It was by climbing into the luxurious-looking tub at friends newly renovated brownstone that I identified a design-flaw that I’ve since seen repeated over and over again in shelter sites and magazines: A nice deep tub would be set into a surround of beautiful stone which would form an elegant finish around its edge. But…
Read Morewalking in circles to get out of your head (claire danes)
Varieties of Disturbance, a recent New York Profile about actress Claire Danes yields many intriguing and illuminating ideas about the processes involved in her famously “volcanic performances” (of late, most notably in Homeland). Among them, Dane’s passing mention of her occasional practice of walking in circles to get “out of her head”. If I have…
Read Moredouble dare: write proper english under pressure!
Recently, I got a second email from a reader who was clearly disturbed by my many mixups of ITS and IT’S. She tried to be nice about it, encouraging me to Blog On! after quoting the snippy but illuminating Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation: The confusion of the possessive “its” (no…
Read Morehome design strategy: finding perfection in imperfection
In many parts of the world that which is old and imperfect is more highly cherished and valued than that which is new. Brand new Turkish rugs are often abraded before selling, their colors softened by dealers eager to increase their price by having them appear imperfect, used, showing their history. In Persian, they call…
Read Moreonion flower ‘arrangement’ in an ugly beautiful vase
We are constantly amazed at our friend Maria Robledo‘s eye for off beauty. On a recent visit, we enjoyed this onion flower that had dried on its long stem, propped in a vase we would have called homely until we “saw” its surprising beauty. Maria’s arrangement had become a sculpture unto itself and crashed our…
Read MoreWhat To Do When Lost, Creatively or Professionally
Often as we curate content for Improvised Life, we’ll find that posts from different blogs and sites resonate with one another, as if finishing each other’s thoughts. Recently, an article in 99U about a driven entrepeneur feeling that his work was HIM seemed to echo what many people we know have struggled with: That their…
Read Morecool steel grating chair + our favorite catalogues for diy
This sculptural mesh chair ($2,000 at yliving.com) by designer Damien Velasquez has a deep, springy ergonomic seat. It looks to us like it was made from standard punched metal sheets used for grilles and other architectural applications. We checked one of our favorite catalogs for McMasters-Carr, and sure enough, that’s what it is. We wonder if Velasquez…
Read More9/11: remembering and honoring
Twelve years later on this day we reach across time to that moment. via The New York Times Related Posts: 9.11 the best memorial is in our hearts jane hammond’s leaf sculpture will shift your view of fall batali’s beautiful ‘fuck you’: a tale of 9/11
Read More10 rules for beginning a creative project
Found among painter Richard Diebenkorn’s papers after he died in 1993: ‘Notes to myself on beginning a painting’ (with the original punctuation). We find many to be just right for beginning just about ANY creative pursuit or project (some are mysterious). Like Chuck Close’s Notes to Self, they prove to be good advice for living:…
Read Morecheap + chic: how to install and paint plywood floors
When Remodelista recently featured a picture of the Laboratory’s painted plywood floors in Remodeling 101: Painted Plywood—The Best Budget Wood Floor, I figured it was time to show HOW my plywood floors actually were made, and to lend a little reality to what it takes to install and paint 1000 square feet of them. I love ’em, and…
Read More2 powerful practices for when times get really rough
We were struck by this passage from Eliza Griswold’s New York Times review of A House in the Sky: A Memoir, Amanda Lindhout’s heart-wrenching story of being kidnapped and held for 460 days in Somalia: To withstand her anguish, she recited a catalog of the small gifts for which she was grateful: “my family at…
Read Morerealm of possibility: custom digitallly-printed wall coverings
Having had a mother who was obsessed with busy, French-provinical wallpaper, I’ve always steered clear from any semblance of a wall covering. Until, that is, companies like HP devised a latex printer that will digitally print your own designs to make cool wall-coverings. A number of companies will help you do this…like New Era, 4walls, FlavorPaper. Apparently, the HP…
Read Morefound rocks as book ends, candle holders, still-life…more
We are BIG fans of using found rocks as utensils. Rocks hauled home from beach or forest have become paper weights, doorstops, toilet paper holder “bricks” for our bricked-chicken recipe, even a prop to keep a cactus standing upright. They float around the Laboratory; if not in a direct use, they make lovely still-lives. Wary…
Read Moregrapefruit: yoko ono’s book of instructions
Always on the lookout for things that shift our view and spark ideas, we were very happy to discover that Yoko Ono’s 1970 book Grapefruit: A Book of Instructions and Drawings by Yoko Ono has been reprinted. It is a FINE book of instructions— koan-like meditations that will, in fact, make you see a little…
Read Morerunning the race of your life!
From an April 28, 1934 NY Times photo: Jack Wolff of Manhattan College “running the race of his life.” That’s what it looks like: to be so flat-out…you’re almost flying. We’ve been mulling what the real “race of our life” has been, or is… ..and the times when we have given our all, flat-out,…
Read Morestaircase as bookshelf
Spotted at Desire to Inspire: this Alec Hemer‘s photograph of a flight of stairs whose extra room at the side makes a fine, surprising set of bookshelves. Related posts: staircase of succulents + succulent sculpture reverse-painted stairs (a carpet of wood) stairs in colors
Read Morediy: long wood shelves with wood brackets
Knowing that I am in the process of designing a wall of bookshelves with a berth-like murphy bed built-in, Maria Robledo sent me pictures of the bookshelves in Creative Director Anne Johnson’s country house. The simple wooden shelves are held up by triangular wooden brackets nestled into horizontal supports. It’s a way to have a…
Read Morecultivating gardens real and imaginary
Rooftop gardens are still blooming in cities everywhere. No matter how small or large our gardens, or how large or small we gardeners, we all share a farmer’s joys and vicissitudes, so delightfully illlustrated in this New Yorker cover by Ivan Brunetti entitled “Urban Bliss”. Poet Marianne Moore observed that poetry cultivates “imaginary gardens with real toads…
Read Morepaint-dipped wooden spoon
Heather Chontos puts her colourful spin on a fleamarket find, dipping an old wooden spoon in tangerine paint to transform a low-tech stirring implement into something…fab. It’s from a selection of homewares chosen by Will Taylor for The Simple Things. We’ve painted new wooden spoons this way but somehow hadn’t thought to do it with oldies-but-goodies. Why not…
Read Morechic, draped + wrapped sofa = instant slipcovers
These very beautiful cloth-draped sofas Max Zambelli teach an essential lesson: ordinary raw materials, artfully arranged, can easily outdo “done”. Zambelli has tucked and smoothed in just the right places, leaving the rest to fall as it may. It’s a chic play on drop cloth covered sofas. Of course, it has much to do with the shape…
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