Looking for some last minute gift ideas for the that mid century modern enthusiast in your life? Nothing says happy holidays like a mug right? Arts & Architecture has a nice collection of mugs for $7 and magazine cover reprints starting at just $25. What's your favorite print?
MCM mugs and prints from Arts & Architecture starting at $7
Felt obsession: complete.
About:
This is Kula – the first Normann Copenhagen product made in Iceland. Kula is a series of felt wall hooks and trivets made by the Icelandic textile designer Bryndis Bolladottir, who explains: Kula is all about integrating my craft with resources found on Iceland. It was obvious and natural for me to use felted wool. As a textile designer, it is always interesting to create new designs by taking a quite simple shape and playing with it to create new areas of use. The Kula series radiates an immediacy, with a playful and joyous expression.
Each ball is a unique piece. Available in black, petroleum, and purple.
Kula Hooks from Normann Copenhagen: €26
And there goes my productivity for the day.
Product Wars is a website developed by the people behind Designer Pages. The concept is simple and genius. Take popular products like the Barcelona chair or the Stark 1 toilet and put them in a voting battle head to head with the competition. You get to pick your favorite, and see how you compare to the rest of the design snobs enthusiasts out there.
Hellooooo beautiful! These clean, modern cutting boards are handmade in Portland by Carthagh Craft and Design from salvaged maple, with a strip of walnut inset on two edges. There's no denying these lovely blocks would look amazing in any modern kitchen. Available individually in two sizes or as a set (for a discount).
Much to my delight 2011 is just around the corner. I'm officially declaring it the year of fresh starts, where anything is possible and the sky is the limit. Yeah, I'm an optimist. To keep track of all your new opportunities you may need to pick up a new desk calendar, and Redbean has a doozy. It comes packed with illustrations, great colors and even a easel style display case. Just what you need to help you conquer 2011 with style.
I have been lusting over Barbara Hill's modern interiors ever since I first discovered her work (which, for the record, was last week). One of my favorite spaces is this restored dance hall in Marfa, Texas, which Barbara resides in about half of the year. It's a unique combination of South Western, Scandinavian, and Contemporary styles - and it totally, totally works for me. What do you think?
LINK: barbarahilldesign.com
More pics after the jump.
P.S. Bonus points if you spotted a Felt Shade Light in this home!
You have the perfect gift picked out for that special someone, now you just need to get it ready to go under the tree. These modern tree & ornaments gift tags are just the thing to put the finishing touches on your package. Each set of 10 comes with a green ribbon pre attached and will only set you back a measly $3.
Modern gift tags assammons' Etsy shop. $3
Hung outside or in, this mod bottle lantern is gorgeous through and through. I'd love it inside for the winter to add a little bit of shine and festiveness, and then outside in the garden when the weather turns nice. Fits standard tea lights and can be hung or set on a solid surface.
Mod Bottle Lantern from Sprout Home: $36.75
You know, sometimes we just like weird stuff, like food pods and gnomes... or tooth vessels. And that's okay. Besides, you've got to admit that there's something charming about this little porcelain molar, whether as a tooth pick holder or an addition to your curio cabinet. (Or, as Brooklyn Rehab suggests, a container for kids to collect lost teeth, which seems a little creepy. Is that a thing? If it is, you'll be happy to know it comes with a cork lid as well, to keep whatever strange bits you're storing safe.) Handmade porcelain glazed white.
Tooth Vessel by Brooklyn Rehab available from Domestica: $24
I may be geeking out on design in NY but that doesn't mean my heart isn't still in SLC, and I'm in love with this house. It is literally kitty corner from my old home up in Olympus Cove and I remember swooning over it for many a day. I have never seen the inside, but pictures don't do the exterior justice. Besides having a great design, great lot (can you say stream?) it has a great price too. The $299,000 price tag reflect the fact that it may need a little work, but I would take an original 50's interior over a 80's remodel any day. More pics and some details after the jump, or see it on utahrealestate.com.
Affordable MCM in Olympus Cove
Untouched Mid-Century Modern-style home, where form follows function. Designed by the creator of Dale Boots ski boots and built from Inland Steel, concrete, and green quartzite rocks with petrified lichen quarried from the Park Valley quarry in Northern Utah. The design is two boxes that come together at 19 degrees on a pie-shaped lot. There is the original old growth wood panel mahogany wall inside, and each window was designed to have views of the surrounding area and/or for passive solar heat. The owner lovingly built this himself, and welded each piece of steel roofing to the I-beams in the roof and floor over a period of six months of construction in 1958, and added a steel shed hidden in the back yard. (He originally worked for Inland Steel). An additional solarium was added to the kitchen to jut diners out into the private back yard. The basement walks out and could potentially have a mother in law apartment. There is 6†of Styrofoam insulation between the roof decking and the tar and gravel roof for extra comfort. The downstairs vents are covered with rounded pegboard There's a terrazzo hearth on the main floor and a fireplace down Olympus Creek runs through the back yard scrub oak for two months in the Summer. This home is a treasure of this style of construction, lovingly built and ready for the right buyer to restore it and modernize it. Sold in as-is condition, but livable now!
Square Feet On Each Floor
Floor 1: 1556 sq. ft.
Basement: 1140 sq. ft.
Total: 2696 sq. ft.
Lot Size In Acres
Acres: 0.23
Summer shot from Google maps.
This beautiful laser-cut desk clock is made from everyone's favorite eco-material: bamboo! With definite MCM vibes, it comes flat packed and easily assembles by pressure fit - no glue or hardware required. The back of the clock also functions as storage for loose coins or any other small items. Reversible black or white clock hands allow for a little customization - if you want to go buck wild, I suppose you could even paint them yourself!
Eco-Retro Desk Clock by Vector Cloud available from Domestica: $58
I always love sleek subtle ceramics with a pop of hidden color. Fleet objects has a great collection of containers that are a lovely flat white exterior available with a white, mint, light blue, dark blue or light gray interior. They are available in a variety of sizes and shapes and come with or without lids. Pricing is very reasonable.
Man, West Elm is slaying it these days. They've had some seriously, seriously cool things lately - have you noticed? I know we've been gushing about them a lot lately, but it's sorta impossible not to with collections like this. The Pratt Collection combines eucalyptus wood in a walnut stain with white powder-coated steel, mixed together with sleek lines and modern angles. Talk about a slam dunk. I am in love!
Pratt Collection from West Elm includes: LED Table Light - $129 | Desk - $299 | Office Chair - $149 | Filing Cabinet - $179
It's 2011 calendar-buyin' time, you guys! Can you believe it? I mean it's Thanksgiving today. That's pure craziness. (Happy Thanksgiving, by the way.) I don't know where 2010 went, but at least with a fun wall calendar like this one, I can keep track of 2011. Right? Right.
This double-sided wall calendar is 9” x 24” and only available in a limited edition of 250. Get on it!
Wall calendar by ValéryDesignWrks: $17
Looking for a little eye candy to keep you busy as we go into Thanksgiving weekend? My friend recently turned me on to Darco, a portuguese architectural magazine that is available online. It has a decent online viewer, some amazing homes, and text in both english and portuguese. I really appreciate how it includes decent floorplans and elevations with every home so you can really get a good sense of the space. There are 16 issues available online for your viewing pleasure. That should just about get you through your post turkey stupor tomorrow.
Design Fetish said it best: "Dual geekery - Star Wars and typography at the same time. Impressive!" Who knew it could be done? Well, other than a slew of nerdy graphic designers and typographers, of course.
Star Wars Typography Posters
Advertising Agency: H-57 Creative Station, Milan, Italy
Creative Director: Matteo Civaschi, Gianmarco Milesi
Account Director: Sabrina Di Gregorio
Typographer: Matteo Civaschi
[via fourspace]
My new place at Patrick Lofts is in desperate need of some art work, but unfortunately funds are low. I have a couple ideas in the works, but one novel new option that caught my eye was Turning Art. You can think of Turning Art as a netflix account for art. For as little as $10 a month you get a framed print shipped to your door, and you can switch it out for another print every couple of months. If you pay $20 you can have new art whenever you want. To make things even better, every dollar you spend earns you credit towards an original work of art. Convinced yet? I just may be.
Leave it to those brilliant folks at Normann Copenhagen to make something like a toilet brush aesthetically appealing. I always just get those crap 99¢ ones from IKEA (pun not really intended), but the Ballo brush is way cooler. Plus, did I mention that it wobbles? The rounded bottom is weighted so that it never falls over, but 'dances' in place ('ballo' means 'dance' in Italian). You know, in case you wanted to play with a toilet brush..? Who knows?
Ballo Toilet Brush by Normann Copenhagen available from Scandinavian Design Center: $56
Great video made from retro commercials and public information films, with a remixed version of Dream Kitchen by Frazier Chorus
Have a great weekend!