For years, I thought this image was of a fireplace mantle and admired it for the swirly cutouts that softened the usual rectangle while maintaining a curious modernity. It’s an image from my file of wooden things quietly embellished with swirls, loops, curls, scallops. They give me ideas for my trove of uncut plywood, as do these from Brancusi, Blossfeldt, Margaret Bourke-White.
Read MoreHow Rice Paper Shades Give Their Blessing to a Room
In the messy digital file I keep of ideas for possible Improvised Life posts, I found trove marked simply “paper shades”. Their big message: A rice paper shade or two adds A LOT to even the most “undecorated” room. They have a unique, rather magical presence that pulls the room together. Here’s how.
Read MoreSoften an Angular Modern Space with Rounds
Many modern spaces, including our own Laboratory, suffer from having so many right angles, rectangles, linearity, that they can be a bit harsh. The simple solution is to shake them up with rounds, patterns, art. We love the solution in this image found at Bohemian Homes:
Read MoreNoguchi-esque Rice Paper Shade Light Hung LOW
On the heels of our post about Noguchi-esque Rice Paper Shade lighting, we spotted this one hung LOW to beautiful effect. It provides a round volume AND casts light where a table light would be.
Read MoreNoguchi-esque Rice Paper Shades Soften Modern Rooms
A recent house tour in Remodelista showed a cool, minimalist renovation of a 1940’s summer cottage in Denmark. The hard angles and rectangles so common (and problematic) with a modern aesthetic were softened by huge, translucent paper spheres hung from the ceiling, pioneered by Isamu Noguchi in the 1950’s. They’ve long been a favorite of ours because the…
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