Over the years, we’ve written about many forms of improvised “guest books”, i.e. ways to memorialize the visits of friends. Cecil Beaton tattooed a bathroom’s walls with the handprints of friends, displaying humanity’s most essential signature…
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 MorePicture Frame as Magical Objet
We love this skeleton of a picture frame hung pictureless on a wall. As we gaze into its empty space, we find ourselves imagining all sorts of things while we enjoy its austere shape. It reminded us of the old silver frame we gave to artist Maria Robledo years ago. Picture frame as magical objet.
Read MoreThe Liberations of Long-Handled Paint Brushes, and Art Paired with Poetry
A favorite instagram is gallerist Brett Gorvy’s, which pairs an artist and his/her work with a poem. It makes for a powerful dose of illumination. Take this sublime photograph by the great photojournalist Harry Benson*, of a young Brice Marden painting with a long-handled brush, illuminated, as if by fireworks, by a poem by Margaret Atwood. Perfection. Which got us thinking about that amazing brush…
Read MorePictures Hung in Unexpected Places Expand the View
Ever since we spotted this house with framed art on the outside, we’ve been thinking about wonderful places to hang pictures that most people don’t use.
Read MoreBanksy: How to ‘Create Escape’
We’re inspired in so many ways by graffiti artist Banksy’s brilliant tutorial done to the words of Bob Ross, TV painting instructor and host of the iconic Joy of Painting show from 1983 to 1994. Along with revelatory technique is a philosophy for navigating life…
Read MoreThe Cosmic Meaning of Polka Dots and How to DIY Them (Yayoi Kusama)
We love the green polka dots in this down-at-heels kitchen, a perfect way to jazz up a wall. It got us thinking about their cosmic meaning and how to make them without laboriously holding up stencils.
Read MoreMatisse’s Homemade Wallpaper
When we looked closely at this stumbled-upon image of Henri Matisse, we realized that the wallpaper behind him was really tacked up prints and drawings. Brilliant. Looking for more, we found a trove of ideas to employ.
Read MoreThe Pleasures of Unframed Artwork Directly on the Wall, Naked
Experiencing Rondinone’s massive painting nailed directly to the wall got us thinking about enjoyable and…intimate…an experience unframed art can be. Along with a simple way to hang it.
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 MoreA Homemade Foam Core Screen to Block the Sun or Define a Space
In my top floor space, the scorching temperatures have been pushing me to find non-electric ways of cooling the place down to mitigate air conditioner use. I turned to the material that seemed most likely to provide insulation: foam core leftover from the many life-size prototypes I’ve built …
Read MoreYves Klein’s Interior Inspirations, From Ultimate Blue to His Unusual Do-able Table
A single rare image of Yves Klein’s Paris apartment/studio got us hunting for his plexiglass coffee table filled with astonishing blue pigment he commissioned. We found A LOT of inspiration.
Read MorePauline Caulfield’s Ingenious Textile Panels Become Wall Covering, Art, Window Shade
This tiny video of textile artist Pauline Caulfield’s brilliant 1968 diploma show while studying at the Royal College of Art shows an inspiring, ingenious alternative to obstructing window treatments.
Read MoreCool, Graphical Masking Tape Decorations for Walls, Cards, Wrapping
“I haven’t done a thing to get ready for the holidays” is an echo I’ve heared from many people I know. No matter. There’s always ways to festive things up at the last minute, with whatever is on hand.
Read MoreHow to Print Poems on Your Wall Like the Odes to Calder and Kelly at Lévy Gorvy Gallery
Specially commissioned poems on some walls at the Calder / Kelly show at the Levy Gorvy gallery made me wish for poems on my own walls. So I found out how…
Read MoreOtto Zitko Makes Me Want to Paint on the Walls
Even though I will never have the mastery of Otto Zitko’s wondrous scribble-scrabble, I wanted some of the experience of it, so I figured out how and when…
Read More2 Ideas To Evoke Charming Wabi-Sabi in Your Space
Tiny Japanese restaurant Davelle employs inspired tricks to create a “bright and thoughtful little world” and a lovely feeling of wabi-sabi.
Read MoreBathrooms Designed for Our Intellectual and Creative Selves
In their visionary bathroom, friends purposefully accommodate what most bathrooms do in an ad hoc way: reading material, a laptop, and art for their ever-creative selves.
Read MoreNew Washi Tapes Transform Space with Morphable (or Removable) Designs
This 2-minute video shows just how liberating and morphable a room or design created with washi tape can be. Nitto’s new Haru tape is pushing the possibilities of washi tape.
Read MoreIdeas from Artists: Parallel Mirrors Become Infinity Windows
I sat looking at an installation by Detroit artist Maya Stovall, I realized that the mirrors she had installed might be an interesting idea to transplant into a home or work space.
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