Of all the shipping pallet creations we’ve come across, this has to be one of the most stylish. It is curiously reminiscent of Le Corbusier’s famous chrome-and-black-leather Grand Confort chair. In pallet wood! It is one of the many brilliant hacks and revisions we’ve seen of the iconic, now-uibiquitous chair… …since we came across interior designer…
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Chris Eldredge sent us this image of “Écoute”, the massive sandstone sculpture by Henri de Miller in Paris’ jardin des Halles, near the church of Saint-Eustache. In French, Écoute means “listen”. It got us thinking about just how powerful a practice listening is, and how varied its powers are:
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(Video link HERE.) Just as we were writing out post decrying the ubiquitous pendant lamp, Susan Dworski sent us this charmer of a short film. Sparked, a collaboration between Cirque du Soleil, ETH Zurich and Verity Studios creates an unexpected dance between a human and 10 quadcopters (drones). It’s a bit slow until 1:41 when the magical…
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When we were designing the kitchen for the laboratory, we wired the ceiling above the island expecting to hang two or three pendant lamps. But when we got to selecting them, we realized we dislike pendant lamps for the way they seem to intrude in the space, and because of the sameness of the look we…
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A while ago, we met an old friend for dinner who had recently lost his wife of sixty years. When we’d called to tell him we’d heard the news and to offer anything — to bring him food, come by to give him a hug, take him out to dinner — THAT’S what he said he wanted:…
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Since I last posted the Vibrating Bed Mystery Contest Update in October, I’ve tried MANY solutions to toning down the vibration that shakes me awake in my bed each night. Sleep-deprived and desperate, I pursued fixes by trial-and-error while entering into deep research into the nature of vibration, how it travels, what materials amplify it…esoteric stuff for a lay person.
Then an engineer who had worked at the Mayo clinic took an interest in my dilemma, which led to a BIG adventure in pouring concrete, LEAPING into unknown territory and being willing to fail.
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Lately, we’ve been on the hunt for a practical pair of walking boots for our suddently-sensitive with a tender sprained tendon. “Tie shoes are best”, said the physical therapist, “for support”. Ugh. Combat boots seem a stylish possibility but so many seem kind of tough looking. Until we stumbled on a lovely solve: grosgrain ribbon…
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Marella Consolini, who has been reading Improvised Life years, sent us this email: The evidence of the impact that Improvised Life/you have had on my life is such that there is a new name that I have for certain types of experiences — “An Improvised Life Moment.” For example: this morning on the subway,…
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We recently stumbled on two images at Aqqindex simply titled “Alicia Nunez house”. We were knocked out by the feeling of the space and its many interesting ideas: concave ceiling and angled walls, built-in niches, bricks positioned sideways, a long ledge for sleeping and reading with more niches…the living area steps up, from shiny dark tile to a…
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Every once in a while, photographer Maria Robledo emails images she has made in-the-moment, in response to whatever was going on around her. They are invariably startling and illuminating; Maria sees like no one we know. Her way has opened our eyes over the years. This time, she showed us the marvels of root vegetables. While she was cutting the vegetables for soup (recipe to follow), she turned them into little still-lives with an unexpected whimsy.
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I love recipes I can make from whatever I have on hand, like this Rustic Root Vegetable Soup. It is made from refrigerator staples: long-keeping root vegetables – leeks, potatoes, celery root and parsnips – that retain their flavor and texture for weeks. Check out Maria Robledo’s still-life photographs to see just how beautiful and curiously-inspiring they…
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Artist, designer, craftsman, longtime friend Jamison Sellers solves a bit of the ethical wood-sourcing dilemma by delving into the world of shipping pallets. He explores these familiar, reclaimed objects on a much finer scale than most by collecting bits and pieces of coveted woods (and even again recycling his own shop scraps from past projects) to create ornamental patterning inspired…
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This quote reminded us of a stunning video of a 1950’s housewife who took part in an early LSD experiment. As the drug takes hold, she glories in the colors she sees and says “Everything is one. Can’t you see it?” Without taking LSD, we find there is still a great deal of unexpected beauty to see IF we practice noticing what’s around us.
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While we were mulling the theme of crumpled paper (or Tyvek) being employed in novel and useful ways, we stumbled on Japanese design studio Naoya Matsumoto Design‘s use of crumpled tracing paper to transform a Japanese gallery in Osaka into a cozy pop-up bar. Ahhh, a swell, inexpensive new decorating material we hadn’t thought of: like a sheer, crisp fabric…
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(Video link HERE.) 233 viral videos from 2014 spliced together make quite a view. We turned the sound off and watched people leaping…dancing…flying…balancing…mastering…diving…risking…challenging themselves physically… What about challenge? we wondered. We thought of the many difficult situations we faced this year that were internal and not filmable with a Go-Pro Camera: they were our private challenges. And…
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While we were browsing through photographer Prue Ruscoe‘s work, we came across this image of a what appears to be a garden shed or trailer painted (or stenciled) with huge butterflies. A lovely visual breath of air…
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We view painted floors as a canvas that can be embellished or changed as needed. Here are some examples of cool floor patterns you can paint on top of a painted floor, to shift the look or disguise damage or wear.
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On the this best year-end/New Year’s reflections is, as always, the New York Times’ Magazine’s The Lives They Lived, brief stories of incredibly original lives of famous and unknown that passed away in 2014. If you don’t have subscription access to the Times, use your free monthly read (whatever it is) to go here and scroll down the…
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Stomping around the park yesterday after a rain we looked DOWN and saw this unexpected message on the wet sidewalk: a potent bit of wisdom and fine reminder. TAKE ACTION INSPIRE CHANGE Random?
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