Gimage: Happy Camera

"Happy Camera"

You'll all be pleased to hear that we've figured out our camera woes. Turns out that all I needed to do was remove some old, duplicated photos from my Easyshare storage. After I freed up that space, the new photos sped right into the computer. As for Porcelain, she only needed to change her batteries. I suppose I should have probably gimaged "stupid girls" instead of "stupid camera."

To our #1 fan (paper lily), and our regular readers (Janel and my mom), thanks for your support. We're back and comin' at you with mad, craZy photos!

Bonus Bone: Orange & Green

Bourbon!, courtesy of dooce

Begonia Orange Rubra

Peas & Carrots

Whether it's captured in a homey side dish or a brilliant splash of Begonias, the pairing of orange and green simply works. This fact became ever so apparent to me when I painted my dining room a rich and deep orange. After the room was painted and I was pondering accent colors, the first natural choice was various shades of green. Now, I find that when I'm out shopping, I'll find a moss-hued bowl, glass stained grass (green), or even an old army patch, and I'll think how wonderful it would look in my orange room.

In this particular example, I collected a lovely old pine-colored book (I don't even remember what the title is), a vintage copy of In Cold Blood, and a marble end piece in the regal shape of a chess player's Knight. When these objects arranged themselves against my orange wall, I wiped my hands and exclaimed, "Done!". It's a small moment in the big picture of all things decorating but, to me, it's quiet perfection.

For these reasons, I, Cardboard, declare this a Design Boner.

Note: I felt like a shmuck for not knowing what the green book was so I went and checked. It's Poems of George Eliot. There's no publishing date that I can locate but there is a penciled inscription dated 1888!

Gimage: Stupid Camera

Gimage = Image I found when I searched "stupid camera" in Google

Posting (at least with photos) might be a bit tricky for awhile. Porcelain's camera pooped out on her (no pun intended) a few weeks ago. Ask her about it and she'll mumble something about "...standby mode."

Now the digital camera I use is having a hard time transferring images to the computer. Oh, crap (pun intended)!

The camera docks directly onto one of Kodak Easyshare photo docks, which can either print easily or transfer. The print option seems to work okay but that does nothing to help me when I want to upload images of the sweet artwork I bought at Art vs. Craft this past weekend! I'd have to print the photo, scan the photo, save, locate, upload...enough!

In summary, if anyone out there has experience with squirrel trapping or camera/computer connections, please email Cardboard. Please.

Bonus Bone: Self-watering flowerpot

I confess! I'm a bit of a lazy gardener!!! (In fact I haven't even planted anything this summer.) I start out with the best of intentions to water daily. This goes on for a few weeks straight, maybe a month, tops, and then the heat of the summer infiltrates my brain and I start to SLACK! Right as I walk through my front door, I tend to wilt and collapse onto the couch in front of the window AC. The thought of going outside, back into the heat and humidity, keeps me planted. What? I have to water the cats AND plants? Too hot! Too much work! Must...not...break...sweat...

By the time the heat wave breaks, my lovely little herbs and tomato plants are rather pathetic, slightly yellowed and shriveled. Get these plants to the ER and STAT! Do you think my insurance will cover this? If only there was someone or something that would water for me. Now there is help for lazy gardeners like me or good ones who are away on vacation, the self-watering flowerpot! Designed by Henrik Holbaek and Claus Jensen, this ingenious pot will hydrate your plants for a week or longer through a of system nylon wicks that draw water up like the plant's natural roots.

For these reasons, I, Porcelain, declare this a Design Boner.

Craft Fair!

Are you looking for something to do tomorrow? How does a road trip to Milwaukee and the chance to buy homemade goodies from all kinds of hip vendors sound?

Art vs. Craft is a one day craft extravaganza and it's happening tomorrow. When I say "crafts," I don't mean your grandma's hand knit doilies and toilet seat covers. The new generation of craftsters is much cooler than that. You will find hand milled BEER soap, collage art, reconstructed clothing, vinyl purses, small press stationary, silk-screened everything, and tons of jewelry. But most of all, you will be wowed by my own crafty contribution:

Love Lights!

I take boring ol' switch plates and enlighten them with the covers of trashy romance novels. They're really quite fun and this batch (see above) is the most I've ever had completed at one time. They will all be on sale in Milwaukee tomorrow! I hope you make the trip out and check out all the spectacular wares!

Art vs.Craft
Saturday, June 24th
1025 N. Broadway
Milwaukee, WI
10am-7pm
$2 admission fee

So instead of plopping yourself down on the sofa and zoning out to another My Fair Brady marathon, come up to Milwaukee and support independent merchants!

Design Hindrance

This is the current state of my laundry room.
I need your help!

I'm just being dramatic. Since this photo was taken, I have cleaned up the piles of insulation but the ceiling still remains open and scary looking! You see, my laundry room has become hostel for a family of free-loading, fluffy-tailed squirrels. I succeeded in Great Stuffing Mama Squirrel out but, when I did that, I trapped her two babies inside. I spent all of Memorial Day ripping down the fiberboard drop ceiling & fiberglass insulation, hunting for a pink, squirming bundle of hairless baby squirrels. It turned out that the babies weren't helpless, just lazy, and they were still living with Mom even though they had all their fur and seemed to be able to run pretty well.

I know they can run because every time I open the basement door, they scatter as if caught shoplifting almonds at Whole Foods.

I bought a NO-KILL trap and caught one beast with a tiny but delicious peanut butter and white bread sandwich. It took about three days to lure the first one into the trap. But now it's been two weeks and the second one is holding out. I've tried peanut butter, oatmeal, molasses, nuts, Cinna Stix from Domino's Pizza...

I beg you to help me catch this wily little devil so that the ceiling reparations may begin. I'm trying out a new plastic paneled ceiling and I'm excited to get going on it. Plus, I'm not too keen on the creepy cable snakes (see photo above) that drop down and brush against the back of my neck while I'm loading my dirties.

Let the advising begin!

Mass Modern auction rehash

Cardboard and I attended the Mass Modern Auction at Wright this past Saturday. We were interested in checking out how the auction operated and looking at all the furniture in person. Maybe, if we were lucky, our sugar daddies would dig deep enough and we'd leave with a new addition to one of our homes. There were several rooms FILLED with furniture, art, lighting, accessories, etc. We had a great time opening doors and doors, sitting down at a Frank Gehry cardboard dining set, touching the material, snapping photos, and drinking complementary Izze sodas. Our two favorite pieces were an adorable teal dressing table with off-centered mirror and a pair of Edward Wormley swivel lounge chairs. We were both somewhat surprised by the condition of quite a few of the pieces (not all that great). The photos online seemed slightly deceiving. The furniture was obviously well loved by someone and would need quite a bit of rehab to restore them to their former glory.

The majority of the buyers seemed to be serious collectors and dealers. Prices ranged from $25 for a pair of furry, brown chairs (which Cardboard delightfully named the Fozzie Bear chairs) to a pair of Charles and Ray Eames small side cabinets for $10,000! Yes, that's right $10,000, American dollars!!

Despite walking away with nothing and being a bit shocked by some of the skyrocketing prices, we still had a fun time observing the bidders, enjoying the snacks and beverages, and lusting after a pair of round brass lamps! To check out some additional photos from the auction, go here.

Bonus Bone: Furoshiki

One thing I love to do, especially on a rainy day, is wrap presents. I like to use whatever I've got around the house and I always try to spiff it up a bit and make the wrapper look just as good as whatever may be inside the box. So it's rather peculiar that, until yesterday, I had never heard of furoshiki.

Furoshiki is a Japanese tradition of wrapping gifts in fabric. Often, this presentation is reserved for food items or bottles of liquor but, according to my internet searches, anything can be wrapped in fabric and made to look ever so pretty. Japanese custom states that the gift receiver should unwrap the furoshiki and fold it neatly. Then when it's time for everyone to go home, the small cloth is "returned to the giver by placing something small in it for the gift giver to take home." * What a lovely idea! So next time you're off to a dinner party, try wrapping that bottle of cheap wine in a furoshiki and you may just walk out with a dainty guest soap or your host's TV remote control.

For these reasons, I, Cardboard, declare this a Design Boner.

Instructions on wrapping a bottle of wine or sake: *
-Place the bottle in the center of your furoshiki. The cloth must be fairly small and square. I experimented with longer, scarf-like materials and there was simply too much cloth floating around.
-Bring two diagonal corners together and knot them on top of the bottle.
-Pull the other two corners toward you, around the bottle, and knot them on the face of the bottle.

-Tighten and fluff to make it look perfect.
-Kanpai! Your first furoshiki!

My fiesta furoshiki. I think it looks like a Japanese cactus wearing a sombrero!

* Sandy Kanemura (Ed.). Kokoro: Cherished Japanese Traditions in Hawai'i, 2004.
Lead image: Professional furoshiki

Gimage: Design Boner

Porcelain & I like to chat. We send each other emails throughout the entire day. Our responses grow long and twist around everything from Britney's eye shadow to train schedules. Often times we'll pull odd phrases out of our transcripts and search the words in Google Images. The searcher will peruse the images that flood across the screen, looking hard for the perfect, the most ridiculous, example of our search term. We like to call this pastime "gimage" (pronounced 'j&-midge).

To introduce this activity into our blog, I scanned the room behind me, closed my eyes, and typed in "Design Boner." The reason I was nervous should be so obvious! But my fears were completely unfounded as I found myself face-to-screen with this delightful representation of our online journal...

I would credit this photo but the website no longer exists.

Chairs are in the Air

On Sunday, I visited the 57th annual Old Town Art Fair in one of Chicago's historic neighborhoods. Since I have not yet enacted my Art Fund (a squirreling away of cash that I can spend freely at these decadent art festivals), I usually just go to browse. I will undoubtedly find an oil painting that thrills me for...um...$5,800. A sculpture that reminds me of lost childhood innocence? $2,000, plus tax.

Sigh.

But this year I came across Judy Hinkes Zeddies. This delightful Chicago printmaker focuses on interiors, with a heavy slant toward chairs. I am such a sucker for a good chair rendition! Her pieces are uncomplicated yet have depth. This elusive combination and the fact that the price tag was a mere $60, propelled me to purchase one of her monoprints. If you love her work too but missed her, don't worry. She's returning to Chicago in August for the Bucktown Arts Fest.

Judy Hinkes Zeddies, Solitude (for Michael)

And while we're on the subject of artistic chairs, I'm very fond of Robert's Chair Tote. This is a great example of how such an ordinary object can be abstracted into the beautiful.

Mass Modern – Modern Design at Modest Prices

Paul McCobb Planner group drop-leaf dining table


Arne Jacobsen chairs


Anna Castelli rolling storage cube

Modern Design at reasonable prices!?!??!!!!! I am there!

Wright Presents: Mass Modern – Modern Design at Modest Prices Auction
17 June 2006 11am
Viewing 12-16 June 2006 10am – 5pm

Most items sold with no reserve
Free admission and parking
Catalogs available

1440 West Hubbard Street
Chicago, Illinois 60622
312 563 0020
www.wright20.com

Modern Warehouse

Two of my favorite things in this world are the city of London and Danish modern furniture. I’ve died and gone to heaven with London based Modern Warehouse. Their website is filled with beautiful examples of Danish classics in teak and rosewood, 60’s classics, impressive reproductions, art, and the funkiest assortment of accessories that side of the pond. All I need now is a plane ticket and to win the lottery.

Paper Hunt

Thanks to a tip off from our friends at Apartment Therapy - Chicago, I played hooky from work today and went out to grab some free wallpaper!
Maya Romanoff, a local high-end wallpaper manufacturer sold their storage space and needed to clean house. I visited their website and was hoping to find rolls of the metal leaf, natural fibers, or even the Beadazzled (seriously!) collection. Alas, no such luck. Yet I stood among 20 or so other scavengers, waiting, until the doors opened at 2:30pm. We rifled through the older collections, boxed and rolled, stacked crazy-like in the basement and garage. I nabbed a couple rolls with great texture and a neat herringbone pattern in three different shades: sage green, soft grey, and a pale but lively yellow.

I don't exactly know what I'll do with all this wallpaper or even if I'll end up using it at all. But I am a firm believer in taking what you can get when you can get it and seeing how it all fits together later. This might explain why I have so much....stuff.

Bonus Bone: float champagne flutes

molo float champagne flutes

The float champagne flutes by molo have everything that makes me giddy about good design. They're sleek, elegant, sexy, fun (what’s more fun than a bit of bubbly?!), and innovative. You can serve chilled AND hot beverages in these beauties. To top it all off, you don’t need a coaster because condensation is kept away from the table.

For these reasons, I, Porcelain, declare this a Design Boner. CHEERS!

Welcome to Design Boner

Here at Design Boner, we’re excited!! We lust for dishware, color, DIY, photography, front doors, window treatments, glassware, art, fabrics, thrift stores, hardware stores, mid-century modernism, wall decals, antiques, low-brow, high-brow, Target, Noguchi, minimalism, maximalism!, yellow, murals, kitschy/retro/vintage, chandeliers, containers, organizing, spring cleaning, starting over, and, most generally, EVERYTHING.

Hopefully, now you understand the origin of our name. We’re not designers (not yet anyway) but our love of form, of color and pattern, isn’t learned in school. We’re not going to thrust upon you big design words or unachievable environments. We’re just two giddy girls (with lots of helpful friends) who notice our surroundings and want to share what we love. And, of course, we want to hear from you too.

But we know what you’re thinking. What kind of pervy site…No! Our families and mothers’ friends are going to be reading this. Our intention isn’t to embarrass anyone. So let’s just get it all out of our systems:

There. That’s it! That's all you get.

Now just sit back and prepare to get rubbed the right way (design-wise, you sicko).