Monthly Archives: November 2009

Smoke detectors… a decorating afficionado’s nightmare

Posted on November 12, 2009 | 2 comments

Picture this… a home decorated with eye for every single detail. A master plan with meticulous planning, preparation, devouring decorating magazines, mood boards, trips to the back country for that one off table; every nook, niche, tile and cranny is thought over to create a wonderful overall picture. Ornamented or freshly panelled ceilings, a robust, modern designers lamp or a marvelous and dramatic chandelier to top it all off…And a grey plastic smoke detector…. because you don’t want to die in flames…

Why, but seriously, why do those things always have to be so hanous, so ugly, so, so pratical!

Enter, the Chick-a-dee!

Chick-a-dee courtesy of Louise van der Veld

Designed by Dutch design student Louise van der Veld, it is the winning design in a design competition organised by the Dutch Association for Fire Prevention. Currently it is under production, so unfortunately not for sale yet. But Dutch design shop Thinking of Holland will gladly put you on a list to notify you when they will go on sale. Retail price is approximately 50 dollars/40 euros.

My name is on there, and I want it it white. But it comes in pink and grey too.

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Posted in Design, designers and online finds, General living and fun stuff

Tagged chick-a-dee rookmelder, chick-a-dee smoke detector, Dutch Design, Louise van der Veld, smoke detectors, te koop

Cheeming Boey, styrofoam cup artist

Posted on November 8, 2009 | Leave a comment

Orange County California based illustrator Cheeming Boey, re-invented the styrofoam cup, or at least its use as blank canvas for his distinct black and white illustrations. This proves to be a lucrative niche as his cups sell for up to $220 a piece.

Georgia Russell, BOOK ART

Posted on November 8, 2009 | Leave a comment

On a recent browse trip to somethinbeautiful.blogspot I stumbled across the amazing work of Georgia Russell. This Scottish artist (1974) uses a scalpel instead of a paint brush,and books, old photographs, postcards and other paper objects instead of canvas. With her unique and meticulous (and as it appears time-consuming) technique, she transforms the paper in stunning 3D objects.

Autant en emporte le vent

Her agents website describes her work as follows:

Russell slashes, cuts and dissects printed matter, which she then manipulates and re-constructs into extravagant, ornamental, sculptural paper-works. The decorative qualities and inherent potential of her found ephemera are fully exploited as she transforms books, music scores, prints, newspapers, maps or photographs – sometimes with flamboyant colour and wild cutting, or with discreet play on the subject or title of her printed matter. Her works hover between object and image.

She was born in 1974 in Elgin, Scotland, and studied Fine art at Aberdeen University and the Royal College of Art. Various prestigious museums acquired her work including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Memoire 2001-2002

Palm Springs architecture

Posted on November 6, 2009 | 2 comments

On a recent trip to California we stopped in the Rat Pack’s playground; Palm Springs. This desert oasis was an ideal escape for the stars to flee Lala land for the weekend. Also, Hollywood studio’s often had offices and lots in the desert and contracts required the stars to live within easy reach of their work. To avoid having to take the drive back and forth every week many stars decided to buy property there. In many cases commissioning famous architects like Albert Frey, Raymond Loewy or Richard Neutra to design lavish bungalows or retreats. At the same time, the US economy and post WW II optimism caused for Americans to take their shiny cars and exploring their country’s back routes. Palm Springs was a popular destination resulting in demand for affordable lodging. Many motels sprung up, and, along with many of the private homes built back then, are still there to see for todays visitor. This makes Palm Springs heaven for those admiring mid 20th century architecture.

While there I took a tour of some of the most stunning examples of architecture from this era.