Some of you locals may remember Modern Materials Design. They were a local modern shelter store that started out by the Green Ant, and later moved down the road towards The Light Spot. More recently they closed up their doors, and went online only. For a while the online store wasn't the best, but they just recently relaunched and it's looking pretty sweet. They have some especially good deals on modern pillows, starting at $20 for 17" x 17". When I was at the Las Vegas Furniture Fair, they had some really sweet large fiberglass planters, so keep your eyes out for those too.

Available from Modern Materials Design

Thanks Rob!

Here is our first entry for the Affordable Modern Kitchen Contest. Check out the sweet DIY concrete countertops, and read about how they got a Sub Zero refrigerator for $640.

We purchased this all original 1946 1190sq ft bungalow in late 05' and knew that the kitchen needed to be completed quick... Seeing as we are both kind of broke we planned to get the most design for the dollar... We gutted the kitchen and removed one load bearing wall which opened the space up a bunch. Then we ripped up the carpet to find the original white oak flooring. We re-finished the floors in a dark stain and installed some cheap white IKEA cabinets. After the cabinets where installed we made some concrete counters in our basement (yes we took a mixer down there) and I spend about 15 hours polishing them... After that we found a great sub zero 535 for $600 on craigslist but it had a white front panel. I ended up having a sheet of brushed stainless cut locally and I installed it for new look at a cost of $40.00... In the end it was as modern as we could make our 1946 bungalow and still fit with the rest of our home.

Aprox total cost: $4,000

More pictures, including before and after shots after the jump.

The before shot offers some good perspective.

Sweet frig for $640.

Since it's inception, I have always wanted to be able to give something back to the design community that supports Grassrootsmodern. We figured what better way to do that, than to give away a wad of cash. Of course we are the "affordable modern blog", which mean we are a bunch of tightwads, so we are only giving away $125, but it's a start right?

So here is the deal. We want to see your affordable modern kitchens. We aren't going to get too caught up in what "affordable" means, but the Bulthaup, Henrybuilt, Poliform crowd probably don't count. Entering is super easy, and you can win $100 for your hard work. You must enter by Nov 7th, and the winner will be decided by Grassrootsmodern readers.

Check out the Affordable Modern Kitchen contest page to enter and win!

I love it when things have some sort of dual functionality, especially kids furniture that eventually gets outgrown. I found this great bed over at Swissmiss that does just that. The P'kolino bed starts out it's life as a normal toddler bed, but as soon as your kid starts to outgrow it, it converts into a nicely styled little chair. The bed will fit any standard sized toddler mattress, and comes with an additional pad for when it is in chair mode. Perhaps one of the best things of all is the $190 price, which is quite reasonable for a "designer" kids bed. The main bed is a birch veneer, and the side rails come in orange or white. Available from Moderntots for $190. Via Swissmiss.

Liam found some great lamps on KSL.com yesterday for $25 a piece. I am so tempted to buy them, but I am kind of on the fence, so I thought I put it out there to see if anyone else wanted them. Any real details about them are a little fuzzy, besides the fact that they are "Danish Modern". I did call and talk to the lady yesterday and she confirmed that they are some sort of wood (wenge?) and the white part is ceramic. They really are 39" tall, which is a big lamp. The shades are the kind that clip onto the light bulb, so it would be easy to switch them out if you wanted to. It doesn't sound like she is going to budge on the price, as she has had quite a bit of interest already. If somebody gets these, let us know! I was also looking for kitchen appliances and found these two stoves for a good price. I think we really want to do a cooktop and built in oven, so will probably pass, but if anyone else is looking for a stove, check these out. They are both Jenn Air. The one on the left is a dual fuel and is priced at $600. The one on the right is gas only, but is only $100!

In case you didn't already hear the news, I just picked up 6 Emeco 1006 chairs from Craig's List. The original listing said it was 4 for $250 or $70 each. I placed the call and found out that John really had 6 for sale. I offered him $340 for all 6 and he was kind enough to agree. That's just over $55 each, normal pricing is $395 for one. I almost feel guilty for picking them up that cheap. Luckily John got them for cheap himself from a bar in Reno that was closing. He didn't tell me what he paid for them, but I got the idea that he wasn't really loosing money on them. They really are great chairs, light, bombproof, comfortable with timeless style. We don't have a place for them yet, but it has spurred us to get going on our kitchen remodel so we can actually have a dinning room table to accommodate them. If your looking for more good deals on local stuff, see the post above, or challenge Melissa to find you something good.

Thanks again to all the GRM readers that contribute!

A super big thanks to Melissa, who commented in the "Style Oceanic Chair" post about some original Emeco's that were for sale local and cheap. I took a trip out and picked them up last night. Details and pics to come! GRM readers rock!

One of the major accessories every new parent needs is a good diaper bag. If you remember, when we had Arri we splurged a little for a Petunia Pickle Bottom bag. It wasn't cheap, but looking back I think it was totally worth it. I am a huge fan of Petunia Pickle Bottom, and think that most of their bag designs are pretty nice, but they have completely outdone themselves with their new Journey Packs. This beautiful bag is made of felt, and has a classic style that will always look great. Looking at it makes me think that it's hands down the best looking diaper bag I've ever seen. The only downsides are the size (it looks a little small) and the price (which isn't small). Available in Gray, Olive Green, Black felt, and leather. Available from Design Public for $140.

I'm loving the new Skip Hop plates. Not only are they designed to help keep meal time a little more clean (which is no easy task with little ones) they are also designed to keep it fun. The plate is separated into three areas to keep your veggies separate and help little scoopers get food onto their spoons. It is also removable from the skid resistant mat for re-warming food, and it leaves behind a smily face to keep your kids entertained. To keep things safe, everything is BPA, PVC, and phlatate free. Available in Orange, Raspberry and Sky Blue. Available from Skip Hop for $20.

Ikea must be trying to do their part at easing the pain of the recent economic downfall because it seems that they have had an unprecedented number of great sales lately. This one may beat them all however. From this Saturday through Monday the 13th they are having another "Seize the Days" sale with some big savings. TUNDRA flooring is $0.49 a sq ft, the NORDEN dining table is $199 and Ikea 365 cookware is super cheap too. That's over 50% off on some things. Plus did I mention free breakfast again on Saturday morning?

Ikea 3 day seize the days sale, this weekend.

Last week my travels brought me through San Jose airport where I was able to snap a picture of one of my favorite airport wall clocks (above left). The actual clock mechanism is completely flush with the wall, and the wall becomes the clock face. I was hoping to find an easy way to do a similar thing in our house when I stumbled across this wall clock at Arango. It's the exact same idea, except I'm not sure the actual clock is flush to the wall (but I'm sure it could be) like the one in SJO. Best of all it has all the pieces I need to make it work and it's only $30. Real Wall Clock available at Arango's for $30.

With the increasing pressure of the economic downturn, Ikea is doing their best to help you keep a couple extra dollars in your pockets. It seems like I have noticed an increase in sales and freebies that they have been offering lately, all of which could potentially save you some good loot. Their big kitchen sale starts this Saturday, and runs through Nov 11th. It includes 10% off for any kitchen purchase over $2,500 and up to 20% off if you bundle it with some appliances. If you're not in the market for a kitchen you can at least stop by this weekend at Ikea Draper for a buy one get one free cinnamon bun or frozen yogurt (coupon included after the jump). Also free breakfasts are still available on Sunday mornings through the 26th of Oct.

Ikea Draper website.

I've always loved the all aluminum Emeco chairs, but the $400 price per chair has always kept them in the distance. I ran into these, um interpretations, (read: knock off) called the "Style Oceanic" over at Stack Chair Depot for $112. At that price, I can almost imagine myself getting one. Made completely of aluminum they are quite bomb proof, they won't rust or tarnish, they are super sturdy, and if you ever wanted to get rid of them they would be pretty much 100% recyclable. Man, the Navy really was on to something when they had these made.Available from Stack Chair Depot for $112.

A couple months ago I posted some beautiful salvaged cardboard lights from Graypants. These City Honeycomb Hanging lights share many of the same design cues, even if the core material is plastic instead of cardboard. By by layering the corrugated plastic in alternating patterns, these pendants form a beautiful honeycomb detail that help give these lights their unique look. The lights are available in three different sizes, and start out at a fairly reasonable $85.

Available from Tonichome from $85 - $135.

I love the old retro freestanding fireplaces. My grandparents have one in their A frame cabin up in the mountains of Colorado, and I have fond memory's of sitting around it listening to the fire crackle. I figured that they were either gone with the 70's or too expensive or hard to source, but the fine folks over at shelterrific have proven me wrong. Malm fireplaces continues to make a variety of funky freestanding wood burning and gas fireplaces. Prices are surprisingly affordable starting at around $1,000 and going up from there. They have a few different models, with only a few shown here, and are available in a variety of colors. They even do custom designs if you have something special in mind.

Available from Malm Fireplaces starting at $1000.

I lived in Brasil for a couple of years, and everywhere I went I would see these stainless steel drinking glasses. No one could ever remember where they got them, because it had been so long since they had bought them. It took me a year and a half of searching before I finally stumbled across some at a hardware store for $0.25 each. I bought a dozen of them. I have been using them ever since and still love them, although the quality of them isn't the best and some of them are starting to show some rust stains. The other day at Ikea in the bath section I again stumbled across the SEMVIK tumbler which is almost identical to the ones I bought in Brasil. The price is a little higher at $2 each, but for a cup that will last a lifetime, it's worth it. I bought 4 and plan on buying a couple more next visit.

Available at Ikea for $2.

If you remember a while ago we got a new Avalisa 5 x 8 rug for our living room. We had originally wanted the bigger 8 x 10 size, but had settled for the smaller one. After much deliberation we finally realized that the scale of the smaller rug didn't quite fit the room. We were able to work things out with Avalisa and our new rug arrived just a few days ago. We were relieved to see that the scale really does work much better for the room. While the $1360 price tag can be hard to swallow I just keep reminding myself it's only $16 a square foot :) Our bare floors do look much better now that they have a large rug, and the quality is such that I'm sure it will be around for quite some time.Rugs available from Avalisa from $310 - $1360.

I am loving this shelving idea I saw over at Apartment Therapy this morning. Apparently there were some similar shelves in a recent issue of Dwell Magazine. I'm a little behind in my Dwell reading, but grateful to have seen such a great idea. The shelf brackets are the legs from a IKEA FROSTA stool, and the shelves are oak planks. I would love to do the same thing, except use a nice birch plywood with an exposed edge for the shelves.FROSTA stool available at Ikea for $12.

While this isn't an original Saarinen tulip chairs and table set, this retro table and chair combo does have a wonderful vintage look to it. The set includes a table approx. 45" long, 35" deep and 29" tall and 5 chairs. Overall it looks like they are all in pretty good shape, and at an asking price of $200 they probably won't last too long.

Available from SLC Craigslist for $200.