Lufdesign

Here comes a post inspiration from an unlikely surprising source - my husband.  He wrote me an e-mail with "they have some cool stuff" in the subject line and a link to their page. I definitely agree.  Lufdesign is a Korean based conceptual design company that has won several Red Dot Design Awards.  They have put two of their designs into production under their brand name Nilfish.

The Leaf tie, a cable organizer, currently available in 6 colors.

 Here is an obvious application.

 This is not so obvious, but so cute.

The Fork and Cream Sauce is another innovative cable management product.

 
I don't know about you, but we have cables all over our house (I shudder at the mess behind our TV).  Cables really bug me, but sometimes we just need to embrace things that bother us and work with them.  A little humor goes a long way, don't you think?

(images: lufdesign)

Tissue Storage

Juliette, at Zuhause in Germany, did a post earlier this week about wrapping paper storage and asked if anyone had a favorite re-purposing organizing trick.  I had to ponder about it for a bit, but then my virtual hand raised itself (think Hermoine in Harry Potter) and I thought "me, me, me..".

I have real issues with the prints that come on tissue boxes (can't stand them) and hadn't really found a tissue box cover that I really liked (although I just did a quick search and found this - hilarious, right?).  I had a few canning jars stored in the basement waiting for me to use them for something.  I know canning would have been the obvious choice, but that is just not going to happen.  I do make my own jam, but these are just to big for that. Anyway. One day, not sure how, I came up with this.

The canning jars are from an old German company called Frauenlob (translates Women's Praise) and are perfect for this application because the opening is just wide enough to get the tissues in.

Anyone have a favorite re-purposing organizing trick to share?

Have a great weekend everyone!

Doormat - Part Deux

Painting a doormat, how hard could it be?  Well, a little harder than I thought.   On the Monday after my initial post I jumped right into the project and bought all needed supplies. Since I was making my own template for the pattern I decided to alter it slightly.  The H&M doormat was a little too pointy.  So, I widened the spacing between the tips of the zigs and zags.  I started the stencil and was almost finished when I realized that not only did each row need to be centered (with a tip in the middle in each), but the spacing and angles needed to be (fairly) accurate. 

So, on to stencil number two. You might be able to discern the center line that I penciled in.  I made the pattern template using equally sized rectangles taped together at 90˚ angles and then used it to trace all of the rows I needed.
 

Then I cut out the stencil wearing down the blades of my box cutters in the process.  It took up a, felt, eternity.

There it is the plain doormat, about to be transformed.  In case you are wondering I did for a moment consider running back to the store to get yellow spray paint, but then I thought of hoards of small muddy shoes.  FYI, I used a whole can (small one) of spray paint to get the black I wanted.  Turns out coconut fiber is a natural fiber (duh) and absorbs paint, lots of paint.

And here it is all finished and stuff.

Hearts

Happy Valentine's Day!

Monica

What's in my Purse...

Carmen from retro meets vintage  ( I just started following her blog - cute) let her readers have a glimpse into her "holygrail" - her purse.  She asked everyone to join in the fun and share what is in theirs. So without further ado....

I have my glasses (which I should wear, but don't), pocketbook, cell phone, sunglasses, tissues, lollipops (Sam's), change, grocery cart token, gum (Sam's), makeup bag, mints, comb, a grocery receipt,  keys, non-slip socks (Sam's) and a hand held mirror.  Exciting stuff, no?

10-10 4th Day

In keeping with the color trend that is sweeping Blogland (check out Benita's lamp) I tried to find yellow in my home for this installment of the 10-10 Challenge.

It was not an easy task.

  I even looked in the refrigerator in a moment of desperation.  Hey, it paid off.  :)

Flowers + Yellow

There has been a wave of color sweeping through blogland this past week.  Marie and Sherri called for flowers.  Dani (who has a lovely blog and a really cool collection of signage letters - check out her vestibule) showed hints of yellow throughout her home. 

Since I am, sometimes, practically inclined I combined both in this post.

Guess what the next subject for my 4th installment of the 10-10 challenge will be?

10-10 3rd Day

Yesterday we had some sunshine (today its seems like that was weeks ago) and so I headed outside for this set.

, 

I found my subject just outside my terrace door.  The lines were everywhere.

I took this set in under 5 minutes, but then it was cold and sun had lured me outside without a jacket.