This kitchen refurb by Hearth used plywood as cabinet storage in an elemental Bauhausian way. We love geometry of the squares and rectangles, the the grain showing through the washed finish and the holes instead of handles. …and are reminded once again the appeal of sliding panels… via Desire to Inspire
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We don’t like seeing labels on things we have around the house — there’s enough advertising in our world; we don’t need it at home — so we routinely peel them off. At the kitchen sink, we fill plain, unmarked bottles with dish soap and hand soap. Even when we had two very differently-shaped bottles,…
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(Video link HERE.) State-of-the art eating in Ethiopia. Made by hand, eaten by hand. When I was there, I don’t think I saw a cooking utensil that wasn’t either wood or clay, a rough panga for chopping beef, and a cheap plastic cup here and there for pouring. No need for Sur la Table, Williams-Sonoma or a…
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Recently we received a trove of small plum tomatoes which are in abundance right now. Since we don’t have the energy or space to can the tomatoes, we experimented with drying them in our ancient restaurant stove whose pilot lit oven is a constant 150′. We often dry our kale chips this way, and in the past have done sliced apples and pears. Why not tomatoes? Our experiments were a success. Here’s what we did.
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Marella Consolini sent us her inspired transformation of a gorgeous linen shirt bought on eBay for pennies, that turned out to be SO big, it languished in a drawer, waiting for something to be done with it. “Finally it dawned on me: the back was big enough to turn into an oversized linen tea towel”. Here’s how she did it.
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We stumbled on these HUGE dish towels and ordered a set to check out, having learned the hard way that the real thing is often way different than pictures. We washed them and…they are great, 100% cotton, wonderful-looking and useful for many things.
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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).
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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.
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This c 1900 makeshift kitchen/dining area in the sheltered space of a giant boulder in New South Wales reminded us of the many makeshift kitchens we’ve created over the years, outdoors and in, and simple ones where many a great meal have been forged.
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Our new favorite blog Moon to Moon has a swell house tour of the lightly renovated 450 square foot apartment of architect Lukáš Kordík of GutGut architects. The major takeaway for us, aside from the pleasingly UNconstructed feel of the space, is Kordík’s use of laminate. First there’s the stylish turquoise kitchen cabinet with oven and storage built in;…
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This kitchen is so stylish and inviting, we’re wondering if it’s in process and unfinished OR if it’s purposely as is. We’ve cooked in many a kitchen outfitted this way, with great pleasure, in part due to the constraints it imposes.
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This compendium of sculptural, geometric fireplaces and stove hoods make us wonder why stay with plain old rectangles. The key is in figuring out how these odds hoods (or any hoods) will draw.
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Outerlands, a restaurant in San Francisco’s Outer Sunset neighborhood, is known for its menu of seasonal food, rustic dishes and the strong sense of community created by the space. There, meals are a way for people to gather together, relax, and enjoy a shared experience. Recently Williams-Sonoma Taste featured one of Outerland’s collective meals in which staff, family…
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We’ve gotten a bit obsessed with Costanza Algranti’s recycling of materials we love: copper, wood and iron, and that she is big on rust and rivets. We went on further rambles through her website for ideas. We were knocked out by this kitchen made of distressed iron. These oxidized copper panels could make surprisingly beautiful cladding…
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Italian artist Costanza Algranti forges recycled material such as copper and iron into uniquely modern items for the home, with an aesthetic very different from many repurposed home design we see.
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Good idea: use water-based, all-surface Uni-Posca markers to label glass canning jars (they come in different point thicknesses and colors). When you change the contents, just wash the jar. We’d use these markers for other glass and mirror markings…
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(Video links HERE and HERE.) Recently, photographer Ellen Silverman borrowed the Laboratory to shoot Girl + Egg, her whimsical 1-minute video of…just that. Although Ellen brought a variety of egg cups she had bought or borrowed, she ended up using one we’d hacked (the hack is THAT good.) The video gives a nice glimpse of…
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Reading about $4 artisanal toast, the Bay Area’s latest food craze, got us thinking about our favorite alt ways of making our favorite comfort food.
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Over the holidays Ellen Silverman gave a dinner party for 14 and wanted a special napkin that guests could take away with them to remember the event. She found some inexpensive but wonderfully stylish big red striped cotton dish towels that a friend machine-embroidered with a pretty design. They were in perfect keeping with the wonderful bistro-ish…
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After a run on the great L’Econome paring knife, World Knives has informed us that they have big stock of the endlessly useful, ages-wonderfully knife, in many colors. They also had some comments about our readers.
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