design
thread over heels
Oh Pinterest… I never knew there were so many things in the world I wanted to throw my money at! Edward Hopper fire escape printed pants, mid-century potpourri pyramids, rosy pink wooden step-ladders – we’re gonna need a bigger credit limit! All those things are very Christmas list-worthy (which month is it again?), but currently the main object of my affection is the Bonbon lamp by Serbian artist and furniture designer Ana Kraš. Those happy, off-kilter metal frames and brilliant silk thread color palettes are giving me a serious sweet tooth!
imagine this as trash
Jenny Murphy, my college buddy and one-time suite-mate (Hurd 210, represent!), has been doing amazing things in St. Louis. After we graduated, she founded Perennial, a non-profit focused on creative reuse with the mission to “empower people to transform themselves and their communities by providing a place to discover ways to transform discarded goods into objects of worth.” For Jenny, sustainability is definitely not just a buzzword – for years she’s been leading workshops designed to help the community see imperfect clothes or broken furniture as raw materials instead of landfill fodder, by teaching the practical DIY skills required to give these raw materials a new life. Last week, after a long fundraising journey, Perennial opened a brick and mortar workshop and furniture store, and boy, is it gorgeous. Take a look at some of Perennial’s amazing transformations…
Some of the incredible furniture produced at Perennial is for sale on their website – take a look around, make a donation, and prepare to get seriously inspired. Go Jenny, go!
gorgeous games
Is the whole game night revival trend still in full effect? I wouldn’t know – after a particularly heated game of Sorry where things were said that can’t be unsaid, my friends and I decided to shelve the board games. That being said, these stunning Fredericks and Mae editions of the classics (backgammon, checkers, reversi, marbles, and clump) have piqued my interest…
modern living with ray eames
Here’s Ray Eames with sculptures she conceived alongside Charles to go inside a room for Alexander Girard’s “An Exhibition for Modern Living” show at the Detroit Institute of the Arts in 1949. Check out the sketch for the room these modern totems were designed for, and dream of time travel with me…
Although getting your hands on any Eames piece seems about as likely as time travel, you can certainly get your geometric, color-block fix on the cheap with Arctecnica’s Themis Mobile from A+R. As for me, I’ll be getting my modernist kicks, paying homage to 20th Century design’s greatest power couple, and putting my face too close to the glass at LACMA’s California Design exhibit this weekend…
postcardens
Admittedly, I have a black thumb (cue the ‘we remember’ montage for all the dearly departed party favor succulents from our Rue Magazine shoot), but Another Studio‘s line of postcard and matchbox sized gardens make me want to give keeping green things alive another shot! Postcardens and Matchcardens come in a whole range of charming locales (the village church, a botanical garden, winter wonderland, the Hermés store), which come flatpacked as a postcard, and unfold into the perfect modern-day chia pet. As if this idea wasn’t just painfully cute enough, the makers of Matchcardens have been kind enough to provide a stop-motion video to promote the line…
I think I know what I’ll be sending my urban Valentines this year… They’re made in the UK, but you can snag your own mini gardens and super mini gardens in the US here.
