Alexander Calder mobile look alike

I have always loved Alexander Calder's abstract mobiles. In New York's MOMA they have huge versions and they would never fit in a normal person's home and the reproductions have always been expensive and often a poor reproduction. However, enter CB2, a favored alternative to Ikea and voila' my Calder mobile reproduction that's going to fit in my home and is affordable at $19.95!

Here's the CB2 version:

Can I make a Knoll credenza???

I sort of am in love with this one and think that I could probably make it. I am thinking different colors....

The search for the perfect credenza....

Oh dear my seach continues. I have been looking at new credenza's and found some of these that are somewhat in the right price range. This one is actually pretty great. It's from Macy's and affordable, consisdering... I wish that I could find this at a thrift store since it well, looks like it could be found at a thrift store perhaps a few years ago before the credenza craze happened.

This was on a website from a design school and was a project someone did. It seems like one I could make, yes?

But really, why can't I find one exactly like THIS!???? Well, I did find it on Etsy for $2000 which is much more than I can afford. Oh well...

Some beautiful book art

My dear friend nudged me the other day and suggested highlighting some beautiful art found on classic book covers. Penguin has been publishing such classics since 1935; dating back to hot metal and letter press style print being the norm. Their in house designers have changed throughout the years but they've started reaching out to new designers that are not perhaps that typical Penguin Classic look that we're all so familiar with. In college reading the classics I probably owned over a dozen Penguin texts, however none as beautiful as these. Otherwise I may have actually kept them through all those moves....

A nice Ikea hack

Great idea but not quite what I am looking for. I want something that's a little more rich and warm. I prefer to have a credenza that's got more history or at least feels like it came out of a magazine in 1963.

some credenza's to make

I really like this one, but it's a matter of finding the perfect record cabinet and gutting it. It's all about the bones of the piece, yes?

http://www.unplggd.com/unplggd/how-to/how-to-make-your-own-record-collection-storage-unit-101052

Oh me oh my, somebody help me find...

The perfect credenza to be all mine. Yep, not really a poet here, but all fun aside. This is some serious serious business. For the last year I have been on an unaccomplished mission to find the perfect credenza for my living room to put the TV on and store away unsightly electronics and junk really. I have added a picture of my space including the entire living room to give you an idea of what I am sort of needing (okay, fine, wanting).

So, with that I am going to be hoping to get some suggestions and feedback. I am going to start posting credenza's both ones for purchase and of course those that you can make!

Check out my friend's new blog

http://bowsandsparrows.blogspot.com/

Erin, one of my nearest and dearest has started a new blog about her love of birds and all things beautiful that she likes and or aspires to do. Of course her professional writing skills add to the fun too. Please take a peek at her blog.

Poladroid

If you're at all human you're aware of the phenomenon of the Polaroid camera than you're also aware that they're phasing out their film leaving us connoisseurs sans pictures. It's so sad that it will be the end of an era for so many of us. Not to fret, Poladroid is a simple free download that allows you to take your digital pics and put them "through" your Poloadroid on your desktop (including the ubiquitous Polaroid sound) and voila' your picture's transformed into a beautiful Polaroid like pic with the white frame and saturated colors that make us all swoon!

Cranky Chef

So my friend Caroline has a blog that's all about food. I know that a lot of people do, but hers has some very imaginative creations that are very inspiring. A lot of simple recipes that are healthy and don't require several different stores to pick up ingredients. Please take a peek, she will greatly appreciate it. Look forward to seeing her more frequent postings in August when she returns from some European travels. Here's her romano pepper breadsticks and creamy red pepper dip. I would like some right now!

Long time absentee

I am sorry for not being on here for what amounts to a half a year. It's funny how winter makes me hibernate and not do many projects. You would think knitting, sewing, drawing would take place during the cold winter. I don't have that much to show for my winter since, well the closest to creation I have made involves: cooking, some basic clothing alterations that make okay things a little better, a few photo albums finally completed and life getting in the way of creativity. I realize that this is a very very unhealthy thing that has happened and I vow to not let it happen again. I am back and I am ready to make things that will make me and hopefully you happy. Here's a picture of a fun winter activity that brought me some serious happiness. There's nothing better than white snow on a warm winter day shared with friends. xoxo RDR

LA inspiration

A few things I saw and loved and wanted to share with you. Park LaBrea is getting a pretty update that I just adored including adding new focal points on the building, adding color and acentuating the awesome doorways. Fortunately a certain dear friend of mine will be having a baby here in a month and I will have to come down to visit her. Oh darn.

duh a link to my design sponge before and after

It's a little bit back now on their site, apologies!
http://www.designspongeonline.com/2008/08/before-and-after-rosemarys-chair.html

Oh my gosh, I am on Design*Sponge today!

So today after some conversations with Grace over at Design*Sponge I was so overjoyed to see I fit the bill to be shown on her fabulous website. If you haven't checked it out yet please do. There are many fun ideas of things to create, places to see, and many homes to dream living in. I hope that you visit her site and support her. I will continue to try to submit projects to her for sure.
ps. If you couldn't tell, this made my day!!!!!









*** Here's a little bio of the site if you aren't familiar (I got this off their "about" section, check out how awesome Grace is!) ***

Design*Sponge is a daily website dedicated to home and product design run by Brooklyn-based writer, Grace Bonney. Launched in August of 2004, Design*Sponge features store and product reviews, sale and contest announcements, new designer profiles, trend forecasting and store/studio tours. In addition, Design*Sponge features a unique section dedicated to covering student design, national and international design shows. The site is updated constantly throughout the day (with an average of 6-10 posts a day), and attracts a core group of devoted readers. Design*Sponge currently has over 30,000 daily readers



Design*Sponge editor Grace Bonney has a unique angle on the industry, working as a contributing editor at Domino Magazine and CRAFT magazine, and as a freelancer with top publications like House and Garden, New York Home, Food and Wine, In Style, Better Homes and Gardens, New York Magazine, CITY Magazine, Time Out New York Kids, Archinect, The New York Post, Everyday with Rachael Ray and others. In addition, she wrote a weekly design column for the Philadelphia Inquirer for two years and has worked as Style Editor of HGTV’s Ideas Magazine.
In addition, Grace has been a featured guest on Good Morning America and the Martha Stewart Radio Show and has been invited to speak with wide variety of organizations ranging from design schools to professional trade organizations. Recent engagements: “Design and the Media” (RISD, 2007), “Getting Your Work Online” (SCAD, 2007), “Design and the Internet” (AIGA, 2007), Design and Marketing Online (FIT, 2008), and Design Panel Discussion (SURTEX, 2008).
Grace also runs a national series of meetups for women running design-based businesses called the D*S Biz Lady Series. Grace hosts and speaks at these events designed to connect local designers and provide free advice on the subjects of PR/marketing, legal concerns, business/financial decisions and wholesaling. Meetings have been held in Brooklyn, Chicago, Philadelphia, Portland, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles with 6 additional cities coming in 2008.

Patio set from start to finish

These are the after pictures of our patio set...


So this is what I started with. We needed a patio set to eat dinners outdoors on hot evenings. I didn't realize to find a nice patio set you would be paying quite a bit of money. Last week on a fun visit to a suburban thrift store we found this 3 piece set for $40, which was much less than I was thinking I was going to spend! The great thing also about this set is that it folds up so it's easy to transport in my trunk. I was sold!!! I just knew I had to use some imagination, usually in the form of color to make this piece pop.


I started by washing the set in a mild detergent to get off dust, some rust and some grease.
Next upon recommendation by my favorite Mom & Pop hardware store was told to make a 50-50 concoction of white vinegar and water and spray the set down for maximum paint stick. This helps you avoid primer! I left this outside to dry which was really quick since it was 90 degrees outside. Here I am sprayiing down the table. This photo certainly shows the rust better too.
Here's the Krylon Satin Touch in "Catalina Mist". I ended up using almost 4 cans. I was told this holds on both metal and the plastic arm rests.

Overall I am very happy with the end results and think that the small amount of paint really made this table perfect for us!~