I love the simple ideas. Take the Griffin Air Curve for example. In a market that's flooded with option on how to amplify your iPhone or turn it into a base thumping piece of audio ecstasy, Griffin has managed to step outside the box. The Air Curve uses a
cleverly designed coiled waveguide that collects the sound from the built-in speaker of your iPhone, amplifies it, and projects it into the room.
What that means to you an me is that it uses your iPhones speakers and just amplifies the sound. It requires not power at all and does have a space for a charging cord for your phone. The end result is a product that is innovative, simple, and affordable at only $19.
Available from Griffin for $19.
My wife and I love to cook, it's what we do for entertainment every night. That may be what has lead to my obsession/facination with kitchen timers. The twice as nice timer is one that I have never seen before and I am loving it. It has two separate timers in case you have more than one dish that you need to keep track of, and it has a great retro look that would be right at home in any Mid Century Modern home. Available in mint or red.
Available from uncommon goods for $18.
It seems like Ikea is all about the three day sales lately. We were out of town for the last labor day sale, but some friends were nice enough to pick up a cheap POANG for us. This weekend is another three day extravaganza. If you were ever wanting to pick up a BILLY bookcase, now is your chance. They are $30 off normal price. The SATER leather sofa is on sale to for $299 which seems like an insanely good deal on a decent sofa. Oh, and did I mention they have free breakfast?
Check out more deals at the Ikea Draper website.
We went to Ikea the other night to pick up a kids sized POANG chair for Arrington. He is finally getting to the stage where he wants to climb up on chairs and sit down. Unfortunately they were "temporarily oversold". While I still think that the little POANG is the best deal out there, I like these Bunny Junior chairs as well. With obvious design cues from the original Ant chair, they have a classic modern look to them. They are made of plastic instead of bentwood, and should hold up to the rigors of childhood play. They are available in white, pink and blue.
Available from the Conran Shop for $36.
I got this email from Paul today, and I didn't have any good answers off the top of my head, so I though I would throw it out to the crowd for and answer. Paul asked;
Our house was built in 1951 and it has two bathrooms that were done in Carrera Glass blocks....or vitrolite. Some idiot in 1982 when the second owners bought it decided to smash several of them to install new towel racks and they have covered all of the glass with a layer of clay like plaster and then they wall papered the walls. I really like the tile HEATH Ceramics in Calif has but who can afford them? I also like ModCraft. But there seems to be a real shortage on mid-century modern tile. Do you have any ideas for us on a source for tile?
Any good ideas?
Congrats to my buddies at Furni for teaming up with Hulger to make a beautiful VoIP phone.
Via MoCo Loco
I love it when someone pushes the bounds of materials, using them for something that you wouldn't typically think of. That's exactly what Benjamin Hubert has done with his Heavy Lights. The range features several beautiful light fixtures with delicate 5mm thick walls. The concrete is stained a soft grey color and the visual effect is gorgeous. It makes what some think as a cold hard material look soft and inviting. While it doesn't look like these are readily available for purchase you may be able to find a local concrete countertop guy that would be willing to give it a try, or you could try yourself. One thing I love about concrete is that it is very inexpensive. Check out all of Benjamin Huberts work here.
Finally a use for those outdated yellowpages that they insist on dropping at your doorstep. The folks over at www.afroditi.com came up with this great simple idea. You take a bunch of pages from your yellow pages, twist them up, and stick them inside of the tube of your choice. You get a low dollar holder that can hold your business cards, photo's whatever. The only part that they left out is where to source the metal collar....
Via Core77 and Treehugger.
I haven't done a lot of reupholstering over the years, but I have looked into it. One thing that always surprised me was just how expensive good fabric can be. Luckily Modern Fabrics is here to change that. By reclaiming fabric cuttings from factory floors they are able to accomplish two things. First they prevent all the usable fabric from just getting thrown away, and second they are able to resale beautiful fabrics at a fraction of the normal cost. With choices from Knoll, Maharam, Architex and many more you are sure to find some good stuff. I am now seriously thinking about getting some of this for the free couch I found a couple of weeks ago. I have seen prices as low as $15 a yard, which is a smoking good deal.
Check out more fabrics at Modern Fabric.
Kids are messy. This is an undeniable fact that every parent will agree on. Luckily as parents we have tools at our disposal to help keep things clean, like these great placemats by Modern Twist. The come in a generous 14" x 16" size and the variety of prints range from clean modern designs to the more childlike graphic designs shown here. Modern Twist doesn't sell direct (except wholesale) but chances are they have a brick and mortar near you that sells their stuff, or you can always look online. Heliotrope Home has them for $15.
Check the Modern Twist website to find a store near you.
Some of my favorite toys when I was a kid were the ones I could build things with, and the bigger the better. Offi has a great little system for your little builder, the YooDo. In all honesty, you could probably make your own YooDo kit if you had access to a refrigerator box, but for those that are less motivated you can now pick a set up for sale from Design Public for $29. Each set includes 16 pieces;
- 4 ea: 26" x 15" large U panel
- 4 ea: 20" x 8" small U panel
- 4 ea: 9" x 15" large connector
- 4 ea: 6" x 3-1/2" small trapezoid
Add a little imagination, and your kid will have a great little space station or modern crib to play with their buddies. Perhaps the best part of all is when they are all worn out and mangled you can just recycle them since they are made of heavy duty cardboard.
Available from Design Public for $29.
I'm always surprised by the wide range of products that Umbra has, everything from wallpaper to furniture to accessories. While I think that their real strength is in their accessories new pieces like this Mimosa Side Table with storage show that their furnishing are pretty good as well. Made of sustainable acacia wood, the Mimosa is a simple table that features a built in magazine rack. A clever little table with a clean design, the Mimosa is 17" x 17" x 14" and is priced at $94. If you like the look, make sure you check out the whole Mimosa family of furniture (the coffee table is pretty nice too).
Available from Umbra for $94.
OK, I admit it. I am a complete Eames junkie, and even though the more sensible part of my brain knows that $200 is way too much to pay for a little black bird there is still some part of me that really wants this Eames House Bird. Made of solid alder and standing about 10" high, this figure is made by Vitra based on the original folk art artifact that was found in the Eames house and featured in many interior shots. Really it's a brilliant move by Vitra, find an icon that is cheap to reproduce and charge an arm and a leg for it. It's a classic example of what frustrates me so much about "modern" design.
Available from zwello for $195.
Don't forget to take advantage of you local Ikea Labor day sale. Free breakfast everyday until 10:30, $59 POANG chairs and $7 LACK tables. Man you just can't go wrong.
I guess it may be a little early to start looking for a 2009 calendar, but the way time flies, it's really just around the corner. I came across some Egg Press Calendars over at Design Sponge today, and while the offset calendar is nice, I'm more partial to the simplicity of this letterpress 2009 one. It has only four pages, one for each season, and is printed on thick cotton pages. What it lacks for functionality (good luck marking all your lunch meetings on this one) it makes up in looks.
Available from Egg Press for $24.
I'm a gadget junkie, which means that when we go traveling we have a small arsenal of electronics to take with us. The Load Ding device organizer by XXD is just the thing to add a little organization while charging on the go. This simple piece of white pastic is flocked with black, red, or pink on the inside and folds up to form a little tray to hold your electronics as they charge. When not in use it packs flat and takes up hardly any space at all. Just perfect for an adventure on the road.
Available from A + R for $15.
The Muji Wall mounted CD Player may not be the most practical CD Player out there, nor is it the most affordable. I considered not even sharing it because of the hefty $178 price tag, but in the end I was just too excited to keep my mouth shut. It has been unavailable stateside until just recently and is now available at the MoMA Store. This simple little CD Player has built in speakers and the players power cord doubles as an on/off switch. You just give it a tug to turn it on or off. Compact, clean, and unfortunately expensive.
Available from the MoMA Store for $178.
I'll be the first to admit that this isn't the cheapest water pitcher on the market. While the $85 price tag may be hard to swallow, there is no doubt in my mind that it looks $50 better than my old Brita water pitcher. The clear glass pitcher uses Iouseki stones come from the mountains in Kanazawa, the capital city of Ishikawa Prefecture, on the Sea of Japan coast. In addition to the stones the pitcher uses Binchotan charcoal to filter your water. The combination of the two leave it pure and mineral fortified. The charcole and stone filtration system can last up to six months, and save all those plastic filters from going to the landfill. Oh, and did I mention it's absolutely beautiful?
Available from DWR for $85.
I'm a sucker for funky watches and clocks. The idea that after all these years we can still come up with new ways to tell time is amazing to me. This Hourglass Shaped Desk Clock by Kirkkeland is not the cheapest desk clock out there, but it is one of the most unique. It displays minutes on the top half and hours on the bottom. Current time is indicated by the red line. It even has a readout for seconds on the very top. It runs on two AA batteries and measures 6.5 x 4.75 in.Available from Fitzsu for $39.
Some beautiful eye candy to check out. The