Pepsi Refresh Project: Solar Ivy

Pepsi is giving away millions each month to fund refreshing ideas that change the world. The ideas with the most votes will receive grants.



Visually dramatic and structurally adaptive, "Solar Ivy" is a customizable system for sustainable energy generation that mimics the form of ivy and its relationship with the environment. Flexible photovoltaic "leaves" shift in the wind while converting solar energy into electricity, and shade the building from heat gained through out the day.

Solar Ivy brings human beings closer to living in harmony with the earth's resources through its design features. Solar Ivy produces electricity, shades buildings, provides low resolution imagery and can mimic a tree canopy's filtering of light to foster ground level plant growth.

With this grant, SMIT's team of designers, engineers and architects will oversee the final stage of development on Solar Ivy by securing IP protection and testing it to create quality high volume manufacturing in North America. SMIT will head a sales campaign of Solar Ivy at 50 architecture firms with a goal of 20 sales, helping to rejuvenate America's solar industry.


Click here to vote!

Grozier Road, Cambridge, MA

It's hard to come by contemporary homes close to Boston. The Grozer home built by aritect Eduardo Catalano was for sale but is now under agreement. $1,087,000, I could so afford that....yeah right

Spring is not getting here fast enough!

A few weeks ago it was in the high 50's and into the 60's, so gorgeous! Now it's super cold. I'm patiently waiting for my yard of grass. Click here to see what my front yard looked like when we moved in.

Moufelt

Moufelt has some really funky table runners and rugs. Check out more here.

Pots with a Personal Touch

Martha Stewart had some really great examples of hypertufa pots in her March issue. Hypertufa is a mix of perlite, Portland cement and peat moss. It looks like cement but is much lighter. Click here to watch her how to video.

Sideboard project

My husband is on spring break and I'm putting him to work! We always wanted to make and sell furniture but we were always scared it wasn't a good road to go down. How can you compete with things made in China... you can't. We plan on making the sideboard, a new platform bed and night stands.

The sideboard is going to go in the foyer. It will replace the smaller console table I found on craigslist last year. The sideboard idea was actually inspired by Ben Kraftons work of Etsy shop Dela Flamant. I plan on having his work featured above and I want some of those wire hexpods from CB2 sitting on the sideboard. I can't wait!

Quinn chair

I was at HomeGoods this past Saturday, looking for random things to put in my garden. I searched through the store and found some decorative ceramic orbs. At the cash register, the lady said another woman had come by earlier and cleaned them out of the larger, cooler orbs. Argh! I was too late! So I decided to drive one town over to another HomeGoods and see if they had any big ones left...

At store #2 all I saw were crackled metallic orbs - not my thing. So I made sure to go through the whole store and see if I saw anything else I liked. In the back of the store, in the furniture section, I spotted it. My jaw dropped open. I walked over to this amazing-looking chair, which looked almost identical to one I had seen at Room & Board, called the Quinn Chair. Now, for reference, the Quinn goes for $750, and the matching ottoman is $400. Shipping is another $300, for a grand total of $1450...

I tip-toed over to the HomeGoods version of the Quinn and looked for the price tag. Ah, red clearance sticker... Only $250, ottoman included!!! AAAHHHH!!!

Needless to say, the chair now lives at my house:



Where is the womb chair going to go? I have no idea. For now I'm putting it in the guest/storage room. I always wanted to find a matching ottoman for it, but I never found one cheaper than $300 - nevermind the insane amount of money to get the set reupholstered: I was quoted $900 plus fabric, just to do the chair! I'll deal with that later, though. For now, all I can think about is my beautiful, new, "Quinn" chair.

Craigslist finds: MA (more added)

Mid-Century glass top coffee table $299 (Arlington, MA)
Retro light red and white $10 (Brookline, MA)
retro starburst wall sculpture $180 (Worcester, MA)
FUNKY Retro Swivel Chair w/ Matching Ottoman $25 (Woburn, MA)




Vintage 1950's dresser $70 (Walpole, MA)
Vintage patio chairs $175 (Some ville, MA)
Eames Era Sputnik Lamp's (pair) $65 (Quincy, MA)
Vintage Refinished Dresser- 12 drawers $150 (Davis Square, MA)

Igloo chair from CB2

The Igloo chair from CB2 doesn't look "cheepy" like most of their chairs. If anyone has a CB2 near by please inspect these closely for me. They intrigue me.

Yard sculptures!

I'm getting some awesome sculptures/ bird feeders made by Joe Papendick. One for the front yard and one for the back, or maybe I will stick them together, not sure yet. He still needs to add patina to the copper to make them all greenish. I can't wait to get them!!

With Patina

Betty White through the years

At 88 Betty seems to be all the rage right now. From her spot in a Super bowl comercial to now hosting SNL sometime in the near future. I've always known her as this cute little old lady with white hair so I did some searching and found some younger pictures of her, enjoy.

New commercial from PES

U.O. sale items

Oversized Iron Jack $11.99 (Was $18.00)
Crosley Alarm Clock Radio Speaker $39.99 (Was $58.00)

Dela Flamant

Dela Flamant is a small print and design studio in Northern Utah. Inspired by 1960's graphic design, in particular Swiss, Dutch and Bauhaus design work as well as antique images and fine art including paintings and drawings. All of the posters are printed using soy based ink.

New tiki art

New tiki patterns! I made these last week when the weather was beautiful here in NH. Wouldn't these look so cool on party supplies like plates, napkins etc. I hope someone picks them up!

Green Pockets

Green pockets are ceramic tiles which fuse nature with the interior space, improving both air quality and health. They attach to the wall to create the illusion as if they were actually growing from them. The tiles, made from recycled materials, serve as planters and their unique shape allows them to interlock, thereby creating different patterns depending on the vegetation planted. Prototype. Design by Maruja Fuentes

ooo I want a bunch of these!!

I'm always on the look out for cool garden sculptures and I found some interesting metal plant ornaments over at Etsy shop Red Grass Designs.

Landscaping inspiration

Flickr Find
Flickr FindFlickr FindAtomic Ranch

For the last few days I've been outside enjoying the nice weather. Mostly all I do is rake up all the leaves, pine cones and sticks from that windstorm we had. (I really need to invest in a leaf blower)

Spring

Sending some spring your way
Vintage Blown Green Glass Bulb Forcer $25