I’d been hoarding links for some focused posts, and I thought it would be good to get them on the table before they get even colder than they already are. I hope everything still tastes fresh.
Today’s focus is Domestic Bliss!
My friend Bonnie shared this photo of Alcazar Castle in Segovia, Spain, in winter with me on Facebook—I die, I faint, I fail! The photographer is Javier Javisego. Click to see it full size!
Photo by Javier Javisego
◊ In case you’ve been wondering how to make a bed you can bounce a quarter off of, why this link is for you. The directions from The Art of Manliness are for making a bed like a soldier (which means a well-made bed, indeed) but can be adapted for civilian living (read “prettier”) easily enough. Some great tips about using safety pins and how to make your bed in less than a minute (also some great tips in the comments)! I confess I don’t make my bed every day, but in my defense it’s a futon that, while hand-made of such quality that it’s served me in good stead for more than twenty years, doesn’t keep a rigid shape like a mattress and plus it’s low to the ground and I’m tall, etc., etc. But I’ve been inspired by this article!
The Hospital Corner
Via.
◊ Grace’s Domythic Bliss has become one of my favorite blogs for inspiration on living in the kind of house I want to live in. Her post about mystery as an element of decorating caught my attention, and not just because her first suggestion about incorporating mystery into decorating was to make a cabinet of curiosities! (I’ve often thought of my entire house as a kind of cabinet of curiosities, but I’d like to try to my hand at making one.) Grace has some other fine suggestions for incorporating mystery into your decor, so check it out!
◊ Tiny houses are a growing trend lately—people have become enamored of a more simple lifestyle with fewer things, plus tiny houses cost less. Here’s Emily Wax’s article from November (!) in The Washington Post titled “Home, Squeezed Home: Living in a 200-Square-Foot Space” that gives an overview of the trend and includes a photo gallery. More recently, The New York Times featured Elizabeth A. Harris’ article “Gulliver Seeks Rental: The Newfound Fascination with Tiny Dwellings,” which focused on micro-apartments in NYC and includes some videos of said apartments (like the one below). “Micro” here means as small as 78 square feet! Thanks to Liz Hand for sharing both the links on Facebook!
◊ I think I’d like one of these over my front door, please. Or the back door; I’m not particular. (Click to embiggen) Via.
Entryway to L’Institut océanographique, Paris. Photo by Giacomo Spagnoli.
◊ Blaine Fontana‘s Domestic Hunger just tickled me. And it’s available for sale at Kidrobot Black! If I hadn’t just spent money on an Art Deco-style lamp and a signed print of one of my favorite paintings, I would totally buy this.
Domestic Hunger by Blaine Fontana
Via.
◊ Megan at the Two Delighted blog came up with a good way of reserving space for new art in her gallery wall post. She also gives solid advice about how to design the gallery wall. Check it out!
Megan’s gallery wall
◊ This secret exterior entrance door is pretty cool!
Via.
◊ If I ever wanted to live in a multiple-story house, I’d definitely want one of Andrew McConnell‘s whale-spine-inspired spiral staircases. Click through to Dornob for more images. Via.
Whale-spinal spiral stair system by Andrew McConnell
◊ Check out The Double Lives of Design Objects: Secret Compartment Style by Alison Nastasi. Some really great ideas here.
◊ Forms of Nature: This light sculpture by Hilden & Diaz is magnificent! I like the look of it, a bramble of branches, but the shadows it casts are so cool. You can read more about it here as well as watch some short videos of art in action (and, Emily, they mention the unheimlich!). Via.
Forms of Nature by Hilden & Diaz
◊ What a lovely necropolis they have in Myra, Turkey! Via.
Photo by Caleb Maclennan
