We stumbled on this inspiring idea for painted floors while leafing through Artists’ Handmade Houses, which is chock full of ideas. Sculptor- designer Costantino Nivola painted the kitchen in his Long Island home a sublime, deeply saturated yellow available in a singular paint.
Read MoreOne of the many details we love in sculptor Constantino Nivola’s “outdoor rooms” are the walls he erected to define space and make into artworks. We’re crazy for this tree wall sculpture, as well as his wall paintings, including the Solarium. Hmmm. Wonder how they are made? Of course, we tried to figure it out, hoping…
Read MoreAmong Constantino Nivola’s inspiring outdoor garden rooms is his open air “solarium”, designed with high, white walls to reflect the sun “to such a degree that nude sunbathing was possible even in the winter.” And an artful solarium it is.
Read MoreSpeaking of tinkering, while we were culling photos from Artists’ Handmade Houses for our recent giveaway, we came across a photo of Constantino Nivola’s living room in his house on Long Island (see photo below). In the back corner, partially blocked by a chair, is an intriguing light made of Tinkertoys and shiny rolled paper. OMG, Tinkertoys! Unbelievably…
Read MoreTo our minds, paint is about the easiest way to give something a new look without spending a lot of money. We have a special fondness for painted floors, since floors are a pain-in-the-neck and expensive to replace. We stumbled on this inspiring idea while leafing through Artists’ Handmade Houses: the sublime yellow floors Constantino…
Read MoreAmong Constantino Nivola’s inspiring outdoor garden rooms is his open air “solarium”, designed with high, white walls to reflect the sun “to such a degree that nude sunbathing was possible even in the winter.” And an artful solarium it is.
Read MoreIn the messy digital file I keep of ideas for possible Improvised Life posts, I found trove marked simply “paper shades”. Their big message: A rice paper shade or two adds A LOT to even the most “undecorated” room. They have a unique, rather magical presence that pulls the room together. Here’s how.
Read MoreIn our dog-eared A Year From Monday, we read this astonishing story from John Cage, in Lecture on Commitment. As usual, it changed our view completely.
Read MoreWant a good night’s sleep, or help falling asleep? Reading a relaxing book really does help to shift your mind out of the day. Recently, our friend Merete Mueller told us her strategy…
Read MoreWe’ve written numerous posts wishing out loud for a life-size building block that would allow us to create with the ease of a Lego; over the years, we’ve featured some “close-but- not-quite-right iterations“. Our wish has come true, at last. Serial entrepreneur Arnon Rosen applied his knowledge of modular flooring to create the technology to produce 12-inch…
Read MoreWe love outdoor fireplaces and are always looking for interesting iterations, like this big slab of rusting steel as a fireproof backstop, with a cast cement fireplace, and the one Constantino Nivola fashioned one out of ordinary brick to create his outdoor room.
Read MoreAs we turn our attention to getting our patio ready for hanging out, we’re inspired by this charming image we found on From Moon to Moon of a Moroccan-style garden ladened with brightly colored rugs. The rugs define and soften the space, and create an outdoor “room”, perfect for hanging out with friends. Creative use of colorful textiles, Moroccan-style, is a great strategy.
Read MoreWe are big fans of outdoor rooms—outdoor spaces defined in such a way as to make them feel like rooms in plein air— and have featured a number of them over the years. (One of our favorites is the lovely outdoor “room” that Constantino Nivola created on his Long Island property.) We were smitten when we saw this…
Read MoreWe have a strange aversion to wall-to-wall carpeting, finding it monotonous, one dimensional and claustral. But when we saw this clever carpeting made of stripey colors, we though, yeah we might could live with that. Then we saw these stipes made out of floor tiles and realized the striped thing could be done with lots…
Read MoreWe were instantly smitten with this kitchen, for its spareness and simplicity (on the upper East side of Manhattan no less), but especially for the marble slab table with a rough, unfinished edge. Such a simple detail to leave undone, yet the effect is bold and surprising. It could be done with any stone surface.…
Read MoreOne of the big surprises in our renovation of ‘the improvised life’s laboratory was the floor. When we took up the funky carpeting, we didn’t find the concrete we expected but a soft gypsum compound that couldn’t be hardened. We had no budget for a floor so we started to look around at possibilities. We…
Read MoreThis lovely brick floor spotted at Style Files reminded us of the floor Alexander Calder installed in the huge windowed studio he added on to his Connecticut farmhouse. It was made of the most ordinary of materials – sans mortar or cement.
Read MoreWe view this beauty of a floor as a kind of coloring book for adults: paint a color within the lines of each floor board and look what you get, the ultimate d-i-y, pattern already built-in. (Practicality: be sure to lightly sand and prime the floor before painting…) via Inside via Newyorkicorn Related posts: zigzag…
Read MoreWhen designer Laura Handler sent us word of her new blog, Interesting Found Objects, we instantly started poking around. We love Unmentionables, her latest post, with a divine, mind-boggling Japanese condom package-design. Then we flew to her website to find out about her. We looked at her designs and was smitten with her stacking, interlocking…
Read MoreThe harsh reality of white-painted floors like the ones in our ‘laboratory’ is that they are prone to scratching and losing their pristine look FAST. Since our plywood floors were painted a beautiful oyster shell white (THAT story to come in a later post), it has been our personal challenge to GET OVER the fact…
Read More