One thing is for sure. There is no such thing as too many good looking bottle openers. So here is another one to add to your "want" list. Designed by Bec Brittain and available through Sight Unseen, the Penta Hex bottle opener is everything a good bottle opener should be; gorgeous and functional. Get your before it's too late.
Some Kickstarted campaigns are just destined for success from day one. Okum Made's Everyday Objects is one of them. With 24 days to go it's only a few thousand dollars short of it's modest 17K goal. Along with the backers there has been no shortage of positive press in the blogosphere (ugh hate that word) with sites like MoCoLoco, BLTD and Cool Hunting praising Okum. Well let me just go ahead and throw my hat in the ring too.
Okum and his products show a understanding of the material they are designed in. They are simple forms (hooks, salt and pepper shakers, trivets, bowls), made of simple materials (walnut, hard maple, aluminum) but they manage to make the whole greater than the sum of the parts. Simple, beautiful, useful. What more could you ask for.
The best part is that you can be part of helping this designer become a success, which enables him to make more beautiful things. Do your part. Chip in. Support good design. I did.
I already have lot's of wooden cutting boards at my house, so is it weird that I want wooden plates as well? I love the contrast of the natural woods with the neon edges. I'd love to know what they use for the color. Paint? Epoxy? Anyway sign me up.
Touch of Modern : David Rasmussen
As you know I like to feature up and coming companies that are making quality beautiful products. RX Made manages to pull that off with ease, and adds to the list of accomplishments by locally sourcing the majority of their material, and even heavily utilizing reclaimed good in their products.
Born out of a Chicago based non profit called Rebuild Exchange, RX Made pairs local job program trainees with the design expertise of Chicago based Strand Design. The end product is an attractive group of products ranging from bottle openers to benches.
It's clear that RX Made is doing good things and making a difference, and you can make a difference too by supporting them. They are launching their products on Kickstarter as we speak. You can help them out for as little as $1or for $25 you can get the handsome bottle opener above. Check out some of their other goods below, then head over to Kickstarter to watch their video and pitch in.
I can honestly say that all the black friday and cyber monday deals have come and gone, and I really didn't see much that I was tempted to buy. Today however is a different story. Gilt has all sorts of coffee gear on sale, including one of my favorites, the Chemex. I have one that has the wooden section in the middle, which I love. Unfortunately the wood is starting to look a little hammered. I was just mentioning the other day that it might be nice to have one with a glass handle like this one. 8 and 10 cup sizes still available.
Glass Handle Coffeemaker + 100 prefolded Chemex Filter Squares:
Sizing:
Brand: Chemex
Material: Glass
I love pretty much everything the Danish design group Menu makes, and this teapot with cups on sale at Touch of Modern is no exception. This is a great example of classic Danish styling topped off with some simple ingenuity. The teapot has a "tea egg" that is suspended by a silicone string and can easily be lowered and raised to get the perfect cup of tea.
— Comes with Simple Tea Infuser System
— Set Includes Teapot and Two Cups
— Modern Silhouette
— Holds 1.5 Liters
$64 Menu Teapot and cup set
I've been on the lookout for a good wine rack for a while now, and while this Wine Hive from Touch of Modern may be a touch on the contemporary side for me, I still think it's brilliant. In fact if fall firmly into the "why didn't I think of that?" category in my mind. Eco friendly, flat packable, configurable, expandable, attractive and not too expensive.
— Hold 6 bottles of wine
— Packs flat for efficient shipping
— Eco-friendly
— Bottom bumpers included
$90 Wine Hive 2 pack
$180 Wine Hive 4 pack
It's been a while since I have been really really tempted to splurge on a sale from one of the sample sites. Today Fab has the Illy Y1.1 iperEspresso machine on sale. For those of you that like a good espresso or expresso based drink, but are not up to the challenge of learning to make your own, this is perfect. These pod based instant espresso machines have come a long way recently and generally get excellent reviews. Plus this one is absolutely gorgeous. GORGEOUS.
As an asides, for my loyal readers, there is a new section on the site that features my daily sale pick. Check the "On Sale!" button at the top of the page. More info coming soon…
Machine makes espresso and cappuccino with illy iperEspresso capsules. Additional features: programable coffee volume, auto-stop, power saver mode, auto decalcification. Set also includes the Capresso Frother. Y 1.1 machine measures L 9.45" W 9.45" H 10.83". Frother capacity is 8oz for frothing and 12oz for heating without frothing.
Knife sets are never really inexpensive, especially for a good knife. I don't know about the quality of these Furtif knives, but they are some of the best looking ones I've seen for a while.
— Chef Knife: Blade is 19 cm Long
— Santoku Knife: Blade is 19 cm Long
— Kitchen Knife: Blade is 21 cm Long
— Fileting Knife: Blade is 17 cm Long
— Paring Knife: Blade is 9 cm Long
— All knives have a non-stick coating & black handle
Heath Ceramics: An impressive view from within from Heath Ceramics on Vimeo.
I've always loved Heath. This is a great little video that shows a bit of the production as well as the values of the company.
There are a few constants in my life lately, namely I'm in love with brass, and I'm a sucker for bottle openers. Obviously I fell in love with this one.
Hand carved from wax, these brass bottle openers are left unfinished to allow a unique patina to develop over the facets and textures in each handle. The wide opening allows the head to land firmly on the top of any bottle.
I own a few brass bottle openers (told you I'm a sucker) and one of my favorite things about them is the weight. I have a feeling this one wouldn't disappoint either.
Bottle Opener from Fort Standard $73
A few weeks ago I went to the Park City Arts Festival. For some reason arts festivals always sound exciting and interesting but inevitably end up having the exact same things I saw the year before. Really, how many different booths do we need for wooden cutting boards made out of different types of wood?
The one shinning star that did stand out was Robert Siegel's ceramics. Sure they weren't totally original, we've seen similar designs from Pigeon Toe ceramics and others, but amongst all the other booths it was a beautiful thing to see. Make sure you check out his Kauai collection shown above as well as his standard line.
All of his prices are very reasonable for a hand made product.
Here is a Kickstarter project that was destined for success from day one. First off it's designed by one of my favorite designers Eric Pfeiffer. Second, it holds wine, which everyone loves. Third, it looks great. The fantastic photos that accompany it don't hurt at all either. The STACT modular wine rack is made of aluminum and your choice of wood, and is a modular system that can grow and move with you. It puts your bottles on display, and equally important, close at hand.
The Kickstarter project still has 28 days to go and has already doubled the funding it needs to get off the ground. Mark my words folks, this is your chance to get it for a great deal. After this I bet it will still be produced but prices will go up.
STACT modular wine rack, starting at $95.
It was a whirlwind of a week last week, and I'm just now getting a chance to catch my breath. I'm usually pretty horrible about keeping people updated with all the personal projects I've got going on, so consider this an attempt to get better.
The first update is the Saarinen tulip base I posted about a while ago. Turns out it's really a Burke base, which is fine by me. I tried one time to repaint it and it turned out horribly and I had to start all over again. After the second time sanding it all down I needed up going to an automotive paint supply store and getting some white one stage automotive paint. It was really reasonably priced ($5 a can I think) and sprayed way better than the can of enamel I got at Ace. I ended up sanding the old paint down and moving from 150 grit sandpaper to 200, 400, and finally 600 grit to get it smooth. I then made a "paint booth" in my garage so the wind wouldn't screw things up and slowly started putting coats on. Near the end I did a little wet sanding with 600 grit paper to make sure it stayed nice and smooth. There is a bit of orange peel but it's pretty good looking.
For the top, we were originally talking about cutting down the old laminate top to the 32" size we wanted. After a lot of going back and forth we decided to spring for a new marble top. We called around to a bunch of local places, and most wanted close to $500 for a top. Luckily we found a remnant at European Marble and Granite for $370 (Thanks Tally!). It's a really beautiful piece and they did a really nice job getting the back bevel just right. I was planning on attaching it with silicone like they do with countertops, but after setting it on top we decided it's not going anywhere. If I wasn't in a rental and planning on moving sooner than latter I probably would have attached it.
All in all I think it turned out really great. I apologize for only having a crappy instagram picture of it, but I figured it was better than nothing.
Welcome back from Memorial Day! Over the weekend between trips to the pool, and smoking ribs I stumbled across these Fika Cups and instantly fell in love with them. To say that their simple folksy/scandinavian art reminds me of Alexander Girard is an understatement. I had to check the description several times to make sure I wasn't missing something. I suppose we can just call them Girard inspired. Speaking of inspired, they also come in an equally charming decorated gift box.
It's been a while since I've looked through the home section on Gilt. This morning I was browsing through it when I came across this Aluminum Yukihira Pot. I had never heard of a Yukihira pot before, but apparently it's a pretty common item in any Japanese kitchen. I especially love the hammered detail of the aluminum pot and the turned wooden handle. Those nice little details and the $37 price tag make this a great little pot.
Continuing with my obsession for unique bottle openers, I present to you the Whale Bottle Opener. It is made of cast iron so I'm sure it will have a nice heft to it, and it's perfectly sized to fit in the palm of your hand. The $10 price is pretty perfect too.
