Krisel archive at the GRI

The Getty Research Institute has unveiled the newly catalogued collection of Krisel papers. There has always been much conversation in "the hood" as to the names of the various stages of development. This looks like an opportunity to shed some light on the subject.



More here.

this year

last year

more here

becoming an annual event

pretty much same time last year

::

photo Hank Connell

interesting article on flipping krisels

meet the ladies

you'll remember Chick-a-Dee perhaps.

here she is with her two newest roomates "Miss Cavendish" aka "Candy" and "Miss Rafferty" aka "Taffy". (thank you mr. nash.)

they were two scrubby rescues we took in at the end of the summer. the transition was a little bumpy at the beginning, but quickly smoothed out and now they all get along swimmingly. (and looking quite lovely if I do way so myself.)

and we are back in business!

cool pool

with this summer's heat we have spent an extraordinary amount of time in our pool. it is the "last great project" of our house (or perhaps tied in this position with our guest bathroom). we have lots of ideas. but limited resources in time and money.

so while we wait for that to change, i'll continue dreaming of eliminating our chlorine system, and doing this:



via Martha Stewart Living

or this:



via apartment therapy

or this:



via archdaily




beautiful natural swimming pools article in this weekend's LA Times Saturday

whoot!

bokashi

at dwell on design this year i checked out a bokashi composting system. i had looked at them on our last trip to australia, where they are quite popular, but thought we'd do the worm thing instead.

unfortunately the worm thing has never taken off. and the bokashi is looking attractive again. i especially like that you can do all organic waste (fish etc. even!) a lot of our green waste goes to the chooks. but not all of it.



urban composter via biome

this is good overview (i heart alys fowler). and these are cute.

have you tried it?

new doors!

D likes to take on a project while the girls and i take our annual summer break.

this year - it was the doors. he put in all new birch veneer doors. beauties. it wasn't easy. our home is far from the right angles that make hanging doors easy.



these have been on our list for a long time. (we also celebrated 11 years of being in this house in july!) the old doors were original to the house - and showed their age badly. they had been refinished without washing first and had dirt embedded in their surface, along with dings and dents that drove me crazy.

i loved the old brass handles, but most of them were unsalvageable. so we got new hardware too.



a little change that makes a huge difference.



before back-to-school: the closet doors.

::

I appreciate the longevity of quality sheets and towels when cared for properly. We are still using those we received as wedding presents nearly 13 yrs ago.

Our friend Alegre recently decided to shutter her long-standing business Green and Greener. It was an opportunity to pick up a great deal on beautiful Coyuchi sheets and towels.



Based in Northern California's Point Reyes Station, all of Coyuchi's cotton products are certified to the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) and produced using fair–labor practices, verified by in-country auditors.



Alegre's online store is still up for a while. You can visit it here. Or check out her newest venture...

ich liebe dich*

my dear friend c has nominated this blog for a Liebster Award (thanks c!) i have known c for more years then i can count on fingers and toes. she is my rock. her blog inspires me to think carefully about the way we live, and more often than not teaches me something new. you can visit her here at retrench: poor cate's guide to frugal living.

bunklelife

jan and i have known each other a very long time... she has a cute house in north vancouver she is working on, always guides me towards what i should be listening to. and her cats crack me up. (i love you jan!)

rebbermade

rebecca is a long-time blogging friend. our time together stays in my mind and i know we will meet again someday soon. she is a talented artist, resourceful,and lives in beautiful corvallis OR with her beautiful family.

chasing bluebirds

leslie lives "just down the road" from me in long beach in an amazing mcm cliff may. with two beautiful daughters. they have a great cabin in the woods. and they travel. a lot. what's not to love?!

petite gourmand

this blog brings back many TO memories. she is a photo stylist with a great eye. i always enjoy her take on mommyhood and hearing where she has been for dinner :)

karkovski

kristina's blog is one of the first i ever followed. it has been exciting to watch her art evolve, and her kids grow up.


that's my 5. but i'm adding a 6th and wishful thinking...


sprawl: life in the san fernando valley

i realize that this blog might be defunct - but i am hoping to inspire my neighbors to resurrect it. i love what they have put up so far. and keep checking my feed for new inspiration from their garden/kitchen/bar...

*the only german i know btw. i learned it in a bar in dusseldorf in high school ;)

finally...

we found a new sofa-bed we all agreed on



from here

next up for the office new shelving and built-in desk...

desert utopia

modern macrame

finally got around to pulling together a plant hanger a la stephanie...



grow little plant grow.

another view here.

steve mcqueen's alexander

at home in palm springs...







a few of our neighbors still have original mosaic fireplaces. gorgeous. and we had the pegboard cabinets when we moved in here. unfortunately they couldn't be restored due to years of neglect.

found at life via making it lovely

this is it

the home of borge mogensen



spotted on pinterest



found here



pretty much my dream home. what we have tried to create.



our blue.



we had a curator from germany over this week. i was madly running around in preparation wanting everything to be just so for his arrival.

he walked in the door and immediately said "ahhhh. scandinavian!" we are doing something right.

spring-like

(i need to post something so that horrific photo of the girls' bed top of the last post isn't the first thing you see.)

we spent the morning working in the yard. it's a gorgeous spring-like so-cal day.



trellis for the peas

::

The girls sleep in the bed D and his brother shared as children. It is amazingly well-made, solid wood, and with a coat of white paint and some new knobs for the attached dresser it is perfect. But given its age, it was without the standard guardrail now found on bunkbeds. We had been improvising with a portable bedrail but were not at all happy with the aesthetics.



D quickly whipped up a permanent solution this weekend.

And I am at ease that no one will be rolling out of bed. (I totally remember that happening as a kid! As a result, I never wanted to sleep on the top bunk.)

(Please excuse the crappy photo up top. I should know better than to shoot at night!)

::

the light in the house was perfect this week.



 especially in the kitchen. and especially in the mornings.

 oh socal winters. (rain in the forecast!) happy friday!

something handmade

we followed the

something you want
something you need
something handmade
and something to read

gift-giving rule of thumb for the girlies again this year.



the something handmade were beautiful tangram sets d put together based on this pattern from elsie marley.



{a great gift alongside this book.}

::

inspired by the forest

and iconic tables as well as DIYs

we are looking at slabs for a 2012 project...



via here

new year.

new projects (and ongoing)

dining room table (more soon), lighting (maybe) & chairs

shelving in family room

office

bedroom wallpaper

final touches on the yard.

hello 2012 :)

happy new year!