Family and Holiday Time

It's Holiday time which means a lot of eating with a lot of family. We already did it with Thanksgiving and are about to do it again. So here are a few things that might help you. If it is your family coming over you might want this...

It is a foam injected, wood veneer table called Ilvolo by Alias. They use as few pieces of high quality veneer as they can, holding them all together in a mold, then inject foam into the middle to fill the entire cavity. The result is a pretty light, extremely durable table. They also have a matching chair called Laleggera that I have tested and it is pretty amazing. So it is light making it easy to rearrange the furniture to fit all the family in plus it can extend to fit even more since Aunt Fran decided to show up unannounced with her new beau.

Now, if it's your in-laws that are coming over, yet again, to take over your home, and yap about the family scandals (ahem...Aunt Fran), then maybe you need something like this from BuzziSpace...

All it needs now is a "Do Not Disturb" sign.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

!EN FUEGO!

Upon seeing the title of this entry, I know many of you immediately thought of the Christian Rock festival in Verbena, Alabama. But I assure you that is not what I intended. I actually meant these beautiful bowls of fire. I see images of them all over the place and love them every time. It is gold leaf on the inside of... ceramic?...paper? I'm gonna go with paper considering the price.
Even though I've been seeing these for quite some time, I was inspired to post about them from this article about an incredible phenomenon in Turkmenistan. Does anyone know how to say "EN FUEGO" in Turkmen? And yes Turkmen is the language of Turkmenistan. Wikipedia doesn't lie!

Hydrophilic vs Hydrophobic

Solid Rain

Now I may actually be able to keep my plants alive!  Solid Rain is a potassium based powder that can absorb water up to 500 times its size. Hydrophilic. For those of you with babies that you may have let use a regular diaper for swim time, it's very similar to that gel that explodes out of the diaper after absorbing about 3 lbs of water. Not that I've ever done that.
This version can be mixed with soil or sprinkled around trees in order to absorb any rain or irrigation water it can get it's greedy molecules into. It can then slowly release that water into the ground and continuously water plants. This means conserving water. This means growing sustaining crops even through droughts or in areas that weren't suitable before. This means more accessible food sources for more people around the world. It is going to single-handedly solve EVERYTHING! Well, no not really. But it can help.

NeverWet

On the opposite end of the spectrum is NeverWet, a hydrophobic product that will repel anything wet and slimy. It uses nanotechnology to create a surface that rejects liquid based... well, anything. All you do is spray on a few clear coats, let it dry, and try to drown your iphone in a bucket of water. So never fear, your bright white Keds are finally safe! You can see a video of them trying desperately to dirty something here.

Now they question we have to ask ourselves is... what happens when you mix NeverWet with Solid Rain?!
Bipolar gel that is scared of itself?

Salvaged Woods

Everyone loves the look of salvaged wood. It's old, but new; it's varied in color; its got texture and character. You may even be able to find a hoof impression from when Farmer Jo's trusty steed tried to kick his way out of the small fire that caused the barn wood to be salvaged in the first place.
Old barns are a common source for salvaged wood. Also flooring and beams from old buildings being torn down. There are quite a few companies now diving for salvaged wood. When the old timber industry used to float logs on the river to get them to the mill, some would sink. Or in some areas when dams and reservoirs are built, forests are flooded. This preserves the wood allowing divers/loggers to salvage, dry and mill them.

I recently came across another company that salvages wood from a different place...from shipyards. Cargo is often shipped on pallets and in crates that all get thrown out after the cargo is unloaded. Viridian Reclaimed Wood (not to be mistaken with Veridian Dynamics who weaponizes pumpkins and creates nicotine ice cream) is based out of Portland where their international port is filled with discarded wood. And because the cargo is international, sometimes even the crates are made from what we consider exotic woods. Viridian up-cycles that wood into flooring and wall panels as well as specialty items.
They also sometimes use recycled gym bleachers and glulam beams.
All the products create a wonderful warm feel for any space.

I know we don't know each other well but how do you feel about leather?

Hello again! Long time no see. Sorry about that. I've been busy busy! But I have decided to try and start this blogging thing again...

Pre-Leather

Leather

Post-Leather

Leather garbage gets a new use. As you can imagine looking at that hide rug up there (disturbing when you can see the outline of the animal - usually you try to remove dead animals from your home; in this case you curl up with it in front of the hearth) there is a lot of left over scraps once you cut out the pieces of a handbag, or a car seat, or a cat woman body suit out of the hide. Companies are now using those scraps to create "recycled" leather. The scraps are ground up; a binder is added, and they press it into sheets under high pressure. It can be dyed, embossed, laser-cut (does anyone smell burning flesh?)

It can be bought in sheets or tiles and can be used on the floor and the walls. 

Some sources include Spinneybeck with two types of offerings - "Novus" and the aptly named "Recycled Leather"; ASI Flooring with a product called  Eco Leather Tile; and EcoDomo.

Another similar product would be these rugs made out of reused leather belts by Leather Belt Rugs

Mo' Modular

Does anyone else feel like 2012 has been busy and chaotic and flying by? I do so I apologize for such long silence.
Ran across this Mondrian-esque multi-family dwelling and had to figure out what? Why? and What? It is a prototype for a new modular home system that can be used for single, multi or even highrise dwellings by Worldwide Modular.
We know there are a ton of projects using shipping containers as housing. This one uses the same dimensions and proportions but uses the containers to, well, ship. Each segment gets built in a warehouse, slides right into a container, ships to site, lift into place and slides out into the concrete framework that was built on site. You can see a video and other renderings and plans on the website. And no, it doesn't have to look like this.
But if you do get this one, you can get the matching bag!

Color CEU

I recently watched a wonderful webinar about color from Shaw Contract Group. It has incredible imagery and a wonderful post-apocalyptic story line. The sounds and voices of the narration while staring at intense photos gets you lost in your own world. After coming back to reality, you can take a quiz at the end to get CEU credit for IIDA, ASID, AIA, or IDC.
You can catch it February 7 at 11am, 2pm, or 5pm central time and it lasts about 45 minutes. Register here. I highly recommend it!