"April showers bring May flowers" and right now I could use a little protection from those blasted rain drops. Not that I'm complaining. I love rain. I just haven't owned an umbrella in over 10 years and I think that seems kind of silly. Perhaps I should change that with one of these awesome umbrellas from Tray 6 or Marimekko! My favorite is the Petrooli Umbrella by Marimekko. Which one do you fancy?
Tray 6 Umbrellas from 2Modern: $49 - $59 Marimekko Umbrellas from AlwaysMod: $30 - $40
Hang this contemporary bird feeder up in your yard and enjoy the happy scene all year round (perhaps from the comfort of your Real Good chair)! The Folding Bird House from Jesper Moller Hansen and Dorthe Weis is made of weather-resistant steel and ships flat. Fold it into shape, attach the included perch and string, and voila! Bird house at the ready!
Have you ever profiled modern out buildings (small guest house, work spaces, sheds, etc)? I know there are several manufactrers that make neat prefab buildings like this. Also, I wonder if there are plans anywhere you can buy to make it entirely by yourself? Just a neat topic. Thinking about building such a building.
It's been a while since I have mentioned any modern shed options, but luckily there are quite a few, ranging from fairly affordable. My favorite of the bunch is the MD100 from Edward Blazona. Plans to build your own can be had for $30 and all the materials needed to pull it off are only $1500. Modern Shed is another one of my favorites. Instead of just purchasing plans like the MD100, you actually purchase all the material pre cut directly from Modern Shed. This makes things much more simple but also bumps the cost up. The smallest size will put you back $7,440. For those that are less concerned about cost, there is the Kithaus from Design Within Reach. Base price on one of these beauties is over $30,000 and prices go up sharply from there. If you seriously have that kind of cash to throw around find a architect and a contractor and build something of your own.
The cheap DIY in me loves the MD100, but I almost would be tempted to just design my own. The $15 for the MD100 plans may be just the thing to give the novice some ideas as far as the general construction.
Has anyone built a cool shed before? Have I missed any other kits/templates out there?
Usually I save Friday's for a "Way Back When" video that features some great mid century architecture or product design, but as a couple people pointed out in the Ultimate Modern Architecture Roadtrip discussion there is a lot of great things going on right now. I know when I was back at the IIT campus last year looking at some Mies buildings seeing the Koolhaas designed McCormick center was equally impressive. In fact Koolhaas blew my mind. Looking for some good Koolhaas video's I came across this trailer for Houselife. Has anyone seen it? Where is the best place to order it from?
Despite the fact that it is currently snowing outside my window as I type this I am fairly confident that someday spring will actually arrive here in Salt Lake. Our home is surrounded by lots of tree's and we are looking forward to putting out some bird feeders and bird homes to be able to watch some feathered friends. While my staunch cheapness will most likely drive me to making my own I do like the look of the Geo Birdhouse. Designed by Kelly Lamb for Areaware it has obvious influences from architect buckminster fuller. Its rounded shape makes an ideal nesting place for wrens, finches, swallows, warblers, and other small birds. The fact that it's ceramic should mean that it will hold up well in the weather. Stores are accepting preorders now.
I was browsing around, looking for modern landscaping inspiration (yes, that's pretty much all I think about these days) and my path led me to the goldmine that isDig Modern. I'd checked their site out before, but admittedly that was quite a while ago, and I had kind of forgotten about it. I am so glad I found it again! For those of you who don't already know about this totally rad site, Dig Modern gathers up all the best rare and vintage books and objects for people like you and me. A lot of these books are geared toward the DIY-er, with furniture plans, step-by-step instructions, detailed illustrations and photographs, and generally inspiring content. Prices vary wildly depending on the rarity and condition of the book.
A few books really caught my eye and inexplicably caused my cursor to hover over the "add to cart" button for seemingly endless periods of time. The tempting tomes included Practical Guide to Home Landscaping (1972), How to Build Decks for Outdoor Living (1963), and especially Home Landscape, The Art of Home Landscaping: Revised and Enlarged (1978). I must get my hands on a copy of these books! Unfortunately, that last one was going for $140 which is a little more than I'd like to spend. I'll just have to keep my eyes peeled. I'm sure there's a copy sitting in a donation box somewhere, just waiting for me to rescue it!
Do you own any of these, or similarly inspiring, books? How did you find them? Online, thrift store, dead relative, etc.? Share your gems and your sources! Please.
Those that follow me on Twitter most likely have already heard that I was selected as one of 100 "Agents" for the Ford Fiesta Movement. If you haven't heard about it, let me sum it up. Basically Ford is bringing over 100 2011 Ford Fiesta's and giving them to socially networked people to drive and blog about for 6 months. The car is free, the gas is free, the insurance is free. So I was thinking last night, now that I have a free car, and free gas, what would the ultimate road trip be? With that segue here is the real question.
What are the 10 most architecturally significant modernist buildings in the United States? I will be planning an epic road trip across America later this year to visit them all, so I want to see some lists in the comments.
Not all of us can have a green thumb, but luckily if you are the type that could even kill a cactus there is still hope. The Delta 20 planter by Lechuza is a self watering planter that is designed to keep your plants happy and green, even when you forget about them. Just fill it up and you are good to go for multiple weeks. To take the guess work out of it, the planter even includes a little reservoir that shows you when you need to refill. A winner of the red dot award, the Delta planters are available in several different sizes and colors, can be used indoors and outdoors and to top it all off, it's affordable with pricing starting at $29.
Check out these eco-friendly, prefab homes from Michelle Kaufmann Designs! I think my favorite of the bunch are the mkSolaire and the Sunset Breezehouse. Along with these great homes, MKD recently published a 176-page book highlighting these sustainable designs. In Prefab Green, Michelle talks about her design process as well as the importance of sustainability. Prefab is definitely looking more and more tempting every day!
More about the Sunset Breezehouse:
The Sunset® Breezehouse™ home was thoughtfully designed by Michelle Kaufmann Designs and Sunset Magazine for green, healthy living. The key feature of the Sunset Breezehouse is the BreezeSpace at the center, which is situated under a distinctive butterfly-shaped roof. This room, a glass-enclosed breezeway or porch, allows you to “let the green in” to your main living and dining areas, blurring the boundary between interior and exterior. Courtyards, terraces and decks are placed at the front and rear of the home to further integrate nature with living. By borrowing space from the outside, the home feels much larger than it is.
I'll admit that sometimes West Elm is a little hit or miss with me, but their new Outdoor collection is definitely a hit! The Sydney Lounger and Metal Mesh Chair are two favorites that caught my eye. I would love to lounge poolside in either! As for outdoor dining, the Axis and Twist dinnerware sets are very stylish options in durable melamine. Check out the rest of the goods at westelm.com. Does anything catch your eye?
CB2 has a great range of outdoor furniture and accessories at a fairly affordable price. I love the look of the Sunny Arm chair shown above, and it's all steel construction should make it a sturdy enough to withstand the elements.
Their resort outdoor sectional is quite nice looking too, although I don't know that I would ever actually have a place to put a whole sectional outside. I also admit that I kind of like the little white g-nome. Is that so bad?
Grassroots Modern reader Crystal recently asked, "How can we make our backyard private while still abiding by HOA standards of no fencing?" I suggested creating a natural wall, or a 'privacy screen', from plants - bamboo or a hedgerow. A hedge can be created from a number of plants, growing up to six feet tall depending on what you plant. They can also be as formal or informal as you like. Here's a helpful link from About.com. Can anyone offer any other suggestions for Crystal? Types of plants, creative solutions, etc. Have any of you had a similar landscaping dilemma? How did you deal with it? As always, links and photos are helpful and appreciated!
I'm getting ready to watch this classic 1949 film based on Ayn Rand this weekend and I'm quite excited. Here is a little clip I found that hopefully gives mea taste of what I'm in for.
I saw this on Blue Ant Studio the other day and instantly felt the sting of landscape-envy. I love it - the water feature, the simple plantings, the staggered geometric pathway - everything. It's perfect. I don't know anything else about it since there was no other information provided besides the name, but I keep going back and looking at it. Are there any homes (or aspects of them) that you've been this drawn to? Share links if you can, so we can all Oo and Ah together!
Remember those awesome acrylic bird feeders I wrote about before? Well, I just got word from Jenny of Red Yellow and Blue Ink that she has some new designs up for sale! These new feeders are inspired by the bright, cheerful colors of Spring. Jenny has also developed several new designs using re-purposed traffic signal lenses. Very cool! Be sure to check out the mini feeders/catchalls made from the scraps that accumulate during fabrication - a very creative solution, indeed!
The weather is getting warmer and my mind is abuzz with thoughts of picnics and outdoor soirees! The creative folk at notNeutral have come up with a few new pieces for Spring that are sure to please adults and kids alike - leaf bowls, ant napkin rings, melamine snack sets, and mixed dinnerware! To set the mood, try setting out a few hurricanes or scatter some fun, punched-metal lanterns around the garden (my fav are the ones in white). For the indoors, they have newseasonal wall decals to brighten up your child's space, as well as bold pillows that will add just the right amount of color! Check out all the goods at Design Public.
If you are not a fan of Ikea's $10 SOLIG lamps, it looks like there is another solar powered outdoor lantern on the block. The Soji Solar lantern is equipped with two high powered amber LED lights (I wonder if white would have looked better) and a solar panel that recharges the AAA batteries. When the light levels fall, this little light automatically turns on, or it can be controlled by a manual switch. It measure aprox 10" which is just about the right size. While it may be better looking than Ikea's, you pay for those looks, $39 to be exact. So is it worth it, or would you rather have 4 SOLIG outdoor lanterns?
Wow! Marc Koehler, a Dutch architect currently based in Amsterdam, has a pretty great portfolio that looks a bit like one of those giant boxes of Crayola crayons. It's just full of wild colors! Not sure how many people could live in such a brightly hued home, but it's definitely different than most.
What do you think? Could you live with near day glo colors? I think I could in small, isolated doses - kitchen cabinets, a bathroom, etc. I love intense color.
I ran across the work of Swedish photographer Åke E:son Lindman the other day and was blown away. Åke has been photographing architecture since 1986 and has the portfolio to prove it. Take a whirl around his site and get inspired by the depth and breadth of his work.
More about Åke: Åke E:son Lindman was born in Stockholm in 1953. He attended the School of Fine Arts (Konstfack) in Stockholm 1975 and has concentrated on photographing architecture since 1986. He continues to be featured in architectural publications worldwide, such as Wallpaper, AD German, AD France, Interior Design, Residence, Arkitektur etc.
Check out these eco-friendly, prefab homes from 
More about the Sunset Breezehouse:
The Sunset® Breezehouse™ home was thoughtfully designed by Michelle Kaufmann Designs and Sunset Magazine for green, healthy living. The key feature of the Sunset Breezehouse is the BreezeSpace at the center, which is situated under a distinctive butterfly-shaped roof. This room, a glass-enclosed breezeway or porch, allows you to “let the green in” to your main living and dining areas, blurring the boundary between interior and exterior. Courtyards, terraces and decks are placed at the front and rear of the home to further integrate nature with living. By borrowing space from the outside, the home feels much larger than it is.
Grassroots Modern reader Crystal 
