It's no secret that we are big fans of Avalisa here at GRM. It's been a while since I have checked in on her and I was delighted to see that she has some new prints out. I especially like the bus stop print which has a bit of a retro kickback that somehow reminds me of my childhood. While you can buy direct, experience has taught me that you will probably get better service going through an online retailer like 2modern.
There sure seem to be a lot of sales going on right now [can't imagine why...] and I'm definitely not complaining about all the hot deals! Here's one from Velocity Art and Design, where everything [with an asterisk] is 15% off and if you spend more than 50 Bones, you get free shipping. Yippee! I've had my eye on the bullet planter for a while, which I believe is on sale for $85. I'm also pretty tempted to get this pet dish, which I've been lusting after forever! Does anything catch your eye?
15% everything at Velocity Art and Design + Free Shipping on orders over $50!
Just in case any Salt Lake City locals had forgotten, there is a warehouse sale going on over at Modern Materials and Design. If you haven't already had a chance to check it out, make sure you get over there. Sheri tells me that they are still putting out new stuff, so if it's been a while since you've been there, it might be worth checking out again.
A whimsical take on a modern aesthetic, Three Sisters Ink features the collaborative work of, well, three sisters. Based out of Boston, this trio creates fun, graphic prints for your home (or office). Their designs are printed on 11"x 17", 100% cotton, Moab archival paper "which yields exceptional depth of color and a velvety fine art texture." Having printed on this paper myself, I can attest to this fact! What's more, these prints dance to the tune of $15. So, if you've been looking for a little somethin' somethin' to add to your walls, check out Three Sisters Ink - they may just have what you're looking for.
I keep hearing that our current economic recession is going to spawn a new decade of affordable design. While the jury is still out, one can always hope. Luckily with projects like the i-House it looks like there just might an air of change in the wind. The i-House is a prototype to be manufactured by Clayton Homes, the largest builder of manufactured housing in the U.S. Sure if you look to close you can tell it's just a single wide house with a butterfly roof stuck on top, but for $100,000 what do you expect? The interior also sports some nice Ikea cabinetry and what looks like a fairly open floor plan. With a smorgasbord of eco options available it looks like a pretty good deal. Let's just hope that the projected pricing doesn't get to inflated before it actually makes it to market.
Check out a virtual tour here.
Via our friends at Jetson Green
I ran across Jim Ward Morris' work the other day - a pleasant mix of mid-century and post modern design elements, or as he describes it: "imagery inspired by advertising from the 1950's & 1960's...certainly Joan Holloway and the Sterling Cooper Advertising Agency from the TV show Mad Men would absolutely love this work." Whether the big boys of Madison Avenue would love it or not we'll never really know, but I am certainly enchanted with the sizzling colors and retro graphics in these pieces. To see more of his work, check out his website www.jimwardmorris.com.
Interested in owning your very own Jim Ward Morris print? Stop by his shop, where prints are available for $25.
I stumbled across Dylan Strzynski's work the other day and was struck by the bleakness and beauty that somehow coexist in these contemporary landscape paintings. Combining elements of painting, drawing, and printmaking, Strzynski is able to achieve his goal of capturing the strength and "quality of haunted-ness" of the land. In his artist statement, he writes:
"An author like J.G. Ballard can describe blasted out landscapes of broken concrete for page after page until the setting becomes a metaphor for the psychological condition of the characters within the story. I seek to do this with my paintings. [...] I have found a way to flatten out and schematize what I see while making the image to appear, superficially, more like an optical illusion than the blueprint that it really is.
Human Progress is overrated."
I would definitely recommend a glance through his portfolio and if you're interested in purchasing a piece, you can contact him through his website. He also offers select originals for sale here.
Own an original work of art by Dylan Strzynski from $100 - $850.
It's been another great week over at Utahmodern.org with some wonderful contributions from our members. Laine of Interior Renovations is on a roll after making a kids desk last week. This week he made a full sized desk that has a nice contrast of stainless steel and wood. Make sure you drop by and let him know what you think of it. He's always looking for feedback. Jory shared some more of his great eye for art and talks about what Wassily Kandinsky and Chalupa's have in common. I also posted a video of a remodel in a downtown loft that looks like something more out of So Cal than Utah. Last but definitely not least Preston signed up for his free blog and shared some ideas about sustainable design.
I'm a sucker for pillows - especially colorful ones. A bold graphic doesn't hurt either. So when I saw these pillows from JOOM, I just about lost all bladder control. [TMI, right? Sorry.] These candy colored pillows are designed and made by Joom Klangsin, an artist/designer from Bangkok who currently lives and works in San Francisco. Using a variety of materials (silk, linen, cotton), Joom constructs these gorgeous accessories by hand and sells them on Etsy along with her art prints, cards, and bags. Lucky for you, she is having a sale from now until January 17th. So if you're looking for a splash of color, one of the these cheerful pillows may be just what the decor-doctor ordered.
There has been a big influx of attractive modern baby furniture and accessories over the last couple of years making it much easier for picky parents like us to find things for our kids. I just found this new site the other day that has some fairly decent stuff. It's called icribbedding.com and they have their own line of bedding with matching pillows, blankets, swaddles, towels and even wall prints. While their prices for a crib set are about the same as dwell baby, you can just buy sheets individually for $35 which is a nice option.
I absolutely love Etsy. It seems to have an almost never ending supply of great letterpress prints. My newest favorite of the bunch are these from ModernPOP. They have a great selection with everything from calendars and cards to prints to hang on your walls. The style of the whole collection is as the name would imply a combination of modern and pop art. All the illustrations are printed on 140 lb weight cold pressed watercolor paper and printed with archival pigment ink.
Yowza! Check out this sleek little toaster (not to be confused with The Brave Little Toaster) from Bodum exclusively for Crate & Barrel.
Award-winning, retro-modern design in perforated brushed chrome, available exclusively at Crate and Barrel. Two-slice toaster features 900 watts of power, variable browning and temperature settings, defrost and cancel buttons, built-in warming rack and removable crumb tray. Footed base stores cord neatly.
That's all good and well, but with a $69.95 price tag I really want to know if you can fit a bagel in there? If not, I just might have to pass on this sexy little chrome number.
How much would you be willing to spend on a toaster? Do you care if there is adequate space for a bagel? Or is that just me?
In case you haven't heard the news, we found out over the holidays that we will be having a little girl this spring. Something tells me that our home is quickly going to be invaded by all sorts of wonderful pink things. Lucky for me, boon is prepared for our little girl with their new Pink Bug Pod and Flow Water Deflector. We blogged about the frog pod almost three years ago, and it was one of the first toys we had for our son. Boon is a favorite around our house for their ability to make affordable and good looking toys and baby accessories. 
Speaking of toys, it looks like Boon has a whole bunch of fun new bath toys coming to market soon. The collection includes several squirt and scrub toys as well as some floating toys and a net to catch them. Parents will be happy to know that all the toys are BpA-free, PVC-free and Phthalate-free. Head over to their Facebook page for more pictures of their new line of toys. I haven't heard pricing on the bath toys yet, but historically their prices are quite reasonable.
Pink Bug Pod is available exclusively at Babies R Us for $24.
Looking for a little modern twist to your stationery? Check out Modern Printed Matter, a paper goods shop featuring the designs of owner/artist Anna Cote. While many of her designs are inspired by nature, I am particularly fond of the classic furniture series, including this pregnancy journal featuring an Eames rocker. So if you're looking for fun, modern stationery, stop by the Modern Printed Matter Etsy shop or click here for a list of retail locations that carry MPM designs.
Hip notebooks, notecards, calendars and prints from Modern Printed Matter from $3.50 - $20.00.
With the holidays this last week we had some great posts on some of the Utahmodern.org blogs. Liam did some rearranging in his studio apartment. A closer inspection of his picture revealed that we have yet another thing in common, a love of old cameras. Jory also started up a new blog this week called Dot Gain and started things off with some great post's including one about Charlie Harper. Stay tuned for lots of more great things from Jory. To round things out Laine is up to more of his mod fab tricks and built a gorgeous desk and chair set for his son for Christmas. Head on over to his blog and give him some feedback about what you think about it. Who knows if there is enough interest in his stuff we may have to open a GRM store ;).
I love children's furniture. It's been refreshing to see that in the last couple of years there has actually been some really well designed furniture available for kids out there. The good thing about kids furniture is that often times the diminutive size translates into more affordable prices. That is certainly the case with this Pkolino's Little One's Table and Chairs. This table and chair set is available in white or orange and sells for $129. The styling is spot on for children's furniture, the design overall is quite mature, but the popsicle stick legs give it the hint of playfulness that it need.
2008 was a big year for us hear at Grassrootsmodern. Like the year before, we experienced a huge growth in our reader base. A special thanks to everyone for spreading the word about the website and helping fuel the affordable modern revolution. Our most popular posts of 2008 were;
In addition to our normal content of 2008 we also had a wildly successful Affordable Kitchen Contest with close to 20 entries and over 600 votes. Not only did we get to see some beautiful affordable modern kitchens, it also gave me some great inspiration for our own kitchen remodel (which is getting close). We are planning on doing an Affordable Modern Bathroom Contest in 2009 and possibly others. Stay tuned for more details.
We also saw our little family grow in 2008 when Capree joined us as a blogger. She has been delivering up some quality content and brings a fresh new angle to Grassrootsmodern. In 2009 we also plan on bringing on a few new bloggers. If you are interested, make sure you drop us a line and let us know. Good writing skills and a passion for affordable design are required.
Besides running Grassrootsmodern we also branched out a little this year and started up Utahmodern.org for the locals that have an appreciation for modern design. It's only been up for a couple of months now, but we have seen a slow but steady growth of our little community over there. If you live in Utah, make sure you stop by and check it out.
With the winter chill comes the joys of heating a house. Our old house had radiant, which was not only very efficient and comfortable, but also didn't dry out our house to bad. Our new house has normal forced air and a house full of chapped and cracked lips has finally convinced me we need a humidifier. Of course the first one I thought of was the gorgeous plus minus zero humidifier. Try as I might though, I couldn't talk myself into dropping $300 for it. Blomus also makes a good looking one but it is passive evaporation and I don't think that is aggressive enough for our dry house. After a lot of searching I finally settled on the Air-O-Swiss evaporator. The $130 price tag is a little high, but it was the best compromise between high prices and good looks. One of the features I am excited about is the fact that you can fill it with a pitcher of water without having to open anything or carry anything to the sink. It should get here in about a week so I'll let you know how it goes.
I sort of have a thing for wall clocks, not because I'm preoccupied with knowing the time, but because I think the design possibilities are endless! That's why I am so thrilled to share these awesome clocks designed by Keith Moore of Pilot Design. After graduating with a BFA in Graphic Design from Colorado State University, Keith moved to Minneapolis where he currently works as an interactive designer. He has been designing bespoke modern furniture for about 10 years, often using bamboo and other sustainable materials. Be sure to check out Keith's sweet portfolio at www.pilotdesign.com.
Handmade, modern wall clocks from Pilot Design from $45 - $75.
I was in a local kitchen store a couple of days ago when I came across this great looking toaster by Cloer. I had never heard of the brand before, but I am a huge fan of their styling. The toaster has a clean brushed steel look to it with a simple control interface. While it has the looks of a high end toaster, the price is quite reasonable at $50. Not surprisingly it looks like Target is one of the biggest retailers of Cloer products, although they are only available online. The rest of the line includes a double waffle maker, electric BBQ, coffee maker, roll baker and electric water kettle.
Cloer products available from Target online from $50 - $160.