Small Houses X9

The 2009 Rice Design Alliance Architecture Tour will highlight innovative examples of small houses, under 2,000 square feet. This year's tour will be held Saturday and Sunday, March 28-29, 2009 from 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m

Reminders for the Lazy

Austinite Erin over at Recovering Lazyholic has taken some fun pictures and turned them into magnets. They're all little reminders to go out and enjoy life. Such a cute idea and great web site!

Electric Swirls

How great is this for a home office? I saw this awesome multi outlet at High Fashion Home in Houston last weekend. I was there just for giggles and was so amazed by everything that I immediately became depressed.

Design by Joris Laarman.

That Scent

Limited edition handcrafted scent by NY artist Anicka Yi and architect Maggie Peng. The fragrance is inspired by the Fusako Shigenobu, former leader of the Japanese Red Army, who was believed to be in exile in Lebanon for many years after orchestrating some of the group's most political statements. Yi and Peng have chosen cedar wood as a central theme of this fragrance's narrative, as cedar is highly regarded in Lebanon as a national emblem. The scent uses three different kinds of cedar wood as its base note, along with violet leaf and nutty heart notes, and top notes of yuzu, shiso leaf, and black pepper.

She's Got Face

How crazy is that? Margaux Lange's Barbie Doll jewelry on etsy.

Nadine Blake

My absolute favorite shop in New Orleans was Nadine Blake's design shop. There is a good mix of local art, letterpress stationery, home textiles, etc. She also had an awesome Union Jack inspiration board.

I stocked-up on some cute letterpress cards, of which I cannot show because some of my readers might be receiving them soon.

The interesting thing about New Orleans was that EVERY SINGLE TIME I bought something, the owner sincerely thanked me for buying local and supporting New Orleans. I've got to admit, all the southern charm they laid on me made me not feel guilty about spending.

Paper Jellies

The talented woman behind The Butter Flying found me via Oh Joy, and I'm happy she did. Her paper jellyfish made my black heart melt just a little bit. Sylvie B. is a Montreal-based artist who cuts paper with the best of them. Lucky for you, you don't have the be in Canada to get a hold of her work. Visit her Etsy shop for her latest nature-inspired creations.

Obscene Interiors

Here's a funny book-- Obscene Interiors: Hardcore Amateur Decor by Justin Jorgenson.

Justin dutifuly trolls through photos posted on male personal ads, grays out the men and then analyzes their awful decor choices. It's so so so hilarious. I urge you to check out this preview immediately.

He'll educate you with design tips too --

If you’re stumped for wall decoration maps are a safe stand by. They give a smart vibe without being turn-off smart like displaying the periodic table. That is, if used correctly, as in framed. When a map is crookedly pinned to the wall it says, “I’m lost. And I need to be reminded where I am. Every day.”

Website Launch

Ah! Almost forgot to mention this-- Chelsey launched her website recently. If you need a photographer or graphic designer, she's your girl. Her stuff is whimsical, sweet and clean. Check it out for yourself: chelseydyer.com

Full disclosure: The picture is me at Five Mile Damn in San Marcos :)

Teaser...

Apologies! My blogging as been weak as hell. I have a great reason though!!! Although I cannot divulge it yet, I am very excited about it.

Chelsey came to visit me last week and we had a super successful thrift shopping adventure. Perfect for two poor college grads. Perfect for jobless ole' me. During her stay we came up with a brilliant idea that will keep us busy and creative. Again, I don't want to spoil anything until we're ready, but it's going to be sweet ( in the aw, so sweet way, not the 2001 frat boy way).

P.S. Does anyone know about ANY PR/Marketing/Design/Ad jobs available? I will move just about anywhere... Thanks!

Purple Prep

Just watched my latest Netflix selection, Secretary (2002) with Maggie Gyllenhaal and James Spader (my unexplained, Boston Legal crush). Yowza. How did I miss the boat on this one? The visuals are so pretty and they had the sexy/nerdy secretary look pegged way before it caught on at the Gap. Exactly, when was that? 2004, 2005? I don't know. Irrelevant. I still appreciate a good pencil skirt when I see one.

Anyway, I liked this movie. It was a genuine love story, not just a cheap chance to show some nakedness. I loved how her character's wardrobe matures throughout but still keeps it real with all the purple. And all the wallpaper, orchids, carpet.. the whole set was overloaded with color and patterns. Pretty pretty.

I looked at the credits to see what other projects the set directors and art directors were involved in and basically their only other claim to fame was something involving the Cheetah Girls. Boo! P.S. Cheetah Girls just got nixed from the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade because one of them was showing their business on the internet. Ha!

Parking in The Numbers

When was the last time you saw a parking garage that wasn't an eyesore for your city? This Stockholm garage is a reminder that not all necessary evils have to be ugly.

Each floor has a distinct numeric pattern for those of us who are scatterbrained and spend 20 minutes finding their car. That would be me, thanks. I mean, who could resist the sexy patterns the light will kiss upon your car?

We've Made it to the Future

I found this 1956 image of the future from Plan59.com, a website with a bank of retro images. A quick evaluation of what they got right:
-flat screen TV panel
-iChat
-bio-engineered fruit (can we give this one back?)
-natural light makes people HAPPY.

Click on the image above to get full size.

If this kitchen was materialized for today, it might look like this mid-century modern space...

Stain Me Pretty Pretty

Here's another Why Didn't I Think of That? idea: decorative stamps on the bottom of a coffee mug to produce pretty stains on your papers, desk, books, etc. These were found at Thorsten Van Elten.

Habitat 67

I just love this...
Habitat 67 is a housing complex and landmark located on the Marc-Drouin Quay on the Saint Lawrence River at 2600, Pierre Dupuy Avenue in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Its design was created by architect Moshe Safdie based on his master's thesis at McGill University

Charles & Ray Eames Stamps

© 2007 USPS. All Rights Reserved.

The USPS issued these stamps recently, love it. Possibly the closest thing I'll own to an Eames product:)

Dots

Yesterday we had brunch at Starlite, a swanky little joint in Austin's warehouse district. Food: excellent. Service:so-so. I had some bitchin' eggs benedict. They seemed short-handed, so I'd definitely go back some time.

Our table was directly under this sparkly chandelier and cool piece of art that looks like it was created with stolen paint samples from Home Depot. It's a neat idea... and I want to give it a try, but not use a depressed little girl's face.

Putting Names with Faces

The dressing room walls at Barney's Co-op in the Houston Galleria are adorably unique. Hand-painted, vintage silhouettes with different captions penciled-in are a fun read while trying on summer pieces that you wish you could afford.

A few examples:
Ryan won't play a single instrument.
Vicki has no dreams.
Dottie married her cousin.
Dorothy is always down.
Charlotte hates her nose.

Splittin' Sheets

Came across this gem while looking for my own business card inspiration.

Place Your Orders Now!

Yay!! Cynthia Rowley is Designing for Target again. Her newest collection, Whim will be hitting stores any day now. It's a bold array of over 500 items-- pinks and blues, but doesn't leave out classic things like this modern serving tray. And $10 for a stainless steel serving tray, count me in. I want a house for fabulous backyard get-togethers. This dark apartment just ain't cuttin' it any mo.