My wife and I will be in Phoenix this weekend. We should be rolling into town Friday sometime, and not leaving until Monday. We plan on trying to cross the border down into rocky point to get some good mexican food and walk on the beach. Besides that what are some other must do/see things in Phoenix for a modern lover.
Let us know in the forums.

Here is a little eye candy for you to watch. It’s a video exploration of a Soho loft designed by Azin Valy & Suzan Wines of I-Beam Design in New York City. My guess is that the actual project probably has nothing at all to do with affordable, but hey, it doesn’t cost anything to look.

Thanks Glenn for the heads up.

Comments? Post them here in our forums.

I know that the holiday season is wrapping up, but I couldn’t help but share this great wreath with you. It’s stylish enough that you don’t even need the holidays as an excuse to hang it up. Available from San Francisco based Kenneth Wingard, this powder coated steel wreath would look good on any dark colored accent wall. I especially like it with the dark chocolate wall pictured. Overall diameter is 16″, price is $60.

Available from Kenneth Wingard for $60.

Comments? Post them here in our forums.

What do you do when you fall in love with a wallpaper for your accent wall, and then find out it will cost over $800? DIY of course. That’s exactly what happened over at Modern Self, and the results are better than you can imagine. Instead of $800 worth of wallpaper, the couple spent around $80 worth of paint and supplies, and a couple of long nights taping everything off and painting. The results look great though. Good job guys.

For more details, head over to Modernself.com

Comments? Post them here in our forums.

While it may be too late to buy any great wrapping papers online for this Christmas, it still isn’t too late to start buying thank you cards. Either way Luxe Paperie is the place to go. They have a large assortment of very nice cards, stationary and wrapping paper. I particularly liked this card box set from Snow & Graham. It includes twelve cherry red and brown offset printed 3.5” x 5” folded cards packaged with coordinating soft white envelopes in a beautiful, coordinating signature snow & graham box.

Available from Luxe Paperie for $17.

Comments? Post them here on our forums.

Here is a simple and affordable 4 piece dinner set that anyone can love. The style rests somewhere between classic asian and clean modern and it is available only in white. For a scant $29 you get a dinner plate, salad plate, soup bowl and a mug. Just about everything you need for a dinner for one.

Available from Mikasa and Company for $29.

Comments? Post them here in our forums.

Pablo Pardo is a Venezualan-born industrial designer, who now lives in California. He has a wide array of products that he has designed, but my favorites are his work with lighting. The Bella Lumina teardrop table lamp is a great example of his work. The beautiful hand finished aluminum base supports the glass shade. This lamp has a great visual balance that lights up a room even when it’s not turned on. Available in two sizes 12″ high and 18″ high from $80-$124.

Available from Uncommon Goods from $80-$124.

Comments? Post them here in our forums.

Hopefully no one is getting sick of all the little stuffed animal things I have been blogging about lately. You can imagine that is the general frame of mind around our house these days.

This brave little lion comes from Anthropologie (know by my friend as Anthrax for their normally insane prices) and sits 13″ high and 15″ wide. The simple design is a classic and sure to become a favorite for your little guy. The price surprisingly is great, only $9 (way down from the normal $38).

Available from Anthrax Anthroplogie for $9.

Comments? Post them here in our forums.

After some discussion on our forums here, we decided to go ahead and buy a real Christmas tree this year. Just down the road from us there was a Christmas tree farm called Robinsons Christmas trees, so we decided to check it out. They had a whole bunch of different kinds and sizes, including my favorite, the Alpine fir. Cost was $45, which is kind of expensive, but a least we were supporting the little guy. I love the sparse Charlie Brown tree look of it. I was a little anal when it came to the lights and took the time to wrap every branch (well almost every one). It took a long time, but it was worth it. Besides that, our decorations are pretty plain, a couple glass globes, and some stainless steel stars that say “peace”, “joy”, “love” etc.

Thanks everyone for the advice!

Original forum post here.

I’m not sure what it is, but overstock.com has had a lot of nice mid-century modern furniture for great prices. This weeks find is this simple retro kiwi sofa. Nice simple lines, and great texture at a price that is hard to beat, only $299. They even have a matching chair for $179 that would make a great set. One of the things that makes furniture from overstock such a great deal is the $2.95 shipping. It’s not even too late to get it before Christmas, if you act fast.

Available from Overstock.com for $299.

Comments? Post them here in our forums.

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