Posted: May 22nd, 2012 | Author: artintolife | Filed under: design | Tags: decorating, design, home
I now officially have the home renovation bug – bad. I know I promised the other day that I would share images of the built-ins we just installed in my sons’ room and didn’t deliver. I will, eventually, I swear. But I am in love with my built-ins. In fact, I am in love with built-ins in general. As a kid there were a built-in closet and dresser in my bedroom and we cursed them nearly every day. The placed serious constraints on how I could arrange my room, and seemed a highly inefficient and unattractive use of space. And as an adult homeowner I have noticed that built-ins seem to have generally fallen out of favor for some time now. But I think that’s a big mistake. When done well, the storage — and therefore space, organization and dimension – and character that they can add to a room is truly phenomenal.
I received perhaps my favorite complement of all time the other day when my son and his friends did some baking for a school fundraiser in my renovated kitchen and one of the boys commented that it was the best kitchen he had ever seen (or something to that effect, but we’ll just assume that was the gist). I loved not only the complement itself certainly, but the fact that it was made after and in response to spending the day working in my kitchen. Because certainly whether it is the nicest looking kitchen around is highly debatable. The really beauty of the kitchen is in how efficiently and effectively the space is used, so that it honestly makes me happy every single time I cook or bake in it. All of which feels fairly arrogant to say, since I designed the kitchen, but I think the actual point is that built-ins work best when they are designed by (or in conjunction with) the owner and take into account the user’s specific needs. While pruning the photographs in the iPhoto library which threatens to take over — and then take down — my computer I came across pictures of the kitchen pre-renovation. Organizing the room around efficient storage was nothing short of transformative. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: May 1st, 2012 | Author: artintolife | Filed under: design | Tags: decorating, design, home, humor, innovative design
Priceless … design with a sense of humor. It’s not everyone who is able to design products or spaces which are both beautiful and playful, make you smile but can also be taken seriously for their aesthetic. When done well, I’m in love. So check these out.
1. The Bird Poop Chandelier by Wyatt Little. As the mother of a five year old boy, if I never heard anyone say the word poop again it would be too soon. But I love this light fixture. I am also partial to all fixtures and accessories that feature birds (yup, that would make thedesign fetishes deer, owls, birds and mushrooms and I’m sure I’m forgetting something – I am generous when it comes to my obsessions). This particular fixture rocks.
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Posted: April 28th, 2012 | Author: artintolife | Filed under: design, other stuff | Tags: crafts, decorating, design, home, popular culture, shopping, spring 2012
As a dedicated lover of shopping for things to make life more beautiful, I was extremely sad to say goodbye to Domino magazine (especially when they fulfilled the rest of my pre-paid subscription with something I had absolutely no interest in, but that’s another story). But the mourning is over and Domino is back. I think more than being a commentary on the home design business, the relaunch is an interesting commentary on the state of publishing and more specifically of magazine publishing. Everyone knows that with consumers turning toward online media, they are leaving paper behind and leaving newspapers and magazines struggling. That results in a game on the part of publishers that’s fairly interesting to watch, the game of trying to figure out how to stay alive, stay relevant, carve a niche that can’t be filled online.
In one such effort, Conde Nast shuttered Gourmet magazine, only to relaunch it as a mobile app with only a limited number of special issues available at newsstands. Their strategy with Domino is somewhat similar. Sadly, that means that it is not the return of the Domino that many of us knew and loved. The new Domino will consist only of a limited number of special issues available exclusively through newsstands. The first issue, entitled Domino Quick Fixes, on newsstands through mid-July, is a thick book and sells for $10.99, and like most special issues has fewer ad pages than the typical monthly magazine. The next issue is due this fall.
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Posted: April 19th, 2012 | Author: artintolife | Filed under: design, stuff to buy | Tags: decorating, design, home, shopping, trends
Say what you will about her, but I tell you, my girl Martha always comes through. Whatever else you may think, there’s no denying the girl knows how to do things right (or how to get someone else to do things for you … but still right). My new obsession in kitchen style is whiteware. It seems to me that one major advantage of adorning your kitchen with serving pieces, bowls, vases, out of porcelain, glass, white glass and crystal (or any subset thereof) is that in addition to looking clean, sleek and classy, chances are pretty good that whatever the decor in your kitchen right now, the new items will work with it, so you don’t have to go throwing away and replacing everything right away. You can replace your possessions slowly over time, and if the trend changes before you finish replacing everything, chances are your whiteware or glassware will still work pretty well with whatever the new fad is. After all, style is important, but versatility can be helpful.
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Posted: March 24th, 2012 | Author: artintolife | Filed under: design | Tags: decorating, design, environment, fashion, popular culture, trends
In case you missed the announcement, the Pantone color of the year for 2012 is Tangerine Tango (Pantone 17-1463). I never tire of professing my love for all things Pantone, no matter how sick everyone is of hearing it, and yet even I find the color of the year thing a bit odd. I have always found trend forecasting to be a curious art, and Pantone’s nearly universal ability to define color is nothing short of phenomenal. For years now Pantone has been declaring its color of the year, but it seems like this year Tangerine Tango is getting more than the usual coverage.
Lest you think Pantone’s choice of color of the year is random, let me assure you, it is not. The Pantone color of the year is meant to capture the zeitgeist of the times. I do believe that color is a powerful tool, that it can shape our mood and behaviors, and yet I find the claim that I single color can encapsulate the essence of a society at a particular moment is kind of ridiculous. But maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about — it happens on occasion. In 2011 the color of the year was Honeysuckle (Pantone 18-2120). The press release announcing the 2011 color of the year explained the choice saying , “In times of stress, we need something to lift our spirits. Honeysuckle is a captivating, stimulating color that gets the adrenaline going – perfect to ward off the blues.” Fair enough.
So this year it’s Tangerine Tango. This deep red orange is meant energize and reboot society.
“Sophisticated but at the same time dramatic and seductive, Tangerine Tango is an orange with a lot of depth to it,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®. “Reminiscent of the radiant shadings of a sunset, Tangerine Tango marries the vivaciousness and adrenaline rush of red with the friendliness and warmth of yellow, to form a high-visibility, magnetic hue that emanates heat and energy.”
With Tangerine Tango, it seems that Pantone is striving to break out of the constraints of the fashion, design and trend worlds, and to reach out to the broader masses. Everybody is talking about it — the Chicago Tribune, Britain’s the Independent, the Washington Post. One of the opening spreads of the April issue of In Style magazine offers a range of ways to incorporate this all important color into your wardrobe or home decor.
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