diy Archives - Page 2 of 63

Bring a Little Piece of Nature Into the Home, Heart, Day (Yoko Ono, Max Lamb)

It usually takes just a shift of orientation, or your usual route to work or the store, to work some living trees into your day and heart. Here’s some inspiration from Yoko Ono and Max Lamb…

White Sneakers are Your Blank Canvas for Graffiti and Dalmation Spots (DIY)

Like many white things, plain white sneakers are a blank canvas just waiting to be embellished with permanent fabric markers or paint. Here are two favorite iterations for summer.

Chandelier from 1980’s Berlin and Alexander Calder “On the Cutting Edge of Architectural Experimentation”

We found this divine, completely original and inspired chandelier buried in MondoBlogo’s riff on 1980’s interiors. It’s right up there with this ceiling light Alexander Calder fashioned for his friend Miro.

Clever Bookcases Made of Stacked Boxes

We love the idea of these NOT built-in bookshelves at a Swedish design store. They are composed of a series of volumes — rectangles and squares of various sizes — into which books are stacked. Then we figured out a way to make them.

A Secret Balm for Fear and Anxiety

On my cell phone in a cluttered storage room in an old warehouse, I wondered what I could offer my distraught friend to remind her of other ways of seeing things, the opposite of fear and sadness?

Envelope Poems are Amazing to Receive (Rumi + Emily Dickinson)

Even if it had not come in a hot pink envelope on Valentine’s day, but in an ordinary envelope on an ordinary day, it would have been as powerful…

Ecumenical Money Valentine to Give to Lovers AND Friends

We’re thinking a dandy little heart made of folded money would make a nice valentine for just about anyone…more inclusive than the usual romantic stuff like flowers and chocolate…

Ephemeral Curtains and Room Dividers Strung on Wires Are Easy to Do

In these images of gauzy curtains hung on simple wires via Clothier Aurelie Lecuyer, the lack of an imposing curtain rod achieves a pleasingly minimalist and ephemeral quality that’s easy and inexpensive…

Lemon Amplified and Seen Anew (Pablo Neruda)

Stumbling on a picture we took a decade ago, we were reminded of the simple, elemental brilliance of friend’s impromptu invention, amplified by Neruda’s Lemon Poem.

A Messy Scrap Ribbon Collection Inspires Delights and Inventions

By saving bits of ribbon and string, I’m not just recycling them to use on other gifts; I’m collecting a beautiful materials to use for all sorts of applications…

Cool, Graphical Masking Tape Decorations for Walls, Cards, Wrapping

“I haven’t done a thing to get ready for the holidays” is an echo I’ve heared from many people I know. No matter. There’s always ways to festive things up at the last minute, with whatever is on hand.

Brian Eno’s Early Handwritten Oblique Strategies Cards Inspire Our Own

Brian Eno’s original set of handwritten oblique strategies cards designed to break creative impasses made us wonder about making our own…

Annals of Everyday Invention: Bra Knee Pads

An ever-inventive friend recently mentioned her solution to a difficult floor repair she was in the middle of when she realized she needed knee pads to protect her wonky knees.

Endlessly Useful, Morphable, Stylish Photographer’s Apple Boxes

When I worked as a food stylist in photo studios, I came to appreciate the endless ways apple boxes could be used. They are just as useful at home. Witness Le Courbusier.

Your Clothes Embellished with Simple Stitching

Over at Kleidersachen, we occasionally spot boldly stitched clothing that makes us wonder why we don’t take a need and thread to our clothes more often to jazz them up.

The Deep Internal Realizations to be Had from Fooling Around

In his wonderful TED talk, Gever Tully describes the “deep internal realizations” to be had from having the freedom to fool around, tinker, improvise…

All You Have to Do (John Cage with Fast Forward)

These remarkable words by John Cage made us think of two teeny videos made by his friend Fast Forward that expand them…

Otto Zitko Makes Me Want to Paint on the Walls

Even though I will never have the mastery of Otto Zitko’s wondrous scribble-scrabble, I wanted some of the experience of it, so I figured out how and when…

The How and Why of Donald Judd’s Brilliant Plywood Tables

Artist Donald Judd’s iconic plywood tables are made with materials you can get anywhere, with methods just about anybody can do: his response to the lack of useful, well-designed furniture he was unable to find.

Solar Lanterns Make Lunar Magic, Sensual Bubbles and, in the end, Stars

One of the best ways we know to create outdoor lighting magic in warm months are with Shoji Solar Lanterns…

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