Since it’s inception, I have always wanted to be able to give something back to the design community that supports Grassrootsmodern. We figured what better way to do that, than to give away a wad of cash. Of course we are the “affordable modern blog”, which mean we are a bunch of tightwads, so we are only giving away $125, but it’s a start right?

So here is the deal. We want to see your affordable modern kitchens. We aren’t going to get too caught up in what “affordable” means, but the Bulthaup, Henrybuilt, Poliform crowd probably don’t count. Entering is super easy, and you can win $100 for your hard work. You must enter by Nov 7th, and the winner will be decided by Grassrootsmodern readers.

Check out the Affordable Modern Kitchen contest page to enter and win!

I have been vowing for over a year now to get up a decent links section to all the other wonderful blogs that are out there. I’m finally determined to get it done, so if you have a blog that our readers would be interested in, contact me and let me know and I’ll add it to my links. I’m especially interested in starting a SLC blog list, so even if you have sent me a link in the past, do me a favor and resend it.

Thanks!

It’s been just over two years since I updated the look of the website here at Grasrootsmodern, and in those two years we have seen an incredible amount of growth thanks to you. So much grown in fact that we were starting to look like a fat man in a little jacket here. Our sidebars suffered the most with a lot of navigation and other content being pushed down way to far by advertisements. So we loosened our belt and added an extra column just for our sponsors, after all they make it possible to pay some of the hosting bills. Being the cheapskate that I am, I did all the coding myself, instead of paying someone so if you see something funny please let me know. Also if there are any improvements/features that you would like to see, speak up! Hopefully you all like the new look.

I’ve always been jealous of people who get to go to great modern furniture fairs like ICFF. Unfortunately for me, I never have the time or the funds to make it to those shows, so I’ll have to settle for the next best thing. This morning I’m heading out for a quick overnighter down in Las Vegas for the summer Las Vegas Market. With over 1,500 exhibiting companies and 5 million square feet of space, I figure I’m sure to run across something good. I will hopefully be doing some moblogging with my iPhone now that wordpress for iPhone is out. Stay tuned..

It looks like Design*Sponge isn’t the only one who has a new look. The fine ladies over at Better Living Through Design gave their site a major overhaul recently. I love the simplicity of the new site, the navigation is intuitive and the clean layout really lets the products speak for themselves. The new design also features some additional sections, such as a Remodel section, a Read section, and a Travel section. If you haven’t checked them out recently, make sure you do.

I’m sure that most of you already know that Design Sponge finally left blogspot and can now be found at designspongeonline.com. If you haven’t already checked it out, make sure you do. Grace not only has a great eye for design, but she is also doing some great things to give back to the community that made her a success. Her new site will feature a job board, and scholarships for starving artists. For the ladies, Grace has been sponsoring Biz Lady Meetups around the country, one may be coming to your town soon.

I read some time ago that Muji, one of my favorite stores, officially launched a US website. I was thrilled at the idea, because it meant that all of us design lovers stateside could now order products without having to pay shipping from the UK. At least that’s what I thought it meant. I checked out the site recently and it doesn’t look like anything is for sale. In fact it doesn’t look like much at all. I know that they are opening a store in NYC this fall, but what about an online store? Anybody have any insight into this one?

Voting has been open at Remodelingmyspace.com for a while now. If you are looking to kill some time, head on over and check out all the contest entrants. There is a good collection of bloggers doing everything from small remodels to whole house renovations. After you look through them and find your favorite, make sure you vote for your favorite blog. The winner of the contest gets $5,000, which is almost enough to start another affordable modern remodel!
Vote for Grassrootsmodern here.

For some time I have been double posting everything to our forums, thinking replies would be easier to search there. Some people still are commenting below the posts here.

If you haven’t heard of curbly yet, you are seriously missing out, but don’t feel bad, I just found out a couple of days ago. Curbly is a community of people who, well love where they live, and want to help other people out. The website has a great modern design, and an even better community of people willing to help each other out. While not strictly modern, a lot of the content is. There are great DIY projects, a question and answer section, and a place for everyone to have their own blog, and homepage with photos and such. It’s pretty much what I wish I had the talent to transform GRM into.

Right now they are having a contest, where you can win $200 at IKEA just for signing up and posting a picture of your happy place and why you like it. So make sure you get over there an give it a go.

Make sure you check out my homepage over there and say hi.

Comments? Post them here in the forums,

or comment over at curbly.