Speaking of tinkering, while we were culling photos from Artists’ Handmade Houses for our recent giveaway, we came across a photo of Constantino Nivola’s living room in his house on Long Island (see photo below). In the back corner, partially blocked by a chair, is an intriguing light made of Tinkertoys and shiny rolled paper. OMG, Tinkertoys! Unbelievably…
Read Moremodernist noguchi-esque paper shade lights (cheap)
As we combed through Artists’ Handmade Houses, the prize in our current book giveaway, we noticed an interesting theme running through the houses of many of the 13 artists featured. They often used the simple rice paper globe ceiling lights pioneered in the 50’s by Isamu Noguchi: an electrical wire hung from the ceiling from…
Read Moreled-illuminated shipping pallet bed
We love this bed made of shipping pallets that the endlessly clever Swedish designer Maliin Stoor built for her daughters: a chain of LEDs illuminates it from underneath. Here are details…
Read Moretask light redux: in the kitchen and on walls
Since we wrote about hanging classic zig-zag task lights from the ceiling, we’ve been finding images of their very non-office uses. They make a great, flexible wall lights, and are terrific in the kitchen, for directing light where you want, or need it…
Read Moreannals of bad design: light in your eyes
At first glance, this attic bedroom seems utterly cozy and charming, until we imagined ourselves lying in bed with the light on, and the light bulb glaring in our field of vision, since we’d be looking right into the underside of the light (hot, too!) We’re wondering if the designer was so smitten with the…
Read Moreceiling task light redux: the mother of all task lights
When we wrote about suspending task lights from the ceiling, we never imagined THIS possibility: the spider-like mother-of-all-task-lights designed by Ron Giliad for Moooi. It’s available at Modern Light for about $4,000, OR you could buy sixteen adjustable task lights for about $20 each and rig one. (Even if you had an iron-worker make the…
Read Moretask lights suspended from the ceiling
We came across this picture on Emma’s blog and thought Brilliant! Floor lights suspended from the ceiling! It’s a play on one of our favorite themes: Using things in unexpected ways, turning them upside-down… These flexible task lights have a wonderfully sculptural look and allow you to adjust the lighting to your…task: perfect over a…
Read Morebefore + after: lydia’s kitchen renovation
A couple of weeks ago, we started posting about Lydia Wills’ former studio apartment in New York City; the 600-square-foot space had so much going on, we had to make it a series… Here’s her renovated kitchen which, when she moved in, was the most generic of New York City apartment galley kitchens (there’s a…
Read Moregreat clip-on lamp shade (+ the search for glass fiber paper)
Right after I posted “Are you a secret lighting designer?” about down-loadable lamp shade plans and cool, flame-proof materials to improvise with, I came across this really inspired, inexpensive, endlessly useful clip-on lamp shade for sale at tweek. It’s just about perfect for hanging bulbs or wall fixtures. Still, I couldn’t help falling into an…
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