Our Favorite Stories from the Web This Week By: Grace Bonney

This weekend we’re driving out to Long Island for a friend’s wedding, a little fresh air and a few moments of unplugged time to celebrate my 33rd birthday on Monday. As much as I’ll miss our pets, it will be nice to sleep in for a few days and wear clothes that aren’t designed to withstand dog paws and mud. Before I pack up for the weekend, I wanted to share this beautiful hellebore photo from Laura Sugimoto on Instagram. She submitted this shot for our ongoing #DSlooking feed and I’m hoping to snap a few of my own pictures to contribute this weekend. Thank you to everyone who continues to share such gorgeous photos on these hashtag feeds. I check them multiple times a day and have gotten endless inspiration from them. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and I’ll see you on Monday! xo, grace

*If you love hellebores (above) as much as I do, we’ve got some more posts on beautiful ways to showcase them at home.

• This article is another reminder that Beyonce is a game-changer in every way.


• As If you needed another reason to want a hammock….


• As a completely obsessed Zara shopper, Amy loved this NY Times story on the strategy behind the brand.


• One of our favorite podcasts, 99% Invisible, did a story this week on how NYC cleaned up their subways.


• 12 Amazing Floors (Oh, the brick!) over at One Kings Lane.


• No one (apparently) wants convertibles anymore. Fast Company investigates why.


• A Real-Life Rube Goldberg Machine For Cooking. Both awesome and a reminder why it’s nice to be able to cook quickly sometimes.

• **First Ever D*S Social Media Workshop! Sign Up for the Newsletter and Info on Classes**


• Must Reads: A Day In The Life of the Beekman Boys, The Story of an Iconic NYC Brand’s Makeover, 10 Studio Tour with Tattly, A Day in The Life of Kat & Roger


• DS Hashtag Challenge: #DSlettering


• Home Tours: A textile-filled home in Charleston, a relaxing home in Monterey, a family home that’s 170 years old.


• Inspiring Quotations: Wise words from Dorothy Draper and Coco Chanel.


• Before & After: Nesting tables get a colorful $10 tape and paint makeover


• Biz Ladies: How to Grow Your Email List, Feature: Jen Hill of JHill Design


• Recipes: Salted Caramel Mousse with Caramel Popcorn, A delicious ‘Stolen Negroni’ cocktail recipe


• Travel: 24 Hours in Buffalo, The Dean Hotel in Providence, RI


• Trade Shows: Pattern Design at Surtex, Beyond Cards at the Stationery Show

via Design*Sponge http://ift.tt/1kI7T8p From Grace Bonney

HEMNES daybed into sofa By: Jules IKEAHacker

Materials: HEMNES daybed

Hemnes daybed with one of the mattresses cut in half to make sofa back

~ Andrea

via IKEA Hackers http://ift.tt/1pfhCE7 From Jules IKEAHacker

HEMNES lightens up By: Jules IKEAHacker

Materials: HEMNES dresser

Photo: IKEA.com

It was originally black to suit our bedroom as a dresser, I put three coats of primer and 3 coats of polycryllic on the dresser body, stained 1×6 a weathered grey, and poly-ed them. OH! and ripped out the particle board back and put up bead board, preprimed, I just primed and poly-ed it to match. Maybe she will get new knobs, but I LOVE the HEMNES knobs.

~ Chymberly

via IKEA Hackers http://ift.tt/1k0atSK From Jules IKEAHacker

A bench for two By: Jules IKEAHacker

Splinternet turns solo chairs into a duo bench. Nice.

Link to video.

via IKEA Hackers http://ift.tt/1j3u1pM From Jules IKEAHacker

A Day In The Life of The Beekman Boys By: Grace Bonney

The Beekman Boys are living my dream life. Not only are they running an incredible, and ethically-run, food business, but they’re writing best-selling books, hosting an amazing tv show and spending their days in upstate New York in one of the most beautiful parts of the country. Brent Ridge and Josh Kilmer-Purcell moved north to the town of Sharon Springs where they bought a farm in 2007 and took in a neighboring farmer and his herd of beloved dairy goats. Shortly after they began producing soaps and cheeses and then they reached out to local artisans to market their work as well, which has lead to seasonal festivals the ‘Boys’ now host for thousands of visitors. I’ve been dying to get a glimpse of what their day-to-day life looks like and thankfully they were kind enough to oblige. I hope you enjoy this peek as much as I did. And if Josh or Brent ever need another person to fill one of their backyard swings, I’m always available. xo, grace

Click through for the full post after the jump!

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via Design*Sponge http://ift.tt/1tLJsI2 From Grace Bonney

After the Jump: The Story of an Iconic NYC Store’s Makeover By: Grace Bonney

If you live in New York City or are a fan of traditional deli counters (“appetizing counter” is the proper term, as I’ve learned), you’ve heard of Russ & Daughters. This incredible 100 year-old family company is in it’s fourth generation of ownership and is known across the country for its incredible smoked fish, caviar and specialty foods. Julia and I happened to be on the Lower East Side of Manhattan a few weeks ago and we popped inside to grab breakfast supplies and check out their brand new Russ & Daughters Cafe. In addition to being blown away by how incredible all of the food looked, I had a major design geek moment and couldn’t stop staring at the incredible packaging, branding and labels.

As part of the launch of the their new cafe, Russ & Daughters got a modern (but not too modern) makeover that included gorgeous new menus, a return to their original bags from 50 years ago (thanks to Calvin Trillin) and beautiful DIY-inspired decorative flourishes like wallpaper patterns made with sesame seeds and “take a number” tickets from the appetizing counter. I had to learn more about this incredible project, so for this week’s radio show I devoted the entire episode to the women behind this branding update project, Jen Snow, Director of Media and PR at Russ & Daughters, and designer/artist Kelli Anderson. I’ve been a fan of Kelli’s work for a while now (we featured her home on DS a few years ago) so to find out she was the creative force behind this was a wonderful colliding-of-worlds moment.

The story of how such an iconic brand with 100 years of history finds a way to get a makeover without losing the heart and soul of the store is fascinating. Jen’s dedication to research, archival history and the nostalgia of the shop combined with Kelli’s incredible talent and creative thinking lead to one of the most thoughtful and clever updates I’ve seen on a brand in a long, long time. A huge virtual high five to this talented duo for such a beautiful project and thank you to both of them for joining me on-air this week to tell the story of how they did it. xo, grace

*Photos courtesy of Kelli Anderson and Russ & Daughters.

LISTEN : You can download the podcast on iTunes here, or stream it here on Heritage Radio

More images from the project continue after the jump below…

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via Design*Sponge http://ift.tt/1j2r2hd From Grace Bonney