I'm a big fan of Alexander Girard and his folk/modern graphic design style. That's why I'm super excited to see that Design Public has a new series of Alexander Girard prints on maple plywood panels. This is the first time since 1972 that these graphics have been available specifically as wall art. Each one is printed using water-based inks on Columbia Forest Products US made, formaldehyde-free plywood panels. The panels measure 14" x 14" and will put you back $89. These would look equally wonderful in a child's room, or a more adult space.

Alexander Girard wall prints available from Design Public for $89.

I'm a huge fan of abstract painting. I love how it distills everything to basic ideas of color, line, or form, often resulting in wonderfully textured surfaces. I could stare at abstract works for hours, always finding or feeling something new. If you feel similarly enchanted, then let me tell you about Donald Budd, whose work I am really in love with. Recently making the jump from graphic design to painting (which is no surprise - he received his BFA in painting and drawing and then his MFA in drawing), Don's abstract paintings are undeniably inspired by the world around him. Currently residing in southern Utah, Don finds great inspiration in the nearby landscapes: "I try to capture the essence of a moment in time - that brief emotional high one experiences as the earth's spirit comes alive. The environment has been most influential on my work. I have been moved by the power of storms - rain, wind, floods, dust, fire. Likewise the subtle beauty of a morning mist, a dusty haze, the sun highlighting a solitary form. The complexity of our environment - the vast array of colors, textures, lines, shapes, forms - and how they interact with one another has been my main influence. How we become part of that magnificent world is crucial to our survival. The power of natural forces are unparalleled yet man has this uncanny ability to invade, destroy, erase, obliterate, develop, overdevelop and leave his mark. The works on paper have many layers of acrylic washes built one upon the other and then are scrubbed, wiped, sanded and more layers added. Part of the process often leads to penetration of the paint and exposing the surface of the paper or in some cases rubbing a hole through the paper. This is all part of the process and many of my works will have holes in them, in the literal sense."

As a proud owner of one of these original paintings, I can really attest to Don's talent and the unbelievable beauty of his work.

To see more of Donald's work, check out his online portfolio www.dobu-creative.com.

Original paintings by Donald Budd available online from $150 - $1800.

As a parent I tend to be obsessively concerned about design. We were at the supermarket with my grandparents a while ago getting a sippy for my son and it turned into a 5 min debate whether to get the orange Cars sippy or the Yellow. My grandmother asked, "Is this a big decision?" To me it is. It's not just a cup, it's one more thing that will always be surrounding me, and I actually do care what it looks like. That's why I appreciate the looks of these bottles by Adiri. They actually look like someone spent some time thinking about what they look like. On top of that it looks like they paid just as close attention to how they work. Making it BPA free and selling them for $10 each just seals the deal for me. Now if only I had another baby....

Adiri Natural Nurser available from Baby Earth for $12.

We've mentioned Undrgrnd before, it's a modern design store that offers deep discounts on discontinued items. Only problem was that they only listed one item at a time, and when it was gone, it was gone. Most likely unless you checked the site obsessively, or followed them on twitter, you missed out on some deals. To make things easier for the holidays, they have a top secret shop available only to members. That pretty much means you just need to create an account to get access. The good news is the secret shop has way more than one item, and they are all the same rock bottom prices. The group of merchandise changes every monday, so it cuts down on the amount of checking you need to do to get a deal. Check out the Undrgrnd Secret Shop for great deals.

Growing up my grandparents had a sweet fireplace similar to the one shown above. I have always wanted one for an outdoor fireplace in my back yard. While this is probably one of the sweetest deals I've seen in a while, I am afraid that we are going to have to pass on it. If anyone else is local, and looking for an awesome fireplace this is your chance. Price is $300 OBO and it includes 20ft of piping.

via Utahmodern.org Classifieds

Available on KSL.com for $300 obo

Over the weekend we were able to get the rest of the painting done, and install our white rubber flooring. We purchased our flooring from Big D flooring, the local Roppe distributer. While there is nothing really unusual about rubber flooring, they looked at me really weird when I asked for it in snow white. A quick call into Roppe confirmed that we were doing something a little out of the ordinary. They said that they had never done a floor tile in snow white before. While I have a hard time believing that, I do know that the floor turned out nice. Some of the seams turned out a little more visible than I had hoped for, but we haven't given it a good cleaning yet, so it may improve. The install went pretty good. It basically consisted of spreading down some glue with a notched trowel and then setting the tiles in place. To finish things off I rolled the whole floor with a 100 lb floor roller. The bad news is that I was too tight with my measuring, and we ended up 3 tiles short. Luckily all the tile under the cabinetry is in place, so it won't hold us up at all. Rubber flooring available from your local Roppe dealer for $6 a square foot plus install. The kid approves.

I was searching Etsy the other day for modern Christmas items and came across Byrd and Belle's hand-stitched ornaments. These unique felt decorations are inspired by iconic pieces, like the George Nelson Ball Clock, and come with very friendly price tags. These lovely pieces are handmade by Angie Davis, an architect from Minneapolis. About Byrd and Belle: The items you see are brought to you from my live/work studio on an island in the middle of the Mississippi River in downtown Minneapolis. In real life, I am an architect and I crave the simple sophistication of modern architecture and design. Couple that with my rural upbringing surrounded by domestic crafts of sewing, stitching, and just general goodness and the result is found here.

Feeling smitten? Get some for yourself (or a friend): Modern felt ornaments in the shape of your favorite chair available from Byrd and Belle from $8 - $9.

While it may not look like much, our kitchen is coming along quite nicely. Those that follow me on twitter know that the rough plumbing and electrical have been done for a while now. Just this week we finished the drywall (not me really but the subcontractor) and last night I started priming the walls. I am particularly anxious to see how the Bocci 22 outlets turn out, so this morning I took a little peek. I think they are going to be really sweet! This weekend we hope to finish all the painting, and if all goes well, install our white rubber flooring too. I'll tweet my progress, including pictures on twitter.

While there are lots of other blogs that I follow, there are only a few that I can really strongly relate to. Atomic Indy is definitely one of those. Sticking with the true grassrootsmodern movement, Barrett recently bought a nice mid-centruy home, and has been completely redoing the interior of it. He recently has been getting his kitchen finished off, which included ripping down a wall and starting completely from scratch. You can see why I relate. They were lucky enough to get most of the kitchen done by Thanksgiving, and it's looking great!

Check out Atomicindy for more remodeling fun. Also make sure you drop by 100k house to see how the modern new construction in Philly is going. They are doing a great job of building a modern green home for a reasonable budget. SIP's are up and it's really starting to look great!

Check out 100k house.

If sad looking girls with blood-red lips are your thing (who isn't into that?) then check out Caitlin Shearer's work. I think her style is absolutely stunning. One part fashion illustration, one part 'kinda creepy'. This 19 year old Australian wonder has set up shop on Etsy and offers prints of her work in the range of $4.50 - $18.99. From now until Christmas, every order comes with a 'sweet secret surprise'. So head over to her shop now and pick up "more imaginary friends than you can fit in your pockets." Caitlin Shearer prints available on Etsy from $4.50 - $18.99.

Technorati Tags: Art, Etsy, Print

When it comes to contests, I never win anything, but that certainly doesn't stop me from entering. If you are feeling lucky this month make sure you stop by Dwell.com for their Holiday Sweeptakes were they give away a new item every day until Christmas. Entering is super quick and as long as you mark that you don't want info it should be fairly spam free. Because there is a prize every day unit the 25th, it gives me 22 more days to see just how unlucky I am.

Enter the Dwell Holiday Sweepstakes here.

A few years ago I was looking around for a portfolio case that would really impress - something with a big "wow" factor. I hit the mother load when I came across Paperhaus, a supplier of top notch, unique, and incredibly beautiful portfolios. Their motto, "every presentation deserves a haus", is spot on. I ordered this portfolio at the time and it really does feel like my work is in its own little modern cocoon. Since then, Paperhaus has significantly increased their supply, carrying cases from the likes of Lost Luggage, Case Envy, and Pina Zangaro, to name a few. Though some portfolios can carry a price tag of $150 or more, there are many affordable options that still command the attention your presentation deserves. Paperhaus offers an incredible variety of presentation cases and portfolios in nearly every type of material you can imagine - acrylic, metal, wood, felt, leather, and more. So if you're in the market, check out Paperhaus for any and all of your presentation needs! And P.S. They also carry journals, writing instruments, home and office accessories, bags, and even furniture!

Technorati Tags: Art, Print

Many of you have probably heard of Jenn Ski and if you haven't, well, you're about to. I first saw her work on Etsy after following a trail of other artists I liked. I was immediately enamored with the organic, mid-century inspired designs that find their way in to much of her work. At times it feels like you're staring at a series of amoebas - all with the most stunning color palettes! If you're feeling smitten with these quirky little shapes, you're in luck. Jenn's work is surprisingly affordable and can be obtained through her website, www.jennski.com, or from her Etsy shop. For exclusive prints, stop by Vitamin D(esign).

About Jenn:

Jenn Ski is an award-winning graphic designer and artist, with a passion for modern and mid-20th century art and design. In her work, she strives to balance these seemingly unrelated forces. The result is artwork that, while beautifully delicate, is incredibly sophisticated and, in one word, cool.

In 2007, she decided to dedicate full-time to her artwork. Jennski.com opened in June of 2007, offering her original pieces, as well as giclée prints of her digital art.

Technorati Tags: Art, Mid Century Modern, Print

Here is a great combination of shelves and wall graphics that would look great in a kids room. Designed by Thorunn Arnadottir this shelf creates a 3D tree by using various shades of green painted on the wall, as well as the abstract shaped shelving. Unfortunately there is no off the shelf solution (pun intended) if you want to make your own, but with a bit of creativity it could turn into a fun little DIY project. For inspiration check out Thorunn Arnadottir's site.

One of the things that I am really excited to do in our new kitchen is install our Bocci 22 outlets. I had seen these outlets a long time ago on Apartment Therapy, and loved the look of them. We had one spot in our kitchen that necessitated us putting an outlet in a very visible space, and we wanted to pretty it up a little. A phone call to our local Bocci dealer revealed that these beautiful minimalist outlets weren't too expensive. We ended up getting single outlets (just one plug) on accident, but I think it will turn out alright. Our price was $16 each, which isn't too bad in the grand scheme of things. One of the most expensive parts was the tool that you need to be able to remove the outlet part from the box which was $40. I had a chance to do phase 1 of the install last night so I snapped some pics. Everything went pretty smooth, and I can't wait to see what they look like after the drywaller comes today.

Congratulations to Wes from South Carolina for their winning entry "The Kitchen that Google Built". Wes was able to do an amazing job on his kitchen through a lot of hard work and searching out the best deals online. He poured his own concrete countertops and did an amazing job transforming the space. The before and after photo's truly are amazing.

Second prize goes to "Simple, Modern, Functional". It was a close race for second, and in the end it came down to just 3 votes separating 2nd place from 3rd. 2nd place winner Summer from Scottsdale did an equally impressive job of transforming her space. She was able to turn her dark south western kitchen into a beautiful open modern kitchen for just 10k.

A special thank you to all those that entered and shared their knowledge on how to redo a modern kitchen on a budget. I know I have definitely gleaned some ideas for our kitchen remodel.

We've been watching the classifieds for a while now to see if we could get any good deals on some of our kitchen appliances. We finally had some good luck the other day when we stumbled across this Siemens Avant Garde hood for only $450. It's 36" wide and normal prices are well above $1,000, so we feel like we got a pretty sweet deal. I actually really like the minimalist shape of it too. We have drywallers coming in tonight to patch up the whole kitchen, hopefully they will be done by this weekend. We will probably start painting and putting in our Roppe rubber flooring sometime next week. Things are finally starting to come together. One of the last things on the list is to order our countertops. We decided to go with laboratory counters from Trespa. At a quoted price of $15 a square plus fabrication, you just can't beat the price.

I ran across Alexei Vella's retro-styled illustrations the other day and was really impressed. His work takes inspiration not only from vintage comics and cartoons, but anything from pop art to pulp posters. Vella's work, often filled with social or political commentary, displays a certain wit and intelligence that I find irresistible.

From his website:

Alexei Vella specializes in creating images that are both striking and complex, sensual yet undeniably intellectually involving. In order to achieve this unique look, Vella employs a complex colour palette, an eclectic application of graphics and texture, and a sophisticated use of antiquated surfaces. Appropriating the colloquial iconography of popular retro forms to an emboldened modern sensibility, Vella's work has achieved international recognition appearing in a variety of exhibitions and print.

To see more of Alexei's work, go to www.alexeivella.com.

Technorati Tags: Art, Mid Century Modern

In high school I used to work at a small local toy store. We carried a lot of great products, but one of my favorites were the wooden trains by Brio. It looks like Brio is good at more than trains. If these simple wooden cribs are made as well as their other products, they are sure to be bomber. It would be interesting to compare the build quality with some of Ikea's budget cribs. The bad news is that it doesn't look like these cribs are sold at any US retailers. At £170 including mattress, it seems like it would be a pretty great value.

Available from Panik Design for £170.00. Anybody know a US retailer?