Waste Bin - Grace Youngeun Lee
By stepping on the pedal, the bin opens towards you- yet the cover remains stationary. This natural motion is emphasized through a graphic division of color and material.
This minimalist waste bin was designed by Grace Youngeun Lee for one of her MFA projects at the Cranbrook Academy of Art. Not sure if it will ever go into production, but it's a beautiful design nonetheless!
With a two year old in the house the need for some melamine dinnerware has become a simple fact of life. I'm normally a big fan of melamine, it's cheap and can be very attractive. At least I thought it was cheap. Looking around at some of the "modern" examples from Jonathan Adler, French Bull and even Pop Ink show prices upwards of $9 for one plate. I admit they are all really good looking plates, but is it too much to ask for a simple plate for a messy two year old that doesn't cost over $5? Luckily while I was at Target on Monday we were able to score some decent looking plates. They may not be as hip as some, but the price was right.
Melamine plates from Target, set of 4 for $15.
Anyone know any other cheap but hip melamineware?
Every now and again IKEA hosts a "Seize the Days" event, where for one or two or three days only, some popular item is on sale for a ridiculously low price. This weekend, the ever popular POÄNG chair is on sale for a mere $40, over 50% off the original (and already scant) price tag. Not bad at all. Other highlights includeEXPEDIT bookcases for $50, RITVA curtains for $10, and free breakfast all weekend long. Sale starts Saturday, May 23rd and goes through Monday, May 25th. [The POÄNG chair deal is only good on Saturday, the 23rd]
Hopefully everyone here has already heard of McMaster-Carr. They are a sort of do it yourself industrial superstore. With over 480,000 products, there is a good chance that they have what you need, if only you could find it. I know that there are some great treasures amongst those 480,000 items. I almost bought some track for a sliding door from them once, and seriously looked at some of their faucets too. If you have been brave enough to wade through all the 480,000 products and found some good ones, we want to know.
What are your favorite items from McMaster-Carr?
Do you have any other similar websites with great finds?
The human mind is a crazy place and I would love to get inside Damon Soule's head for a day. His work is cerebral and surreal and entropic - it blows my mind, that's for sure. See more of his work at damonsoule.com. If you're in San Francisco, stop by Fecal Face Gallery, where Damon's work will be exhibited until June 6th.
As if there weren't already enough scrumptiously addicting online sales I recently received an invite to Guilt Groupe. Guilt Group is "a private online community, providing members with access to coveted fashion and luxury lifestyle brands at sample sale prices." While they do have a strong emphasis on mens and womens fashion, what I am really excited about is the small but quality home section which has goodies with prices marked down as much as 70%. For example today at noon they have a bunch of stuff from Areaware that goes on sale. Everything is first come first serve but they are kind enough to let you know when certain things are going on sale so you can mark your calendar. If you want to check it out for yourself you can create an account through my invite page http://www.gilt.com/invite/creede It is invite only, but all members have unlimited invites. Plus if you invite a friend and they buy something you get at $25 credit. Not too shabby.
Get an account at Gilt Groupe to check out all the deals.
Let us know in the comments what you think.
I'm a sucker for a nicely designed mortar and pestle. I don't really know why, either. I've just always found them to be so incredibly beautiful, even the sound of the spices and herbs being ground between the pestle and mortar is strangely soothing. I have a few already in a small collection, but I would love to have this white marble version designed by Laurence Brabant for the Eno collection. The Pile grinder is simply exquisite and is available from twentytwentyone for about £42 (roughly $63).
The Eames Case Study House No. 8 is perhaps one of the great iconic mid-century modern homes. Built in 1959 by Charles and Ray Eames the home became their permanent residence for their entire lives. According to John Entenza founder of Case Study House, the Eames house "represented an attempt to state an idea rather than a fixed architectural pattern." All thumbnails above are from the Eames Foundation and full size prints from 5 x 7 to 16 x 20 can be purchased from their website.
...from the personal collection of Matte Stephens! He has quite a lovely grouping, including the original 1955/56 Herman Miller Catalog. Check out the rest of his design collection on his Flickr page.
Check out Matte's work at www.matteart.net.
I first heard about Edgar Blazona when he released the incredibly affordable plans for his MD 100 modular dwelling. Since then he has released several other affordable DIY modern spaces and started up a furniture company True Modern that has simple modern affordable bedding and furniture. It looks like he is branching out and getting ready to do some lovely upholstered pieces like the sofa renderings shown here.
While they are not in production yet, based on other offerings from Blazona you can expect the couches to be relatively affordable and well constructed. He is planning three different style and having them available in 5 different colors. If they turn out anything like the renderings I have a feeling I'm going to love them.
Just ran across Krista Peel's work and thought I'd share. I really love her series of interior paintings, featuring modern furniture and abstracted shapes or splatters of color. The pieces in her "Small Paintings" portfolio are also great - especially the "I Went to LA and All I Got Was This Lousy Painting Idea" series, which is a beautiful exploration of color. Be sure to check out the rest of her portfolio - she has a lot of awesome work up.
About Krista:
Krista Peel was born in Saugatuck, MI and raised in Cheyenne, WY. She received her BFA from the School of the Art Institute in Chicago, IL in 1996. Since then, she has shown in galleries throughout the U.S., and been featured in newspapers, magazines, blogs and tv, including the Chicago Tribune, The Chicago Reader, New City Magazine, and HGTV.
She has lived in Chicago, IL, Denver, CO, San Francisco, CA, Casper, WY, Bloomington, IN and currently lives in Philadelphia, PA. The only thing she likes more than traveling is painting. And drawing. Also jewelry making. And discussing movies. Ooo, and tiki drinks.
Prints and small original paintings available from her Etsy Shop - $12 to $225.
Other original paintings - contact the artist directly.
Hopefully all of our readers have been following the 100K house build in Philadelphia. The are just finishing up the home 1,150 square foot LEED platinum home which through a lot of determination and hard work they were able to build for under $100,000 in hard construction costs. While they are still finishing up some of the final touches they had photographer Sam Oberter snap some shots of the home for an up coming article. The home is looking amazing, make sure you check out all the photo's after the jump.
The Jodlowa House is definitely an eye-catcher with its seemingly endless glass walls. I would love such an uninterrupted view - and an indoor pool! Designed by PCKO Architects, the home somehow manages to find privacy in one of Poland's largest and oldest cities, Kraków.
OK, sometimes it's fun to post something that is just a little bit ridiculous. Like these designer axes from Best Made Co. for their Spring 2009 Collection. (I didn't know axes had seasonal 'collections', but apparently they do.)
About:
These beauts are hand forged and tempered in Maine by one of America’s oldest axe companies. The handles are made of 30" American hardwood and hand painted and polished in New Jersey. Each axe is hand engraved with Best Made's signature X mark. Wood grains are unique to every handle. Every axe is made to order. The axe you buy is a true original.
So if you know a lumberjack who reads GQ, then these axes are for him. If he's rich enough to drop the cash on more than one of these designer tools (prices range from $200 - $550), there is a handy, felt-lined, custom made box available to house the collection.
The bedroom remodel downstairs is moving along nicely with about 95% of the drywall being hung over the weekend. We hope to be painting in a week or two. While we have most of the details for the room figured out, one that has been lingering is the choice of door knobs. When it comes to looks, we definitely prefer levers, but knobs are much more childproof. So here is the challenge. Show us your favorite non-lever door knobs. You comments and links will be very much appreciated.
As an asides I noticed in my friends mid-century home he has some flush doorknobs that use a sort of recessed vertical lever to release the latchset. Has anyone ever seen something similar to this? So far my online searches have come up completely empty handed. I did find some pocket door latches (pictured above) but I don't know that they would really work with our application.
Really beautiful home from Australian architecture firm Jackson Clements Burrows. The Armadale House was an alterations and additions project to an existing Victorian home that had been previously renovated in the 80s. The project involved a complete refurbishment on the existing structure as well as an addition of a new upper level. This upper level was divided into two private zones for the children and parents. While it definitely looks great from the outside, I'm most excited about that gorgeous white kitchen! And that master bath!
See more projects here!
The great thing about kids furniture is that the price is usually as diminutive as the furniture is. I was trolling around Targets website and noticed that they had some decent looking kids furniture for next to free. The pink "modern chair" is currently on sale for $59 (or in red for $64) and the Jacobsen ant chair inspired "stacking chair" is only $24. Both of them look like a great deal considering the price, hopefully they can hold up to the abuse of a kid.
There are some really great pieces available right now on Tiny Showcase. I'm rather fond of Caroline Hwang and Mike Bertino's work. But what I'd really love to get my hands on is the 10 Beasts! box set.
Each of the ten images in this editioned box set was created by a Beasts! contributor specifacally for the set and pressed by letterpress artist Dan Wood. The print collection is housed in a hand-crafted portfolio box created by If'n Books + Marks with a two-color glow-in-the-dark jacket design by Beasts! designer Jacob Covey. Each of the one hundred box sets contains ten letterpress prints printed on 100% cotton Somerset Velvet paper. Measuring 7" square, the prints are larger than a normal Tiny Showcase print and come blind debossed with the artist's name and the edition number. Each portfolio box is hand numbered to match the debossed numbering on the artwork it contains.
Sigh. That sounds AMAZING. 
About Tiny Showcase:
Tiny Showcase was created by Jon Buonaccorsi and Shea'la Finch in November of 2004. Each week we pick a new piece of tiny artwork and turn the work into a limited-run print production. Each run is printed on archival Hahnemühle German Printmaking Paper. The archival ink is specially treated and sprayed, giving it an archival lifespan of over 60 years. You sort of need to see the end product to get the full effect, but each piece really is a beautiful specimen.
Limited-Edition Prints available from Tiny Showcase - Starting at $8.
P.S. If you aren't familiar with the Beasts! project/books, check them out on Fantagraphics (here and here). I was lucky enough to get them for my birthday this last year!
.
For some reason good quality letterpress never gets old to me. 12fifteen is run by German born Johanna Anderes who now resides in Connecticut after spending some time in Switzerland and South Africa. 12fifteen has a great collection of coasters and notecards all of which are quite affordable.
Available on the 12fifteen Etsy page from $12 - $18.
Profess your undying love/obsession with this print from Etsy shop BlueSkyClouds. Printed in mid-century inspired colors, this typographic print goes for a cool $7.
Celebrate your love of Eames (both of them).
Printed on smooth, matte, heavyweight paper measuring 8.5" x 11". Can be trimmed to fit any standard 8" x 10" frame or mat opening.