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COLOR • COLOR • COLOR

Friday, August 28th, 2009

My good friend Drake just sent me this… and since I trust her judgment and her ability to spot things that she knows I will love implicitly, I had to post it immediately.  [Forewarning style sidenote on Drake: She is a West coast East Coaster.  She pops the collar of her polos, loves Ralph Lauren more than she loves her own family, and would sell her soul to the devil himself for a palatial spread in the Hamptons, New England, or anywhere on the Eastern Seaboard. So keep that in mind whenever I show you her picks.]

The summer sand is quickly draining from all of our hourglasses.  Summer is full of life and freshness, bright vibrant colors, crisp clean lines, and airy light fabrics and feels.  But that’s just it… as summer winds down in the coming weeks, don’t let go of it!  If you play your cards right, you can keep a summer feel year-round in your home.

image - remodelista.com

image - remodelista.com

Ok ok ok… I know that yellow might not be for everyone, and maybe this is a little TOO much of a statement for some of you, but I think you get the point.  DON’T BE AFRAID OF COLOR!!!  If I walk into one more of my friends igloos to see beige walls with darker floors, maybe a gray accent wall, and all dark wood furniture… I am just going to snap.  Color is our friend.  It makes things more interesting, more eye catching, and most importantly… more fun!  Don’t be stupid with it though.  When my parents next door neighbors moved in to their house, the wife had the interior of the house painted top to bottom.  She did every room in a different color – and there are probably 10 rooms!!!  Walking through their home feels like you’re on a guided tour of the Crayola factory.  You want to do accent colors that catch the eye and change the whole tone of the house, like the yellow doors seen above which were done throughout the entire craftsman style home.  Maybe you can start slow with pillows, rugs, or drapery?

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Office Pod

Monday, August 17th, 2009
Office Pod

Office Pod

This is The Office Pod – - The Next Generation of Workplace.  An eco-friendly working environment for one that is built in the UK and being peddled to individuals and companies around the world as the next step in workstations.  Here’s their pitch:

To Businesses - The nature of the workplace is changing as the majority of office roles no longer require dedicated space in a central office 5 days a week. OfficePOD enables a company to provide a more efficient working environment with significant cost, employee, environmental and productivity benefits. For home use – A chance to cut down on commuting, to be more productive, to spend more time at home but at the same time keep your work separate. A major way to getting a better balance into your life

One thing is for sure, the Office Pod wipes the floor with any cubical I’ve ever seen.  I love the mid-century modern design aesthetic, though I’m sure it will be a bit of an elephant in the backyard/boardroom if trying to match the home or office decor of today’s American worker.  For office use, I think the Pod just kind of “eehhh” but for anyone who works from home, especially with a family in the house, I think this is a Godsend.

Can you see this Office Pod in your backyard?

Can you see this Office Pod in your backyard?

The company has put a ton of effort into the “greening” of the Office Pod, making the entire thing from recycled and recyclable products wherever possible.  Furthermore, the pod can obviously make it possible for more people to work from home as opposed to commuting to an office.  An independent study showed that moving the average commuting worker from an office to a pod would reduce CO2 emmisons by between 46% & 67%.

It’s this kind of simple creation that will continually take small steps for us on the way to living like The Jetsons.


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