tiles

Dept of Unintended Purposes: Soapstone Tile as Flame Tamer

In a moment of random small-stakes invention that occurs often around here, the soapstone sample that I ordered when considering the material for countertops proved the perfect flame tamer/heat diffuser.

Rosemary, Lemon and Pepper Focaccia

There is probably no hors d’oeuvres more universally loved than focaccia: really good chewy pizza dough baked with flavorings that excite the appetite.

Focaccia is easy to make, the possible flavorings infinite. My all-time favorite is this Rosemary, Lemon and Pepper Focaccia I learned from Kevin Taylor when he was chef of Zenith American Grill in Denver years ago.

Signs and Blessings Hidden In Floors or Walls

When you look at the image of the bathroom in Improvised Life’s budget renovation, you’d never guess what lies hidden under the tumbled marble floor tiles the contractor generously donated. While I was choosing just the right mix of tiles —marble itself is so varied, each tile was different — I thought of a slight addition I’d…

A Cheap Chic Hardwood Floor Solution

When we saw this Parisian flat in Design Milk, we were intrigued more by the floors than by the slanted shelves built into each “space” of the sprawling apartment. Short lengths of hardwood flooring are almost always less expensive than longer lengths, but, when laid out in the traditional, end-to-end pattern often LOOK cheap and…

Jagged or Unfinished as a Design Element

We’ve long been fans of “broken geometries”, the purposeful leaving of design elements unfinished, uneven, or even broken, to create a visual surprise. Recently Remodelista did a roundup of some fine examples.

Purposely Askew Tiles on Floors and Walls

“Breaking the expected pattern” is an ongoing theme that is threaded throughout Improvised Life, in all aspects of our lives. It tends to show most concretely in interiors, in floors and walls.

Jars (and other Glass) Labeled with Markers

Good idea: use water-based, all-surface Uni-Posca markers to label glass canning jars (they come in different point thicknesses and colors). When you change the contents, just wash the jar. We’d use these markers for other glass and mirror markings…

cement, not tiles, in the bath…and elsewhere

There is no getting away for my thing for cement. Fantasies of making things out of it abound in ‘improvised life’s archives and for years Working with Cement was in the stack of books on my bedside table. When I was renovating what was to become ‘improvised life’s Laboratory, I contemplated surrounding the tub in…