Adding to the collection!

I'm a sucker for vintage orange/red tea cups and serving sets, and when I saw the set above on Etsy I pounced! Last year I found two cups from this same collection and I'm so happy that I can add to it. Below are pictures of others I have collected.

Illuminated flowers

Ever since I had seen an illuminated arrangement at my Agents house I've always wanted to get a bunch of my own. Not sure where they would go but it's on my list. I found a good selection at www.traditionsfurniture.com

Atomic Ranch Magazine: Modern playhouse

Atomic Ranch, one of my favorite magazines has a really cute feature on a modern playhouse in their latest issue. A dad in Denver builds a modernist backyard retreat. So cute! Visit www.atomic-ranch.com.

What I would have wanted.

When I think about bedding for my bedroom this design is what I would have wanted. Since I don't have a magic bedding machine, I guess I will just hang these as large scale prints over my bed. Now I need to hunt down a simple light gray comforter. My printer does have the ability to print on fabric. I just may have to look into that so I can have some small matching throw pillows.

If anyone one is interested in these two prints I'll put them in my etsy shop.

Bedding options

So my husband is making some progress in the garage with the bed. So, I've been thinking about softer things. We are moving up to a king sized bed so I will need all new bedding.

Here are some of my picks. I'm really loving Orla's bedding, but I'm still not sure. I may even just keep my eyes open for something solid gray or tan. I really want something brown and gray but I can't find much with that combo. I'd love to design my own bedding, I can already picture it in my mind now...

Flower Blossom duvet by Orla Kiely (UK)
organic imperial duvet cover from West Elm.
Echo Design™ Fan Floral Comforter Set
Soak in Amber Bedding by Inhabit


Below is a picture of the bedroom currnetly.

Almost finished

When we first moved in we had to cut down lots of old growth shrubs. That project seemed like it would never be completed! So after dealing with that craziness I decided that I wouldn't plant any more bushes in the front. A simple border of stones was all I wanted, clean and simple. Oh and the toads love it too!

Modernist ring

I saw this ring on Etsy a few months ago and really debated getting it. "I deserve it, I need it, I must have it".

Then yesterday I spotted it at a flea market! A man had a table set up with a bunch of old and new rings, I immediately grabbed it and asked how much. I love that feeling when you find something amazing and no one has a clue how wonderful it is. I guess everything looks like junk until you take it home and place your treasure in the right surroundings. My ring hasn't left my finger, it's like it secretes some kind of happy drug... my precious...

Interview: Ron Weaver

Name: Ron Weaver
Occupation: Furniture maker/mid century modern dealer
Location: Sacramento, CA
Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/mobeldesign

1. What kind do you make? And where can we purchase?

I make mostly furniture but have also done some lighting and decorative housewares. Most of my furniture designs have been for outdoor and use steel as the main material. Almost all have been custom made for customers who I work directly with. Often its an Interior designer or architect and usually designs are modified to meet the cutomers specific requirements. In years past I sold through some retail stores but that is not a viable outlet these days. Recently I put a couple of spec designs up for sale on Etsy and have sold a few things that way. For small makers like myself the internet is really the only avenue to reach potential customers. Thankfully this has become a truly viable medium and people are looking for unique items this way now.



2. What do you enjoy most about working in this medium?

I have been passionate about furniture design for almost 25 years and doing a varity of things full time that relate to it. When I'm not making pieces I am active studing 20th century and contemporay design, visiting museum collections around the world, attending contemporay furniture fairs in Milan, New York, Stockholm, writing articles about 20th century design, working with other studio furniture makers, self produced my own designs as well as licenced them to other companies and buying/selling vintage classics. In some way or another "furniture design" is what my life revolves around. I'm not sure why its been my main focus for so long but I can't imagine doing anything else.



3. What challenges have you found in your work?

Being into furniture design has been very rewarding but often not highly profitable. The trade off for doing what I like is worth it for me though. The main challange is probably finding good working relationships with people who want what you make or design. Custom work takes a lot of time figuring and solving design issues and can run into many snags along the way. Spec work is fun but doesn't always pay off. To overcome these challanges I've tried to find a balance as well as stay diverse in the things I do. I've always worked as single person doing everything myself so there is a limit to how much you can actually do. Hiring people or trying to grow into a larger entity is not something I wanted to do.



4. Where do you find inspiration?

I come from a metal sculpture background so this is my main skill set and aesthetic preference. I have been collecting and dealing in Mid-century modern design for about 20 years as well. Most of my work tends to be heavily influenced by this period. This sounds almost cliche to say now with the popularity of this genre but 20 years ago hardly anyone was talking about it. In particular I was most influnced by work done on the West Coast in the post war years. Designers like Van Keppel-Green, Luther Conover, Wes Williams, Dorthy Schindele, Greta Grossman, who mostly worked in metal and created pieces for indoor/outdoor living. Their work all was pragmatic, durable, modernistic, architecturally relivant to its environment and above all asthetically pleasing. I try to build these same qualities into my designs. In addition to looking at the past for inspiration I find that contempoary art and architecture are the driving force behind making relivant and interesting contemporay design. In fact all 3 influance each other and would not exist without the other.



5. What are your favorite artists, designer or blogs.

A few of the contemporay artist/designers that really inpire me are: Adrea Zittel, Geatano Pesce, the Campana Brothers, Konstantin Grcic, the Bouroullec Brothers, and the Droog design group. These people have all brought about new and interesting directions in design in the last decade and consistanly produce great and timeless work. I don't follow too many blogs, as there are so many good ones these days and its hard to keep up. I do check in with Designboom, Freshhome, and Apartment Therapy from time to time. Blogging has really become a hot bed for the exchange of design ideas and has created a great think tank that has really brought great design to the masses. Great ideas come and go so fast these days though. Its really a shame that most of these great ideas never even get seen let alone produced. The level of human creativity and enginuity is really staggering. I really feel like my work is just a grain of sand on a beach of great ideas that are out there.

I have attached a few images of pieces which I am particualrly proud of.

Foam rubber Club chair done in 2003
Malecon outdoor lounge chair done in 2001
Spring back dining chair done in 2009
Quad outdoor chaise lounge done in 2002

Additional images of my work;
http://picasaweb.google.com/mobeldesign/DesignsPast?authkey=Gv1sRgCP3l2M_S3ZbmCw#

Unloved, Thrown Out and Abandoned Creations by Angela

Etsy shop Beat Up Creations uses orphaned and unloved antique plates and transforms them into new Modern Portrait Plates.

I need a plate with a Floyd head!

Abstract expressionists on U.S. stamps

These stamps became available sometime back in March, but the first time I saw them was at the post office yesterday. I wanted to get a few, but they didn't have anymore. Luckily the lady behind the counter said they would be getting more soon.

The set includes works by Arshile Gorky, Adolph Gottlieb, Hans Hofmann, Wilhem de Kooning, Joan Mitchell, Robert Motherwell, Barnett Newman, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Clyfford Still. USA Philatelic has a list of the paintings here.

Platform bed

We are full of ideas, but actually making it is the scary part. A while back I mentioned a sideboard project we'd designed. Sadly that hasn't come to be. My husband is a bit of a perfectionist and he hasn't yet figured out how to get a nice, even finish without an expensive sprayer... We are new to this furniture-making thing!

OK, so a bed. We really need a bed (and no paint finish problems to worry about!) I showed him some beds I liked and we decided on something simple and strong. We started buying the wood for the inside structure, I'll keep you all updated on our progress.

Urban Outfitters: Eleanor Grosch

Artist Eleanor Grosch has a few items now currently in Urban Outfitters.
Love this-> Bird pillow

New and improved

I'm in such a good mood today! The fan is up, the lumen white roller shades are up and I found a cute retro stand yesterday at a flea market for $2.

Everyone who has seen the blinds is shocked at how amazing they look. I'm even thinking about getting another set for my office and master bathroom. I'm sure by the end of the year all my windows treatments will be converted. The fabric I chose for the living room is a bit see through but you can choose from lots of different types, thicknesses, textures and colors.

Click here to see the before photo.

Jello

In the past few years I have picked up a few vintage jello molds, as well as a few old cookbooks full of recipes that involve jello. Jello dishes meat have always kind of repulsed me. I'll pretty much try any food, but that I won't touch. Yuck! But the "regular" sweet, deserty stuff I love!

There is something beautiful about jello when it's popped out of a mold. I found some amazing recipes and pictures at The Jello Mold Mistress of Brooklyn. Don't they look delicious?




via robinseggstudio.com

Can DO!

It's been 100 degrees with high humidity in NH all week! When I went to my local home improvement store to buy some driveway repair gunk, I walked past their awesome celling fan selection and realized I had to have one (we do have an air conditioner in the bedroom, but the rest of the windows in my house are not AC-friendly.)

I was actually quite impressed with some of the fan styles, but I ended up choosing this Harbor Breeze 52" Brushed Nickel Avian Ceiling Fan:Installation was a major pain. Since we have recessed lights in the living room, we had to purchase a recessed light converter kit. Our house being so old, however, the recessed light can was not a standard size, so my husband had to spend the better part of the day - the hot, sticky day - trimming off and adapting the conversion kit to our light cans, and up on the ladder installing the whole thing. The fan finally went up and now sitting at the dinning room table is wonderful!

Blueberries

My property has hills, large boulders, and low swampy areas that dry up in the summer. The low areas are home to really old blue berry bushes that are almost 10 ft tall! This last week the berries have been quickly getting ripe because of the heat wave. Does anyone have any good blueberry recipes?

Installing blinds

I previously mentioned that I was getting roller shades from Blinds.com to fit my strange, large windows. Well, they've arrived!

When my husband and I are doing any kind of home improvement, there is usually some amount of frustration and hours of wasted time trying to figure out how to complete the project. For once, that didn't happen: the blinds literally went up with just four screws! Blinds.com customer service guided my husband through the measuring process and custom-made the blinds to fit perfectly inside the window box. All you need to install them is an electric screwdriver.



They look really, really good. They give just the right amount of privacy and protection from the sun, while still being able to see outside. It's really crazy how good they make the room look! Stay tuned for an upcoming before-and-after pictorial!

Thanks to the nice folks at Blinds.com for sponsoring this project!

Hive storage unit from CB2

Hive storage unit
Winner of the Coup de Coeur award at the 2009 Maison & Objet show in Paris, exclusively at CB2. Three-hive open pyramid stacks to display magazines, books, objects. Wood composite with matte white finish. $79