stair me.

an important note about sustainable design is that the materials in a space should not only be sustainable, but the space needs to function as efficient as possible. wasted space is no bueno. so what do you do if you live in a small, multi-story space and you have access to a reliable structural engineer? you make your stairs into drawers! what an ingenious way to completely re-work the purpose of a staircase. would you consider this multi-functional or multi-awesome? i would argue for both.

extra storage for shoes? yes please. i know a few people who could use this.... (myself, my boyfriend, my sister, and the list goes on.) what a great idea for someone like myself who suffers great anxiety from stair clutter. i say this, but my parents may argue that i was the #1 cause for this epidemic in their house when i lived there. (love you mom and dad, you taught me well.) hypocrisy aside, i love this idea. who wouldn't want a hiding place for their secret hoarding habit or their fabulous shoe collection? sign me up. also, what a great place to store seasonal items like your christmas decorations! this whole idea just excites me and i am going to keep it in my back pocket for the next time i find myself designing a staircase. carpe diem.

                                                                  sustain. design. enjoy.

quirky is my middle name.

as you will come to find out if you end up following my blog for a while, i find any sort of unusual application of an item to be fascinating. i will post my favorite quirky item of the moment once a week :). quirkiness is an aesthetic that you can't fake and you don't have to try hard to accomplish it. the first rule of quirkiness is to just throw sophistication and refinement out the window. sure, there is a time and place for these things but now is not the time. the second rule is that just because something is quirky does not mean that it has to be tacky. that's it for the rules. quirkiness is about being fun and free. who cares if people don't get it or they find it unpleasant? if its your space, your happiness is the most important. if its a client's space, then their happiness is important and you should take their happiness into consideration too :). So without further ado, here is my current quirky item of the week:

a blender turned into a pendant! how adorable is this? this fixture could easily work in any sort of kitchen application as well as a neighborhood bakery or deli. see, i told you quirky can be cute! at first glance, this looks like a normal glass pendant fixture, but with a closer look you see that a blender was given a new life. this idea shows that re-purposing of old or broken items can create a unique design element in a space. so next time your blender motor crashes and burns and you have to buy a new blender, try turning it into a light fixture.

sustain. design. enjoy.

design ink

art is a vague umbrella of all sorts of expressions of creativity and design. art does not have a concrete definition and can be adapted to each individual's own interpretation of the term. two of the main things that i am most passionate about as an individual are tattoos and sustainability. weird combination, huh? these are two things that spark my interest most in the broad world of art and i see them come together quite often, surprisingly. this combination of two of my passions are often played out in the world of furniture design. seeing the merging of two un-alike things triggers a giddy-like excitement in me. i am attracted to all sorts of styles, products, and design, but the merging of these two elements always grabs my attention above anything else.

tattoos have been a passion of mine for several years. my entire (right side) rib cage is a large anchor and crown design. the personalization of my own skin creates an unmatched, vigorous "high". yeah, you can say i have the "tattoo bug". there is such an understated beauty in the work of a true artist, a tattoo artist. i tend to be drawn to large tattoos in traditional styles such as traditional japanese (see below) or traditional american (ex: sailor jerry) tattoos. 

the application of this art form to sustainable furniture pieces makes for a rustic, and edgy look. i would design my entire personal space in these kind of pieces. they are so unique and they directly speak to who i am as a person. below is an image of a table that is carved from reclaimed and discarded wood. each table in this series has its own one of a kind design that has been hand drawn by a tattoo artist.

sustain. design. enjoy.