art design family home projects work in progress

Designing Around an Iceberg

Hubby and I put the (almost) finishing touches on the dining room yesterday. All the walls were gray, gray, gray, and the floor was a darker gray. We wanted to carry our blue theme from the living room into the dining room without making it matchy-matchy. When we were searching for a house, we knew we needed a couple of large walls, one for a giant mid-century room divider and one for a giant iceberg.…

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design observations product packaging

Your Child WILL Defeat This Lock

It’s been a while since I’ve found product packaging that strikes me as strange or curious enough to share, but I recently ran across something that fits the bill. A child safety lock, the type that is plastic and loops over a couple of cupboard knobs to keep them held shut, contained packaging language that made me question why anyone would buy the product. The text on the back of the package, reproduced in the…

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design family home projects work in progress

New Home Office

Work continues apace in our new-to-us home, which was built in the 1960s. One of my first orders of business was to set up a home office. We have four bedrooms in the house. I chose the one I wanted as an office and then promptly set up a temporary office in the bedroom across the hall. I had work to do before moving into my room of choice. The day we moved in, Hubby…

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challenge design observations technology

Engineered for Babies

Recently, I have had occasion to take care of a young child. Having raised three children, you’d think this would be easy for me. For the most part it is. I can weather the constant shifting of emotions and change in activities by using the art of distraction like a pro. I can swiftly change a diaper or an outfit as though I’m wrangling an eel (which I kind of am!). But, navigating baby gear…

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art design family

What Happened to the Owl?

About a month ago, I posted about a necklace I had made with a pink owl pendant. I was wondering whether I should keep the owl or lose it, so I asked around online. Since that time, I’ve been sidetracked by tearing apart our dining room. Perhaps you’re wondering whatever happened to that owl necklace. Did I keep the owl on the necklace or take it off and rework it? The responses I got to…

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