Best of the Web By: Grace Bonney

Photo from One Kings Lane, taken by Lisa Romerein/OTTO

The next two weekends are going to be pretty hectic for me, so I’m excited to have a lazy ‘around the house’ weekend starting tomorrow. Whenever I’m home for a bit I spend a lot of time organizing and tidying up, so I’ve been looking for kitchen inspiration to get me going. One Kings Lane did a fantastic story on small kitchens (although some look fairly big by my standards) and there are so many fun color, storage and layout ideas to be had. The image above is one of my favorites, but you can check out the full story here. Hopefully this will be as helpful in your weekend projects as it will for mine. Until Monday, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! xo, grace

• The Smithsonian’s examination of Japan’s obsession with the American Myth is both fascinating and true. “How Japan Copied American Culture and Made it Better.”


• Mindy Kaling reminds us yet again why we love her (with her take on body image)


• The best views of NYC are from…a drone!


• An interesting look at WHY we look the way we look (contemporary fashion).


• Leandra of Man Repeller defends her ‘no makeup’ natural look. This is a VERY interesting and important read- and about WAY more than makeup.


• An artist creates 1024 new looks using makeup…and an animated GIF

• Must Reads: West Elm $500 Giveaway, Style Icon: Nina Simone, Mad Style: Our Favorite Designs of the Late 60s and Early 70s, Learning to Unplug: Confessions of a Tech Junkie, When The Color Black Became Hip


• Decorating: 30 Reasons to Love Blue, Green and Purple, 35 Ways to Decorate with Mirrors


• Recipes: April Carter’s Spiced Hot Cross Buns


• Biz Ladies: Making A Career Transition, Biz Ladies Profile: Shanan Campanaro of Eskayel


• City Guide: Bozeman, MT
  


• Before and After: A 1950s House Gets A Faithful but Modern Update
  


• Sneak Peeks: Jewelry Designers at Home, Carroll Gardens Apartment Remix, Two Artists’ Santa Barbara Carriage House, Manka’s Inverness Lodge in California
  


• DIY Projects: 12 Flower-Themed DIY Projects for Spring
  


• Flower Glossary: Scilla Peruviana, Carnation (Part 2)
  

via Design*Sponge http://ift.tt/1qWrmDR From Grace Bonney

Lacks at an exhibition By: Russel Fouts

Materials: Various LACK series items

My friend, ceramic artist Monika Patuszynska devised a clever way to make cheap, portable, stable stands to display her art at fairs.

I don’t have step-by-step but I think it’s pretty easy to see how it was done. She says she just stuck Lack table and shelf parts together as needed with double-sided tape.

It comes a apart and goes together easily, fits in her car and must be stable, her work is not cheap.

Russel

Brussels

via IKEA Hackers http://ift.tt/1pgZU6a From Russel Fouts

Never too many colors! (AKA Another Lego table) By: Aurelien Metral

When like me your home is equipped with white walls, any opportunity brighten up this one with colors is up for grabs! And what’s more colorful than Lego?

The idea stayed in my mind for a long time until a visit at Ikea a few years ago, and saw this coffee table with a modern and simple design, I knew immediately it would be the perfect base for my hack.

The table consists of a chrome hardware and a tempered glass, it simply took me a good amount of bricks (around 5000 if I remember correctly) and a MFD board painted black (to support the Lego which are not glued) and interpose them between the base and the glass, layered as a good cake! Et voilà!

You probably have already seen a Lego table, it’s not the first and certainly not the last.. but this is mine!

Aurelien. Paris, France.

via IKEA Hackers http://ift.tt/1qUYfAO From Aurelien Metral

Coco 66 By: Grace Bonney

I’ve lived in Greenpoint for the better part of ten years now and it’s amazing to see the sort of changes the neighborhood is going through. While some of them are less than desirable and involve giant glass buildings without much character (or affordable housing), some of them are wonderful and involve long-dormant buildings and homes being turned into beautiful spaces. In our Design*Sponge neck-of-the-woods, we’ve seen almost 10 new restaurants open in the course of a year, so many of which have incredible inspiring interiors. The latest hotspot to open happens to be directly across from our office, Coco 66.

Coco 66 has a bit of a history in the neighborhood, having been open before and serving as a fun divey bar with live music and performances. But it was closed a while back and is now re-opening by restauranteur Michael Callahan (or Republic and Indochine). Along with a new chef, Joe Capozzi, Michael has reopened the space to include a bistro that focuses on local, seasonal food. We’d heard quite a bit of buzz online, so we decided to go check it out ourselves.

The space is full of natural light, salvaged wood details and a nice mix of vintage and new furniture. Tiny bits of Pendleton fabric, handwoven wall hangings and antique mirrors decorate the space along with kilim rugs and cacti. I’m particularly fond of all the reclaimed windows used in the space- they contribute so much to the open airy feel in the space. Now that we have this in our neighborhood, our daily take-out lunch orders might turn into lunches across the street. Thanks so much to Coco66 for welcoming us inside- click here for more info and to visit in person. xo, grace

Photos by Max Tielman

Click through for the full story and more photos after the jump…

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via Design*Sponge http://ift.tt/1i2rfz8 From Grace Bonney