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Artful Storage

Like most women, I find really great storage solutions pretty darn near transcendent on the border of ecstasy. Form and function come together to house all your stuff so that it looks good and you can find what you’re looking for and, really, that’s just exciting.  Then you close the doors so that you don’t have to look at your stuff.

Is that where the art ends?  Can there be better way of integrating your stuff into your home that is both aesthetically pleasing and functional?  Yes!  There are a lot of cool design projects out there dealing with storage that are super exciting and functional.  Check these out!

From i29 in the Netherlands we get this crazy gorgeous space which turns your stuff into art through the use of small cutouts.

Affordable, recyclable and fun: these are Wallpockets from Ampersand.

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Also from the Netherlands we have Jenna Postma’s “Growing Up.”  It, “is a chair that needs your mess to create a comfortable seat. Clothes normally lay all over the floor, but when you throw them in the chair, it becomes functional and decorative.”

    

Another riff on the same concept is Object-E from South Korean designer Seung-Yong Song.  (He’s got a bunch of awesome furniture hybrids you should also look at.)

  

A bit sillier take on the same theme.  I can imagine a kid having the best time putting away his/her toys if the storage was as fun as the toys are.

 

 

I love the beauty and elegance of these two simple storage systems.  (Click on the pictures to learn more about them.) They would be so easy to make and live with. Can you imaging having a storage system that beautiful and flexible in your home or office?

 

 

I’m in love with this one too, the colors and spacing make what could be total chaos come together in a soothing and beautiful way.

 

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Baby’s First Year

Love.  Love.  Love.  These once a month photo newborn shots projects are such an amazing way to show the phenomenal growth of your baby through that first year.  I look at these and I just get excited about all of the possibilities of different ways to show that growth.  I love that you can make something so profound with the simplicity of  a single white chair with something textured like a special blanket or hide draped across it with a frame placed in front of it for the age.  (You can always photoshop in the age later.)  Or you could use a large basket which starts with a one-month-old sleeping to go through the months of sitting up, crawling out and stepping out.  One of the groups that I love the most from the photos below is the father holding his daughter through the months.  I would love to see something like that with a father holding his child, but shot from below so that you can see his hands and whatever the sky or ceiling is doing to show the passing of time through the weather – blossoming trees, falling leaves, puffy white clouds in a bright blue sky… Be simple and awesome.

(Oh, and at the end of the year, you can turn the photographs into a calendar for presents for friends and family… awesome!)

Here are some of the best from the interwebs. (Click the pictures to get to the originals.)

 

 

 

 

 

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I want candy!
(You have to check this candy art out.)

You know the scene in Willy Wonka where they walk into the giant land made entirely of candy…

Yeah, that’s candy.

               
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It’s all edible and they say, tasty too.  Andies Specialty Sweets: go check them out… I’ll wait.  (Oh, and they have some ready to ship wares for Valentines Day!  Your foodie lover would be… uh… stoked.  I’m going with stoked.)

Continue reading “I want candy!
(You have to check this candy art out.)”

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How to Make an Awesome Photo (or Art) Wall

I’m an absolute sucker for a photo wall. So, it should come as not surprise that when I was making this virtual photo wall, I got a little obsessed with scouring the web for the best examples of photo (or art) walls and put together a round up of the most creative ideas with a wee bit of commentary on why they work.

Click on the images to get to the original sources.

Scale
When planning to use photos in a dramatic way in your home, scale is the first thing that you want to think about.  Think about the space where you’re planning on installing your photos.  You always want the photos of your family to be the focal point of the room, which means that you need to think about their scale either singly or as a group.  If you want to use smaller photographs, bunching them together will make them an anchor of the room.

Or you can go big.  Going big does have it’s pitfalls to look out for – you want it to be a focal point but not to take over, so there has to be consideration to how to balance out the room.  Always think about triangular relationships. Triangles create dynamic relationships through the space.  They move you’re eyes around the room and create balance.


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Bam!  Talk about scale.  This totally reminds me of Karnak Temple, modernism by way of ancient Egypt.  To be honest, I don’t know how comfortable I would feel if those were pictures of me all blown up on view every time I went up and down the stairs.  But as they’re of kids playing it does humanize the space. They also balance the drama of the rest of the space while remaining the focus.  (This is no small feat considering the beauty of the space and how the rug and stairs move your eyes upward out of the room.)


This is actually a window – but in my mind, I’m seeing a floor to ceiling photo that serves to act like a large window.  I think it would be amazing to fill a huge horizontal or vertical image with an unparalleled view and small children poking their heads in like they’re inviting you out to play.

 


The few colors in this room make their scales all the more important.  The scale of both the photograph and the blanket balance out the room.  It takes a certain risk to have just one large photo on the wall as an impact piece – but the payoff can be huge as well.  (And then there’s the little bit of matching color in the window anchoring the color triangle.  Perfect!)

 


This takes the same sort of impactful gesture of a large image but breaks it up. In this case it adds more interest.  I particularly like the contrast of the rectangle shapes to the circular ones in the image.

 


The bright strips give impact to this set of (relatively) diminutive photos.  It absolutely commands all of the attention of the room.  (Just proving that big isn’t always better.)

 

Color
Color is so tricky.  You think you know exactly how it works and then someone uses it in a totally new and original way and suddenly, you realize that you know nothing. One of my first experiences of this was when I went hiking in the desert thinking that the landscape was completely devoid of color only to find that after 20 minutes or so my eyes adjusted and what had ben very muted, grey-green or deep red plants became electric with color.  (On the other side of this teeter-totter is the work of Gwen Marston, who uses every color as a neutral.)

I think that color works best in a gallery wall when they have the same saturation.  Which doesn’t mean that you couldn’t use images that all have different saturations, but when some are pastels and others are super vibrant and others are flat – many of those images will get lost in a whole composition.  (But this might be what you’re looking for to invite your guests to seek for hidden treasures on your wall.)


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What could be a messy and distracting wall of images and inspirations isn’t because the colors are all subdued.

 


This one works because the none of the colors are subdued.  Most people would say that it also works because the rest of the room is neutral colors to diffuse it.  But it’s not true, this room could be painted red or yellow and it would still work.  In fact, that might work better s there would be less contrast between the lunch boxes and the wall, helping them to stand out and not clash.

 


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I love how rich and warm all the images are and how they blend with the distressed brick wall and textured couch. I do wish the was a smattering of colors that popped through the space but a part of the colors being so in tune with each other makes it so that the texture (in the photographs as well as the room) become the focus.

 


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I love how this wall of  old photos becomes a wallpaper.  If you wanted to create something like this, start by creating a band of photos at eye level  and then build up and down from there based on the shape of the photos and how you feel about them.

 

Composition
Do you want a free-form composition or do you want to create something precise?  Both have their strengths.  If you have something that’s very intentional it does add impact in the way that it tends to look like it’s been there forever – in that they tend to be formal and very classical in their structure.  With free form walls they can communicate a spirit and a joie de vivre that’s hard to not feel the charm.


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I love that this one is free-form and very controlled at the same time. Clearly the whole wall flows around the electrical stuff existing on the wall with sharp boarders and pretty consistent margins between each frame.

 


I would love to see this photo composition in reverse, starting in the bottom with pictures of your kids growing up into a tree or plant like configuration rather than flowing down.  I love how the empty frame anchors the whole piece as well as highlighting and binding together the images in it.

 


Here’s another form of composition that creates meaning out of it’s spacial relationship  – but it’s thought bubbles rising up.  (Not that it’s terribly practical for your home.)

 


Composition isn’t just about where the photos are in relation to each other it’s about the whole flow of the room.  I love how all of these rounded shapes from the dresser, through the vases on up to photos framed by place mats bubble up to create this whole composition in rounds.

 


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I love this room!  I really wish that one of those pairs of shoes was bright orange or something – but the rest just makes me happy.  I love that the light brown starts to pop as the only warm color in the room.  I also love that the whole look is rather organic looking even though the lack of color could make it seem industrial and cold.  (This is how this wall almost ended up in color.) But the composition is the real show stealer.  I love the overlapping (!!) and the juxtaposition of of the different kinds of art and the repetition of the photos of people in the middle with one at the forefront making that set come out at you.  Then to top the whole lovely thing off, the shoes are posted above the scene like gossiping blackbirds on a telephone wire.

 

Repetition
Very few things make a statement like repetition. Yes, that statement might in fact be, “I’m crazy,” but it can also be calming and restful. When you repeat like things, particularly in a grid or in the same way, they feel comfortable.  Another thing is that, through repetition, you can create your own original wallpaper.

 

I really like these images together .  I love how the repetition of patterns end up canceling each other out so that the repetition of photos in shape and size anchor the rooms and hold the viewer’s attention.

 


This is another example of how repetition is calming, and useful (assuming that the kids use the towels under their picture or fight a lot about their towels or something.)

 


I want to do this!  Well not quite this – (yes, I know it’s not an actual gallery wall) but I’ve been wanting to do a 4×4 photo wall of pictures of kids looking at each other from different frames, making faces and the like.  Imagine this as cute kids all in different frames looking at each other.  I think it could be quite fabulous.

 

 


I saw this image and thought to myself that this would be really cool with instagram photos.

 


And, hey, look at that!  Someone did that.  Although, I think it would be cooler if the movement of the piece was directed by shape and color in the photos, like the one before it.  This is actually a tutorial for putting up such a wall.  (Although, it seems it’s a bit crooked.)

 


And then if you’re really want to rock a photo wall – there’s this take.  I love it.  (Wouldn’t be able to live with it, but I love it.)

 


Or you could make a nice shape.

 

Of course, if you can always hire me to get you amazing photos to choose from for your gallery wall!  (I’d even be happy to advise on your wall.  As I said, I’m a absolute sucker for a photo wall.) 651.890.6685

xxoo

-K

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Modernist Furniture for Kids

I love furniture.  In particular, I love really well made furniture that has a point of view.  Which is why I love this neo-modernist movement and how well function, aesthetic and ecological impact is being combined.  Not only do many of these pieces have multiple functions that grow with children, but they are also made with wood from sustainable forests & non toxic finishes.

I love this caravan crib that’s inspired by old timey circus wagons.  I love the colors and  how they contrast with the maple.  Then when you don’t need a crib anymore, the top lifts off and it’s a toddler’s bed.  Plus, it’s fully sustainable and made from domestic Maple (FSC Certified) with 100% non-toxic, food safe materials and finishes.

 

I like this little crib listed on etsy because it’s hand crafted and relatively original.  I’ve never seen anything like the storage space under the bed which seems rather practical for kids and adults alike.  I also like that it has handles for easy movement so that it becomes a walking crib.

This funny circular crib is a full crib that you can take off one side to become a toddler bed and then both sides come off to form two chairs.  I think the thought is rather awesome, even though it looks like the end product would be the most uncomfortable chairs ever…

 

While it’s a bit unclear how adaptable this stokke-tripp-trapp high chair is for growing children (and I would love for it to turn into a step ladder or something) I love all the colors and the clean lines of the design.  I think it would be an great sculptural object in any modernist or eclectic home.

 

Love, love, love this find on Etsy.  It’s the Measure Me Stick. It’s bright and attractive, teaches kids the measuring systems and you can write on it – which then makes it a transportable memory keeper for your family.

 

Since rocking horses are so last century this is the ekorre rocking moose. It’s clean lines and bright colors would be welcome in any home.  I can just see a little girl in striped stockings being photographed on this.

 

If you ever want a super shiny hand made pink dinosaur rocking horse… You can get one.

 

This fabulous little toddler crib comes in two colors white and orange.  I just think its so fun.  The edges are all rounded so there’s very little to injure yourself on.  (For some reason this is a huge issue for me with beds. I seem to injure myself on them a lot.)   When your kid has outgrown the bed it converts into this cute full sized chair.  I love that.

 

Classic modernist chairs that are Kid sized!!! InMod has a whole bunch of them.  I want all of them.  (This particular chair is called “Yolk” rather than the original title of the original Arne Jacobsen name of, “Egg Chair.”  Love!

In case you haven’t heard me gush enough already in this post: I love the Giddy Up chair!  It looks like it might have all the contours to be a great chair from several positions.  It’s either inspired by or completely rips off Eero Aarnio’s 1973 Pony Chair but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a total classic.

Aarnio: “A chair is a chair, is a chair, is a chair … but a seat does not necessarily have to be a chair. It can be anything as it is ergonomically correct. A seat could even be a small and soft Pony on which you can, ride or sit sideways.”

 

I love the simplicity of this activity table and chairs.  You get the feeling from looking at it that it could last for years and look like new.  The parts are very basic and sturdy and look like someone would really have to go out of their way to break them.

 

 

This was about the coolest bunk I could find.  It’s the Argingon Uffizi Bunk Bed and it does have some sort of Swiss army knife of bunk beds thing going on.  There is a desk, there are a couple of book shelves, two beds and a bench/toy chest that you can buy as well.  These beds are also made of wood from sustainable forests and low VOC paints.

 

And then there’s this little guy…

I’m sure he’ll get swooped up quickly – and there is only one of these vintage rocking horses that isn’t anywhere close to a modernist aesthetic – but he’d look so awesome in some kind of open/brick/glass loft space that I had to include him.

 

 

 

 

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The Ladies are back…

The last time I photographed the Ladies (yes, I use that term loosely) it was early fall, we were outdoors, the leaves were changing and everything had this beautiful golden glow.  Going into this shoot, I didn’t really think we could top that.  I’ve become a convert to the winter photo shoot.  I love them.

Okay, I really, really love them.  Winter light is amazing to work with.  It’s light and romantic and if you work it right, people just glow.  I think this is my favorite shoot to date.  Between the glow the overcast sky was casting and the charm (and cheekiness) of the Ladies it was the perfect way to spend an afternoon.

Here you go, they’re confident, strong, playful, funny, beautiful… in short, perfect subjects.

Continue reading “The Ladies are back…”

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Dinoprints: An awesome gift for your dinosaur lover

If your kid would flip out over having a picture of him or herself riding a dinosaur but have had their dreams slightly thwarted by that pesky little extinction issue, never fear! The impossible is now possible.  Not only that, but it’s quite affordable.  All you need to do is go to Dinoprints.com, pick out your dinosaur, upload a photograph of your kid looking like he’s ready to ride and you’re good to go.  The results speak for themselves.

 

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Dinoprints was conceived in December 2010 when my brother Steve asked if I would help with a Christmas idea he had for his son. Steve found an illustration of a Tyrannosaurus Rex online, and also happened to have a digital picture of his son sitting on the back of a horse. We superimposed Steve’s son onto the dinosaur’s back, printed it out and had it framed for his son who, like most kids, is crazy about dinosaurs!

Check it out: dinoprints.com/