how-to

Canvas Floor Mats, Inspired by Marisol

The jazzy black-and-white checkerboard “rug” that defines the living room of artist Marisol’s Tribeca loft reminded us a painted canvas floor cloth: practical, stylish and easy-to-make.

Instant Diary for Capturing Essential Memories

On the last night of 2016, we found this list on Kottke, a blog we’ve loved for years. It is just notations, really, almost stream of consciousness, of public and private experiences that powerfully sum up the year. It gave us an idea for simple way of keeping a diary, which we, like so many people we know, are too busy to do. We’re going to try it while the year is young.

Gift: Spring Bulbs for Effortless Blooms + Magic

I rely on spring bulbs for their ability to bring a breath of spring into our wintery lives slowly, miraculously, over several weeks.

Ikea’s Stylish Frosta Stool is BACK to Hack and Embellish

I have had a set of four Ikea stacking stools for years. The $14 version of the iconic $500 vintage Alvar Aalto stool has done stylish double-duty as extra seating, side table, surface for projects… in a number of spaces I’ve had. In my new space I built a nook just to store a stack of them…

Move Shit Forward Even If You Don’t Quite Know What You’re Doing

‘Move Shit Forward’ can be a great practice if you don’t know what you’re doing or where you need to be.

Foraged and Transformed: Branch Coat Rack

Find just the right branches, dry ’em out, trim to size, paint…. A hunk of forest indoors…

Loom Chairs, Tables…Reminders of the Adjacent Possible

We’re smitten with this chair by Pascal Anson, a wire frame with one thousand pieces of ribbon, rope and string that were individually tied it, creating upholstery and wondrous visuals. (And metaphorically, it is a reminder of the possibilities in the everyday, which we need right now).

Instant Costumes for Uncertain Halloween Parties

Arriving at a Halloween party in full costume when no one else is is kind of a drag…as is NOT wearing a costume when everyone else is (downer). How to dress for a Halloween party you aren’t sure if people are going to be in costume or not? Mira Keras found inspiration in member of the…

Clever Textile Ideas to DIY from a Restored Tuscan Convent

We found a number of simple ideas for textiles in photos of a former Tuscan convent restored by designer Holly Lueders and her daughter. Our favorites are this very do-able paneled bedskirt and a pillow cover fashioned like a gift.

DIY or Buy: Kitchen Knife Holder

We saw this knife holder in a friend’s kitchen and thought: seriously clever. It’s simply a tall, narrow box filled with vertically-standing wooden skewers. The skewers hold the knives in place without dulling the blade. Although we tracked down where you can buy one, the formula for making it yourself is simple…

Repair Strategy: Fierce Intention

After I did a sloppy job trying to disguise a torn seam in a prized sweater, I realized that seriously bold stitching would be a better solution. Turning a repair into a fierce intention works on all sorts of flawed and broken things…and people.

Useful Analog Method for Visualizing Designs + Patterns

We’ve long been enamored of quilter Denise Schmidt. Her minimalist work is rich with color, geometry, presence, and tends to be hung on wall as art works rather than put on beds. In her workshops, she teaches an analog method for laying out pattern that can be applied to home design as well.

Artful DIY Minimalist Aprons

This startlingly simple apron by Maison Martin Margiela suddenly made us SEE aprons for what they really are: a piece of cloth with ties to hold it snugly against the torso. And it gave us lots of ideas for making them, some done on-the-fly.

Vintage Bathtub with Found Stone Feet + Russel Wright’s Credenza

In a recent New York Times T Magazine, we loved the a former Tuscan convent restored by designer Holly Lueders and her daughter, the photographer Venetia Sacret Young, largely by their own hands. There are MANY doable details and solutions we thought to steal down the line. One of our favorites: a vintage bathtub with a…

Hanging Paper Roll DIYs

We really like these very practical paper rolls jerry-rigged with heavy twine and a copper pipe or wood. The approach is a cheaper, simpler alternative to installing a paper-roll dispenser on a wall.

Alice Brock’s Painted Beach Stones DIY + Guerilla Action

Alice Brock is “Alice” of “Alice’s Restaurant,” Arlo Guthrie’s iconic anti-war song of the 60’s. We discovered that she forages stones on the beaches around Provincetown, draws on them and leaves them in unexpected places: a perfect guerilla practice for the end of summer.

DIY Live Edge Bath Table / Board

For a bath person, it is heaven to luxuriate with whatever you need close at hand: cocktail, herb tea, iPad, novel… A bath board that rests across the tub makes for a perfect surface to rest things on. Recently, we saw an easy-to-make iteration that David Sanford made for a friend…

Plywood Niche Set In Sheetrock Wall

We love this very practical, very stylish idea from Oink Studio: a plywood-lined niche set in a in sheetrock wall. Baltic Birch’s stripey uniform plies make for a pleasing natural edge that gives a crisp furniture feel with an organic edge. Here’s what you need to know…

Bent Copper Tubing Lamp Sculpture DIY (after Anna Fasshauer)

We’ve written about all sorts of practical things made out of copper pipe and tubing from room dividers to tables.The copper lighting we’ve posted has been simple, with one or two bends NOT the wonderfully freeform tangles of artist Anna Fasshauer’s light sculptures. Which seem, possibly, diy-able.

DIY Kintsugi for Repurposing Broken Shards

Years ago in Paris at dinner at art dealer Maxime Defert’s home, each place setting had the glass knife rests in the form of a hard candy. They proved not only wonderful to look at but eminently practical. Resting our sauce-slicked knife on it allowed us to reuse it at the next course, saving on dinnerware, without…

Posts navigation