Your know those cheesy cards you always get around the holiday season from your third cousin twice removed. You know the boring stock card with a picture of their kid and a some totally generic text to fit the occasion. Admit it, as much as you hate the cards you are a little jealous about just how easy it must have been for them to take a picture of Tommy and Sue to Walmart and have several dozen printed up. Basically Cards has filled the niche market of stock modern cards for any special occasion. Don’t worry, you will still have some creative input, you can choose all the color combinations, and customize the text too. Most cards start at around $2.50 a card.

Available from Basically Cards starting at $2.50

Comments? Post them here.

Bored with the classic wooden plant box that hangs on your railing, and looking for something that meets the modern esthetic of your house a little more. Lucky for us the Germans are there to meet our needs. Steckling is a modern rail hung flower pot designed by Michael Hilgers of rephorm. Available in “ice” or “orange”, this attractive little pot straddles your railing, and allows you to have two or one planting areas. Pricing is $50 plus shipping, which isn’t cheap, but guaranteed you won’t be able to find a similar product anywhere else.

Available from rephorm for $50.

Comments? Post them here.

Via Designspotter.

This one is perfect for the print/design geek in your life. The Helvetica Clock from wrapables features jumbled numbers in Helvetica. Printed on a white coated metal base, and topped with an acrylic dial this clock is built to withstand the ages. Rest assured that Helvetica will not go out of style. It was first developed in 1957 and is just as popular as ever. What other fonts do you know that have a movie being made about them, and have their own myspace page?

Available from wrapables for $29.

Comments? Post them here.

My wife and I have been planning to get a new duvet for our down comforter for a long time now as our old beige one from Ikea is starting to look pretty blah. I am always on the look out for good affordable modern duvets. Today I was over at shelterrific and I came across a post about this West Elm Mod Pod quilt that is now on sale. I have to admit, I have always had a soft spot in my heart for quilts. This one may be a little over the top for my taste. One of those purchases that in 3 years you look at it and think “What was I thinking”. It may not be timeless, but it is good looking and on sale.

Available from West Elm for $79-$109.

Comments? Post them here.

Via Shelterrific.

One of the reasons I started this website was to connect aspiring young modern artists/designers with potential buyers. The truth is nothing does this better than Etsy, if you have time to wade through all the non modern stuff. Today I bring you an up and coming designer from the Philadelphia area. Modern Equation makes some nice simple modern pillows out of one of my favorite materials, felted wool. Priced at $65, its not the best deal out there, but you are getting a product that is completely original, and supporting someone who is pursuing their dreams. Modern Equation also makes some nice simple felt iPod holders for $12.

Available at Etsy for $12-$65.

Comments? Post them here.

We got our bent wood tables from The Company Store today. Over all, I am pretty happy with our purchase. I opted to get the walnut, which unfortunately isn’t a real walnut, but just a darker stain on the birch. We were a little excited when we got them, and ordered 4 of them. I had hoped that even though they were “tables” that we would be able to use them as benches. Our house has seriously been lacking guest seating since we gave our futon couch away last year. They actually feel pretty sturdy, and I think it will work out fine. One of them is a little warped and doesn’t quite sit flat, which is a bit of a bummer. I just have to keep reminding myself it cost less than my dinner last night.

Comments? Post them here.

Read more

Last week I posted on how I moved the breaker panel so that I could tear down the last wall. Well this Monday, I finally had a chance to get to it. This was probably some of the scariest demo I have done on this house. The wall was a load bearing wall, and a fairly complicated one too. It supported the original roof of the house (a shed roof which has more recently been buried under your standard double pitch roof) a ledger that the ceiling beams hang off of in the living room, and the ceiling in the laundry room. I managed to carefully brace every couple of feet as I ripped down the old wall. When I got the whole wall down, all I had to do was slip in the new beam that spans the distance, and remove the temporary bracing. About that beam.
I was nervous before I started about what to use, so I went to the local home depot and asked them. They assured me that you should never mess with a structural wall without consulting a structural engineer first. Not what I wanted to hear. The good news is that they referred me to a local structural engineer that gave free consults over the phone. I called the guy up, and he was super nice. I gave him the specs of the house and all the span lengths etc. He recommended using three 1 3/4″ x 9″ microlam beams (also known as LVL’s) nailed and glued together. Easy enough. It came to about $130 for the three of them. Well worth it to know that our house isn’t going to fall down next time it snows.

During and after pics after the jump.

Comments? Post them here.

Read more

In case you didn’t know, Sept 19th is International Talk like a pirate day. I wouldn’t want anyone to come across an embarrassing situation where they didn’t know how to speak properly, so I thought I would put a quick primer up.

Design e2 is a new(ish) show on PBS that focuses on “The economies of being Environmentally Conscious”. The show has a nice focus on Green Building and how architects can have a huge influence on our environment. I don’t actually own a TV, so I haven’t been able to see an episode yet, but they do have a video podcast with some exclusive content that I have enjoyed watching.
Make sure you head on over to their website to view the trailer.

Their podcast can be found here.

In case you didn’t notice, that really is Brad Pitt doing some of the narrating.

Comments? Post them here.

While I have no actual idea how much this rug costs, I am pretty sure that I can’t afford it. Although the idea is simple enough I am sure it could be carried out fairly affordably. The rug which is called “Memento” is designed by a design studio in Norway by the name of 2 Form. It is made of 100% felted wool and has the images laser cut. It is white on one side, and black on the other side, and is fully reversible. Vacuuming is recommended. Thanks Mark for the tip! More pics after the jump.

Anyone know about pricing, or where to buy it?

Comments? Post them here.

Read more