dressing up dull appliances

I'm slowly developing a good magnet collection with which to spruce up our apartment fridge, but I think one day I may be in a position to snazz up my major kitchen appliances somewhat more drasticaly. and this blog: http://restyledhome.blogspot.com/ gave me this idea:

Thats just faux tin ceiling tiles, layed over a dishwasher, folks. Inexpensive, innovative, and a nice way to soften the harsh modernity of most major kitchen appliances.

More fun with coloring on the walls

the idea never gets old for me.

This morning I saw the Steampunk Home blog featured this little treasure:

Ladies and gentlemen, the sharpie library. All that is is sharpie over regular cream wall color. Talk about design on a dime. Although, I can't help but think there could be some significant braincell loss with that much sharpie fume exposure. Still, it may be worth it. While the article here: http://www.kentucky.com/147/story/532854.html (which also has panoramic view) focuses on all the historical, literary, and pop culture figures lounging about in the walls beyond the wall, its the architectural and decorative details that have my attention. It reminds me a bit of living in an Edward Gorey drawing (which seems a bit risky, but alluring nonetheless). Can I just add that setting a clock inside the wall, so that the face was flush with the grandfather clock drawing was a stroke of dedicated genius? I also like how the lawyer who drew his library gifted himself with a variety of modern masterworks of art- or at least, with their outlines. I don't know that this particular project would be for me, but I like where it's heading.

Loish

I am adding another new favorite artist to my list. I would just love a print or twelve from the fabulous artist Loish, aka Lois van Baarle. Her work ranges from somewhat cartoony and heavily graphic to the quietly atmospheric and painterly. Almost all her images have a lighthearted, playful quality, and the way she draws women is just too cute for words. She's another great example of someone who has an anime influence, but who has incorporated that influence into a well developed personal style.

Plus, she loves fish.

What I really can't get over is her use of color. She does such a fantastic job of putting together a pallet that's lighthearted without being over-saturated or saccharine. Their really pretty earthy, at the base, with just a few pops of brighter accents. Plus, you have to admire someone whose studied all over the world, as she has. Her webpage can be found here: http://loish.net/ and I may just have to buy a calender off of her, if nothing else.

Ninja Bunny Office Supplies

What else can I need to say? This could make organizing your office or studying a lot less onerous. Their exactly like the neon rectangles you can get at OfficeMax, but way more likely to make you smile. Available on http://jstory.co.kr/ I think. I can't read any of that. Also comes in bears, and some little earless things I presume to be humans.

PS, I should really get fewer posts from bblog, but since I originally started this blog so that I could remember cool things for my own sake..and she keeps posting awesome stuff, I suspect this may continue.

DIY wallpaper

Holy crap, you guys.

This may be the best wallpaper ever. Now THIS is customizable




















Yep, it’s exactly what it looks like. Color-in wallpaper. Comes in any color you could want. Comes in any color combination you could want. I wonder what the archival properties of Crayola markers are, anyways? And you could do things like change the amount of certain colors towards different parts of the room- add more red tones around a fireplace, use a higher concentration of darker colors around a piece of art you want to highlight...the possibilities are endless.

For my part, I’m thinking…bathroom. I mean you’re already sitting there, staring at the wall, right? Put some markers in relevant colors in a caddy, and have all your houseguests help you decorate your home.

Anyways, you can get the stuff here: http://www.nineteenseventythree.com/shop/products.html?page=80

Tromp L'oi Rugs- one of my favorite tacky things

http://www.2form.no/Rug_palette.htm

This company makes, among other, less tacky things, tromp L’oi rugs. Like this one: http://www.2form.no/Rug_handknotted_Desert_frost.htm meant to mimic cracked earth.

Or this one, designed to mimic river rocks
http://www.2form.no/Rug_other_pebble.htm
That one may just be my favorite. I bet it feels great to walk on.

This one looks like an ariel view of tundra.
http://www.2form.no/Rug_handtufted_tundra.htm

Yes, their tacky, but I like that they suggest texture on the floor, while still being pleasant to walk on. And their…well…fun.

Pumpkin carving on a whole new level

Ok, so these aren’t what you’d call “pretty” but they are pretty awesome. A bit late for Halloween, but worth keeping in mind for next year.




















This grotesque figure was obtained via this: http://www.villafanestudios.com/pumpkins.htm website, which includes a tutorial. I love how he takes advantage of the various pumpkin shapes. Freaky as they are, I can’t help but think that they would be worlds creepier and grosser given a few days to rot out. Here in MN we regularly get frosts in October, which age our carved pumpkins at an accelerated rate. Designs like this could take full advantage of that fact.

Pr0n for pookie

I’m feeling romantic today after looking at a bunch of wedding design blogs. Accordingly, I think I’ll do a post about the thing pookie loves most in the world other than me- books. I found this link-

http://thenonist.com/index.php/thenonist/permalink/hot_library_smut/ a while back.

Definitely Lisa pr0n. These were a few of my favorite images from there:

I love that spiral staircase. Well, I love most spiral staircases, but especially that one in its shiny redness.

Ok, so this one is a little cold, but I just feel like anything I learned there would take on such significance, you know? Like it would be easy to learn there because everything would seem so Important.

Another spiral staircase :D. Also, I love the lighting in this one.

And of course, a mural with cherubs. Really, how do they ever manage to make a library without a mural of cherubs? Also, vaulted ceilings always = love.

Ah, this may be my favorite. It looks like a movie set, doesn’t it? Information just going on forever….

.

I think the saddest part of my eschewing giant unnecessary housing is that it precludes having rooms like these. I love intimate little rooms, but I can’t help but to be drawn to the grandeur of rooms like these- however impractical they may be. Someday we will have a library in our home, but it will likely be combined with another room, like my studio or the dining room, just for the sake of being able to do things together. I like reading but she’s a far more avid bookworm than me, and it’s nice to be able to do different things while in the same room. So far I haven’t seen much in the way of practical, non-palatial, home libraries. I’ll have to keep looking.

Modified computational devices

Much as I love my darling little macbook, I do sometimes wish I could escape the somewhat sterile lines and forms of today’s technology and instead live amongst the curlicues and gilding of ages past. I guess that’s a big part of why trends like loli and steampunk appeal to me so much. So naturally, I’m completely in love with steampunk modded computers. I love how adding on all sorts of superfluous cogs and whirligigs reminds you just how much work is going on inside these machines. Somehow, when you make it look older, it reminds you how almost magical it is that we have these machines that can do so much for us. After all, I may want to live in a Victorian doll house sometimes, but I’d die without google and the wiki. So, here are some of my favorites. And yes, all of these are fully functional.

First, the machine that started it all (for me, anyways). You gotta love the claw feet. And all the shiny bits on top. That key is how you turn it on. This, and the machine after it, are from Datamancer, at http://www.datamancer.net/





I’ve yet to see any other steampunk computer mod go as far as this one. And yes, once again, everything is functional. Those keys really work the computer, the speaker makes noise- even the phone works. Oh, and see that big book-like thing on the right there? That’s the “opti-transcripticon”- the flatbed scanner, reworked to look like a big, mysterious old book.



And here we have a lovely work by the infamous Jake Von Slot. To me, it looks like a tiny stage, on which you can watch the infinite drama of the Internet unfold for your viewing pleasure. The telescope-thing is the mouse. You can even watch how he accomplished this over on http://steampunkworkshop.com/victorian-all-one-pc



And here is something a bit grungier, for all you airship mechanics out there. Unfortunately, I have no link for this one. I believe it was made by monkeyfarm, but being as their site isn’t in English and has trouble loading, I can’t be sure.

For the mad scientist in your life...

Consider these "chemist Vases" from anthropology. I love the inclusion if the more modern shape of the funnel-looking vase, with the more ornate, old-fashioned shapes. It helps make the rounder shapes look more like they belong in an alchemical set. And I love these colors- in clear, these wouldn't have much presence, but in bold colors you wouldn't notice the shapes as well, unless maybe you went to the dark amber of some of the old glasswear for pills and such. I always like vases that don't need stuff in them in order to look nice. I just don't have the money or patience to keep filling them with flowers or whatever.

(Man, I wish I could figure out how to get images off their website.)

http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/catalog/productdetail.jsp?_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&_dynSessConf=-8430570115708475757&id=780407&parentid=LIVE_ACC_VASES&pushId=LIVE_ACC_VASES&popId=LIVE_ACCESSORIES&sortProperties=&navCount=14&navAction=poppushpush&fromCategoryPage=true&selectedProductSize=&selectedProductSize1=&color=min

Decor Flavor

You know what I love? Stuff that looks like food, but isn’t. I don’t know what it is about food-shaped décor, but it just makes me giggle. I guess some ancient part of my brain just likes being surrounded by things that look edible. Two examples of these inedible edibles are:

The fried egg rug.



I saw this at Urban Outfitters several years ago, and always kicked myself that I didn’t get it when I had the chance. Wouldn’t two of these together be great for a kitchen? Now I just need to find a table runner that looks like a strip of bacon. They can be obtained from Triple B studios at

http://www.triplebstudio.com

Another favorite of mine is the idea of the sushi pillow



Aren’t they adorable? They’re just so cuddly. And they’d go with my big sushi painting in the living room. The also have a startlingly large selection of “flavors” ad styles to choose from. I think the sashimi and the flat California roll are my favorites. Great detail. Those can be found at www.theoriginalsushipillow.com - They have a picture of Neil Gaimen sitting amongst the sushi, so you know it has to be good! Man, I love nerd sponsorship advertising.

What’s odd is that I don’t even like eating eggs or sushi. Maybe that’s why I’m ok with finding it so cuddly?

pixel sofa

I'm kicking myself for having no idea where I found this. Its the pixel couch. There was even a great essay that went with this, about accepting technology into our visual asthetic, instead of fighting it. It was way way out of anything that will ever resemble my pricerange, but I wish I could at least remember who to give the credit to. I wonder if I could do something similar with a white slipcover, some fabric spray and masking tape.

Jewelry...and tentacles.

Ok, This may be some of the strangest, coolest jewelry I have ever seen. Very innovative, also very creepy. In the shop OctopusME! on etsy, you can get such odd works as these:



Those are ear rings, belive it or not.





And this one is especially tempting for me, because when I get overly cuddly I start referring to myself as my fiances "barnacle of love". I don't think is really a barnacle, but its close enough for the likes of my uneducated self.



Apparently what she does is take real, sushi grade octopus, then position and cast it to make these. So while the end product contains no octopus, its still made with octopus. I found this on the Offbeat Bride forum, and wanted to see what jewelry was linked to with the warning "not vegetarian friendly". I think that the ear rings would probably break me (except maybe the ones made of a single suction cup) but the necklaces are tempting.

art post

Ok, first things first- an art post! Its so hard to find art that has a element of fantastic in it that is 1) actually aesthetically pleasing, not just for the sake of its subject matter and 2) Contemporary. Not that I don’t love Waterhouse, Rosseti and the rest, but sometimes I get a craving for something a little more current. Here's what I've found so far. All of these artists are of Deviantart.com and are listed by their handles on that site, since few offer up their real names.

The first one is Kidchan. She (she?) has a fantastic ability to use lines, and abstract compositions, with really lovely, concrete figures and objects. I so envy her pallets. So perfect. So original.

The next is Ethe, who does digital painting. Her work is some of the most atmospheric I've seen. Every single piece has a delicate, ethereal, colorful quality of light. And again, the ability to bit concrete and abstract figures.

Also, there's Bluefooted, whose style is a bit less Japanese. Reminds me a bit of a modern day Rackham. Actually, reminds me a lot of a modern day Rackham. Similar pallet, similar figures, but a wider array of subject matter, and a little more solid.

And, while I don’t think I'm likely to forget him anytime soon, there's always James Christiansen. Has there ever been a time in my Life that I didn’t lust over his prints. Someday, I swear I will buy one. If I hadn’t been so broke I really would have bought "Jerome Spent Most of His Free Time Daydreaming of Being Reincarnated as a Snake" when I saw it at that gallery. Can't beat his sheer random factor, paired with his endless patience for detail. This one is called "Levi Levitates a Stone Fish". He's got an odd sense of humor, that one.

Of course, sometimes you just want something cute.

Homoshiroi does cute. Pure essence of cute. Which is why her more lascivious images are so disturbing. But if I keep to the ones of animals and sushi and chibis, I'm all good.

Hi :)

Welcome to the Sky Room! Lately I’ve been realizing that I just can’t keep all the cute/stylish/pretty design elements I love in bookmarks anymore, its getting too crowded. So, I’m starting this up to keep track of them all. Anyone is perfectly welcome to join in and watch. I love comments. You’ll get a feel for the sort of design I like soon enough.