Old things.

The other day I was at my parents' house, going through my old high school bedroom. I haven't lived there in years, but somehow my stuff is still lying in piles in my old room. So my mom has been asking me to clean out my things for quite some time, and I finally went through some of it a few weekends ago.

Here's a jewel that I found that I'd forgotten.


A Barbra Streisand album. Except mine is a record. I have no idea where I got this, or why. Barbra was pretty cute back in the day, though.


Check out the back album art. This is the only picture I could find online, but that's one tight little bum. I'm impressed. Go Barbra.

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I came across a cool idea for flooring this evening.


It might look like expensive hardwood with handcarved details, but it's actually flooring made out of recycled leather belts.




Artist Inghua Ting founded TING London in 2000, and all her products are refurbished and recycled. I think it's a super creative way of reusing something old and making it into a really unique, beautiful part of your home.

Tiles run at about $75 a square foot and are even held together with environmentally friendly water based glue.




I also came across a super cool company called Pedini, based out of Italy, that designs round kitchens.


As a graphic designer, one of the clients I work for the most is a cabinet company, so I'd consider myself to be pretty familiar with cabinets, but I've never seen anything like this other than the Jetsons. I love the curve at the end, it's a great use of space, which staying original and out of the typical modular fashion of kitchens.


And while I love the j-shaped kitchen, this c-kitchen is just a little too round for my taste. Unless you have a huge kitchen space to work with, it's a bit of an impractical use of the space. I do think it's really cool and innovative though, makes me think of something I would have seen on futuristic shows as a child.

Hair

Some days, I wish my hair were like this.


Big hair is so sexy.

DIY Projects

I love doing DIY projects! I love making things myself, exactly how I want them. I love putting time in and having a final result. I'm always so proud when I finish a project! It's very rewarding.

Yesterday I did a project. I made myself a upholstered headboard.



Here's a picture of the finished product, taking by my iMac. It's purple velvet, but it looks darker in this picture than it actually is.

This is a super easy project, and you don't even need any fancy tools for it other than a staple gun. I followed the directions on bejane's website. Pretty much all you have to do is sandwich fabric, batting, foam, and plywood, and then staple the fabric to the plywood.

The trickiest part of the project was mounting it to the wall. I bought these little mounts from Home Depot. I have no idea what they're called, but they're essentially two parts, and one slides in to the other. One is mounted to the wall, and one is mounted to the headboard. My recommendation, is to screw in the wall mount first (I used two, one on either side), and then the ones on the headboard and make sure that the headboard mounts properly BEFORE you staple the fabric/batting/foam to the headboard. It's a lot easier to make sure a piece of plywood mounts properly than a full headboard.



Another project I hope to do is this mini desk.



The directions are here. This project is pretty simple, but it'll take an electric drill (a treasure which I have not yet gotten). I love this desk, but it's something that I'll probably only get to do when I have somewhere more permanent to live. Such as my own house. I think it would also be cool to do a mini version of this for a minimalist bedside table, or a shelf for keeping keys and such in the entrance.

The best ad

This ad ran in the Australian newspaper, The Daily Telegraph the day Obama was inaugurated. I think it's brilliant.

Ugh, also

I must add, that when I add pictures that are larger than a certain size, it crops them here in the blog (a shame!) and so to get the full effect of the photo, click them to see the full version. The cropped ones don't do them justice! Half the photos are cut off! It's terrible.

Now, one last favorite shoot from Fashionation, for Stiletto Magazine. This is one of my absolute absolute favorites. It's such a brilliant and simple concept. The clothes are shot without any models at all, looking as though they're suspended in the air. The shapes and textures of the clothing themselves are gorgeous.

Quick!

Ah! A quick moment in time when all of Fashionation is working for me!

I'll post a few of my favorite pictures from the site while it's working. I am giving you a warning, if you are offended or afraid of nipples. For some reason, photos with some sort of nudity have the most emotional tug. Perhaps it's the vulnerability the models must show? Who knows. Anyways, enjoy.


These images are from a spread that photographer Rui Faria did for Volt Magazine. The texture works so well in black and white.



Another one of my favorite shoots features photographer Enrique Badulescu for S Magazine.


The lighting is amazing! And the clothing works so well, with gorgeous shapes being created. Fashion by Aurelio Costarella (who has a beautiful website, by the way), Alessandro Dell’Acqua and Giuseppe Zanotti.



Here's another great black and white shoot. The minimalist design and bold edges are so gorgeous!


This piece ran in Clear Magazine and was photographed by Ishi, with clothing by Yohji Yamamoto, Aurelio Costarella (again) and Burberry.

I absolutely love this photograph for Stiletto Magazine. The dress is by Armani, and the entire spread of photos are amazing. I'd like to post each one, but instead I'll just direct you to the post on fashionation. Each photo is gorgeous.


And even if she may be a little strange, Naomi Campbell is absolutely brilliant in front of the camera, and knows how to use the angles of her face and her long legs to her advantage.


This is my favorite from a shoot with her for V Magazine, but you can see all the pictures here.

Bathrooms

Bathrooms are one of my favorite rooms for design because sinks and bath tubs can have such cool design and be great focal features. I'm a huge sucker for unusual and beautiful sinks.


Kasch is a company from Munich that creates what they call "overflow" tubs. They're built into the floor of the bathroom, rather than above ground, and I think they're really cool.



And, as always, Kohler has some great sinks.


One of my favorite ideas for a bathtub comes from architects Pieter Peerlings and Silvia Mertens in Belgium. I'd say more about them, but their website is in some funny language I can't read.



They found a 7.5 foot wide space between two buildings and constructed their office/house in between, in four levels.


Each floor is carefully optimized to serve a purpose, without any space going to waste and nothing unnecessary inside.



From ground floor to fourth floor, they serve as office, dining, living, and bedroom.


I especially like this idea for a house/office because it's reusing what would have otherwise been wasted space and created something useful out of it, rather than building on a new lot in a suburb. It's an idea I've never seen before, and I always love design that mashes unconventional within classic.

363 days left

I got the most wonderful Christmas present a few days ago (belated, I know, we blame the Postal Service).

I got four glycee prints by Stella Im Hultberg, from a limited edition run of 500, plus they're AUTOGRAPHED. I am the luckiest. They're beautiful, and I'll probably go get them framed, as in real and properly framed in a store.





Aren't they beautiful? Stella always paints women with stegasaurus backs, rosy cheeks, and big black hair. I've always wanted black hair. I love Stella's work.


Oh, before I forget, I must say CONGRATULATIONS to my old friend Kara and her husband Rob! Kara and I were very good friends in junior high, and she just happened to have the New Years Baby this year! I expect to see many more pictures of little Isaiah on facebook soon.


Here is the official picture on the news website of Kara, Rob and Isaiah. Look at his little toes poking out!