Blogs

Goin’ the the chapel….

LiveModern Webmaster — 2012-02-07T08:07:29Z

After some serious hand-wringing and over-analyzing and considering options ad nauseum (similar to the paint color picking process), we have finally ordered a sofa. Yes, that’s right. We pulled the trigger or pulled out the credit card, as the case may be.

This is a different style for me, despite what you all have read over the past 8 months. (Have I really been writing this blog for EIGHT months?) When it comes to shopping, I usually have a pretty good handle on what I want. I go in. I see it. I buy it. Veni. Vidi. Redimi? (I never did well in Latin class.)

Plus, I had fallen in love. I wasn’t shy about it. I had seen him from afar and he made my heart go thumpity thump thump thump. I became that girl that couldn’t stop talking about her crush. That’s right. The orange Perch Gracie sofa, gushed about here, here, and here.

Alas, as girls are prone to do, I became fickle the moment Tina, a reader from Heather and Tina made this comment:

Interesting story about that Perch couch. My friend Julie purchased it (in gray) for her mid-century townhouse in Hyde Park. She was so excited to get it. When I asked her how she liked it, she said: “It’s like having a really hot boyfriend… who is a really bad kisser.” She loves to look at it, but it’s a real disappointment to sit on.

Yuck. Boyfriend that is a bad kisser. No thank you. Immediate turn off. And you know, the thing is, once someone tells you he’s a bad kisser, you really don’t want to try yourself.

So like any sad and lonely girl, I gave up and decided to wait for whatever the universe had in store for me. And I am so glad I did. I can’t remember the first time I saw Taylor (from Thrive Furniture), but I was smitten. As in hit over the head. He had great legs and perfect Celery coloring. He was the one I’d been looking for. Plus, honestly, a Taylor is more my game than a Gracie, if you know what I mean.

Also helped that they had a 15% off sale. I ordered a handful of fabric samples, showed them to Brett with the sofa, got him to give me the slightest head nod and I was off to the computer with my our credit card number. A few days later, Brett says to me, ‘Hey, I have been thinking about it and I think we should buy that sofa.’ Ummm…okay. Great idea, babe. I’ll get right on that.

Taylor hasn’t shown up yet, but I can’t wait until he does. Looking at the empty living room is starting to make me go bananas. (Plus, for some reason, Maeve has been hounding me about why I don’t throw dinner parties anymore. Wuh? Not sure why she cares, but no can do without furniture for people to sit on.) Taylor will be in good company with these two lovelies (more tomorrow on the progress of their updating), which I think need names now too. Suggestions?

Then all I need is a Flokati rug, end tables, a coffee table, lamps, artwork….

(Note: This is not a paid endorsement of Thrive Furniture. Yes, they do have an ad on the site. But if I get the sofa and don’t like it, believe me, I will tell you about it.)

Ruth Moser: shedworker

LiveModern Webmaster — 2012-02-07T08:07:21Z

Somerset-based textile designer Ruth Moser has recently joined the growing ranks of UK shedworkers and is now working from a bespoke Garden Affairs studio which features a lavatory and two carports as well as a workshop area. It's an L-shaped shedworking space built with our old friends SIPS and Western Red Cedar with lovely views over the Bath valley (and nice floor to ceiling windows to allow Ruth to enjoy them). The whole of the 100sq m roof is a sedum green roof with an irrigation system. There's lots more detail, and photos, about the build at the Garden Affairs site as well as an interview with Ruth. Here's a snippet: "It has been my dream for many years to have my own professional studio and I have saved for many years to make this dream come true. Basically I wanted a place of my own and as my creative work requires solitude, the studio in the garden is an ideal place for me to work. From a financial perspective it also made more sense, as it is an investment that will enhance our property as a whole and add value to it. Also, with rent you get no return on your money and there is always the risk of the rental agreement being terminated for one reason or another. I wanted something permanent. From a more romantic perspective, I have always loved the idea of having my own “den”. I have fond childhood memories of spending many happy hours in my grandfathers shed or in the tree house he built for me." ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Monday posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists. Click here for more details .

Snowy sheds roundup

LiveModern Webmaster — 2012-02-07T08:07:20Z

Thanks to everybody who's sent in photos of their snowy garden offices and sheds. Pictured above is the garden office of Kris Jeary from Squiders Web Design . Below is the shed belonging to golf experts askfore . Here is Jaggedy Jim 's in York. And finally, David Williams , whose shed is to the west of Reading. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Monday posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists. Click here for more details .

Garden cinema room

LiveModern Webmaster — 2012-02-07T08:07:20Z

Among the new designs that Garden Spaces are showcasing at Grand Designs Live 2012 in May is their ‘Garden Cinema Room’ concept, a complete home cinema package for your garden building (catch them at G151). They've put it together with partners Artcoustic . Garden Spaces has also been busy with a new website and you can have a look at their Elegans model (with cantilevered roof) and their new Gastropod line (pictured above), their entry level garden office range, at Grand Designs too - both will be on sale at what the company says will be "significantly discounted prices". ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Monday posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists. Click here for more details .

The Boffice

LiveModern Webmaster — 2012-02-07T08:07:20Z

We've often written about the use of pubs as great places to work for the shedworker on the move, so were delighted to see this piece in Metro Focus , 'Step Into My ‘Boffice’: Bars Where Your Laptop Goes Down Smooth'. "WiFi is available in more places than just cafés," writes Jamie Helmsworth. "And some of us need something a little stronger than espresso to get it all done before the deadline. Thus, the boffice. Bar + office = boffice." The article includes 10 place to sit and work and have a drink. Thanks to Uncle Wilco from that other shed blog for the alert. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Monday posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists. Click here for more details .

our house at 3/8″

LiveModern Webmaster — 2011-12-21T15:57:49Z

My 5 year old daughter should be pleased on Christmas morning. This is our house at 3/8″ = 1′ in Basswood

What I did this weekend

LiveModern Webmaster — 2012-02-06T18:36:14Z

Got busy over the weekend and added this:

Samuel Alden Swinburne born 2/4/2012
to this:

Charlotte Farrin Swinburne born 10/26/2006

Hide-Away Printer Hack

LiveModern Webmaster — 2012-02-06T12:07:00Z

Materials: Hemnes Dresser, computer printer, hinges

Description: My {sort of} How To Turn a Drawer into a Hide-Away Printer

I started with the Hemnes dresser from Ikea, if you're familiar with it you know that the drawer fronts are attached with wooden dowels and two metal screws. I removed all the pieces allowing the front panel piece to be free-standing.

Click to read the rest of the post >>

Dress to impress - walk in closet

LiveModern Webmaster — 2012-02-06T15:24:00Z

Materials: Expedit book case

Description: After staring at a blank white wall for over two years and paging through loads and loads of advertisements about way too expensive walk in closets, the idea simply hit me to step right out of the box and go IKEA.
I needed a closet system which would fit wall to wall, which had a certain degree of flexibility/adaptability and which could be upgraded according to my savings account.:)

The solution: a combination of white Expedit book cases, with a few white doors, some drawers, a rod which my father added and ..... a real cool shoe storage system (all the girls who've seen this want to make their own walk in now).

If I want to, I could even add sliding doors later (PAX for instance) and even better - should I ever move, I can adapt my dressing to a completely new environment.

~ Sofie Herregodts, Belgium

EXPEDIT Mobile Island

LiveModern Webmaster — 2012-02-06T17:10:00Z

Materials: EXPEDIT Shelving unit, VIKA AMON Table top, ANTONIUS Shelf, CAPITA Bracket, LEDBERG

Description: I needed a mobile kitchen Island/table with Storage for the 423sq foot Vancouver Shoe Box I reside in. Taking inspiration from Expedit standing desks and tables on this site I grabbed a drill and some industrial Velcro this was the result.

~ Yoelly Stier, Vancouver BC Canada