hour away from this collector extravaganza. I bought only some small pieces that I am quite happy with: a raffia Kuba mat from Congo, a rare Dansk ceramic pitcher and some large, wood type blocks with some great inks stains.

Brimfield is the largest outdoor antiques show in the country covering a stretch of about a half-mile long, going back about 500 feet on each side of the street containing over 5,000 dealers! There are food trucks and stalls galore that are quite good. Our friend swears by the Pilgrim sandwich stall and nothing tops the soft serve ice cream we got to beat the Indian summer midday heat we experienced that weekend. Wear comfy shoes and bring some bottled water!

While the mid-century items are at a minimum here, it just makes it all the sweeter to find their tents and spend some extra time looking around in them. Until next September...

(The Brimfield Market also is held in May and July).
http://www.brimfieldshow.com/

Flip your Vipp

2011-07-05T18:07:00.002-04:00

This appeals to me on so many levels.
Check out this cute Vipp trash can you can add as your Mac trash icon!

According to DWR, in Danish, the function of opening and closing is called "Vipp."

Download the icon here.

Buy the real thing here.

The $1,000. (or so) Bathroom Makeover: Progress and Purchases

2011-05-01T22:10:00.000-04:00

The bathroom makeover is coming along nicely! In case you missed it, you can read the BEFORE story here. The majority of the work gets done on weekends, as you would imagine, but this was never destined to be a "one-weekend project". It has worked out fine because we are lucky enough to have a second full bathroom to use while the work goes on. The first weekend, we started by taking everything out. THAT is a great feeling. Credit goes to my husband for pretty much all of this prep work:

Sink be gone!


Patching the walls and repairing the baseboard.

The pipe gets primed and the new color starts around the edges.

While this is going on, we've been selecting the paint color and the fixtures.

We'll be using this sea glassy/robin's egg blue (also found on a couple of the walls in the bedroom) into the whole bathroom. It's tough to depict on screen, but check out other projects found online using this color:

For lighting, we didn't want to move the junction box or any wiring, so we are sticking with a horizontal light configuration in the same spot above the mirror. We bought this one on lumens.com:

Remember that horrible, bare mirror from the previous post? We're replacing that (of course) with a medicine cabinet. Mirror combined with storage: smart! We bought this GRUNDTAL mirror cabinet at IKEA. Honestly, we once paid a lot for the Spritz one from Restoration Hardware that rusted from the moisture.

We picked up one of the 2-drawer, 31"- wide configurations of the highly modular GODMORGON sink cabinet systems at IKEA in oak veneer. It mounts to the wall and hovers over the floor, which I like a lot. We are worried about the strength of the wall, so we bought the available metal support legs for the front. With different drawer configurations, widths and finishes, there are what seem like hundreds of combinations, so definitely take your time measuring and selecting at the store. We matched it up with the ODENSVIK sink and the GRUNDTAL faucet:

At the moment we are not going to do any built-in storage, so we opted for these MOLGER shelves from IKEA. I like how they have that teak sauna/spa feel to them. We wanted the third shelf closest to the sink to be one shelf shorter, so Christopher pulled an IKEA hack maneuver and sawed off one level of shelves and replaced the feet onto the bottom of the shortened legs!:

Stay tuned for more of the finishing touches! The painting is just about done. The ongoing saga of how to hide that big floor-to-ceiling pipe goes on—I decided against the birch tree effect, and boxing it in is more work and money, as well as covers any access to the pipe, so we are now thinking frosted room divider in metal tracks -- we'll see!

The $1,000. (or so) Bathroom Makeover: Before

2011-04-16T20:43:00.001-04:00

It is ON!

If you, like us, have more creativity to spare than unlimited funds, read on. After reviewing some landscaping projects we'd like to accomplish in the coming years, and an impending condo roof project (oh, joy), I thought we'd never, EVER be able to update our master bathroom. I thought we'd have to spend at least 20K to do it. So, defeated, I had decided that, for now, I'd just clean the heck out of the bathroom. Maybe I'd put some contact paper inside the horrible sink cabinet. Or, hey, maybe paint the walls, too...then, bang! I came up with a better solution than contact paper that is much more palatable than 20K!

Here is a tour of the "before":


Entrance to the master bath shown from a small alcove off of bedroom. The glass blocks let light pass through the shower and the alcove.

These are the original fixtures (and color) when we purchased our home. We'll be replacing the light fixture, the mirror (with a medicine cabinet), the sink, sink cabinet, faucet and hardware.

I don't need to point out the obvious, but: this cracked sink has got to go. And the chipped, flat mirror is pretty sad.

This happens to everyone: something temporary when you move in becomes permanent. This will change, too.

To save money, we're going to forgo a rebuild of this entry space. Instead, we'll sand, water-seal, prime and paint. We'll also add a light cover to the recessed canister light.

We'll be placing some potted plants, likely succulents, on the window ledge. They are so lush and tropical, yet modern:

photo by davitydave http://tinyurl.com/42had22

This pipe may become a "birch trunk".


Luckily, the floor and tub tile is in good shape and we like it.

This robe hook has been hanging out of the wall for over 3 years. Some much needed patching, painting, and new brushed nickel hardware should do the trick.

Speaking of painting...

So what's in a makeover?
Admittedly, this type of update works well financially because it is mostly cosmetic. Having to do significant demolition and construction, or moving plumbing, adds expense, unfortunately.

The "Pros" of our refresh
-- Tiles are in superb condition and a nice neutral stone color that we like.
-- We can get away without any major demolition and construction for now.
-- The tub is in perfect shape. We just don't like it. It is a jacuzzi tub. Gross. We want to replace it with a glass-enclosed standing shower when we can.
-- We don't have to move any plumbing

Stay tuned on the progress! I'll be posting inspiration boards, tips, a list of what we purchased, and resources. You can now read Part 2 "Progress and Purchases" here.

Organization Procrastination

2011-03-29T16:07:00.000-04:00

...with beautiful results. Done by Sean Ohlenkamp and Lisa Blonder Ohlenkamp.

Featured On: Show Us Your JA (Jonathan Adler) Style

2011-01-23T16:22:00.000-05:00

Jonathan Adler's pieces are inspired by the best eras in design, particularly regarding ceramics. His quirky, cheery adaptations are addictive to be around. I certainly hope to collect more pieces. Which is why we're very happy to be accepted into the "Show us Your JA style" community!

For the holidays, I used the JA Medium Bird Bowl in an arrangement on our dining room credenza. The bird is just so elegant and graceful and added a nice "Peace on Earth" vibe. The Bird Bowl is from Jonathan Adler's "Menagerie" collection.

It's a really great idea for designers and product sites to put the spotlight on their customers to see how everyone, everywhere is incorporating their work into their lives—a great way to build stronger relationships with customers. I feel I'm a bit more a part of the brand and creativity of the work, now.

I have visited the store in San Francisco and now that there is one here in Boston, I'll have to check it out! Have fun browsing the whole site, too. There are some really terrific ceramic pieces as well as beautiful furniture and textiles. I guarantee your "to collect" list will be long.

Eames and House Industries

2010-11-06T14:32:00.000-04:00

Months ago I was happy to finally receive these special edition Eames alphabet blocks from House Industries. Earlier this year, House Industries released an Eames-inspired typeface collection "Eames Century Modern" and offered this set of blocks to showcase the new fonts.

The packaging is great and will store the blocks nicely on a shelf. The blocks are made from basswood and the varied, cheerful design is beautifully printed in vibrant inks including metallics.

Inspired by their sketches, films and ephemera, House Industries worked closely with the Eames family to reflect the Eames's work in each poster number, ligature and serif. I think they did a great job in capturing their essence of mid-century sophistication & delight.

One of the fonts, Eames Century Modern Light:

image source: House Industries

The Eames Century Modern Project history, exhibit and fonts can be found here.

All photos © ourhaus/Jodi Vautrin

In the Mood for Design

2010-08-06T15:16:00.000-04:00

I love mood boards.
I use them as a basis for all kinds of creative projects, from my own graphic and interactive design work, to designing rooms in the house, to planning events.

My methods vary from pasting paper clippings to a large piece of foam core to pasting digital images I find into a Photoshop document.

This new tool I have just read about is a good addition to one of our previous posts, DIY Gets Digital. It is called Olioboard, an online mood board creation tool. I am really looking forward to testing it out (and I really wish I invented it myself).

It pulls images of available products from a variety of sites like Care and Barrel and YLiving. That is key. There is the "inspiration-style mood board" that is more abstract and subjective. Then there is what I like to call the "spec mood board." It consists of more concrete information such as currently available retail products that the average consumer can locate and budget for.

An example of one of the many ways to find items:

Some completed mood board examples from the Olioboard community:

Ourhaus Goes to Yourhaus: Portland, ME

2010-07-09T22:47:00.000-04:00

We love to travel (who doesn't?). Whether it's the down-time of not thinking at all or seeking out unique finds and inspiration around you, travel heals on so many levels. This is the beginning of what I hope is a pretty frequent feature here at ourhaus: Ourhaus Goes to Yourhaus: Travel Destinations.

With a relatively short drive from Boston, Portland is a teriffic getaway spot that melds the natural beauty of the Maine coastline with a small-city vibe summed up with great art, shops & restaurants. Here are some must-see shops I found this time around:

Foundry Lane, 221 Commercial St.
This store features a gallery of jewelers, ceramicists, furniture makers and sculptors, just to name a few. My excellent find & purchase here is this great, decorative tile by Toronto artist Xenia Taler whose work I just love.

Portland Architectural Salvage, 131 Preble Street
This place is amazing. It has four enormous floors of inventory. Like many salvage houses, you can find such a wide array of antiques from old doors and footed bathtubs to factory carts and stained glass windows. While it is stuffed to the brim with cool things to look at, it is also somehow tidy and easy to browse around here, too.

Most of our favorite sights were industrial/factory pieces that could serve as bar carts, coffee tables and kitchen islands:

I was searching for very large letterforms from old outdoor signage, to no avail. But I was also very drawn to these carnival roulette wheels. As a trio they are so graphic and striking! Imagine them arranged on a wall in a big converted barn or loft space. I even like them leaning just as they are...

I also spotted some beautiful sinks. Usually you just see ceramic and porcelain. If I were to redo a kitchen or bath in the future, I'd definitely consider soapstone (top photo) or concrete (bottom photo).

Delise Decor, 324 Fore Street
Here's what I love about a town like Portland: you walk into the shop and the owner is the person behind the desk and you chat about the pieces in the store and how she finds things and what you both love. We almost came home with a factory trolley cart that was on display as a coffee table. This seems to have become the must-have antique item over the past couple of years.

It was similar to this one:

Angela Adams, 273 Congress Street
—one of my all-time favorites and Portland's big-time design star. The Angela Adams retail store on Congress St. is a must. They have really great sales—often things that are not found on the website.

Our other favorite Portland spots:

BREAKFAST: Coffee and any of their freshly baked goodies: The Standard Baking Co.
A MUST DO: A Portland Schooner sail
WOMEN'S CLOTHING: Hands down, Bliss and Chantal
GIFT & HOUSEWARES BOUTIQUE: Blanche & Mimi
START WITH A DRINK: Vignola
EAT, GO TO HEAVEN: Fore Street
LATE NIGHT JAZZ: Blue

Now...where to next?

DIY Gets Digital

2010-06-27T13:00:00.001-04:00

I'm happy to see interesting uses of digital media that make it easier to capture inspiration from wherever you are.

One I have been testing out on the iPhone is the ben® Color Capture™ iPhone app. Based on photos you take or pull from your existing library, the app suggests Benjamin Moore color palettes. You can get even more specific color suggestions by tapping on areas within the photo. Shake the phone and you get a corresponding harmony palette. It's quite elegant and intuitive.

ben Color Capture iPhone App

Here's a shot of the bay I took yesterday with a palette suggestion (left). It also provides a specific color suggestion from a spot on the sky that I tapped (right):

The only caveat with any digital form of color representation is that it is only a close suggestion. You must rely on actual paint swatches in daylight for accurate paint selection. The same is true for the fairly recent apps that Pantone has created. Unless those colors are specifically for screen end-use, nothing beats the accuracy of an actual color chip with real Pantone inks (or, paint)—and even then, light and the material being printed or painted impacts the color result.

myPantone iPhone app

Along with strategically utilizing technology, companies that establish smart partnerships that ultimately help consumers envision use of their products are adding tremendous value to their brands. This partnership between Cambria and Benjamin Moore proves that in this excellent online tool that guides customers in choosing Benjamin Moore paint palettes that compliment your Cambria stone counter tops:

Cambria partnership with Benjamin Moore

Usually, I have not been a fan of applications or sites that simulate the decor of a room. They tend to be limited in style and not always completely applicable to your own rooms. The end result always tends to be a little "rough". But this one by Sherwin Williams is one of the better that I have seen. It allows you to upload photos or get started right away with their provided gallery. The color palette is vast and adding color to the images happens fairly quickly. Like mentioned above, color accuracy will always be an issue and I found this to especially be the case with the palette of white tones on the site. There are a lot of very slight variations in choosing a shade of white and the computer screen just cannot display these fine color differences. But overall, this site shows promise for consumer-based interior design tools.

Sherwin-Williams Color Visualizer

In looking at many of these tools, I found there is a lot of room and opportunity to create relevant, useful guides for DIY home improvement. It certainly inspired me to think about interior design inspiration in the interactive design realm in my own work.

Sweet Dreams: Bedroom Renovation Part 1

2010-06-18T21:05:00.002-04:00

We're almost finished with our bedroom renovation. We're just putting finishing touches on it over the coming weeks.

As you probably can tell, I don't start many things in work and life without some sort of mood or inspiration board. Like a sketch on a slightly larger and more tactile scale, I highly recommend this process. Your mind will feel less overwhelmed and cluttered when taking on daunting projects when you have everything right out in front of you. You won't forget that genius moment of inspiration (that perfect blue-gray of that beach stone) AND you can physically toss out anything from the board that no longer works for you ("Pink?! What was I thinking?").

Start with how you want the room to feel.
Verbalize it out loud, write it down with colored markers—whatever it takes. It can be descriptive ("organic modern") have a persona ("Jackie O goes punk-rock!") or mimic a place ("our trip to Tuscany"). Whatever it takes to get you to commit to the feel and objective. You need something to base all of your design decisions on, going forward.

I started with wanting:

For me, this determined the color palette right away and I chose these colors as the basis for the room.

My goal here was to create warmth and coziness but without a cavernous, dark feel. The balance, or "serene" side of the equation will come from the Palladian Blue (both colors from Benjamin Moore). This color combination is not "new"—any form of earth and sky/water has always been a great way to achieve a balanced, organic feel. Brown is deep, rich and grounds the room. The muted blue-green is quiet yet uplifting. And these updated, unexpected versions of those colors keep it modern and in step with our overall house palette.

Take Your Pleasure Seriously

2010-03-01T12:36:00.000-05:00

This little gem that I ordered from Eames Office arrived last week.

A wonderful little book: 100 Quotes by Charles Eames.

Father Time

2010-01-04T19:12:00.001-05:00

As we usher in a new design decade, Vitra is now featuring some rediscovered treasures from the past. Three Ceramic Clocks designed by George Nelson in the early 1950s were developed but never made it to the manufacturing stage. Based on the original design, Vitra is, for the first time ever, making these clocks available on the market.

They have all the form and whimsy of Nelson's work of that time. They look like fun little characters.

Happy New Year...

2010-01-04T18:54:00.002-05:00

...from ourhaus to yours!

Ahhh, January. The clean slate of a fresh new year...and a fresh blank calendar. Oh, the promise and mystery it holds. While I use iCal on my computer and iPhone for business, I always like to have an "analog" version on the walls in my office since they serve as great artwork and often, interesting design perspectives on tracking the passage of time.

A perennial favorite of mine (and I'm pretty sure graphic designers across the globe) is Pentagram's 365 large-format calendar. Pass the time with a new typeface (and a short story on its origins) each month: available from V eer.

Similarly, The Stendig, designed by Mossimo Vignelli 44 years ago, is another classic for all Helveticaphiles.

Available at unicahome.

Another graphic classic from the 60's is this perpetual version by designer Enzo Mari. When it comes to calendars, I do think less is more. Just tell the days and months, please! But I also best visualize "time" in the classic week/month grid structure. Available at nova68.

The look of this perpetual calendar would fit perfectly in my studio.

Available at Kikkerland.

MoMA's Phases of the Moon calendar is also an elegant info-graphic that does not get in the way of telling the date. Available at Velocity Art & Design.

This series also includes a moon phase version. Punch-out the circles every day or just important dates, creating different abtract designs in the process from designer Michael Domberger. All available at Amazon.

Along the "interactive" calendar idea, I love the concept behind the Apple-a-Day calendar by Vik Design. Count down the days to better health with the sticker from the apple you ate that day. (Can we sneak in the banana ones, too?) Aavailable on Vik Design's Etsy shop.

or, try the Bubble Calendar for that satisfying bubble wrap pop!

www.bubblecalendar.com

When it comes to illustrative print calendars, my new favorite is from Papersource. What is so great about these is they not only use PS's great recycled paper designs, but there are templates on the back of each month to make things (cards, favor boxes, etc.) when you are through with the calendar. Available at Papersource.

I really love their mini letterpress calendar as well:

Which reminds me of the beautiful letterpress and flat-print calendars from one of my favorite paper goods companies, Snow and Graham.

And the most impressive concept calendar is the Ink Calendar. The ink is absorbed slowly, and the numbers in the calendar are "printed" daily. Designed by Oscar Diaz

Here's to 2010 and cheers to making the most of your days.

2009 Holiday Gift Guide: Part 1: For Everyone

2009-11-18T00:22:00.020-05:00

I am brimming with gift ideas this year for some reason so thought I'd share some so you can be a little ahead of the game. (It's really easy to find gifts that you can't afford - the challenge is finding gifts that are special and within non-celebrity budgets!)

1. Penguin Cloth-bound Classics, $13.-20., amazon.com

2. St. Lucia Snowflake set, $20., anthropologie.com

3. Down East Breakfast Giftbox, $39.95 (5% proceeds go to various AIDS organizations), stonewallkitchen.com

Actually, all of their gift baskets are fantastic and within all price ranges.

4. Slatkin Candles in "Fireside", $19.50-25.00, bathandbodyworks.com

I am addicted to these and they make the whole house smell as if you have a crackling fireplace
(for those of us who don't!).

5. 180s, $16.99, amazon.com

I give these to at least one person every year. They look kind of weird but, A. they don't mess up your hair, B. they tuck under a hat for those forward-facing, ear-numbing Boston gusts, C. they have a version that you can slip earphones/buds into.

6. Make a book on Blurb. $12.95-74.95, blurb.com
Affordable way to make a really unique gift for individuals or entire families.
It doesn't have to be just a photo album, make it a story about a trip you all took together.

7. Pantone Mugs, set of 10, $110., uncommongoods.com

I got a few of these as a gift and I can attest to the appeal to design geeks. You can break this set up
into multiple gifts! They have a set for tea lovers also (on right).

8. Envirosax, $8.50, envirosax.com

Another of my favorite go-to gifts. These are by far the prettiest of the eco-friendly
reusable bags out there. (And the handles do fit over your shoulder)

9. Museum Memberships, starting at $75,

mfa.org, neaq.org, icaboston.org, pem.org, mos.org

This is a great group family gift that continues to add value all-year long, is tax-deductable and supports the arts and sciences in your community. Honestly, you'd spend much more on sweaters anyway!

10. Movie passes from fandango.com

You can send them by email or by mail and also design your own. Fandango is great because it can apply to any theater. Make it more personal and make plans to go see a movie with the person.

I've given these in popcorn boxes before or you can also add some movie candies to the gift.

11. Magazine Subscriptions, like Real Simple.

I've given Real Simple as a gift more times than I can remember. It's beautiful, useful, and has great recipes. Magazines are like 12 little gifts all year and are incredibly affordable. I usually buy the current issue on the stand and wrap that up.

Another great one is National Geographic Traveler.

12. Your time and skills

The holidays can be very tough in an economy like this, but the most personal, inspired gifts can come from your own ingenuity and creative thinking. For example, if you are an amazing cook, include some recipes and a certificate for a "night of Tuscan cooking lessons"; or sewing/knitting lessons; babysitting is worth gold I hear, so give a couple of nights of babysitting so frazzled parents can go out on a date; dog walking and dog sitting is also a great gift; giving professional time works too, just be sure to be clear about how many hours you are giving as the gift; do you know wines? are you a bartender? offer to bartend at a friend's holiday party for an evening, etc.

Give your "certificates" in personalized gift envelopes that you can create with materials from any art supply store, craft store, or my favorite, Papersource:

13. Sketchbooks from Moleskine

Write a personal message on the inside first page. Their categories are: creating, drawing, exploring, organizing, painting, recording, sharing, traveling, writing—so there is bound to be something for everyone.

14. Beautiful city guides. Give one or multiples in sets.

from Moleskine:

from Wallpaper Magazine: $8.95-$49.75

from Louis Vuitton: $34.00-$130.00

Next installments: Host/Hostess Gifts, Creative Gifts, Mid-Century Modern Gifts & more.

Happy 103rd Birthday, Eva Zeisel!

2009-11-16T12:07:00.004-05:00

Here's proof that imagination and creativity keep you young and your mind agile.

Watch Video Clip

Learn More:
http://www.evazeisel.org/default.htm
http://www.ted.com/speakers/eva_zeisel.html
http://www.amazon.com/Eva-Zeisel-Lucie-Young/dp/0811834336/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b

Very Therapeutic

2009-09-25T01:57:00.000-04:00

I am a huge fan of Apartment Therapy. It is the brainchild of New York-based interior designer, Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan that has blossomed into a multi-city mega blog and two self-titled books.

So, I was recently honored to have my home studio office featured in an article on Apartment Therapy!
You can read it here.

Come On Baby Light My...Sink

2009-09-22T11:58:00.000-04:00

Oo La La. Back-lit Corian Illumination Series.

Watch a Demo Here >

Eames, Meet Eamz

2009-09-21T15:02:00.000-04:00

These are not super-new, but Design Within Reach has reminded me again of the outrageously cool footwear from United Nude, A Rem Koolhaas project.

Step by Step

2009-09-09T13:12:00.010-04:00

I've been looking for a nice way to add some sort of no-slip grips to the stairs up to my office. Our dog Lucy is afraid to climb down the stairs because she has slipped a couple of times in the past. But everything I have seen has been a little too utilitarian (like sticky sandpaper on a roll from Home Depot).

I found the perfect solution via a product ad at the back of Dwell Magazine, and now have a new carpet obsession:
Liza Phillips Design.

These are the stair runners:

And there are full rugs and runners as well:

I Heart Marimekko

2009-09-02T10:59:00.003-04:00

Crate and Barrel is promoting some new additions to their outlet section.
I am loving this vintage Joonas print pillow from Marimekko for just 18.95!

I'm with THIS Band

2009-08-31T12:23:00.004-04:00

I think I have to buy this t-shirt. From Furni and Bruxe.

(The furniture fan's follow up to the famous band member t-shirts).

Home Sweet Home Office

2009-08-30T17:30:00.002-04:00

I now have the ideal, blissful and fortunate opportunity to freelance from my home office. I quit full-time life in interactive design (within advertising=burnout) in the Spring to freelance and build a new design studio company. I have always believed that environment is everything. It has everything to do with your mood, productivity and state of mind toward your work. To that end, ever since we moved into our home 2 years ago, I've been setting up my ideal office up in our loft space.

I wanted to keep things pretty clean and white with just small accents of color to allow the work on the walls (and screen) be the focus. My office was completely inspired by the mid-century palettes exemplified by the George Nelson Swag Desk:

So, my first rule of thumb is: Love where you work. Set up a space where you really want to be. I mean this both in terms of the physical office space and your workplace. Honestly, we spend at least 10 hours of our days working and to be miserable in that is just uncalled for. We really owe it to ourselves to be happy in what we pursue in life. So, either create an exit plan (right now), or, if you like your job, simply make your workstation more of a place you want to be 10 hours a day. Personally, I can't wait to get up to my office everyday:

— tip: Head to your local farmer's market during lunch and pick up some fresh flowers. Sunflowers are beautiful and inexpensive.

— tip: if you don't work from home, office coffee usually, well, sucks. And trips to Starbucks can really add up. Bring your own coffee & nifty French press by Bodum and serve in these cheery design-nerd mugs from Pantone:

Second rule of thumb is: Be Organized. It will save you time, heartache AND money.
Luckily, organization and neatness is an obsession of mine, but for those less inclined, these tips and products may help. You've heard this before, but "everything in its place". Very simply, if there is a place for everything, being organized isn't as tough. It's about having systems in place, whether it be storage, or a way to get things done, such as with the offline and online versions of Behance's Action Method:

There are some really excellent time tracker apps for the Mac that act as stop watches that can be labeled per client, project, etc. Check out Timepost: (which plugs in with Basecamp, activcollab, Harvest, and other project management tools). Time is money!

Other apps:
Toggl, Tick, Harvest, Billings, iBiz, Slife.

— File it away: I covered an awkward step against the back wall of the office with these modular credenzas from the EFFECTIV line at IKEA. You can choose the base, cabinet doors and interior to create customized storage. They're stackable, too:

Clutter looks a lot neater when you use multiples of the same desktop storage boxes. I chose a clean white so that it blended in with the walls. I try to get sturdy yet inexpensive ones because they can really add up. These are metal-reinforced paperboard KASSET from IKEA:

(The Container Store has some great ones, too).

For storing more hanging folders or smaller office items, I also found these ERIK file cabinets at IKEA in a great punchy lime color (which they don't seem to have in that color anymore.)

You'll also be more inclined to take part in your hobbies after hours if your supplies are sorted and easy to get to: Cart on the left from The Container Store. Cart on right, no longer available, from Crate & Barrel. TRIPP Stacking patterned boxes from IKEA:

— Use inspiration binders: Finding myself lost in a sea of inspiration clippings, I went through the labor-intensive task of filing everything in 8.5 x 11 plastic sleeves (that you can get at any office supply store) and placing them in 3-ring binders. It was totally worth it.

People tease me about my "OCD" binders, but they have made my life so much more organized. I have binders for my graphic design work, home decor work, holidays, paper craft, recipes, entertaining, fashion, you name it. And because I wanted the binders quickly at hand, and therefore exposed, I invested in some really great-looking ones from Russell and Hazel:

— Clear your mind with a pinup board:
I think this is one of my all-time favorite solutions in my office. It is the simplest thing in the world, but what it does, and symbolizes, is enormous. Often times when I am trying to focus on getting a task done, my mind is racing all over the place with side ideas that have absolutely nothing to do with the DEADLINE I should be focusing on. So, I "throw it up on the wall".

That intriguing postcard, seasonal inspirations, a new idea for my work with AIGA Boston, an idea for yet another side business, the charity I want to start "someday": it all goes up in some form on the wall. It gets it out of my head at the moment, but it is not forgotten. When I can take a breather, I simply go peruse the wall and get inspired by something on it.

(Here's how I made the board)

So, if you've ever made a move at one time in your life to take things into your own hands, or were laid off, but decided to make the most of it, here's to you. And to fulfilling your life long dreams, professionally and personally, one file folder and inspiration binder at a time.

yet more light

2009-03-29T09:21:00.005-04:00

Been a while since either of us have posted here - that's because we haven't done too much with the house lately. However, spring is in the air and that means we'll be busy busy busy, so get back in the habit of checking in here to see what we do next.

My first (even remotely) significant home improvement of '09 came just yesterday. We had gone to Ikea last weekend to do a run-through after an extended absence and, amongst a whole bunch of other things, I noticed the cabinet-mount lights that work perfectly for our kitchen counter!

Nuthin' a little paint can't fix

2008-11-09T12:39:00.006-05:00

While the entire building needs a sealant and paint job, we figured we'd start by getting our garage door cleaned up and repainted. Once that was done we plowed forward and repainted the front door.

So we went from "not bad":

To "Hell, yeah!":

Rex Ray Carpets

2008-10-09T15:27:00.006-04:00

Newsflash!
Rex Ray also translates his designs to carpets!

See them all here.

Design Groupie Series 01: Rex Ray

2008-08-24T20:27:00.013-04:00

In between house projects, I'll be posting the work of artists and designers I gush over. Past or present, they all make up my fantasy world.

01: REX RAY | rexray.com
I got this shot with my iPhone (taking notes for the wish list and blog) in a Jonathan Adler store in San Francisco in February. Instant obsession with his resin panel work. He also did graphic design for some of David Bowie's posters and the album, Hours. How cool is that???

Here are additional works from his site.
copyright rex ray 2006 all rights reserved

copyright rex ray 2006 all rights reservedcopyright rex ray 2006 all rights reserved

copyright rex ray 2006 all rights reserved

You break it, I fix it: Part II

2008-08-10T13:22:00.006-04:00

So, a few months ago I wrote about the number of things that were broken in our place that I've been able to fix, thus improving our "QoL index." Allow me to toot my own horn and highlight a few of them (Because it's vaguely interesting. To me.):

The Refrigerator.

I've never had an ice maker before, nor a filtered, ice water dispenser. The fridge we inherited has both but neither were working. Maybe it was because the water feed to the fridge was broken and nobody bothered to look. Or maybe it was the Ziploc bag full of rotted fish guts that had been jammed into the ice maker that nobody bothered to clean out (!).

Regardless, all it took was a little time (to pull apart the ice maker, clean out each part and order those that were unsalvageable at minimal cost) and a little plumbing power (to pull out the fridge and install a new, flexible feed tube).

Voila! Fresh, cold water and near-limitless ice cube action!
The Clothes Dryer.

This one, I must admit, involved little on my part - just writing a check to the guy who came in and cleaned out the 8,000 pounds on lint that had clogged up the dryer's vent pipe.

Duh.
The Jacuzzi Tub.

This one really irked me - our master bathroom has a jacuzzi tub that didn't seem to work. Now, I'm not much of a "jacuzzi guy" but, as has been previously stated, just becuase I probably won't use something doesn't mean it's OK that it doesn't work. Because you never know when the urge may grab you to take a jacuzzi bath (!).

Again: easy solution. The trip switch plug that the jacuzzi's motor is plugged into was faulty (wouldn't reset). A quick trip to the hardware store, five minutes of darkness as I turned off the circuit breaker and voila! A noisy (and, as a result, less-than-relaxing) jacuzzi!

BTW, I can't help but to think of Eddie Murphy in "Trading Places" whenever I think of jacuzzi tubs...
Home Security System.

This is my most recent triumph. We have one but it was deactivated and, even if we decide not to use it, I want to know that it works. First, it took a bunch of research to find documentation and programming instructions. Then I realized that one of our window sensors didn't work, so I had to track down that part. Then it took me ages to figure out why the thing insisted on beeping at random after being turned on - it was because it was looking for it's former connection to a monitoring service.

Here's where it gets interesting: in order to re-program that connection you have to have the "programmer's code," which, of course, nobody knows, meaning that I have to sit down with a six-pack of beer and induce carpal tunnel syndrome by punching in 10,000 possible combinations 'til I get the right one.

Well, wouldn't you know it - I picked a random starting point and managed to hit it in the first 400! So after a few hours of fiddling with programming (and freaking the dog out to no end with all of the beeping, burping and false alarms I incurred) I got the thing all set!

What's the point of all this? Not to toot my own horn but to re-iterate how odd it is that so many simply things were left to languish for so long by the former owners. I just don't get people sometimes...

And then there was light!

2008-06-14T14:15:00.003-04:00

The light fixture in our kitchen has never worked. On top of that, it was this Miami Vice-looking, 80s Italian design that never appealed to us. So we agreed to score a new light fixture, a fantastic Nelson cigar pendant lamp.

When it arrived at my office, I got it home that evening and decided to surprise Jodi by installing it before she got home. That is, until I got out the ladder and realized that being that high up, working on an angled ceiling, was just asking for trouble. Recognizing that I'm a Scott (we have a penchant for being a little reckless), I decided to hold off until I recruit the help of our friend Stefan.

We successfully removed the old light and got the new one mounted. Now, my hope was that it was the old light's socket that was at fault. Unfortunately, the new light didn't work either. This pointed towards a fault in one of the two switches or a wiring problem (ugh).

So I replaced the first switch. Of course, I wanted to change the switch style at the same time and, since this switch is one of four on the panel, I had to rewire ALL of them!

Then the light still didn't work. So we crossed our fingers and replaced the second switch (as well as the one adjacent to it because they've got to be matchy-matchy, don't you know?). And wouldn't you know it? THAT did the trick!

Can you tell by now that I'm damned proud of myself???

Off the Wall

2008-04-13T17:45:00.026-04:00

I just completed this new homasote pin-up board for my home studio office. It's great for throwing all of your ideas and inspirations for a project up on the wall or to look over a project in-progress. It's a given in design schools and cool offices everywhere, but extra cool to have one of your own...woohoo!

In case you are interested, Homasote is a type of wallboard made from recycled paper compressed under high temperature and pressure and held together with glue. You can find it at Home Depot (insulation aisle).

Also, you can easily paint homasote to match your wall but the pin holes start to add up over time making for an ugly surface, so I recommend covering the board in a self-healing fabric (anything beefy enough to recover from pin holes). I used a heavy cotton twill found at most fabric stores. Choose a very neutral, solid color (beige, natural canvas or any grayish version of a solid color as I did here) so that it doesn't compete with all the great work you'll be posting over it.

Just ordered this wall-mount magnetic thingy from The Container Store for the pushpins> I like the bubbly 60's vibe of this, it reminds me of the cool, yet ridiculously expensive, molded plastic organizer, the Utensilo. Next up in the home office : a new desk chair.
I really want this one: The Eames Aluminum Management chair.
Buuuuut since that one is about 2grand, I think the budget is pointing to this fairly similar one, also in leather, I saw on cb2.com (Crate and Barrel's funkier sister store) for A LOT less:

Now, hopefully this serves as motivation to get going on that long list of personal design projects...

You break it, I fix it

2008-03-22T10:56:00.004-04:00

I'm sure this happens to everybody - you have an inspector visit your potential new home and they go over the place with a fine-tooth comb, giving you an overview of the good and the bad before you move ahead with your purchase plans.

And then you move in and find all of the stuff that the inspector missed.

Fortunately for us, all of the things that were missed were minor, but they add up to point towards a very particular trend.

easily 1/4 of the lightbulbs throughout the unit were out
the security cameras outside of our building were non-functional
the refrigerator's icemaker/water dispenser weren't working
the filter to the HVAC had obviously never been cleaned
the built-in coffee machine wasn't working
the clothes dryer wasn't drying clothes
the home's security system wasn't functioning
the hot water heater was turned up to scalding levels
the door to the deck wouldn't open
the jacuzzi bathtub wasn't functioning

The thing about all of these items is that they're all easily fixable. Taken together, we couldn't help but to wonder, "Why would the former owner let all of these things pile up like this?"

And then we recalled meeting him during that same inspection and it clicked: when asked about living here he responded, "Well, you know, the place was built in 2000 so everything's still new. We haven't had to worry about anything." Basically, this guy didn't understand the notion of maintenance! Yeah, the stuff might be new but that doesn't mean you don't clean out the HVAC filter!!!

I may not be the most "handy" guy in the world, but most of these things took nothing more than a little bit of time, patience and research to figure out. On the plus side, every time I fix one of these things it does wonders for my man-ego as I feel like Bob-freaking-Villa every time I get something fixed in our place!

Neighbors Come, Neighbors Go

2008-03-22T10:46:00.004-04:00

One of the perks we've discovered by moving to "ourhaus" from the student-heavy Fenway area of Boston, besides no longer having to horde quarters for laundry, is that we actually have real, live neighbors - people who have lived in their homes for > 9 months and have a vested interest in knowing you.

We got lucky right away and became fast friends with the couple renting the unit below us - we've had them over a bunch of times, visited them and generally had a bunch of good laughs. Fortunately for them (but UNfortunately for us), they've just found themselves a great house in the 'burbs and are moving on.

At the same time, a new couple has appeared in the unit behind us. This is exciting because we finally have owner/occupants sharing the building with us. As it turns out, they're bright, funny and as enthusiastic about their new home as we are. We're excited by the possibilities for home improvement this brings and expect to be reporting on all sorts of new developments over the summer.

Now all we need to do is to see a new owner/occupant arrive in the now-vacant unit below us and we'll be really cooking!

Paper Trail

2008-02-19T22:11:00.046-05:00

I have been in more of an observation than doing mode lately, but that is the ebb to the creative flow I relish and think we never get enough time for it. The concept of being productive, creatively and intellectually, by doing nothing (or simply observing and contemplating) has been lost in our "bottom-line-time-is-money" society and that is pretty sad and very unfortunate for our culture.

And in full-on observation mode, I've been seeing some great examples of one of the most fascinating art forms: simply the manipulation of paper itself.

A few recent paper sculptors I have seen online made me recall seeing Amy Eisenfeld Genser's work at an open studio, I think about 6 years ago. I have never forgotten it and she was delightful to talk to about it, too. She had some amazing layered folding pieces back then and there is something so natural and soothing about these rolled paper barnacles undulating across the canvas.

I wonder if she was inspired by the same kind of coast and landscapes as Angela Adams' rugs (which for her, were inspired by growing up on a small island off the coast of Maine.)

This next artist's work made the e-rounds so I can only guess it was on all of the design blogs. Isn't Jen Stark's work mesmerizing? And from a technical perspective-wow! That is some crazy x-acto/laser/knifing going on. It's like origami on acid. Be sure to check out her paper animations on her site, too. Amazing.

I especially love how her work is mounted on the wall. They remind me of these great wall textures for the home. While they are not these little wonders she has done, they seem to fill that craving for clean yet textural, organic walls. I have to declare that I really hate decorating with wallpaper, it always looks so dated. We only paint our walls, but these are a fine, fine alternative to wallpaper in my book and I can see these potentially on a wall in our bedroom, which I am still working on.

Available at inhabitliving.com

An artist creating e-buzz for sure is Peter Callesen. Notice everything is from one sheet of paper. His work reminds me of intricate pop-up books.

Speaking of pop-up books, who hasn't always loved pop-up books since childhood?! My husband bought me Robert Sabuda's pop-up version of The Night before Christmas last year. It is a really beautiful book and the engineering is pretty amazing since the artist is now contending with movement and opening/closing. I think modern pop-up books (like the Holiday cards form MoMA NY) are equally great paper sculpture. These images are from another of his books, A Winter's Tale.

Speaking of pop-up, let's get back to the home. A long time fave, Bludot, has been engineering pop-up furniture for years. I don't own anything of theirs, but their ideas are pretty intriguing. In this case, they use perforated metal that arrives flat that you bend into place along the perfed edges. Hope it's sturdy.

Happy New Year!

2008-01-20T22:02:00.000-05:00

Hope you all are enjoying that clean-slate-y-ness of January. I absolutely love it. What better way for the home design-obsessed to spend a dreary cold winter weekend but organizing, organizing, organizing? We have a lot of ideas to post, so stay tuned. My friend Ashley alerted me (she knows what I love!) of this great design news for 2008. The US Postal Service announced their 2008 stamps to include this FANTASTIC EAMES SERIES! Can I pre-order????

Life is Good

2007-10-24T10:21:00.000-04:00

What more can you say? As Jodi just pointed out, we just hit our one-year mark and, though we're frazzled with activity (what else is new?), it's been great. This new home is just one big project for us to do together and we're having a great time with it.

Get married, if you ever get the chance - I highly recommend it.

So, a quick techie update: we've got our Apple TV. I have been ripping movies for I-don't-even-remember-how-long now. We're on the tail end of it all and, naturally, I've run our of available hard drive space.

As luck would have it, I just purchased a LaCie Ethernet Big Disk for use at work and it's a very interesting device: 1 terabyte of storage, gigabit Ethernet connectivity (as well as USB 2.0, but Ethernet is still king of the hill for throughput), a web-based admin utility that gives you access to all sorts of stuff. (acct. mgmt., HTTP and FTP-based file access, built-in AFP, etc.).

One very interesting capability is the devices's "MediaServer" facility - it's able to search itself and present any movies, music or photos found as a network shareable volume, accessible to any media programs or devices on your network. For example: turn on the MediaServer function and it'll index any music found on the drive. Now open iTunes on your machine and the drive will appear as a playlist!

So I'm waiting for mine to show up so I can finalize our home storage.

One more acquisition: Airport Extreme Base Station. Gigabit Ethernet switch. 802.11n wireless. Automatic USB drive sharing. These are good things. The bad thing is that it's been kind of twitchy with our DSL connection. Oh, well - I'll figure it out.

The bottom line is that our little hideaway will be very 21st century when it comes to our music, movies and (someday) photo collections!

P.S. - Have you ever noticed that, no matter how well you try to plan and budget a project, it always spirals out of control?! Life is good, yes. Predictable? No.

1st Wedding Anniversary

2007-10-21T22:50:00.000-04:00

Hooray for us!!!
Or more accurately, "Wow, I cannot believe it has been a year since our wedding."
Well, time flies when you're having fun, right?

We have been married one year (two weeks ago, today). And traditionally, first wedding anniversaries are marked by paper-oriented gifts. The modern version says that first anniversaries are celebrated with gifts of...clocks. Well-isn't-that-convenient? Because we have been wanting a certain piece of lovely design history for some time.

On the weekend of our anniversary, as a gift to each other, we went to DWR in Cambridge and ordered the Nelson Ball Clock. There is a wall between our dining and kitchen that begs for this piece of whimsical yet seriously geometric timepiece.

Just over a week later, it arrived and I have to admit that Vitra sticker on the shipping box just gives me chills (design weird-o alert!). Check out Vitra's history, too. It is where many of the design greats were manufactured in Germany.

Don't fear the multi-color. At first we were thinking orange because we have a bit of that in the dining room and table linens, but I am glad we went with the multi-color. It has a way of not matching any of the colors in your home yet instantly pulling everything together because of it. It's such an icon!

Here it is on our wall. Like I said, it's already been a year of marriage for us, so we look at it as a reminder that time really does fly, so live it up in the moment!

Going Dutch with De Stijl

2007-10-14T18:25:00.000-04:00

When you formulate ideas about what you love to live in, you also find that the inspiration was always embedded in your brain: stored away, waiting to resurface as some influence for something as simple as your living room walls. I felt, right away, what I wanted to paint our living room "nook" that sits under the loft level. I definitely wanted the living room to feel cozy. Modern cozy. I love clean spaces, but we also really do "live" in our living room -- watching movies, having friends over for games, eating, drinking wine, etc.

Before blah:
It had started with some paint chips in shades of tomato red and warm charcoal gray and then this mood board, with influences by everything from the Corbusier print on our wall to artists and designers such as Alexander Calder, Piet Mondrian, George Nelson, Armin Hoffman, and Gerrit Rietveld:

While most people think that designers such as Corbusier were anti-color in their work, adhering stringently to white in their buildings, they actually did use color in new ways. White was significant in allowing the geometry of their work to take precedence. However, with the influence from Dutch modern architects participating in the de Stijl ("The Style") movement, color was introduced into architectural space to emphasize planes and iterate the composition. Rather than paint the whole room in a form of decoration, color was applied as a design mechanism that emphasized the architecture. When beauty makes sense, even subliminally, it just feels right to me.

After:
(still in progress: photo wall on red, new furniture and color accents, etc.)

Holy Dyson, Batman!

2007-09-12T00:20:00.000-04:00

"I shouldn't be this excited about a vacuum cleaner."

I suspect that most people who come to possess a Dyson vacuum cleaner say this exact same thing.

Jodi had wanted one of these a few years back when we found ourselves in need of a new vacuum cleaner. I balked at the price tag and so we wound up with an upright Eureka.

Well, that Eureka just bit the bullet, due in no small part to my mistaking it for a Shop-Vac and cleaning up random nuts, bolts and screws with the thing (D'oh!). Anyhow, we used this as an opportunity to revisit the whole Dyson dilemma. Still a bit miffed about the price, I managed to score a brand, new one from eBay for 25% less than the usual price - I can live with that.

As I was unpacking it this afternoon, I couldn't help but to notice that I felt the same way I feel when opening a new toy from Apple - this is a company that takes great pride in all aspects of their product. Designed to the teeth yet still highly functional, it is truly an impressive piece of engineering.

I'm encouraged by the fact that everybody we know who has one raves about them. The only problem is that it's so cool-looking that I'm not so sure I want to use it!

Dining Room Part 2: White, white, or white?

2007-09-02T00:41:00.000-04:00

The first week after we moved in (highly recommend taking a week off from work when you do a major house move) we hired a painting crew (Buckets and Boards in Arlington, MA) to paint the entire "open space" area that adjoins the loft, dining room, living space and kitchen. It was originally a peachy-beige that just made the entire space look drab.

We wanted a warmer white versus a "hot" white (also disguised as blue-white or Tack Room White by Mr. RL). Once you determine that, you can eliminate about half of the "white" paint swatches -- and there are hundreds. For this "warmer" white, I didn't want ivory or yellow-y cream colors. Just something that sat in that comfortable true-white zone that wasn't blindingly bleached white.

After living with some final paint swatch selections in daylight and evening light, I chose Benjamin Moore's Simply White. It's perfect in every light. Shown here with the new credenza in place. Isn't she lovely?

You can get a lot of Ben's colors in their higher-end paints named Aura. According to our paint crew, it goes on a lot better and is a truer, more even color. It really is a great-coverage paint - no marketing bull it seems. You still need two passes which is better all-around anyway.

As with just about everything creative in my life, this room also started with a mood board. This one is not as full and final as some of the others, but it definitely pulls together the feeling I wanted for this room -- it continues to grow organically as I find things I like. The room on the upper left is the exact layout of our dining room. Except we need a table. Fairly integral to the whole dining experience, don't you think?

For the mood boards and more, I have been constantly collecting images of things that really speak to me for years. I store them in my "inspiration" 3-ring binders from Russel and Hazel , a company that carries the most beautiful office supplies. Completely worth it, because when they are exposed -- they become part of your environment.

the technical roadmap for "our haus"

2007-08-31T13:55:00.000-04:00

There were a couple of technical issues to work out when we first moved in ("Yes, honey, it IS important that I make sure the old, unused security cameras outside actually work!") but we now have a functioning ice maker and I've moved on to plotting our computing-centric world.

What I want:

a large, LCD screen mounted on our living room wall

an AppleTV device so we can have instant access to our ENTIRE movie (and music) collection

surround sound speakers in that living room space
a separate set of speakers set up to enable us to wirelessly pump music to them (party, anyone?)

All without having a single wire showing anywhere, of course. My goal? To never have to rummage around for a CD or DVD ever again.

At the same time, we need to get our home network stuff going - it's driving me nuts. We need to get the place wired with Ethernet. We need 802.11n wireless throughout (encrypted, of course, because I'm very jealous of my bandwidth) and a shared hard drive for us both to have always-available access to all of the afore-mentioned movies, music and other stuff.

My first step in this process is one that I've already begun - to rip every movie we own so they're stored digitally. Those of you who have done this know that it's a SLOW process (2-4 hours per movie).

And... let's just say that our collection is larger than we realized. If I'm lucky, I'll have the entire collection ripped around the same time that Verizon finally offers FiOS in our neighborhood!

-Christopher

P.S.: An XBox 360 - I want an XBox 360!

Full-On, Modern Nesting Mode

2007-08-31T13:31:00.000-04:00

I couldn't resist - it's time for me to throw in my two cents...

With a little clean-up here, a bit 'o painting there and a BUNCH of runs to Ikea, the place has already come a long way from when we first moved in in mid-May. But there's a lot more to go and we're both excited to continually chip away at it in the coming months.

While this will come as no surprise to anyone, it's worth noting that J is the stylistic navigator of our little home vessel (the woman's got mood boards on our walls, for goodness' sakes!), while I am (also not surprisingly) engineer of the ship, covering the mechanical/technological end of the spectrum.

Fortunately, for us, I love Jodi's ideas and intentions and she's all gung-ho about techno-toys. A match made in heaven!

Oh boy oh boy oh boy!

2007-08-30T21:09:00.001-04:00

Tomorrow is the day: our Danish teak credenza (circa late 50's early 60's) arrives.

I can't even describe how much I have been longing for a piece like this. It's been a long story of passing things up, losing them, bidding on eBay and not even meeting the crazy reserves and phoning and often visiting local shops that carried spotless mid-century antiques.

The always wonderful Pamela Watts who owns Reside, Inc.
totally hooked us up!

Anyway, this lovely is on its way and I EARNED it!!!!

Brunch for 30. Ambitious?

2007-08-30T20:45:00.000-04:00

Riding on the "high" of the new-found square footage we gained in our move to our new place, a lovely kitchen that I could actually turn around in, and that yes, we had, count 'em, EIGHT dining chairs with plenty of breathing room, we decided to throw a housewarming brunch. For 30.

Well, I've never been accused of a.) under-thinking anything b.) cutting any corners whatsoever 3.) keeping a sane perspective on what a simple event can truly be. It's just that once I get started, well, there's either "do it right all the way" or throw some Doritos in a bowl. I just don't see an in-between and I don't care much for Doritos. I think my husband realized just how nuts-o I am (other than the time I had him help me hand-make all the swizzle sticks for our wedding reception to match the save-the dates) when I made place card-type things to label the cream cheeses we had for the bagels. They matched the invitations. Yup, I designed those too. The point is, when you go to a party with a buffet set-up, you can't tell what half the food is. So, with empathy, I didn't feel like saying "Ginger!" or "Lox!" over and over again.

Part of that was influenced by my MOM who made her own FOUR varieties of cream cheese for this soiree. Isn't she awesome!? OK, I am laughing at myself just as you are right now. I KNOW. I'm nuts. Just do not call me Martha. I have NEVER been to prison. And just so you know, I put lemons and limes in vases for centerpieces. bbpppppppptttttttttttttttttttttttttttt.

The menu went on and on with 3 varieties of egg strata, french toast bake, asparagus wrapped in Phyllo, to name a few. But if you take one thing away from this tale, it is this: using paper plates for a brunch of this size is TOTALLY fine. Put those white gloves and books from the 50's in your Simple Human stainless trash bin. As long as you put in your own special details. By the way, I got these super-cool grassy plates by Isabella de Borchave at Target. And lastly, "do it up" simply because you want to welcome your family and friends into a fun environment that has your "voice" to it.

Oh, and one more thing...

2007-08-30T20:43:00.000-04:00

It occurs to me that Jodi forgot one important point about these chairs: we learned that these were salvaged from the old Polaroid building on Memorial Drive, right in Cambridge.

I can just imagine these things being used in that old art deco-style building, back in the 50s or 60s. I just love the fact that these chairs have a local history!

Dining Room Part 1: Can you Thay Thonet?

2007-08-30T20:30:00.002-04:00

The first pieces we found (while looking for something else) at Reside, Inc. were these Eames-esque (but oh so much more affordable and from the same time period) Thonet dining chairs. Don't get me wrong, I am the biggest Eames-worshipper of all time but these were just lined up so pretty-like in the shop and then...

Oh yes we did. Eight. Because one of the things we longed to do most in our new home was have more than one or two people over for dinner - hell, a dinner party even! Yes! And now it can be a reality (still need that table mentioned in previous post) however, we can have THREE other couples over for dinner. At least.

Latest Addition: Here are the chairs in action!

Lofty Ambitions

2007-08-30T20:09:00.000-04:00

We moved into our new lofty place in May of this year. You can imagine we've been really busy unpacking, starting to paint, buying furniture, etc. But I figured we should start this blog of our progress and ideas soon or next thing you know, a whole year will go by. That's been happening to us a lot lately. Such as the fact that our one year anniversary is already approaching. Where does the time go??

Wish we knew more about the building's history but it's sort of been fun hearing versions of it from everyone from realtors to local yokels. I intend to research more, but consensus seems to fall on the fact that the entire building (that comprises 2 loft units and a third very spacious garden level unit) used to house a printing press company and possibly the owner's antique cars. Regardless, it now houses US and we love it. It has a great combo of open entertaining space via kitchen, dining and living room as well as private spaces with 2 baths and 2 bedrooms. Christopher uses the second bedroom as his office/guitar sanctuary and I use the loft space as my studio.

Enough of the background story, stay tuned for ideas, progress and solutions we have come across in making this space "ours".


Various views of our book shelf: Brownie Hawkeye camera body found at a Cape Cod flea market; C & J aluminum letters were our wedding cake topper; various Kikkerland wind up toys are gifts from my father-in-law; wooden drawing figure from IKEA; seltzer bottle bought from a street vendor in NYC.