Hold Me Closer Tiny Showcase

So for the last month +/- erin and I have been waxing poetic on all sorts of home goodness, but we have failed to mention a single thing to do with your walls.   If you've got a craigslist budget but are hoping to pass on the 1920s french restaurant posters you may want to check out Tiny Showcase.  Each 100 - 200 print run features work from up-and-coming artists and is priced to move.  I'm talking like $20 a print, people.  One new print is released each tuesday.  As the site becomes more popular the runs sell out quickly, which means old fans like myself just don't buy as many pieces anymore.  Sorry, after 3 years, I still forget to stay in on Tuesdays. Here are some of my favorites, and some of the ones I own:

clockwise from top left:

"Island" Nathan Abels

"Lucky" 1911 

"On the Lounge" Marci Washington (possibly my fave tiny showcase artist)

Untitled, Julie Morstad

more from Marci Washington:

"the coming of darkness" and "the cannibal in his chamber" marci washington

2 of the prints I own, both by Jacob Goble: "here it comes" and "we are in trouble"

"poolside" leah giberson

"freestyle friends" matthew furie

another print I own, I'm loving his cross sections.  "weaving" by Josh Keyes.  My other favorite showcase artist.

On a side note, i once sent the tiny showcase dudes an email with the title of this post as the subject and, believe it or not, they never wrote back!  Do you think they've heard it a hundred times, or do you think it's the funniest thing ever?  Discuss.

The Antidwelling Box

During the 70's strange and wonderful things occurred in the world of design and architecture, at least according to my 1974/75 edition of Decorative Art and Modern Interiors. Although some of the interiors are laughably dated, the strangest thing by far is how contemporary most of the work is. Take, for example, The Antidwelling Box:

They got the Dwell part right, for sure, because it looks just like all the homes featured in Dwell Magazine. So the design is pretty prescient, but the function is... well, maybe a little functionless. It is called the AntiDwelling Box, after all. The architect, Monta Mozuna, said that people who live in homes don't really know what they want but that architects do, and so he took it upon himself to subvert normal living space dualities such as public/private, or parent/child. I know that's all postmodern and stuff, but I'd be pissed if my control freak architect built me a house with the bed in the kitchen, or the communal bath attached to the master bedroom, while the master bedroom resides down the hall. At any rate, here are plans for the space, so you can see how it's laid out:

What? Too small you say? Ok, here's a close-up:

Ok, I can't read it since it's in Japanese, but isn't that a gorgeous diagram? The fact that Japanese is so visually appealing doesn't hurt, either. Obviously the guy has style (or maybe I am just obsessed with his drawings), but his ideas do make you wonder how comfortable some of the Dwell/prefab/green homes are to actually live in. Hopefully they don't follow Mozuna's theories...

But I certainly don't mind if they follow his aesthetics.

End Table Remix

Ah, the sweet beat of BAR-GAIN, SA-VINGS, DIS-COUNT -- yes those words are music to my (admittedly tone deaf) ears. Call me DJ Tightwad. Hence the glamor of 1stDibs and all of its amazing tables, rhapsodized about in my last post, is a little marred by its very extravagance. So, for all you fellow cheapskates out there, I present a day of Dibsian diamonds at cubic zirconian prices, so you can keep your bling and not go blung. Diagram 1:

People, I made graphics to illustrate the awesomeness of bargain shopping. I even did some math and stuff so I could compare apples to apples for you, my dearest readers. So it's easy to see that $350 for a pair of tables from CB2 is, oh, I don't know, a slightly better deal than $3500 for almost the exact same ones from 1stDibs. Let's calculate, shall we?

Budget Check: $3500 - $350 = $3150 worth of white V-neck American Apparel tee shirts for every day (and club-filled night) of the year. Those things are expensive, right?

Diagram 2:

Now Edward Wormley was an awesome designer and those tables are no doubt solid rosewood, but I'd be perfectly happy with these classic knockoffs tables at Home Decorators which are inspired by the originals, and are oh so sensibly priced. But if you're a true tightwad, you'll go for the stunningly cheap version from Ikea for only $12.99. It even comes in red.

Budget Check: $4000 - $280 = $3720 worth of spinner rims for your fly Toyota Prius.

Diagram 3:

Warren Platner is one of my all-time favorite designers, but until someone starts paying me to write for this blog, I'll have to stick to the similarly awesome Tornado tables from CB2, which were pretty inexpensive to begin with, but now that they're on sale they are downright thriftacular! I almost feel like it's my duty to buy them, like I must for the good of bargain hunters everywhere, but I will admit that I'd spend a few extra dollars on oversized glass tops to give these babies some extra presence.

Budget Check: $3400 - $160 = $3240 worth of Stunna Shades. I wear my sunglasses at night.

Diagram 4:

The Deal Hunter blogged about tubular steel tables some time ago, and while I'm not totally convinced on their awesomeness, Overstock really does a great job of magnetically attracting my credit card number with their low prices, spectacularly FREE shipping (there's always a coupon online to knock the nominal $2.95 charge off your total), and rockin' customer service. No, this is not an infomercial, I really do heart Overstock. Too much.

Budget Check: $1800 - $130 = $1670 worth of high top neon Nike Dunks. If only Overstock sold those, too.

Diagram 5:

The ubiquitous Saarinen tables, featured in just about every contemporary decor magazine. Actually they're feeling pretty overused, but hey, I've got one (not an original!), so who am I to prevent you from getting one, too? Here's how to get your own: Pier One. Fo' realz. Spray paint that baby white and you're good to go. Of course there are so many different versions out there; CB2 sells one for even less, but I don't care for the legs on that one. Whatever -- you can cruise their site and decide for yourself.

Budget Check: $1100 - $129 = $971 worth of Kanye West itunes. Disseminate Stronger to the entire world, yo!

Diagram 6:

Ok, to get the original tables' look, this requires a little DIY action, but stay with me... you can do it! So the 1stDibs tables have marble tops and the lovely but plain West Elm versions do not. Why not grout and tile the tops of the less expensive versions? A mosaic would be interesting. Or you could wedge a cool piece of artwork -- like an abstract mod screenprint -- between a piece of glass and the tabletop. Can you dig it?

Budget Check: $2200 - $320 = $1880 worth of subwoofers. Try not to blow the glass off your new tables!

Diagram A Million:

Yeah, this one might take some vision, but I'm sure you can see the very large "FOURTEEN THOUSAND" in the picture above. Who are these people kidding? Driftwood, pine cones, seashells and white paint? Check, check, check and check, thanks in large part to Twiggie.org. After you finish your handiwork, you can laugh all the way to the bank.

Budget Check: $14,000 - $400 = enough to throw your friends a huge party, and maybe enough to book Prince as the headliner. Isn't fiscal responsibility fun?