We were stunned by the simple brilliance of clothing designer Martin Margiela’s packing tape belt. He recognized the most ordinary of materials as the perfect width, and texture to fulfill an instant need with astonishing personal style. It called to mind Anni Albers’ brilliant words.
Read MoreSimple Ways to Create Private Space with Fabric Room Dividers and ‘Slung Cloths’
The quest for a calming, private space can feel like an impossible dream, particularly for those who share tight living quarters. Here are some ideas…
Read MoreDraped Linens and Drop Cloths Transform Furniture in a Chateau (and Your House as Well)
For need-of-a- refresh sofa or chairs, we take a cue from this chill 12th Century château in France transformed with the artful use of draped cloth.
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 MoreEssential for Powerful Emergency Fixes, Plumbing + Otherwise
After a friend proudly showed us unique patch she’d done underneath her sink a few months before, we had to know the story AND the material ahe used. It’s become an essential tool in our arsenal.
Read MoreCanvas Floor Mats, Inspired by Marisol
The jazzy black-and-white checkerboard “rug” that defines the living room of artist Marisol’s Tribeca loft reminded us a painted canvas floor cloth: practical, stylish and easy-to-make.
Read MoreArt-Inspired Outdoor Wallpaper
Viewing the installations scattered through Marcus Garvey Park’s art fair, we were struck by a brick wall covered with vivid flower patterns, overlaid with portraits of women of color. OUTDOOR WALLPAPER! Why hasn’t anyone thought of that…or have they?
Read More‘When Something Goes Wrong…and You Let it Fall into Chaos’
(Video link here.) This short video talk with the creative team of Nice Fish, playing at the American repertory Theater, is PACKED with potent words about the creative process. We love ever-brilliant actor Mark Rylance’s take on what happens when something’s going wrong…
Read MoreYayoi Kusama’s Fab Lessons in Dots
We’ve posted about Japanese artist Yoyoi Kusama a number of times in the past, so taken were we with her view of art as medicine; losing herself in making art — “self-obliteration”— is her way of relieving illness. We have been especially transfixed by her repetitive use of dots in her artwork. In “The Obliteration Room”, currently on view…
Read MoreAnnals of Good/Bad Design: DIY Burlap Panel Shades (with Fixes)
Remodelista recently posted a compelling DIY by San Francisco blogger Caitlin Long of The Shingled House. It’s an example of a charming idea that has, in our eyes, something of a “fail” built-in, or at the very list, an interesting design problem.
Read MoreWines to Drink with Easter/Spring Dinner, via Anthony Giglio
We’ve long relied on our friend Anthony Giglio for advice on wine-and-food pairings. Here are a handful of Anthony’s “Pasqua Picks” to pour with any roast on Easter, chosen with help from his friends at Super Buy Rite Wines & Liquor in his hometown of Jersey City, New Jersey.
Read MoreStage Your Own Balloon Invasion, Installation, Party Decoration
When we saw artist Charles Pétillon‘s magical installation “Balloon Invasion” —architectural spaces and landscapes spilling with white, inflated balloons — we thought “What an instantly surprising, fun, inexpensive way to totally transform a space”, for a party or otherwise. (Video link here.)
Read MoreEaster Dinner: Herb Salt Lamb, (or Pork, Chicken, Cookies WhatEVER…)
Inspired by Anthony Giglio’s instagrams using my herb-salt on pork, here’s the basic herb salt method and a recipe for Herb Salt Lamb, whether racks or leg (or cookies for that matter), along with a dazzling presentation…Enough in advance of the coming holidays to get shop and enjoy a stress-free celebration.
Read MoreA Clever Split Two-Tone Shelf w Still Life
In one of the images on the feature 1st Dibs did about interior designer Suzanne Shaker recently, we spotted this clever long shelf made of two different materials, which makes for an unexpectedly interesting shelf unto itself, whether or not it holds objects or art. It was designed by Rogers Marvel Architects for a row of modern townhouses built in…
Read MoreEasy-Peasy Vinegar at Home: Making, Blending, Flavoring
I’ve discovered that —perhaps due to misunderstanding the loaded word “mother” — many people believe that vinegar is some mysterious substance, difficult-to-make, and too holy to mess around with. I’ve been making vinegar in my down-and-dirty, small-space, defying-the-accepted-wisdom-way for years. Not to mention, blending vinegars, as well as flavoring them.
Read MoreAnnals of Bad Design: Strangely Phallic Coffee Table
Although we are huge fans of using tree parts and the natural world as furnishings, we were stunned to see this wildly impractical coffee table made of what appears to be bundled branches or driftwood of some sort. Is it just us or do they have strangely phallic shapes? (Not that we don’t like phallic shapes but…er..seems a bit…
Read MoreMagazine Page Envelopes + the PERFECT Multipurpose Business Card
Pamela Hovland, who designed Improvised Life’s first site design, periodically sends us notes in improvised envelopes she makes out of pages torn from magazines and catalogs, whenever she comes across a compelling visual. We were charmed to get her Spring greeting in the form of two letters, both with images of people LEAPING on the outside,…
Read MoreDIY Idea-Capturing Desks
Kirsten Camara’s Analog Memory Desk has a holder embedded in its legs for scrolling huge rulls of butcher paper over the desk’s surface to make “a sort of tablecloth of memory”. It can record months, possibly years of ideas, drawings, doodles, mind maps, phone numbers, calculations etc. She has made detailed blueprints so you can build your own. Or you try these other methods of analog idea-capturing.
Read MoreBrilliant Plywood: Stair Chair DIY
Now that it’s getting to be THAT time of year — the trees will soon be in bud, and warm weather upon us —we yen to hang out on stoops and stairs. We’re smitten with this StairChair that solves the problem of back support or needing a wide enough surface to lie down and snooze…
Read MoreFound Objects Music + Attitude for Monday
At Under the Sun we stumbled on this reminder of the many objects around us that can be used to make music. Type in Found Objects Music into YouTube’s Search and you’ll find A LOT of interesting improvisations. Here’s a favorite, with a great beat for Monday morning, and a long list of found objects…
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