Category Archives: Design
Going Rustic
Rustic Dining Bench from Greentea Design
Psss… In case you didn’t know there’s a sale going on at Greentea. Our new rustic collection is on sale for a short time and these pieces are gorgeous. Roughed up finishes, natural wood, and burnished metals are all the key elements of a rustic style, but even if your home is decidedly modern these pieces can be worked in seamlessly. Here are some room examples that show off the features of rustic modern design and how you can incorporate it in your home.
Image via Automatism
Texture
When trying to create a rustic modern feel in a room look for items that have lots of texture; roughed up finishes, leather, and bedding that is begging to be touched make this room rustic, simple, and inviting.
Image via Liz Marie
Kitchen via House and Home
Natural Light
Filling a room with lots of natural light is the best way to show off the beauty of unfinished wood furniture. This is why you will often see white paint on the walls and white accents in a rustic modern home. The light from a window reflects off every surface in this dining area and the choice of transparent chairs gives a feeling of openness.
Image via Home Bunch
Earthy Materials
In a rustic modern home you will often see plenty of natural materials like stone, wood and metals. In this bathroom, unfinished wood furniture and wood beams meet a divine modern tub and the resulting atmosphere is that of a calming spa-like retreat.
Image via Just the Design
A Sense of Timelessness
By paying attention to balance old and new can blend together seamlessly, creating a space that evokes a sense of timelessness. In this room a contemporary sofa and layout is combined with eclectic textiles and an antique coffee table for a room that is as timeless as it is beautiful.
Console Table via Greentea Design
Now that you’ve seen some inspiration here is a peak at just a couple of the pieces in our new rustic collection. This console table is made of thick beams of salvaged wood; in an entryway, or in the living room, it adds rustic beauty to a space instantly.
Unfinished Buffet via Greentea Design
This unfinished buffet has tons of storage and a rustic design that will add texture to any room.
Come down to the showroom or visit us online to see more of the collection.
Happy Friday Everyone!
Superheroes at Home
Iron Man 3 is out right now, and Man of Steel and the Wolverine later this year. Sequels to Thor and Captain America are coming up, too — and I’m looking forward to see them all. I am far from being a die-hard comic book fan, but I do love those superhero movies!
My very first superhero crush was Superman. That a man could be so strong amazed me. He could lift huge and heavy objects with ease. And bullets? Not a problem. And best of all, he could fly! Christopher Reeve, to my little girl self, was the perfect male specimen. He was ridiculously handsome and charming, muscular too, but not in that scary, bulky, I-spend-too-much-time-in-the-gym way. And I totally fell for that bumbling shy guy Clark Kent alter-ego. All in all, he was dreamy.
Via The Justice Bulletin
Later on, there was a whole slew of superhero movies to feast on, starting with Michael Keaton as Batman, Tobey Maguire as Spiderman, and (swoon!) Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, and the list goes on. M. Night Shyamalan’s Unbreakable remains one of my favorite films of all time, which gave incredible insights into superhero and villain archetypes and their psyches.
Superheroes are larger-than-life characters that embody the best (and in certain moments, the worst) of very human qualities. They serve as some sort or role models for us normal mortals. Some of them, like the X-men mutants, invite us to discover and embrace our uniqueness. Others, like Spiderman, inspire us to move our focus beyond ourselves and use our gifts for the good of others. And still some, like Batman, give us hope that we can survive our traumas and tragedies, and be all the stronger for them. We see our dilemmas in theirs, and our journeys in their stories.
So, although I don’t think I’ll be collecting any action figures, or buying any life-size models, I get how profoundly some people identify themselves with a particular hero or other, and how much they want these characters represented in their homes. If it comes to that, there are ways that it could actually work, as these images show.
Via Pianeta Mamma
Via Muralsdirect
I think one insight into making it work is to resist the urge to cram the superheroes into every single nook and cranny. Restraint is the word. Confining the characters to murals, for example, is a wonderful way to bring in the the big guys and gals and still have a lot of decorating leeway for the rest of the room. Appropriating the color palette of the mural helps pull in the rest of the room so everything is a cohesive whole.
Hanging some comic book art or wall decals works too. I especially like the simplified graphics in this bedroom below.
Via La Maisonette
Via BS2H
Via Inthralld
But if you must go all out, then go for it. But keep the actual logos and figures to a minimum, and go for atmospheric elements that enhance the theme — play with textures and other elements that are related to the hero’s universe. Check out that awesome chest in the image above.
Via Pitut
The Batcave above will be a wonderful hideout for wannabe Bruce Waynes out there. And the brick walls below are just the kind that Peter Parkers would love to climb.
Via Inthralld
Going Underground: Fabulous Basement Makeovers
image via bhg
One of the the most popular home renovation projects is finishing a basement The idea of gaining extra living space is certainly appealing and the the wealth of ideas when it comes to basements is never ending. It can also be one of the most expensive areas of your home to renovate and also the most complicated if you’re adding plumbing, electrical or waterproofing. For many the end result is well worth the effort. Here are a few basement makeovers that are truly inspirational. No gloomy dungeons or spiders here.
image via curbly
Using Space Creatively
As you’ll see, a re-finished basement doesn’t need to function as a typical rec room. This cozy bedroom retreat uses the space under the stairs beautifully. It’s warm, romantic and space efficient. What’s not to love?
image via beach house in the city
Creating Light
The number one issue most basements have is limited natural light. Putting in larger windows or installing new windows is expensive and complicated, but there are ways to maximize the light you do have without resorting to drastic measures. This beachy basement uses light colours and smartly placed recessed lighting to keep the room bright and airy feeling.
image via house and home
Rethinking Utility
I would have no problem spending all day doing laundry with a relaxing laundry room like this. The white cabinets and stainless steel make excellent use of the existing light creating an open and welcoming space.
Image via the brownstoner
I highly recommend checking out the before and after pics on this one, completely unrecognizable. These Brooklyn homeowners transformed their unfinished basement into gorgeous office space. Love the exposed brick and the light coloured plank flooring.
image via decor happy
I’ve seen my fair share of basement bathrooms that are downright terrifying. This basement bathroom is small in stature but quite glamorous. Adding a little bit of sparkle is a great way to brighten up a basement room, whether it’s by adding chrome, stainless steel or a mini-chandelier.
image via house to home
A basement kitchen can be handy to have if you plan on using your basement as a guest room or if you plan on doing lots of entertaining. The shiny surface of these cabinets and the white walls reflect light, and the layout allows for a functional island.
image via McBlog
The basement is also a great place to unleash your creativity and make it anything you want it to be. A basement slide for the kids into a colourful playroom is a surefire way to make the subterranean fun. In fact, I think every house could use a slide.
Happy Friday Everyone!
Art + Nature Collaborations
A piece from the Hakona Open Air Museum. Via A.K.A. Wayward.
I think within every artist are two desires that smolder alongside their fiery passion to create — mastery and immortality.
First, they want to be good at what they do, whether it be painting, writing, or playing the cello. They generally aspire to achieve an optimum level of expertise. This means mastering their skills, and conquering, mastering, controlling their medium, making pigments, words, or sounds obey and do their bidding. Even in spontaneity and exuberance, in improvisation and working on the fly, all such actions always tend toward taming the paint or marble, coaxing it into submission.
And then what artist doesn’t want to live on through their works? Even though they do tend to be their own worst critics, and want to banish from existence all works that are considered sub-par, the creations that survive this merciless judgment –these they want to live on — at least past their lifetimes, if not forever. These masterpieces are wrought from their minds and souls, brought forth from their depths not without difficulty, usually with much anguish. It is but natural instinct to want to preserve the perfection of their works and protect them from destruction.
For all these reasons I feel great admiration for the artists behind the installations featured in today’s post. They are hugely ambitious in scope and scale of their works, but they relinquish control of what their art will ultimately become. They give up any hope for their works’ longevity in engaging in a kind of partnership with a very unpredictable, temperamental and ever-shifting collaborator — Mother Nature. They do their part, and allow their partner the freedom to finish it, and to eventually take it apart and ingest it. It seems awfully counter-intuitive, to surrender the products of their efforts to the elements, but there’s something achingly beautiful and infinitely joyful and transcendent about the letting go, the embracing of the unknown, the acceptance that everything is fleeting and transitory.
Via Photography Heat
Yarn Bombing - by B-Arbeiten. Via Street Art Utopia.
There’s so much playful exuberance in this work of “yarn bombing”. I can imagine the joy that it brings to all who see it.
By Jonna Pohjalainen - In Turku, Finland. Via Street Art Utopia.
The logs turned giant color pencils, bring a touch of rustic whimsy to the landscape.
Via Le Cahier Josephine
More woodsy cuteness!
By Dimitri Xenakis via Around Homes
Via Photography Heat
Found this really funny and quite brilliant. Who says art has to be all serious?
By Jason de Caires via Inhabitat
By Jason de Caires via Inhabitat
These last couple of pieces deserve special mention. They started out as sculptures made of cement created by Jason de Caires. What they eventually became are coral reefs and homes for various species of marine life. De Caires has placed many of his works in the ocean, making a vast underwater sculpture garden, which Nature has indeed put its own spin on, adding color and texture to the sculptor’s various figures.
Picking Up the Pieces: LEGO Design Projects
If you have had any exposure to children over the last few years then surely you have noticed the explosive renaissance that LEGO is enjoying amongst the smaller set. Packs have evolved from the simple combinations of bricks that I played with as a kid to complex set-ups like the Star Wars Death Star, which includes more than 3000 pieces (and a hefty price tag)!
Image: NBC News
There are stores dedicated to the stuff, catalogues to pore over and (as of last week) a hotel at the LEGOLAND Resort. I’m sure that many parents are sick of having all the bits and pieces underfoot but I must admit that seeing the bright little cubes brings out the kid in me. I just want to dive in and create.
Image: Nathan Sawaya: The Art of the Brick
I’m not alone. Artists and designers around the world are turning to LEGO as a medium of choice. New York-based artist Nathan Sawaya uses it to create dynamic sculptures.
Image: Dwell
French designers Simon Pillard and Philippe Rosetti, who work collectively as Munchausen Design, pulled off a colourful IKEA hack when they covered one of the company’s kitchen islands with over 20,000 LEGO bricks. Now there is a home improvement project that would keep the kids occupied over the school holidays!
Image: abgc
When Boys and Girls, an advertising agency in Dublin, approached the design and architecture gurus at abgc to redo their new digs, they had only one request: make the space playful but not juvenile. To inspire the team, Boys and Girls provided a Charles Mingus quote: “Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity.” In the boardroom, the result was a stunning but sophisticated table crafted from over 20,000 brightly coloured blocks. How could one not be inspired sitting around this fantastic piece of furniture?
Image: My Modern Met
The folks at the graphic design company NPIRE in Hamburg did their own remodeling using sets from their childhood collections (as well as 80 new ones) to construct a dividing wall in their office space. And talk about dedication- it took over a year to complete! Check out the photos at My Modern Met for an overview of the slow, painstaking project.
Image: house of anaïs
Additionally, numerous designers and artists have been inspired to replicate the product in their own work. Lunatic Construction creates a variety of custom furniture pieces, from desks to coffee tables, using brick-like blocks in a rainbow of colours.
Image: If It’s Hip It’s Here
Swedish designer Staffan Holm taps into his childhood sense of fun, inspired by LEGO, to temper the gravitas of his CEO desk. He crafts the piece in solid beech and MDF coated in enamel paint to evoke the toy’s iconic shape; the result is a masterful combination of modern and baroque styles.
Image: Megx
Let’s face it- we all need a little more whimsy in our lives. I used LEGO to construct the architectural fantasies of my childhood and seeing it now makes me smile as I remember the hours of imaginative play that it inspired. Seeing these creations makes me want to dive back in and build something just as fun but on an adult-scale.
If you had the time (and the blocks), what would you like to make out of LEGO?
