I love these reclaimed apothecary matchstick bottles. In fact I love them so much I borrowed the idea (actually my gf did) for our bathroom. Our bottle is a little different, but the idea is the same.  The one thing ours doesn't have is the etched glass for striking the matches. I know you can buy glass etching stuff at craft stores, but I wondered if anyone has tried it, and how well it's worked?

For the non crafty, get your reclaimed apothecary matchstick bottle on Etsy for $20

Generally speaking I have a hard time getting excited about something like a soap dispenser, but I'm going to make an exception in this case. The Birillo liquid soap dispenser from Alessi is quite the looker. Available in PMMA, white or mirror polished stainless steel.

Birillo liquid soap dispenser $43

Psst.  Hey you. Can I tell you a secret? These towels are AMAZING, and I'm not just talking about the way they look.

At first glance I thought it was a nice scandinavian throw, but a quick read reveals it's actually a traditional Turkish Peshtemal, which is a bath towel. I've actually had a chance to use one of these before, and I can attest that the first time was life changing. Did I mention what a classy alternative these are to a traditional bath towel?

Turkish Peshtemal $26 from Bathstyle

Remember when simple things like spray bottles were well designed and made to last forever? Yeah, me either, but I wish I did. Those must have been the good old days.

Vintage Spray Bottle $29 from Etsy

Up until yesterday if you would have asked me where to get good mid century modern tile, I would have said Heath Ceramics was the only place. But that was yesterday. Now I've got my eye on Clayhaus. They may be the new kid on the block, but they have a very strong line up of modern tiles. The influence of early modernists is apparent in everything from their Bauhaus inspired name down to their fantastic color palette. Icing on the cake for me is the fact that it is all done by a small husband wife team. I love supporting the little guys.

Clayhaus

I fully admit that I probably keep my toothbrushes way longer than I should. These bamboo handled toothbrushes from Anthropology have the month on them to help remind you when it's time to switch. Besides being a pretty great and practical idea, they look amazing. I'll take a two years supply please.

A years supply of toothbrushes $12

Hey, everybody's gotta go sometime.  If you're fond of the ol' "light a match" trick, perhaps you'll appreciate this toilet paper dispenser from NYC-based goodjoy design.  Made from glazed stoneware, it features an inset matchbox holder and can be wall mounted or set into drywall.  Available in white or black.

Matchbox TP Dispenser by goodjoy design: $59

Back when I was regularly obsessing over Japanese Ofuro bathtubs I did a lot of reading on hinoki, a type of cypress that is used in traditional Japanese woodworking. Ultimately I decided that making a tub out of hinoki wasn't affordable or practical for me.  A tissue box on the other hand, is an entirely different issue. This hinoki tissue box is simple, beautiful, and it turns out very practical. Hinoki naturally has a wonderful smell (think cedar) and natural antibacterial properties. Just the thing for the next time you have the sniffles.

Hinoki Tissue Box $35

Another great modern house project in Salt Lake City has just wrapped up. The designer and builder was Geoff Tice, so you might notice a few similarities with the project he completed last year. The house is located at 360 East Herbert Ave, and is joining a few other modern homes as neighbors.

The original house was a 1922 brick bungalow, with two bedrooms and one bath packed into 851 square feet and a shelf basement. The new house is 3,049 square feet, with three bedrooms, two baths, a loft/study area, and a full-height basement. The second story was built on the rear half of the house, so the original bungalow still maintains its curb appeal and neighborhood feel. The photos after the jump show how much work was actually done to the house.

The house has already been handed over to the new owners, who have been busy settling in.

As always, Geoff is more than happy to share information and answer questions here, so post any questions you might have. If you want to contact him personally, you can send him an email at geofftice@gmail.com.

Earlier this month I posted about the clever Bote toy boat made of cork and white plastic. Today I have an even more simple idea that could make a great DIY project. Dutch design team Floris Hovers has this simple concept to turn any shampoo bottle into a bath time boat. I'm sure with a little handiwork, a sewing machine, and some rubber bands, you could whip up the same thing.

If you are fluent in Dutch, read about the Flessenboot here.

Otherwise, just make one and send us a picture.

This little Orla Kiely-esque number caught my eye the other day; I love the mod leaf pattern and colorway especially! All my hand soap comes in pump form, so this ceramic dish won't find a place in my home, unfortunately. But if any of you are looking for a new soap dish, check it out!

"Leaf Your Soap Here" Dish from ModCloth: $13

This is pasted all over the internet today, but in case you haven't seen it elsewhere, it's worth checking out. This nifty little device turns a bar of soap into nice flake size proportions. Simple, effective, attractive. Someone hurry up and put it into production please.

Soap Flakes by Nathalie Stampfli

And there goes my productivity for the day.
Product Wars is a website developed by the people behind Designer Pages. The concept is simple and genius. Take popular products like the Barcelona chair or the Stark 1 toilet and put them in a voting battle head to head with the competition. You get to pick your favorite, and see how you compare to the rest of the design snobs enthusiasts out there.

Product Wars

Leave it to those brilliant folks at Normann Copenhagen to make something like a toilet brush aesthetically appealing. I always just get those crap 99¢ ones from IKEA (pun not really intended), but the Ballo brush is way cooler. Plus, did I mention that it wobbles? The rounded bottom is weighted so that it never falls over, but 'dances' in place ('ballo' means 'dance' in Italian). You know, in case you wanted to play with a toilet brush..? Who knows?

Ballo Toilet Brush by Normann Copenhagen available from Scandinavian Design Center: $56

If you are in Salt Lake and you are looking for a screaming deal on a contemporary concrete sink, jump for joy. I just spotted these "prototypes" on KSL for $25 each. According to the ad, they may have some slight blemishes, but for $25 I think that could be overlooked.

$25 Concrete sinks on KSL

I remember when shopping for wall tile I was looking for something other than the standard dimension tiles. While it sounds simple enough, it proved to be difficult to find, especially in the sub $10 sq/ft market. That's why I was excited to hear about the Intensity line by Atlas Concorde. It comes in a 12" x 36" wall tile, and it can be had for around $6 sq/ft. It's available in a variety of colors and textures, some of which are nice and some a little over the top.

Atlas Concorde Intensity

US Distribution by Daltile

It's been a couple weeks since I first posted about 4055 Jupiter drive a wonderful mid century modern home in the Olympus Cove area of Salt Lake City, and not surprisingly it is already under contract (with 5 back up offers!). Last week I had a chance to go back through the house and snap some photo's of some of the details that I love about the house, and meet the future owners who are just as awesome as the house is. I can't wait to see the place once they get all their stuff moved in. In the meantime, here are some details from the remodel;

Here is the simple and affordable slider that Geoff made. It consists of a slab of acrylic that he sourced from a local sign shop and some Stanley sliding track that he was able to pick up from Lowes. The acrylic was sanded down to have a nice frosted look.

More photos after the jump.

Here's a picture that shows a better juxtaposition of the tub and the shower. I was pretty impressed with the tub, it was short but fairly deep and had the overflow at the very top so you could really put a lot of water in it. Best of all I think Geoff just got it from homedepot.

Love this light in the hallway too. Geoff any details on this one?

Here is a detail shot of the fireplace. While the gas shutoff is a little unwieldy I kind of like it. I still think the idea of a inexpensive $175 burner buried under $7 of sand is awesome. I believe Geoff mentioned that it needs to be about 1/2" below the top of the sand for best results.

Here is a detail of the cabinetry in the kitchen. It was all custom made by a friend of Geoffs. Drawers are all soft close. Handles from Ikea.

Of course I absolutely love the teak rainscreen. For this Geoff bought some teak decking and ripped it down to the skinner pieces that you can see here. All the screw holes had to be pre-drilled and countersunk. From there they were just screwed onto some vertical boards that hold them slightly off the surface of the house. It's pretty much the exact same detail we did on our old house, just a different material.

A HUGE thanks goes out to Geoff for being so generous with his knowledge. It's refreshing to talk to someone who is so open about everything he's doing and willing to share with the rest of us. For those that love the work Geoff is doing, don't worry there is more on the way. We will be featuring his next project here on GRM as it is remodeled.   

For blowing your nose in understated style. Birch with a white top, made in Japan.

Tissue Box available from OK Store: $60

4055 Jupiter Drive is in Olympus Cove just a couple blocks from my house, in fact I pass it every day on my way to work. A month or two ago I noticed this wonderful teak rainscreen going up, and just last week I found out the house is now for sale. It turns out one of my friends Geoff Tice has been remodeling this wonderful little 1955 mid-century home, and he has done a great job!

  

I had a chance to walk through it a couple days before Christmas and I was seriously impressed. Nothing is over the top, but the quality of the work and the attention to detail are bang on. The kitchen has custom cabinetry with Blum hardware, Hanstone countertops, nice Bosch refrigerator and Wolf (I think) Thermador Pro stove.

Both bathrooms are equally decked out with dual flush toilets etc. The thing that really got me the most excited was the $325,000 price. That not much more than what we paid for our house, and 4055 Jupiter Drive is completely done. Geoff did an great job of pulling off a truly affordable modern restoration on a mid century home in a great neighborhood. Did I mention you could be my neighbor if you bought this house?

Check out 4055 Jupiter Drive on Utah Realestate or see a virtual tour on Obeo.

More pics after the jump.

I love it when companies take everyday objects and make them interesting and exciting again, and that's exactly what Alice Supply Co has in mind. Named after the Brady Bunch's witty housekeeper, Alice Supply Co has been adding an exciting array of colors to everyday objects, and keeping them affordable. With everything from sponges to toolboxes, prices are the same as you would pay for boring browns and blues, but the Alice way is so much better.

Available from Alice Supply Co