Massive blasts of arctic air across the US have people staying in or scurrying through their day bundled up and rushing to warmth. As I do the same, I’ve been wondering what I can MAKE out of the bitterly cold temperature. Can it become a sort of art material?
Read MoreHoliday Decorations for Lazy People
Being short on time and living space, I’ve honed my holiday decorations to be spare but potent, using tried-and-true materials — some found — in different ways each year.
Read MoreWrite Guest’s Names On Their Glasses (And Save Your Sanity)
One of the simplest, hottest tips for holiday entertaining can be done with what you’ve got on hand and will cut down on busy work and stress.
Read MoreIdeas from Artists: Gift Boxes with Jazzy Interiors
Over the past 25 years or so, a number of artists have taken to embellishing the INSIDES of ordinary cardboard boxes to great effect. Barbarians that we are, we take their work as inspiration for novel holiday gift boxes…
Read MoreMetallic Checkerboard Floors + a Trick for Visualizing Pattern Painted Floors
When we couldn’t find examples of the metallic checkerboard floors we’re smitten with, we devised a way to envision what they —and other jazzy patterns— would look like as a floor.
Read MoreRocks and Stones Make Endlessly Useful Tools and Beautiful Objets
A personal compendium of the pleasures and uses for rocks and stones, with John Cage and Mary Oliver…
Read MoreHalloween: Inspiration, Scary Stuff, Song
Suddenly, it is Halloween, one of the strangest and most magic days of the year. If it snuck up on you, here is just the thing:
Read MoreDisappear Visual Clutter with Uniform Cardboard Boxes a la Laura Handler + Andy Warhol)
If you have a lot of small items, projects or papers to store, and an eye that is pained by visual busyness, I recommend a strategy used by designer Laura Handler and Andy Warhol:
Read MoreAnnals of Everyday Invention: Magnet Pin Cushion Sculpture
Sometimes tiny inventions happen by seeing the possible solution out of the corner of your eye.
Read MoreGuggenheim’s Clever Baltic Birch Tables and Chairs
While wandering through the Guggenheim Museum, we stumbled on its cafe with Bauhausian tables and chairs made from Baltic Birch, one of our favorite materials. The stylish simple furniture would be easy to make ourselves.
Read MoreSugru Will Fix Your $300 Headphones + Other Stuff You Love
After trying a number of materials, the truly miraculous (and fun!) Sugru proved the only one to fix the $300 noise-cancelling headphones I rely on to calm my super-sensitive nervous system. It has become a staple in my arsenal.
Read MoreLine Drawings and Tattoos on Walls or Floor (Cocteau, Matisse, Keras)
This charming line drawing Madrid artist Angela Leon drew on her wall made me think of Matisse, Jean Cocteau AND Mira Keras’ monochrome tattoo designs.
Read MoreHow to Experience the Eclipse By Doing Practically Nothing
We haven’t gotten it together to get truly-safe-for-your-eyes eclipse viewing glasses ourselves. So we’ve figured out lazy-dog, last minute strategies for experiencing this once-in-a-blue-moon cosmic wonder…by doing practically nothing.
Read MoreThe Dirty Little Secret of Spare Minimalist Interiors
When Houzz featured our friend Laura Handler’s Harlem renovation on their site, we spotted the great secret to maintaining a spare, orderly space.
Read MoreBox of Smile, Jar of Time and Space (Yoko Ono et al)
Yoko Ono’s 1971 A Box of Smile reminded us of the many kind of conceptual vessels that can hold ideas for us, and give us experiences. Including a log cabin, and a canning jar.
Read MoreTwo-Tone Half-Painted Optical Illusion Chairs
Lately we’ve seen some classic old second-hand store chairs transformed with paint in a way we hadn’t considered, to very cool effect.
Read MoreGood DIY Ideas for Your Inner Gardenista
We were happy to find a lot of do-able, you-don’t-have-to-have-a-million-dollar-estate projects in Gardenista: The Definitive Guide to Stylish Outdoor Spaces. We used our x-ray vision to cool ideas applicable to all sorts of venues.
Read MoreLaura Handler’s Computer Printed Headboard
In Houzz’s extensive article about our friend Laura Handler’s Harlem renovation, our favorite idea among MANY is Laura’s solution to the problem of “headboard”.
Read MoreHow a Toilet Paper Holder Turns into Sculpture
In the bathroom of the Van de Weghe gallery, where we saw Devir, Enrique Oliveira’s massive tree sculpture, we were struck by the strange, very sculptural toilet paper holder with its bold statement of HERE I AM. Then we looked more closely…
Read MoreSplotches, Spots and Spatters for Art and Personal Decoration
I’ve long collected examples of artist’s works based on splotches, spots, drips and splatters, with the idea of applying the patterns to walls, floors, fridge, clothes, shoes. Here’s how.
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