Recently I came across two things that have upped my homekeeping game hugely. Robert Montgomery’s brilliant artwork “All Palaces” put it all in perspective.
Read MoreMark Betty’s OMG Inspired Lampshades
This lamp by English lampshade designer Mark Betty has this description “Lamp and Brown Paper (or whatever you want)” . The brown paper rolled into an asymmetrical cone and secured with a pin seems to have been made in a single gesture. Like all Betty’s shades, it has its own unique personality, as though it were alive…
Read MoreThe Enduringly-Useful Wave Screen Transforms Rooms and Hides A Lot
Over the years, one of the very best purchases I have made were two bamboo Wave Room Screens, made of thin bamboo slats that unfurl to create an organic wave shape. They have proven to be endlessly useful. They are a relatively inexpensive, stylish, bamboo alternative to the beautiful, classic Eames screen.
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 MoreTattooed Tablecloths after Sarah Espeute Spark Maps, Guestbooks, Artifacts
When we first saw French artist Sarah Espeute’s embroidered table linens, we thought they were drawn-on with indelible markers, something we might be able to do. Then ideas and memories began to connect and flow.
Read MoreTool for Living: A Strangely Perfect $8 Spatula
The best eight bucks I’ve spent lately is the OXO’s Good Grips Jar Spatula, a silicone spatula meant for reaching into jars. It’s so curiously-perfect I find myself using it daily for all sorts of kitchen endeavors.
Read MoreHow to Eradicate Unpleasant Odors in a Washing Machine
For those who to use a shared laundry room say, in an apartment building or laundromat, we’ve found a solution to a common vexing problem: strong synthetic perfume residue left in the machine from the previous user’s detergent. We’d tried every fix we found on the internet to eradicate annoying floral perfumes residue that would…
Read MoreTool for Living: Low Profile Step Ladder, in Colors (With Poem)
As I’ve gotten older, the grim reality-sandwich of falling OFF a ladder has become something I don’t want to experience. I’m loving this light, sturdy low-profile step ladder that looks good enough to leave out.
Read MoreEnzo Mari’s ‘Ecolo’ Transforms Plastic Bottles into Sculptural Vases
In the 1970s, legendary furniture designer Enzo Mari pioneered the idea of “autoprogettazione”, roughly translated, “self design”, projects that he hoped would empower people to create with their own hands. With “ecolo” he applied the idea to plastic bottles…
Read MorePractical Ways to Alleviate Toilet Paper Anxiety and Hoarding
We’ve read a lot theories for the toilet paper hoarding that has marked the Coronavirus pandemic. We have a few of our own + viable alternatives.
Read MoreOilcloth (Not PVC) Makes a Surprisingly Cool, Wipe-Clean Tablecloth that Protects Your Wood Table
When the mid-century wood table I set up for dining and work took a hit from a spilled glass of water, I cast about for a protective everyday solution that wouldn’t look like plastic. I found it in old-fashioned oilcloth…
Read MoreMy Secret Weapon for Home and other Projects UPDATE
Years ago painters left behind some sanding sponges they used to achieve a perfect finish in the high gloss surfaces. Something made me pick one up to try sanding an ugly heating pipe coated in green enamel. The ease-of-transformation was a revelation. I’ve been using that perfect sponge ever since for all sorts of fixes and projects around my house.
Read MoreSublimely Analog Chalkboard Drawings of Mathematicians, Rudolf Steiner, Twombly Inspire Our Own
“This is what thought looks like” begins Dennis Overbye’s article about Jessica Wynne’s remarkable photographs of mathematician’s blackboards, that reminded us of Steiner and Cy Twombly…
Read MoreKraft Paper Dispensers That Let Your Write On the Walls, and Elsewhere
Kraft paper is so wildly useful that if I had the room in my city apartment, I’d keep a roll on a wall to have easy access when the mood/need hits.
Read MoreAn Analog Kid’s Timer Increases Focus and Productivity
The simple, clever Time Timer has proven a useful visual aid that helps me focus on whatever I need to make headway with, and then get up and take a break, disrupting the obsessive overfocus I’m prone to. It helps me work more efficiently, with less stress.
Read MoreNew York Magazine’s Low Lift Home Improvements for Under $100 INCLUDING Improvised Life’s Big Fat Idea
How swell to see Improvised Life mentioned in New York Magazine’s ’31 Low Lift Home Improvements for Under $100′ for our decoding of Donald Judd furniture. We got a lot of ideas for jazzing up our space….
Read MoreEphemeral 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…
Read MoreFavorite Things: Really Big Cotton Dish Towels
We’ve used these these HUGE dish towels for many things in addition to drying dishes…
Read MoreEndlessly 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.
Read MoreBrandless’ Will Deliver Some Seriously Good $3 Bargains, and Ideals, to Your Door
Brandless is a unique e-commerce platform that sells its own food, personal care and household items for $3 each. Intrigued by its premise and high ideals, I placed an order.
Better stuff, fewer dollars. Just what matters.
Online retailer Brandless’ mission is ‘Better stuff, fewer dollars. Just what matters’. Skeptical that generics could
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