For whatever reason, I am fascinated with bird houses. And for an equally obscure reason, I am fascinated with the Hepper Roost Bird House designed by Jed Crystal. Blame it on the seductive angles or the rust-proof aluminum construction, but this particular bird house has my number. Available in four colors, the Hepper Roost Bird House seems a wonderful gift for your favorite avian friends. Luckily for you (and your wallet) it's currently on sale for $99. Nice!

Hepper Roost Bird House available from Design Public: regularly $125 on sale for $99

This weeks "way back when" spotlight goes to a photographer not a architect or designer. Julius Shulman is perhaps one of the most well know mid century modern photographers of all time. His client list reads like a who's who of mid century design. The iconic photographs that he took were instrumental in both capturing the innovative architecture of the time as well as influencing main stream society's idea of a "modern life". In this great video Julius narrates some of his most well known photographs.

Loads of eye candy to start your weekend out with a bang!  ONG & ONG is a design firm which started as a small practice in Singapore in 1972. Since that time, the practice has expanded to include 4 other offices in the region, including Vietnam, Malaysia, India, and China. With over 500 built projects, their portfolio is vast and impressive. I suggest you check it out for yourself - perhaps when you've got a good block of time to devote to the task!

  

A while ago I was looking for suggestions for door handles for our son's room. I mentioned that I had some friends that have some crazy flush door handles that are original to their MCM home. While we ended up going with some fairly simple door knobs from Home Depot, I have still been trying to find something similar to what they have in their home. These renderings from Smart Design Studio are about the closest I have found yet. If anyone knows of a production version, let me know.

Surface Flik brings unique designs to the run-away trend of wall decals. Offering over 37 different color options as well as custom Pantone color matching, they're all about creating something you'll love. Run by a team of graphic designers, Surface Flik is up to the challenge of any custom job and will create a unique design specifically for you. Now's the time to get that giant Godzilla v. Bambi decal you've always wanted, but thought you'd never find. Hey, it's worth a shot.

Wall decals by Surface Flik: $18 - $150

[Decal shown: Modern Tree Design - $55]

I don't usually get excited about the offerings of Crate and Barrel as much of their furniture tends to be a little too traditional for my taste, but when I first saw a picture of this Strut table I was seriously impressed. I love the simplicity of the design and the emphasis on the making the structural components beautiful. The only down side is the $700 price tag for a table that only seats four.

If you like the looks of the strut table, you should check out the Strut Credenza as well. It's equally appealing to the eyes and has an even more pronounced mid century look to it. Between these two pieces of furniture, my opinions of Crate and Barrel may be changing. Do you have any other favorites from Crate and Barrel that I should know about?

Strut table and credenza available from Crate and Barrel

It's time again for Blu Dot's annual 20% off sale! Enjoy the savings for 20 days (seemingly arbitrary, but no one's complaining) August 20th through September 8th. If you've had your eye on a Real Good Chair, now's the time to get it for a steal!

About Blu Dot:
Our goal is to bring good design to as many people as possible. Which means creating products that are useful, affordable, and desirable. To make that happen, our design process is founded on collaboration. Not just among ourselves as we play show-and-tell with concepts, but a total collaboration between pencil and paper, materials and machines, even packaging and assembly. We like to think that the form is almost inevitable, a by-product of the process. Our job is simply to help it emerge as beautifully and as efficiently as possible.

Shop All Modern - or - Velocity Art and Design to take advantage of Blu Dot's 20/20 Sale

Last week Capree blogged about the new modern homes that are being built in the Utah super suburb Daybreak. The $206K price tag sounded too good to be true, so I had to go check it out for my self. I admit that I was pleasantly impressed. The homes themselves were well built and the majority of the interior details were well done. Interior surfaces were fairly high end, including nice glass tiles in the kitchens and bathrooms. The ikea interiors made me feel right at home. Overall they are an amazing feat for $140 a square foot land. Sure the .10 acres you get isn't a ton of land, but at the price point you really can't beat these house. As much as it might pain me to say it, these homes are probably the best example of affordable modern in Utah, maybe in the whole country. The biggest downside to the whole thing is the location. Besides feeling like you lived in a movie set (which really didn't bother me to much) the rather extreme south west location may be a deal breaker. To me it would mean an extra hour of commuting every day. To see lots more pictures and get more details head over to Utahmodern.org.

Solaris Collection

More pictures on Utahmodern.org

When I first saw the Julep Rocker in the CB2 catalog earlier this year, I thought it was a beautiful specimen. The $150 price tag wasn't too bad either. Now as Summer is winding down, this outdoor looker is on sale at an even more amazing price - $100. If you've been meaning to get a few modern looking rocking chairs for the patio (or porch - do those still exist??) the Julep Rocker would be perfect! From the online reviews, it seems better suited for taller people - us shorties may have to slouch a bit to reach the ground. But, hey, that's life! Grey polymesh over grey, rust-resistant, powder coated aluminum.

Julep Rocker available from CB2 - $100

I was first tipped off about GIlt a month or so ago when they had some Jonathan Adler home stuff on their site. Eager to get some goodies at 50% off I signed up only to find all the good stuff was gone. Since then it has been a little hit and miss especially when it comes to the "home" category (lots of men's and women's fashion). Today however they have Dwell studio and Dwell kids items for around 50% off or retail. You better act quick though, the good deals go fast. I already got my Dwell finger puppets for $18!

Dwell Studio on sale at Gilt.com

If you remember my video where I tore all the siding off the front of my house last month, you will remember that my front door is pretty drab. My friend is trying out a couple new door designs that he has and asked if he could come put one on my house to see what it would look like "in the wild". I was amazed a what a difference it made on how our house looks! The pictures really don't do the door justice (especially the bad photoshop work!). The door itself is made of solid core walnut with 1/2" structural glass. The fit was perfect, it's just too bad it was only a test and we had to send it home at the end of the day.

While this one was a sort of prototype, he is working on a production model. Pricing should be very affordable, especially when compared to Neoport and all other "Modern" door manufactures. I'd love to know what people think of the door, do you love it, hate it, what would you change about it?

If you want any more info about it, feel free to drop me a line via the contact form.

Oh, IKEA. You never cease to amaze me with your clever ways. Meet the SUNNAN Light - a handsome little fellow free of wires and powered by the sun! With a full charge (9-12 hours of sunlight), this desk lamp will put out 400 to 500 lux at its starting point. After 3 to 4 hours, the light intensity will decrease to about 300 lux. Uses LED bulbs.
SUNNAN Light from IKEA: $20

Break out your college ruled notebooks and #2 pencils. It's time to get educated. Join Elizabeth Smith, Chief Curator of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, as she discusses the experimental home design program (1945 - 1966) which produced iconic work by Eames, Neutra, and Saarinen, among others.

The DUKTIG Mini Kitchen is a new addition to the Children's IKEA line. It features 'hot plates' with light diodes, adjustable legs to grow with your child, and an optional top section complete with a microwave and utensil hooks. The modern style fits the parents' tastes while still offering plenty of fun for the imaginative child. The mini price tag isn't too shabby, either.

DUKTIG Mini Kitchen from IKEA: $100 - $140

A quick note for the locals. I already mentioned that Modern Materials Design is closing their doors. They are clearing out all their inventory and are having a promotion this weekend where you can get a free pendant light with purchases over $100. All the juicy details after the jump. See you there!

This weekend ONLY....BUY $100 in MERCHANDISE and receive a FREE PENDANT LIGHT!!!   LIMIT 1 FREE LIGHT PER FAMILY OUR FURNITURE STORE IS CLOSING AND WE HAVE TONS OF GREAT HOME DECOR ITEMS AT CLEARANCE PRICES 40-80% OFF. HURRY AND COME SEE BEFORE THE GOOD STUFF IS GONE. YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN IT WILL BE THE LAST OF SOMETHING. THE GOOD STUFF IS GOING FAST......MAKE SURE YOU COME IN THIS WEEKEND!!! BRING SOME FRIENDS AND HAVE FUN. WITH PRICES THIS CHEAP, YOU CAN DECORATE YOUR HOME, APARTMENT, OR CONDO FOR SO MUCH LESS.

50% off most PILLOWS
40% off FUN, DECORATIVE CERAMICS
50% off PLACEMATS & TABLERUNNERS
80% off all WALL ART
50-85% off SELECTED CLEARANCE LAMPS & PENDANTS
50% off ALL BEDDING
70% off our GLASS/METAL ENTERTAINMENT CENTER
75% OFF ALL OUTDOOR PLANTERS
60% off GLASS VASES
$700 OFF our LEATHER SECTIONAL SOFA

70-80% off lighting fixtures
30%-70% off lamps (floor lamps as low as $19)

1297 Miller Avenue (3130 South)
East of Harmons, TJMaxx and Wells Fargo
10-6 Mon-Fri 10-5 Sat
Visa, MC, ACCEPTED
Our leather sectional is on SALE!!

Many items are 50-80% off...wow

I'm a fan of bikes, especially good looking ones. I posted a while ago about the Trek District with a belt drive, and I have since acquired one that I use for commuting. I absolutely love it. If you liked the style of the 09 Trek District, chances are you'll be excited about 2010 offerings as well. The have expanded the line to include 4 bikes, only two of which have a belt drive, leaving the other two with a conventional chain. Pricing starts at $709 for the basic model and goes up to $3,359 for the full carbon fiber model.

More info at TrekDistrict.com

I've admitted before that I am a big BIG fan of Charles and Ray Eames. Unfortunately for me I have never been able to save up for any of the Eames pieces I really want. While I'm counting my pennies, maybe I can get a little bit of my Eames fix with these new pillows and wall prints from Inhabit. Inhabit has a whole bunch of new prints and pillows, many of which have iconic silhouettes of Eames chairs and other classic Mid Century Modern pieces on them. To make things even sweeter, everything from Inhabit is currently 10% off, making it a little bit more affordable. What's your favorite new thing from Inhabit?

Available from Design Public

If you live in Utah, you've probably heard of the massive planned community way out west - Daybreak. It's suburbia gone so...right? Wrong? Old school? However you feel about it, it represents the old suburban dream of our parents and grandparents, among other things. It has that same eerie charm of a perceived perfection - Pleasantville type quality. Up to this point, I've mostly avoided it (it's creepy!) and its targeted marketing. But earlier this week I received a very 'hip looking' mailer with a very modern looking home printed on 100% recycled paper boasting about "3 new ways to live in Utah": Ultra-modern single family homes, row homes, and lofts - unlike anything you've ever seen in the Salt Lake Valley. And it was right - I've never seen anything like it in Utah, let alone Salt Lake. I was intrigued. (About that targeted marketing...)

So I checked out these new ways of living in the Beehive State and I liked what I saw, or at least I liked that people were starting to embrace a new kind of aesthetic in Utah. It was almost enough to buff out the "creepy" from Daybreak's perfect patina.   See it for yourself and share your thoughts. Would you live there? Why or why not?

Pictured: Style A / Style B from the Solaris Collection by Garbett Homes. Style A starting at $206,900. Style B starting at $239,900.
Award-winning builder Garbett Homes introduces the solar-powered Solaris Collection at Daybreak. These homes demonstrate that a first-time homebuyer can now afford a contemporary modern-style, solar-powered single-family home. Garbett Homes has teamed up with internationally renowned, California-based KTGY Architects to design and build Utah’s first truly affordable solar-powered home.

Go to www.daybreakutah.com/themix then click on "It's a mod, mod world" or "Home Gallery" for more. Be sure to watch the sweet flyover video for the lofts. It's almost enough to make me want to live there.

One of the best things about having our economy completely tank is that it has spurred the creation of more affordable modern options. Last week I blogged about ClearSpace, a Austin modern prefab company making MCM inspired prefab for just over $100 a square foot. It turns out they aren't the only ones in Texas trying to make modern affordable.

Ma Modular, also based out of Austin, is a modern prefab company that takes a building block approach to prefab. They have two standard modules, both 15 feet wide and 30 or 60 feet long, that can be combined in a myriad of ways depending on the site. The end result is a flexible modern prefab system with prices starting at $125 a square foot.

Ma Modular

Edgar Blazona is my kind of guy. His first commercial venture was the attractive and affordable prefab/DIY studio's of Modular Dwellings. From there he branched out into furniture and created Truemodern, a line of affordable kids furniture. His latest advancement is into the world of full sized furniture for big kids like me. The first two products, the lift sofa and luna sofa (shown above) are a nice step away from the more wimsical kids pieces and show some strong MCM influence. Priced between $1399 - $1499 it looks like Edgar is doing his best to continue to make high quality modern furniture at an affordable price. Make sure you check out some of the interviews with him here and here to really appreciate the path he's taken to get to where he is.

Lift and Luna sofa's available from Design Public.