Pink Pig, Flying

A criticism I never thought I would utter...?

La Vie en Rose Sun Jar, at Delight

...Not improved by pink.

ORIGINAL Sun Jar, at Cool Stuff Cheap

Bonus Bone: Schwinn 2010 Jenny

2010 Jenny, at Schwinn

One of my goals for 2010 is to ride my bike to work at least once, but hopefully it will become a habit. I do have a bike but it is old and weighs a ton. So I've had my eyes out for something vintage looking, but without the vintage heft.

Schwinn to the rescue! The adorably named Jenny is styled in yellow with tan leather accents. Throw a basket on the front and I'm set!

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

Bonus Bone: Big Ol' Bright Color at Crate & Barrel

Crate & Barrel is often noted for their clean whites and sophisticated wood palette but they're showing up with some in-your-face color with their latest catalog.

Check out some of the yum proving to be a welcome candy-coating to this dull Chicago winter:

Multicolored Cocktail Napkins, $19.95 for 12

Hogan Rug in Teal, $19.95-$199

Tote Bags, $26.95 each

Henley Floor Pillows, $36.95 each

Newport Dishtowels, $4.95 each

Abagail Throws, $49.95 each

Mini Bowls, $8.95 for 4

For this reason, I, Cardboard, declare this a Design Boner.

Towels, Artistic

Salsa Stripe Dishtowels, at Crate and Barrel

Since we're on the subject of dish towels, I've had my eye on these feisty numbers for awhile. Stripes and bold color often wins over my heart. These particular towels make me think of warm nights and spicy music...of squeezing limes to pulp and soapy water floating bits of avocado...

Frida Kahlo

They are the kitchen accessory equivalent to Frida Kahlo's ballsy desire to want it all - the color, the juice, the grime - now give it.

Bonus Bone: Hand Towels by PataPri

Iroiro Hand Towel, $15 at Etsy

Yuko Uemura, the creative force behind PataPri, is getting this screenprinting thing just about right. A graphic designer who spends her time in both Tokyo and Chicago, she loved her screenprinting class at Lillstreet Art Center so much that she decided to start her own handmade business.

Set of 3 Hand Towels, $27 at Etsy

What I love about her hand towels is the girlish simplicity. First of all, everyone can use a towel - in the kitchen, in the bathroom - so the product is necessary, basic. But then Uemura makes each towel special with a smart, sweet, but never saccharine design.

Paper Towel Hand Towel, $15 at Etsy

Besides hand/dish towels, she also prints on aprons and tote bags. Her Etsy shop also lists bedding, tablecloths, and paper products, although these categories are empty now. I'm so sad; I'm so curious. Perhaps, if we buy enough towels, we can fund her new year printing spree and satisfy our textile habit!

For this reason, I, Cardboard, declare this a Design Boner.

Electric Soup

Le Creuset 8-Quart Stockpot, at Bed Bath & Beyond

Zing! I love the deep, rich cobalt color of this stockpot. I just don't think my kitchen is big enough to contain all that electricity...

...Or this electricity:

Ants in Their Pants (in Bed)

You know how when you change one thing in a room, it makes you want to hurry up and change it all? Well, Alison Rose & Mr. Sketch just painted their run-of-the-mill bureau white and now they're anxious to give it a purty backdrop.

The Newly Painted Bureau

They've been sleeping with the real estate-friendly beige walls since they bought their house a few years ago. Now, they're hoping to go for something rich, deep, and moody-chic.

Bedroom at Present

They first mentioned something about a deep red but, having lived with a purplish-red hallway for awhile, I warned them about it feeling too goth...especially in a boudoir...especially in this age of True Blood.

Cardboard's Hallway

Then they sent me this color!

Bedroom at My Paper Crane

They like this jewel-toned blue very much because it provides a big WOW! factor against the white but still works with wood (floors and trim). It's almost perfect, they state, but they started thinking, "Maybe a little more grey...."

And I agree. Their bedroom is coming off a rather dark and narrow hallway so neutralizing it a tad is probably a good idea. But I do think, with two big windows, the bedroom can handle a shade that's fairly dark. So I checked out the Virtual Fan Deck at Benjamin Moore and found...

...Bella Blue! It's a little greyer, a little lighter, it's beautiful, AND it's got some significance to Alison Rose, as it shares a name with the manufacturer of their screen-printed t-shirts. Voila!

Palette Mash; Walls, Wood, White, & Bed

But this is only my opinion. What do you all think?!

Bonus Bone: The Colors (Etc.) of Alaska

Seward Harbor

Mama Cardboard just returned from a two-week vacation in Alaska. Here are the inspirational highlights:

Denali (aka Mt. McKinley)

1. The Locals:

"We saw lots of great animals - mama grizzly chasing a ground squirrel while her two cubs played, foxes and wolves right on the road, two beautiful big caribou - with huge white furry chests and big antlers - walking single file through the tundra parallel to the road, bald eagles everywhere...red salmon swimming upstream as we crossed the river, beluga whales in the gulf...a walk along the water, watching the sea otters float by on their backs."

Aialik Glacier

2. The Sound:

"Then we went to the edge of a glacier and sat for 20 - 30 minutes with the boat turned off and everyone silent - and just listened to the glacier. So cool. Glaciers move 7 - 8 feet a day! You can hear the ice cracking (sounds like thunder) and watch the ice blocks falling off (called calving - sounds like an explosion as the ice hits the water). The glacial ice is a beautiful turquoise blue."

3. The Color:

When Mama Cardboard first told me she was taking a two-week vacation to Alaska, I pictured nothing but a bunch of snow, of ice, of white, white, and white. One might not be able to bring a caribou home or simulate an adequate calving in the freezer but the non-white shades of Alaska are easy to bring on home.

Denali Red Tundra

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

Photos by Mama Cardboard

Press 'n' Dress

Madame est Servie, by Aïssa Logerot

I NEVER iron. But I might be more prone to do so if I had this ironing board/mirror standing up smart in the corner of my bedroom.

Of course I would have to buy an iron but, after doing so, I would certainly offer my (poor) ironing and (adequate) primping skills to designer Aïssa Logerot if she needs someone to test out this conceptual, multifunctional piece. Send me an email if you need a wrinkly and unaccessorized guinea pig, Aïssa!

Love the Pink Feets

Freezer Teaser

Concord Grape Sorbet, at Gourmet

I just mentioned to Porcelain how I had never heard of anyone making grape ice cream/sorbet/gelato. Is it even possible?

Turns out, I just don't get my mouth out that much. Porcelain found this recipe for Concord Grape Sorbet on Gourmet. If you don't want to try it for the taste, what about making it solely for that color? Delicious, all around.

Anyone know of any other grape flavored icy desserts? Porcelain's got an ice cream maker and I feel like stuffing it with bunches.

Bonus Bone: Red Leather

I just can't let this Michael Jackson passing thing, well, pass, just yet. Besides the moonwalk, Michael gave us the iconic red leather jacket. In his honor, I wanted to highlight red leather for the home.

Celina Settee, at Artnet

Wilko (Faux) Leather Mirror, at WilkinsonPlus

Yet, after my many minutes a'google, I found that red leather can often appear tragically flawed and/or uncomfortably weird.

Nubo Red Sleeper/Sofa Bed, at Comfyco

Jayne Mansfield & Mickey Hargitay's Office (circa 1950s), from Interior4You

But at design boner, we prefer to focus on the good in design, on the qualities that elevate acceptable into classic.

Red Leather Side Chair, at Alternative Office Source

For these reasons, I, Cardboard, declare all this (and Michael) a Design Boner.

MJ Photo Credit: Costumes of Nashua

Eye Candy: Chicago Botanic Gardens

Water Lilies

Since our computer system at work was being upgraded (and, therefore, unusable), Porcelain and I, along with the rest of our department, took a field trip to the Chicago Botanic Gardens. It wasn't the springiest day to visit but there was no down of the pouring and the inspiration (color, shape, texture) was completely user-friendly.

Fireworks

Feel it along with us and help will summer to get here already by checking out the rest of our beauteous botanicals.

Porcelain in the Gardens

Open Book: Massachusetts Quilts

Since this week is National Library Week, it's only appropriate that we put up a new Open Book post. Believe you/me, between all the reading and book perusing Porcelain and I do, we should easily be able to post an Open Book every single week. But then there's the photo scanning...and the fact that we're lazy...and ill-equipped... Yet the artistry displayed in Massachusetts Quilts is quite the opposite:

"Rail Fence" made by Ida Mae (Davis) Wood of Pittsfield, c. 1890

If you have ANY interest in quilting or textile design or even storytelling, please visit your local library and check out Massachusetts Quilts. This book will drop your art-lovin' jaw.

"Laurel Leaves" attributed to Betsy Rice Nims of Buckland (and/or daughters), c. 1840

I admit that I read nothing of the text and only flipped through the photos, occasionally reading the captions. But seeing all the images, drawings, and detail shots of new to antiquated quilts in this book is nothing short of inspiring. In fact, I bookmarked all these images a few weeks ago and now, after flipping through the book again for captions, I found 15-20 other pics I wish I had scanned.

Detail of "Hexagon Mosaic" made by Sarah Clark (Ellis) Ide of Milford, c. 1845

Please read this post as a teaser to entice you on the idea of Massachusetts Quilts and then go check the book out in-person to get the full experience.

"Butterflies" made by Jessie Gillies Kent of Lawrence, c. 1930

"Broken Sash" made for the Nantucket Agricultural Society, 1856

Keep Getting Screwed

Over-Compensation

OMG, you guys, my EX rly loved to screw! You may remember more of his aggressive handiwork from THIS POST. Ah well, what a Tool. At least I moved a mirror today and the home improvements continue...

ps. And yes, this is a photo of the very wall that inspired our tagline!

Yes, They Did

Red Room

It's hard to get red, white, and blue to cooperate and not look like a big patriotic mess. The Brugge Bed & Breakfast in Belgium, however, has done a stand-up job! I owe it to the addition of wood and angles.

But I'm not fooling anyone: Happy New Administration, everyone!

Bonus Bone: GurglePot Koi Pitchers

GurglePot Koi Pitchers, at Delight

These small Koi-shaped pitchers (or vases) come in nine brilliant colors AND they make a "delightful gurgle" sound as they pour.

Click HERE to Hear the Gurgle!

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

Use Your Words: Barack Obama on Unity

"...We have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states. We are, and always will be, the United States of America."

- President Barack Obama, Victory Speech (Nov. 4, 2008)

Photo credit: Nibs & Chicago Sun Times

Sample This

"The Amount of Paint Samples I Bought"

I've always been too cheap to buy paint samples. This aversion usually backfires on me and I end up slapping up a wall color that isn't exactly right. I'm starting to believe that spending a few extra bucks to really know what I'm getting into isn't such a bad idea.

Looks like Bree, of Sweet and Bitter fame, agrees with that theory. Check out the amount of samples she bought to color test for one measly (yet certainly well-constructed) mantel, some bookshelves, and a guest room. "Holy cwap" is right!

After seeing photographic proof of such impressive color anality, I won't feel bad picking up, say, two or three testers the next time I paint. Or maybe I can just write to Bree and request her leftovers.