6 & 7 Appreciation

Our show was a success! Check out some of our photography (above, border) that got us PAID.

With reflective hearts and sore fingers, Porcelain & I had to un-install the 6 & 7 show this past Sunday. We worked hard on this project and we're taking a bit of a blog rest (if you call going through a million photos of photos "rest"). We'll be back to the blog soon, with our usual wit and phallicism.

In the meantime, know that we very much appreciate you...appreciating us. We need to specifically thank Debbie, Pup, Formica, Michael, Amy, Domino, The Hi-Rises, Leanne, Mike, Patti, Ania, Reinessa for laughing in the face of economics and buying some of our artwork. We are also completely in love with and touched by everyone who showed up, helped out, or lifted a glass of Pinot (above, center) in DB's arty honor.

6 & 7 : The Gallery Show reminder

Cardboard, 1-10-2009

Porcelain, 4-28-2007

These two will be there on Saturday. Will you?!

Event Details:
6 & 7 Photographs by Design Boner
Saturday, July 18, 2009
6-10 pm
Chicago Art Department
1837 S. Halsted, Chicago, IL 60608

For full details on how the gallery show got off the ground, go HERE.

6 & 7 : The Gallery Show

Cardboard and I have been committed to our 6 & 7 project for the past 2.5 years. We decided, for our 3rd blog birthday, that we'd like to do something really special and put together a gallery show...

[...blowing out those birthday candles...]

Our wish came true! For the past few months, we've been planning, editing, printing, list-making, top model photo shooting - all this while consistently excited and nervous - and, in less than two weeks, it's showtime!

We'd love to meet our readers (IRL) and show off the BIG BIG ENLARGEMENTS of our little ol' weekend photos. We hope many ALL of you can attend. If you are a design boner fan on Facebook, please RSVP on our event page.

Event Details:
6 & 7 Photographs by Design Boner
Saturday, July 18, 2009
6-10 pm
Chicago Art Department
1837 S. Halsted, Chicago, IL 60608

Special thanks to CAD resident artist Seth Gershberg for putting such a fancy orange bow on our birthday gift!

DB on FB

Cardboard, 12-29-07

Dear Fans-

We can be a little slow to the know (uh, Twitter?) but design boner has finally made it onto facebook. Please sign up to be our friend because we'll need you to bring the salad or stay late to help us with the dishes.

xoxo,
Cardboard & Porcelain

Essentially DB

If you're visiting us for the first time, you special new readers you, there's a good reason for it: you must have seen us mentioned in this week's Time Out: Chicago! Welcome! (And a gracious "hai luv" goes out to you old faithfuls.)

Apparently, Porcelain and I are still getting out of bed and firing up the laptop enough to earn design boner a feature in the "Essential Chicago" edition of Time Out. Along with DB, our web friends/rivals Strange Closets, Orange Beautiful, Making It Lovely, PrairieMod, and, new BBFF*, BackGarage, were also mentioned.

Thanks to Time Out: Chicago for giving us the cover (ha ha, ways out!), to Jessica Herman for the lovely interview/write-up, and to Nicole Radja for the lively portrait session. A final nod goes to Photoshop for allowing me to (kinda) fix my lame-ass bangs. See the entire article HERE!

* Best blogger friend forever

Blog Spotted: Cardboard

Oh the blog chain posts...I'm feeling very self-indulgent so I'm jumping right in. Not that my space is all that great or even situated but, as is the origin of our catch phrase, it is very, very orange.

Welcome to where Cardboard blogs!

There are a few oddities about this photograph:

#1 - My desk/dining table is usually much more cluttered but I had, just a few days prior, cleaned it off when I thought I was having company (which did not actually happen to the extent that I thought it would but thanks, Porcelain, for coming over with bobby pins and wine).

#2 - Mille typically does not sit on the bench with me when I blog. She'll roll around on the floor or rub naesty across my shins but Bird is the king of oh-she's-on-the-computer?!-i-must-sit-on-her-lap-rest-my-head-on-her-arm-and-embed-lots-of-stray-hair-into-keyboard.

If you want to know more details about this photo, click over to flickr, where I have blatantly abused the "Add Note" function.

The rules of Blog Spot tagging are as follows:

1. Once you are tagged, post a picture of where you blog. This might mean a picture of your cozy bed, or your office at work (you naughty employee, you!), your bathtub, coffeeshop, etc. Feel free to be creative, but be honest–if your desk is usually covered in Ritz crackers and love letters to Carrot Top, then show us!
2. Feel free to tell us a little about your space, or explain certain items in more detail. Or not.
3. Link back to this post.
4. Tag five other bloggers to show their blog spots.
5. If you are tagged and do not participate, you will become allergic to cabbage (the horror!).

To begin, thanks to Oh What Larks for allowing me to show off. I extend the invitation to:

1. Porcelain - She hasn't revealed her seven facts (yet) but I have faith...and she has a nice camera.

2. Briggles - She's hilarious and designy but I don't think I've actually seen a straight-up photo of her "work station."

3. Angela - A brilliant designer (also muy hilario) and very, very Apple-centric.

4. Tate - I've visited his home and I can only imagine the lovely way in which he'll photograph it.

5. Debon - She's new to blogging and although she's my sister whom I love and miss terribly, she's a damn fine blogger and I eagerly await each item she adds to the internets.

200 Lincolns

2 of 9 Lincoln photos by Katie Brown (aka Porcelain)

Cardboard and I are exhibiting a few pieces in the "200 Lincolns" gallery show at the Chicago Art Department. The opening is this Friday from 6-10pm. Come see many more pieces of art inspired by Abe and stay for a piece of birthday cake.

Ambidextrous Artwork

REPRESENT! I work at a library so I see a large amount of art books by known and unknown artists and photographers. Very rarely, however, do I see an exact replica of something from my own home in these obscure books.

His

Imagine my surprise(!) when, as I was flipping through a marvelous collection of photography by Aaron Ruell, I spotted the very same cheesy motel-esque piece of artwork within its pages (see above). Ruell captures fleeting moments of Americana with a taste and feel similar to the dingy/bright work of (my favorite) Nan Goldin. The mass-produced subject of this post is equally at home in a grimy motel room and near the sewer grate, outside my back door (see below).

Hers

To see more of Ruell's work, check out Some Photos from your local library.

Tagged: Cardboard

Is Me, Cardboard

I've seen these getting-to-know-your favorite blogger chain-letter type things but have never been asked to play along...until now! Ms. Briggles picked me out of the web, saving me from the hungry spider of virtual anonymity, and put me right on said spot. Here's how this game works:

1. Link to your original tagger(s) and list these rules in your post.
2. Share seven facts about yourself in the post.
3. Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names and the links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they’ve been tagged.

So here's a list (to be filed away for Trivial Pursuit: Blogger Edition) of more than you ever wanted to know about me, Cardboard:

1. I am thick waisted...but I'm workin' on it!

2. Having grown up in a state with no (one?) toll road, I never really knew how they worked. So, when I left for college in Massachusetts, home of the revered Mass Pike, I first thought that the amount of toll you paid depended on the amount of time you spent on the toll road. Meaning, the faster you drove, the less you paid. Oh, the autobahn anarchy!

3. I hate getting my hair cut but I LOVE how it feels to walk outside with freshly cut hair.

4. The first and only time I felt an earthquake, I was visiting my cousin in Palo Alto, CA. I was in...6th grade? I didn't realize it was an earthquake until my cousin (7th grade) started crying. I just thought it was her parents (my aunt & uncle) running through the house.

5. I have owned only one cell phone.

6. I had a hamster when I was in elementary/middle school. His name was Stud Muffin and he was my first sole responsibility. I wasn't the best at taking care of him (although he did live way beyond the average hamster life expectancy). Once, when cleaning his cage, I noticed that there were bugs (deplorable, I know) in his pooh corner. This is my earliest memory of doubting my abilities at motherhood.

7. I have invented one of the best (and easiest) vegetarian sandwiches ever: nutty bread (which MUST be toasted), raw spinach, mashed up avocado (with salt & lemon juice, of course), red onion, and Swiss cheese. You're welcome.

I pass the torch to...

1. Porcelain, because, well, because I love her and I constantly want to learn something new...
2. Frugal Fag, because he achieves the perfect balance between rambling and HI-larious...
3. Nicole, because she tells us a lot about herself already but I want the dirt...
4. Elizabeth, because she hasn't been posting regularly and I want to offer her an easy post...
5. Nicholas, because he bought me socks for Xmas so he's obviously got a whole closet full of skeletons...
6. M. Patrizio, because her site is so cute, plush, and pastel that I have a hard time believing she's real...
7. Fritz, because he's an excellent "vocabularist" who doesn't believe in paragraphs...

Bonus Bone: Obama in Words

My Bonus Bone selection isn't an interior design, I realize, but it's important, timely, and aesthetically righteous.

This shirt designed by Nicholas Nocera of Alison Rose shows a powerful portrait of Barack Obama drawn out with words. The lines of text are mostly quotes from Obama's DNC acceptance speech with other sound bite gems thrown in.

Some of us believe in this man a lot and some of this believe in him a little but I think we're all filled with a bit more hope. If you're feeling the same way, visit Alison Rose to show your support across your chest. The shirt's available for men and women, in organic natural or a soft blue, for $22. The cherry on top is that a portion of each sale goes straight to Obama for America Campaign.

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

Weekend Flings

• Kermit Bale: An Exhaustive Comparison (seen above)
• A Portrait for Catty
• 3000 Broadway, Aerially
• Porcelain's Candy Tile!
• Denver Will Look Good in Blue & Yellow
• The Craziest Old Oven
• A-List Dolls
• More Pets, More Portraits

If you're new around here and have no idea what this list means, click HERE for a brief and witty explanation.

A Top Design Chicago Sighting

John Gray

Tonight, as I was heading toward PetCo to pick up more Feliway, I spotted John from Season 1 of Top Design at the Starbucks on Clark & Belmont.

I felt the flush of famous, as I strolled down the sidewalk and peered in to see him sipping and chatting. It was very reminiscent of the time I met Season 1 winner, Matt Lorenz. Yet this time, I merely smiled knowingly through the window instead of hovering in an awkward linger and talking trash about my ex-boyfriend.

Unfortunately, I don't remember anything that John accomplished during his time on TD. I just found it rather funny, and somewhat stirring, that I instantly placed his face.

Art reception #2

Painting in process, see the finished piece on Friday

This Friday there will be another art reception/meet & greet at Il Fiasco. The first one was a ton of fun filled with family, friends and yummy food.

Details:
Art Show/Meet and Greet
Art by: Katie Brown, Rex Flodstrom, Philip Hartigan, Jackie Spark

Friday, July 18, 2008
6-8pm

Il Fiasco
5101 N. Clark
Chicago, IL 60640

Bonus Bone: Celebrity Dedication

The Poshest of Wrist Tattoos

We just discovered that Victoria Beckham (aka Posh Spice) is a secret fan of design boner. In fact, she loves us so much that she has our initials* tattooed across her wrist. Wow, Vicky/Posh, we couldn't be more honored at the depth of your devotion.

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

* Really - what else could this stand for?

Art reminder

Come see this image in painting form!

Tomorrow. Paintings. Hors d'oeuvres.

Need I say more?

Come see some of Porcelain's paintings!

Brooke, by Katie Brown (aka Porcelain)

I have six paintings hanging at the wonderful Andersonville restaurant Il Fiasco. There will be a meet and greet/reception on Friday, June 20 from 6-8pm. Please come out to support some local Chicago artists and a great neighborhood restaurant (amazing pizza, delicious pasta, and great wine list).

Details:
Art Show/Meet and Greet
Art by: Katie Brown, Rex Flodstrom, Philip Hartigan, Jackie Spark

Friday, June 20, 2008
6-8pm

Il Fiasco
5101 N. Clark
Chicago, IL 60640

See a few more examples of my work here.

Bonus Bone: Apartment Therapy Wrap Parties

(l.-r.) Porcelain, Steve, AT editor SarahC, Cardboard

Last night Porcelain & I attended the Apartment Therapy Small Cool wrap party. AT is a part of our daily lives: we read the blog, I write for the blog, and we always seem to be talking about the blog. It's a integral design reference, glossary, forum, and influence but it's still just a blank space on the interwebs. All the living and breathing (ie: the stuff your computer can't do) is what makes the event parties so special.

We, as real people, have the chance to mingle and chat, finally matching faces with usernames and home tours. We also get to high-five our design pals and encounter new someones to add to that list (Hi David! Hi Justin!).

The best part, though, is being in the same room with the people behind the design we love. And listening to Maxwell, the man who started this AT madness, speak of healthy homes is as powerful as hiring your own house coach. I always leave these shindigs inspired, motivated to go home and do something more than watch TV and complain about cat hair.

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

Photo credit: Janel

A Published Welcome

Bonus Photo of Cardboard's Home

If you're new to design boner, guided here because you saw Cardboard's home in Apartment Therapy Presents - Welcome! In quick bio, design boner is a nearly-two-year-old blog written by two interiors junkies, Porcelain (Katie) and Cardboard (Jessica). What makes our blog stand out? We walk the line between pretty and pervy and we don't always have the best balance.

So please - have a drink on us, click around, and make yourselves comfortable. We hope you leave here feeling good and want to come back again and again.

And, if this is your 2nd, 104th, 9 millionth...visit - we love you. Thanks for being so loyal and chatty.

Lastly, I understand that some of the text in the AT book is misleading. If you are here because you'd like more information on Andrius Jutzi, we've been advised by our lawyers to state the following:

DESIGN BONER is in no way affiliated with or connected to ANDRIUS L JUTZI. DESIGN BONER holds no interest in or information on ANDRIUS L JUTZI. Any published material stating a union between DESIGN BONER and ANDRIUS L JUTZI is to be considered moot and presently void. For further information on ANDRIUS L JUTZI, contact his representative HERE.

UR

Ooops! I just realized that the new issue of UR Chicago should be hitting the shelves soon. I hope you were able to grab a copy of the last issue (Design Matters). There was lots of good stuff in there, including a profile (written by me!) of jamesthomas, a local design team with their finger on the pulse of man-chic.

UR is a free publication so feel free to snatch up what remains of the old issue (as it would make me sad to see stacks of them in the trash).

Cardboard as Fashion

Cardboard on ANTM

I knew cardboard was couture!

For the latest episode of America's Next Top Model, all the lovlies had to pose as/with recyclables. The newly bleached Jenah had the privilege of being cardboard.

The shoes are hot-city and the wide belt over a corrugated dress is nifty but I think I nailed the close-up much better, don't you?