We chose plain white Corian for the countertops in the Laboratory kitchen renovation and love working on it: it presents a “clear” palet of a work surface that is a pleasure to prep food on. It’s ONE drawback that our old, visually-busy granite counter tops didn’t have: we can’t put a searing hot pot directly on…
Read More
Recently, we found some great examples of using window shades —both Venetian blinds and solar shades — as instant room dividers to close off or define a space.
Read More
We love cast-iron, the endlessly-useful, impossible-to-destroy cookware. It provides the even heat of heavy copper cookware at a fraction of the cost…If properly cared for, cast-iron will build up a naturally nonstick surface that can take the place of commerical nonstick cookware, about which there are health concerns. Here’s our tried-and-true method and favorite pans (and recipes).
Read More
Looking for a skillet to fry some eggs in at Maria Robledo’s house, we opened a drawer to find a brilliant idea we never would have thought of: line a drawer with a cloth, such as a dish towel instead of the usual paper. It cuts down on clatter and the cloth can be easily…
Read More
Recently, our friend Jane Lear wrote us to say “This great tip stuck in my head, and I finally had a chance to reference it in this week’s food advice column for TakePart about ways to use less water.” The tip that stuck in her head —YAY! we LOVE that— was wine and spirits writer Anthony…
Read More
When we renovated the Laboratory, moving and installing our 25-year-old kitchen cabinets for the 3rd time, we indulged our minor obsession in the realm of dish drying accoutrements, hacking and customizing at will.
Read More
We clipped another lovely, doable idea from the idiotic New York Times T Magazine article a few weeks ago about the Axel Vervoordt-designed “wabi wabi” penthouse at NYC’s Greenwich Hotel. A sheet linen bed spread. We thought right away of Rough Linen’s lovely Summer Cover, made of lightweight linen. We used one as a bed skirt and it…
Read More
Recently, we gave our friend Maria Robledo a silver picture frame we’d had for many years. It was handmade and so beautifully and simply wrought, we’d never put a glass or mat in it, or even a picture. In Maria’s hands, it became something totally else. We’d never SEEN it that way…
Read More
Many modern spaces, including our own Laboratory, suffer from having so many right angles, rectangles, linearity, that they can be a bit harsh. The simple solution is to shake them up with rounds, patterns, art. We love the solution in this image found at Bohemian Homes:
Read More
Having a hammock indoors is pure joy, and there are a variety of ways to hang them, depending on your space.
Read More
We’ve long wondered why we see so many ugly black flat-screen televisions proudly displayed on walls of living rooms. One of the best disguises we’ve seen for flat-screens is a painting or mirror that sits in front of the TV on special hinges that lift it up when you want to watch TV. An especially beautiful iteration of this idea is like a minimalist abstract painting, but is a panel made of antique Flemish linen.
Read More
Designer Laura Handler, whose Montana home we featured a while back, sent us a report of her vist to ICFF, the yearly International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York City. Here’s the trend she spotted and her funny and insightful commentary : I did notice an interesting phenomenon. There seemed to be a growing trend of faux distressed…
Read More
Over the years, we posted a good number of stylish housewares made from copper or black pipe, from closet fittings to faucets to table bases and pot racks, all diy-able. Sometimes we don’t diy because we don’t really have a sense of the essential workings of the process: how do we actually do it?
Read More
Part of our philosophy at Improvised Life is to TRY THINGS OUT, whether it be ideas we have, or products we see. We test them on ourselves, in our own lives, to see if they will work. Our most recent test was a products we’d be waiting for for years: a safe way to remove…
Read More
Disappointed by the cheesiness of many of the mainstream products at a big furniture show, we wandered down a long corridor to the Pavilion of student work. THERE we saw some really interesting things made by design students: original ideas, good execution, sparks for our imagination, and some stuff we’d really love to take home. It reminded us of Niels Strøyer Christophersen’s very good advice about buying furniture.
Read More
Furniture and product shows like the upcoming ICFF teach some useful and unexpected lessons in buying products for your home.
Read More
Must Read for anyone looking for a new mattress: Jason Kottke’s Busting the Mattress Racket before. He tested out the inexpensive mattresses of two companies who are turning the mattress industry on its head, and found them to be as good as the expensive “deluxe” brands.
Read More
Designer Michael Anastassiades assymetrical copper mirror gave us two ideas: First, making a mirror of highly polished copper.
But even better: cutting mirrors in odd, assymetrical shapes to shake up a room with the unexpected.
Read More
50 years ago, David Latimer planted a seed in a glass bottle out of pure curiosity. He had no idea that it would flourish into a mass of greenery that would thrive untouched for several decades to become a wonder of lush plant life. Depending on the bottle you choose, bottle gardens can look like living sculptures.
Read More
Kilim rugs so popular in modern homes have their roots in nomadic tribal cultures. Here’s a bit of their story, and the strategy for their care.
Read More