A long time ago I read in one of those cheesy horoscope books and pored over the romantic matches that are best for my sun sign, Pisces. This was in my late teens when I had all the time in the world and therefore spent it on astrology. I think I needed something or someone (besides my parents) telling me that I was not going to be a gawky awkward person forever and find love. Now I realize that a lot of those astrological personality descriptions can apply to many people - but one thing in particular still stands out in my mind. Pisces (woman) and Taurus (man) are supposed to be a good match - one of the reasons being that a Taurus guy can materialize a Pisces's gal's ideas.
I have found this to be true especially during Mr. Z and my home furnishing endeavors. There have been several ideas I've had that he made physically possible. Most recently, this cantilever lamp...
We needed a light above our dining table but didn't want to bother with mounting a light on the ceiling and dealing with electrical issues. Instead it's mounted on the wall, and the switch is the little aluminum box on the cord that turns the light on with the tap of a finger. We also wanted the light to be moveable like a swinging articulating arm, and the cord fittings can be loosened to allow the light position to be adjusted up and down.
It took a while for this lamp to be finished because Mr. Z was waiting to use our friend Daniel's workshop (Autumn Workshop). At one point Mr. Z shaved off the tip of his ring finger trying to cut one of the wood pieces for the wall mount! The accident delayed the project even more, but luckily he still has all 10 fingers. During the interim, the lamp went through a few shade revisions. Since the cantilever and wall mount weren't done yet, we used a mic stand to prop up the frame and light. At first we wrapped the frame with a black twill tape but found it to be too dark. We decided paper would diffuse light the best, so I drafted a simple 2 piece triangle pattern out of plain paper and stapled it to the frame as a mock-up. The final shade is made out of rice paper sewn together. Sometimes you just need to live with something for a while to know what to do, you know?
Showing posts with label home. Show all posts
Showing posts with label home. Show all posts
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Friday, January 25, 2013
Arrangeable wall
The wall where the TV hangs is a tricky one to hang art on - sort of a visual waste of space. I was inspired by this post at Lovely Life and decided that something like it would be a perfect solution to display coffee table books and album covers - or just about anything. It's sort of an ever changing wall that you curate. It really completes the space, don't you think?
Thanks to our friends Daniel and Pat at Autumn Workshop we have our very own Arrangeable Wall.
Thanks to our friends Daniel and Pat at Autumn Workshop we have our very own Arrangeable Wall.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Cat tower scratch pad
Being the crazy cat lady that I am, I've been searching for a decent looking cat tower for quite some time now. Finally, I found Whisker Studio. They have a customizable "Elevation Modular Cat Tower". What I like most about this tower is that it doesn't take up too much space, including the base. The kidney shaped shelves make it look more like a decorative sculpture than a cat tower, and the usage of IKEA parts make it really accessible as a DIY. Taking it one step further, I decided to wrap the pole with rope so that it doubles as a scratcher too. Hopefully now they will leave our new chair alone!
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Chair shopping
On Saturday Mr. Z and I went to CB2 in SOHO to visit a chair we saw online. I like this orange chair but not sure if it will look right in our already colorful living room... What do you think? I'd want to pair it up with the knitted poof in dark grey.
We are getting rid of the Eames chair for a more colorful and less lounge-y option...
We are getting rid of the Eames chair for a more colorful and less lounge-y option...
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Bathroom talk
This post took too loooong, but better late than never! I was resisting posting this here partly because I felt weird about posting photos of my bathroom. Who wants to see another person's bathroom? I thought. It would make sense if I was showing you a super fancy room with a vanity and a claw footed tub... but that's not the case here. Could it be that you can tell the most about someone by seeing their bathroom? What would my bathroom tell you about me? Well, in any case it does feel quite intimate.
The reason I am showing you is because we had our bathroom cabinet [and other fixtures] made by our friend Daniel Goers of Autumn Workshop, who did a brilliant job. It's amazing what a little paint and updating shelving can do to a space. So here it is, my personal space.
The reason I am showing you is because we had our bathroom cabinet [and other fixtures] made by our friend Daniel Goers of Autumn Workshop, who did a brilliant job. It's amazing what a little paint and updating shelving can do to a space. So here it is, my personal space.
AFTER | BEFORE
AFTER | BEFORE
The best part of this room is the natural light from the sky window.
Labels:
furniture,
home,
interiors,
renovation
Monday, May 28, 2012
the Masks
Summer is in full swing this holiday weekend and the air in Brooklyn smells of grilled meats and charcoal fires. I'm still trying to summer up my apartment and wanted to show you these masks I got in Costa Rica. I love that they have tortugas on them. I learned that word from Breaking Bad... do you remember that crazy scene?!? Anyhow speaking of; I can't wait for the 5th season of that show... but am nervous that it won't live up to the 4th season, which I thought was a perfect ending to a series. Happy grilling everyone!
Monday, May 21, 2012
Count er maroon
Is it me or does life keep getting busier and busier? PHEW! Here's a post I've been meaning to put up here but then we went on a trip... and then came home to no electricity... and other building things... and life... you know how it goes.
The big news around the apartment is... Mr. Z changed out our kitchen counter! Whoo! It was not an easy feat, but already the counters don't seem so new after living with them for about a month. Not liking a color may seem like a small issue - especially since the material was a nice (and expensive) granite - but I can't think of a color I dislike more than maroon - eek! There were minor mishaps removing the heavy maroon counter, but he did it ~ and it made a HUGE difference. Isn't he amazing :D? We ended up giving the old one away for free on Craigslist and the guy messaged me a photo of what he did with the old counter, which is kinda cool, right?
Planning...
Doing...


And this is what happened to the maroon ones! I'm glad they got a nice new home!
Labels:
apartment,
architecture,
brooklyn,
color,
DIY,
home,
interiors,
refurbishing
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Sunday, November 20, 2011
New Windowfarms! Pledge, do it - promise?
There are very few things that get me this excited - OK, maybe I'm exaggerating, but this thing I'm about to share with you definitely makes top 10. The Windowfarms project is kick starting their newly designed farms. Please please pledge to get the ball rolling on this project - I did! Do it here.
Think that you don't have a green thumb?
I'm a window farmer now, but at first I was a little intimidated to start a hydroponic garden - since I've killed several plants and barely kept some alive. However, growing plants this way is surprisingly easy. The plants in my garden are much healthier and more flavorful than the potted plants I've attempted to seed! So don't let that discourage you from starting a farm.
Also if you just want to donate to the cause, you can donate how ever much you want just because you agree that we {as people who live in a community - in this case the United States} need to support and help grow businesses like these {i.e. a business that manufactures in our country and supports easy sustainable living}. Ok, that's as political as I'm getting - I'm stepping off my soap box now.
Think that you don't have a green thumb?
I'm a window farmer now, but at first I was a little intimidated to start a hydroponic garden - since I've killed several plants and barely kept some alive. However, growing plants this way is surprisingly easy. The plants in my garden are much healthier and more flavorful than the potted plants I've attempted to seed! So don't let that discourage you from starting a farm.
Also if you just want to donate to the cause, you can donate how ever much you want just because you agree that we {as people who live in a community - in this case the United States} need to support and help grow businesses like these {i.e. a business that manufactures in our country and supports easy sustainable living}. Ok, that's as political as I'm getting - I'm stepping off my soap box now.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
the Apartment Vol. 2
This weekend I learned a very embarrassing lesson. Somethings should not be "Done Yourself". There are somethings that should be left alone... for instance ugly jumbled up cable wires outside of your building. Are they connected or are they not connected? In attempts to clean up the entrance side of our building, Mr. Z and I were over zealous and ended up cutting one of our neighbors' internet/phone/cable tv... Yikes! Luckily, our neighbors were very cool and calm about the situation, but we still felt terrible. We all know what a pain it is to call the cable company, set up an appointment, and wait for the guy to show up between a time frame of 5 or so hours... that is if you get an appointment within 2 weeks of your call. Hopefully that will not be the case. To help lessen the blow, I got them a bottle of wine. Oh man... I'm still cringing from it.
So, on to more things that are safely done yourself...
I love the way chalkboard looks so why not make a whole wall a chalkboard? It makes it really convenient to write your to-do's and warms up the space a bit. The only thing is that the stuff stinks so you have to have a lot of fans and ventilation while you are painting. I wanted the wall to be magnetic as well, so I applied a magnetic primer. However, I found that the magnetic primer makes the wall a little too course for a writing surface. So if I were to do it again, I would only use the chalkboard paint.
So, on to more things that are safely done yourself...
I love the way chalkboard looks so why not make a whole wall a chalkboard? It makes it really convenient to write your to-do's and warms up the space a bit. The only thing is that the stuff stinks so you have to have a lot of fans and ventilation while you are painting. I wanted the wall to be magnetic as well, so I applied a magnetic primer. However, I found that the magnetic primer makes the wall a little too course for a writing surface. So if I were to do it again, I would only use the chalkboard paint.
A little trauma happened while we were painting... Loki one of our cats got into the chalkboard paint and his paw was black for weeks... so if you have animals, you probably want to shut them out of the room you are painting. This stuff has a tar-like consistency.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
More about my Windowfarm
It took some work at first, but now I have the beginnings of a hydroponic garden! I've been eye-ing the Windowfarms™ project for some time now, and was lucky enough to attend their moving sale/potluck/learning session. The project is pretty amazing, and I can't wait to see what they come up with, in the next stage of their window farm design. Made from found and recycled water bottles, tubes, and an aquarium pump (and more but you get the point) the current home kit runs about $274 ($139 without the bottles). Perhaps the first generation of the farms are very well thought out prototypes? It sounds like Britta Riley, the founder of Windowfarms™ is taking her project to the next level with "fancy" Windowfarms™. Meanwhile, I'm very happy and content with my farm... luckily my cats are leaving the thing alone.
I started out with these parts...
and then sprouted the seedlings in grow pods...
...and once the seedlings were a few inches tall, I transferred them into the bottles. Easy right? Go here for more detailed instructions.
Labels:
DIY,
food,
garden,
home,
product design
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Smells like teen spirit... I mean lavender
Those who know me know that I am overly sensitive to smells. It's sometimes hard to have this "neurosis" and live in NYC, especially in the summer time. To keep things even more smelly, I work in Midtown West where many men use phone booths and scaffolding as public urinals. Oh New York... even though you smell, I still love you. Now that's love right there, folks.
Needless to say, I like my home to smell nice - though "nice" is relative. I thought a bunch of reed diffusers would be pleasant to have around. Preferring natural scents, I couldn't find any pre-made diffusers that I really liked. Many of them were too heavy and had several scents, oils, flowers, herbs - all in one bottle - enough to make my nose ache. Wanting a simple clean scent I decided to make my own.
When I did some research, I found that I can get the exact simple scent I want for a very low cost {bonus!}. I also found that I can partake on another one of my obsessions - lavender -! I know some people dislike lavender and think it smells medicinal, but to me *true* lavender has a subtle clean aroma that just makes me relax and happy.
Sooo... if you want to make your own diffuser with your favorite essential oil, just gather these ingredients and follow these simple steps.
*Remember these bottles I collected from the Dead Horse Bay? Well, I finally put them to use! You'll need medium to small bottles that have small top openings. This is so your essential oil doesn't just dissipate into the air, and instead gets soaked up into your reed sticks.
You will need:
1. Glass bottles
2. Reed sticks
3. Dipropylene Glycol
4. Your favorite essential oil
5. Funnel
6. Paper towels
Pour in about 70-80% Diproplyene Glycol and about 30-20% essential oil into your glass bottle(s). Stir the mixture up a bit with a reed stick, and put some more sticks in the bottle - you know, enough to have a nice "bouquet" of sticks - and voilá! Isn't that easy? Enjoy~!
Needless to say, I like my home to smell nice - though "nice" is relative. I thought a bunch of reed diffusers would be pleasant to have around. Preferring natural scents, I couldn't find any pre-made diffusers that I really liked. Many of them were too heavy and had several scents, oils, flowers, herbs - all in one bottle - enough to make my nose ache. Wanting a simple clean scent I decided to make my own.
When I did some research, I found that I can get the exact simple scent I want for a very low cost {bonus!}. I also found that I can partake on another one of my obsessions - lavender -! I know some people dislike lavender and think it smells medicinal, but to me *true* lavender has a subtle clean aroma that just makes me relax and happy.
Sooo... if you want to make your own diffuser with your favorite essential oil, just gather these ingredients and follow these simple steps.
*Remember these bottles I collected from the Dead Horse Bay? Well, I finally put them to use! You'll need medium to small bottles that have small top openings. This is so your essential oil doesn't just dissipate into the air, and instead gets soaked up into your reed sticks.
You will need:
1. Glass bottles
2. Reed sticks
3. Dipropylene Glycol
4. Your favorite essential oil
5. Funnel
6. Paper towels
Pour in about 70-80% Diproplyene Glycol and about 30-20% essential oil into your glass bottle(s). Stir the mixture up a bit with a reed stick, and put some more sticks in the bottle - you know, enough to have a nice "bouquet" of sticks - and voilá! Isn't that easy? Enjoy~!
P.S. Thanks for your comments! I very much appreciate it :)
You inspire me to post more...
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