March 2009

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

British designer Bethan Laura Wood's clever Stain Cups are designed to become more beautiful with each use. Wood treats the inside of each porcelain teacup so that, over time, certain areas pick up more stain than others. "The more the cups are used, the more the pattern is revealed," she explains.

The cups are £35 (about $50) each. Contact Wood directly to order, and check out more of the young designer's innovative wares right here.

(Via CribCandy.)

Jennifer Judd-McGee ad

More eBay Finds

Russian Avant Garde Female Oil Painting

Schmid Porcelain Espresso Cups and Saucers

Vintage Thonet Bentwood Chair

Ib Kofod Larsen Penguin Chair

30s French Tufted Chesterfield Mohair Sofa

Modernist Marble Birds

Signed Raymor Bitossi Harlequin Lidded Jar

1970s Ingo Maurer Big Pop Art Bulb Ceiling Lamp

1940s Stylish Bauhaus Modernist Scissor Wall Lamp

Rare Pair 1950s Kalmar Stilnovo Cone Lamps

Pair Midcentury Modern Sphere Hoop Chairs

Vintage Brancusi Marble Occasional Table

Wooden Manequin Head

54-Liter Green Glass Demijohn

Long + Low Selig Sofa and Loveseat Set

Midcentury Modern Wall Sconce With Twin Metal Shade Diffusers

Rosenthal Orientalische Nachtmusik Bjorn Wiinblad

Note: These auctions all end between now and Thursday evening, April 2. Happy bidding!

Monday, March 30, 2009

Objects of Lust: New Florence Broadhurst Rugs

Thirty two years after a still-unsolved murder brutally ended her flamboyant and controversial life, Florence Broadhurst's dramatic designs are still as heart-stopping as the day she dreamt them up.

Broadhurst's intensely colorful, geometric and nature-inspired patterns are available as indulgent fabrics and luxe wallpapers, and British firm Knots Interiors came out with a line of Broadhurst rugs in 2007. Now, several more of the Australian icon's timeless designs have been reproduced as handknotted wool-and-silk rugs by the U.S.-based, high-end carpet company Woven Accents.

A few of my faves from this new collection:

Honeycomb in cornflour

Floral 300 in scarlet and ivory

Kabuki in olive and brunette

Solar in saffron and navy

Japanese Floral in tangerine

Horses Stampede in noir and steel

Siam in cream and aqua

The rugs are available for order through L.A's Woodson & Rummerfield's. (The cost: Most likely more than many of us can afford. But let's all just indulge in a collective swoon anyway, OK?)

P.S. For more on Broadhurst, pick up a copy of the gorgeous book, Florence Broadhurst: Her Secret & Extraordinary Lives.

Cool Stuff: John Kostick's Bronze Stars

John Kostick's mesmerizing Six Axis Bronze Star is a beautiful physical expression of a complex geometrical concept: The handcrafted "symmetrical non-Cartesian multiple-axis joining of beams" was inspired by a speech given by synergetic visionary Buckminster Fuller at Brandeis University.

The math, no doubt, is light years beyond my feeble abilities in that area. The beauty, however, is easy to grasp. And over time, the metal wire that forms the gracefully intersecting axes of this collapsible star will develop a rich brown patina with a subtle green undertone.

Kostick's six-point star is $60 at Canoe, or $20 for the smaller Tetraxis Bronze Star, above.

(Via Portland Spaces.)

Become a More Ways to Waste Time Sponsor!

I'm so thrilled to have welcomed several wonderful new sponsors this past month -- including Hello Victory, Modernica, Sue Augustyn Interior Design, Janus Home, Digs Inside & Out, 3 Fish Studios, and Verre New York.

The women and men behind these great small businesses help make it possible for me to spend my time looking for incredible things to show you here. So please be sure to return the favor by checking out their sites, as well as those of my fabulous longer-term sponsors at right. You're likely to find some incredible things there yourself.

And with March rapidly drawing to a close, I wanted to let any independent artisans, designers, Etsy sellers, and other retailers who may be out there reading know that I still have a few advertising spots available for April. Large (180-by-180-pixel) ads start at only $20, and are seen by nearly 50,000 visitors a month.

Interested? Click here for more details.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

SAID ad

Friday, March 27, 2009

Over and Out

Photo by Antony Chammond

Have a lovely weekend, everyone!

Mark Your Calendar: Whitney Smith Sample Sale

If you're in the Bay Area this weekend, be sure to stop by ceramic artist Whitney Smith's Spring Sample Sale on Saturday, March 28, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Smith is making space in her studio by clearing out not-quite-perfect items -- which are 10 to 70 percent off regular retail -- prototypes, older pieces, and even some brand-new designs (her organic-modern Lichen Collection, for instance, is a particular fave of mine). The studio is located at 539 Athol Ave. at Cleveland in Oakland.

And if you're not in the area, don't despair -- Smith will be filling the "Sale" section of her Etsy shop with bargains starting on Sunday, March 29.

See more of Smith's gorgeous handmade ceramics right here.