Five Good Things

Enough with the sick talk around here. Today I'm going to find five things that make me happy. Ready?

#1. Tornadoes haven't killed me yet.

The swath of destruction following the most devastating tornado season in decades is just staggering. I grew up in tornado alley and much of my family still lives there, so I'm very grateful no one has awakened to find themselves in Oz... or somewhere much worse.

#2. I'm glad I don't have to live my life under a microscope.

I'm sure that most of the world is envious of Kate Middleton's fairy tale romance and marriage to Prince Charming, but not me. That kind of attention makes my skin crawl.

She spent the last evening of her "normal" life at the historic Goring Hotel. Even the sheep looks concerned.

#3. I have a normal, happy kid.

Excepting this past week of plague like sickness, he's pretty healthy, too. I understand many parents can't say the same, and my heart goes out to them. I know how lucky I am. Maybe I should buy that kid a sandbox.

#4. Blogging has introduced me to some amazing people.

I ain't gonna lie -- blogging can be a grind sometimes. I'm busy with real life, plus my brain is often working against me, but the people are worth it. Your comments and emails make my day. I think we need to have a supperblogger superconference that pretends to hinge on decor and design, but is actually fueled by martinis and dancing.

That's some totally sincere Hands Across America shit for you. I think I feel a tear escaping my eye.

#5. It's Friday.

Here's a pretty picture from Rees Roberts to take you to the happy place.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

How Many Canes is Too Many?

Lately my thoughts on design have been filled with more questions than answers:  Should i go with 2 small or one large coffee table?  Box-up, display, or hock the knickknacks I've been carting around for years?  And, most importantly, when to say when with a teddy bear colletion:

Psst, I'm pretty sure the answer is one.  Or a million.  Shit I don't even know.  I kinda sorta like how 80 gazillion raggedy bears create a textural, bizarre landscape in this otherwise simple space.  But then again, they're teddy bears.  And then we must consider that they are in the same home as these displays:

Someone likes collections.  On one hand I appreciate the restraint with which all these groupings are displayed.  Despite the fact that Mr. Homeowner also owns 452 canes and 347 magazines (my figures) the place is still pretty spiffy and looks nothing like the vintage shops most collector's homes resemble.  But, then again, these are canes and bears we're talking about here.

And glasses, let's not forget that we need 18 thousand glasses.  I saw a wide shot of this room and that cupboard is like 90 feet high, this is only a third of the glassware.  That bird is like head level to me if that helps put it into perspective.  Why not 4,000 birds you ask?  Fear not

For there are at least 782 quail on the premises.  And, if my design logic is correct these puppies are smack-dab behind teddy bear alley.

But, then again there is this Jesus on the Cross right below a fossilized fish, so there's that.

What do you say?  Are 433 canes appropriate?  Should I keep all those stupid knickknacks of mine?  And what about the double / single coffee table dilemma?  Sorry, you get no visual on that.  Go with your gut.

A New Direction for Design Crisis

I'm thinking we need to narrow the focus here at Design Crisis and declare ourselves the world's leading authority on crazy ass tree houses.  With Erin's number one best post of all time about the probably haunted tree house here, my 24 hour around the clock coverage of the tree hotel here and this beast I'm about to throw at you today I'm ready to consider us 100% tree house experts:  full on qualified to appear as an expert witness in court in case any crizime ever takes place in a tree house. Let's do this.

I am ready to tell you homies about this here TEN STORY tree house somewhere in Tennessee  built by Horace Burgess, a landscape architect, after a fist-pump sealed agreement between him and God.

Constructed over 14 years, The Minister's tree house (no website) is built around an 80 foot tall white oak tree with a diameter of 12 feet, 6 other trees act as pillars supporting the structure.   The house itself is built with only salvaged materials, which, apparently was God's end of the deal:  Horace was to build the tree house while the big man would ensure that he never ran out of supplies.

The house's square footage has never been measured (although the number of nails used has: 258,000) but it's estimated to be between 8,000 - 10,000  square feet.  Among it's gazillion rooms are a church and a basketball court.  Divine requirement?  Possibly

The entire house cost $12,00o to build (it's unclear which materials were purchased)

I only found one interior shot of the tree house and it belongs to some dude on flickr who's disabled sharing of his photos, so if you want to see it you have to click here.  Even though I'm annoyed by this guy for not letting me post his photo (with credit!!!) I still think it's worth you cruising over to check it out.  Here

UPDATE! You don't have to go look at stupid lame-os share-blocked photos, instead you can read a hilarious post with tons of interior pictures over at modern sauce's blog.  It's a 2 parter:  here and here

So far the only real difference  I can see between the Mister's House and the one Erin toured last year is that I'm pretty sure she would buy this one.  Especially for $12,000.

all other photos via