Muji is often compared to Target or IKEA—perhaps the two most famous purveyors of “good design” at affordable prices—but Muji takes a decidedly different tack from its much larger American and Swedish counterparts. Target insists on “surprising and delighting” its guests; IKEA implores customers to “be brave, not beige.” Muji, in contrast, revels in neutrality. Almost all of its products are devoid of color, and the most surprising and delightful aspect of their design is how nondescript they are. A teakettle designed for Target will likely have a visual flourish—a spinning piece of plastic on its spout, perhaps—while a Muji teakettle is content to be just what you expect a teakettle to be.

Coming to America [Slate.com via Racked]

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Poggenpohl, an old furniture brand in Germany, is showing off this concept “Man Kitchen,” built in conjunction with the Porsche Design Group. It looks nice enough, sure, but can you figure out what part of this is “manly” and what is just “modern”?

Porsche/Poggenpohl’s Man Kitchen [Core77.com]

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If, by some act of reverse metempsychosis, we took all that was worthy in George Lucas’ imagination and injected it into Jules Verne, this might have resulted a century earlier: the steampunk lightsaber, hand-crafted here by a friend of “CaptainChewbacca” at the Stardestroyer.net forums.

I’ve never really been a gigantic Star Wars fan, but I must say that this creation is very badass and I would happily give it a place on my wall.

Steampunk Lightsaber [Via Gadget Lab]

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Product Page [Via Uncrate]

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Turns out that boats are a royal pain in the ass. Even when living in a marina, they tend to break with alarming regularity. Living on a boat is half ne’er-do-well pleasure cruise, half duct tape and ritual sacrifice to voodoo gods.

But some people have managed to pull it off. I found Bill Dietrich’s account of his early retirement on the Magnolia, a sailboat in the Caribbean, to be a good overview, as his occasional updates to his “log” span the course of several years. Dietrich isn’t ashamed to write about his misconceptions and worries, as well as the unreliability of rumors, NOAA weather reports, and the boat engine repair supplies of island nations.

Magnolia and I came through the hurricane just fine. … But it was a scary experience. We had winds somewhere around 100-110 knots, I think. Howling white horizontal rain for long periods of time. The worst was when a storm surge current held the boats sideways to the wind; we rolled ferociously. One of my friends fell inside his boat and hurt himself. A couple other friends gathered their most important stuff into bags in case they had to abandon ship.

My dreams are not completely splintered, but for now I’ll sate my longing for the sea with episodes of Quincy, M.E. Mmm, Klugmany.

My Lifestyle and Experiences Living on a Boat [Geocities.com/BILL_DIETRICH]

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I’m getting very mixed reactions to these shelves. Some folks are applauding my ingenious reuse of beer bottles (although the genius isn’t mine), while others are saying it looks horribly tacky. Personally, the latter can get fucked; bottles of all types are attractive to me, especially when they once held the holiest of liquids. And really, it looks pretty nice in real life.

The whole project could have been completed in about an hour if I hadn’t chosen to sand and coat the wood with polyurethane. I’m building a second set of these in the bathroom, though; if I didn’t put some sort of sealant on these they’d warp in just a couple of showers.

How strong are they? You can pick them up by the top shelf with no fear of torquing the whole thing around, although the only thing holding the bottles in place on my design is the edges of the boards, so you could slide one out if you really tried. The real strength comes from the downward force on the bottles, though, and I’d hazard a guess that they could support plenty of weight before cracking. I wouldn’t be afraid to put my KitchenAid on one, let’s say. (Okay, a little afraid.)

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I ended up getting a can of polyurethane, which wasn’t what I had originally grabbed. The first stuff had a two-hour cure; the polyurethane suggests six to twelve. So while it was curing outside, passing insects and leaves drawn irresistibly to the sticky surface, it ended up getting rained on. No big whoop in the end—it had set up enough to repel water, although I’m going to have to re-sand the backside where it soaked up some newspaper ink.

Anyway, my question is this: From my cursory reading of the can, it appears polyurethane can cause rags to burst into flame. This is disturbing. I had to throw away my first brush when it hardened, as I didn’t have any mineral spirits around to clean it with. How much of a practical danger is this? Is it only when the polyurethane is still liquid? The Cabot web site doesn’t have much information about it at all.

My hopes for a smooth, shiny surface are pretty much gone, and with it comes a bit of relief. Now I just want to make sure that my cheap pine boards are somewhat moisture resistant while not setting my apartment on fire while I try to figure out how to dispose of my supplies responsibly. I’m not going to do it, but I kind of get why people just pour paint down the bathtub drain. It’s a really easy consideration.

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He bought an Airstream trailer, remodeled it and spent two years suffering the long, bitter winters before conceding that insulation was one amenity he was unwilling to forgo. “So I started from scratch and built myself a small house,” he told me. He built the 100-square-foot home on wheels and parked it on a friend’s farm outside of Iowa City. Eventually, he moved back into town but not without some difficulty. “I wasn’t allowed to put the house on a city lot, because it was too small,” he explained, referring to the minimum-size standards in the codes of many cities and counties across the country. So he bought a house, put his little house in the backyard and rented out the main house.

Think you could handle it? Personally, it sounds wonderful. My only issue would be all my project materials, like the tubs of Lego, computer parts, homebrewing equipment, and books. But I could make one wall all bookcases…

You can order a catalog of Shafer’s homes on his site for $14 or a set of floorplans for $20. I’ve always been especially fond of the “Vardo,” which is based on the design of gypsy wagons.

Small houses challenge our notions of need as well as minimum-size standards [SFGate.com]

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These are questions that are being addressed by a group dissertation from Umeå University in Sweden, called “Life, Mood, and Meaning“. Ethnologist Clas Bergvall says,

It is indeed a challenge to reflect upon them in terms of how we shape our homes. The challenge is all the greater since potted plants belong to the small, everyday things that are often overlooked in relation to the truly important items on the agenda.

And yet, most homes have them. We infuse our plants with identity, we care for them without resentment (excepting, of course, for the ones that die despite our best efforts), and we consider them when we are to be absent, as we do for our pets and our children. They are living symbols of our ability to extend care to things outside of ourselves. And in return, they provide us with what? You don’t cuddle a plant. You can’t teach a plant tricks. A plant won’t give you love.

All a plant does is simply coexist, peacefully. That, right there, is the crux; how may other animate objects can make the same boast?

Empty and strange without plants [idw-online.de]

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The “Nesting Desk” is a lovely workstation designed and manufactured by Brooklyn-based 4-pli design. Built from birch-colored plywood, the interlocking slots allow proper ventilation for a computer workstation while remaining, you know, all purty. It’ll cost you over four large if you choose to order, so it’s not for the pre-VC startup.

Still, it’s rare to see a workstation that looks so pleasing to be seated under. The fake aluminum “knot” that hides the wire holes is a pleasingly anachronistic touch.

Product Page [4-Pli via Cool Hunting]

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Where to begin with this creepy and utterly useless piece in today’s New York Times about people who are rejected because they have strange apartments? Could it be the comedy “REJECTED” stamps photoshopped onto images of pathetic (but rich!) schlubs who occasionally don’t get laid because they have Lego in their apartments? (I’ll admit it, as a Lego nerd, that one stung a bit.) Or how about the quotes from self-centered Manhattanites who are judging potential mates by the quality of their sheets?

“I was dating this very nice woman, I thought,” says Mr. Podell. “I was ready and she was ready to do the big deed. I take her to my apartment, go into the bedroom, and fling back the sheets, and she said, ‘My husband had these sheets and he was a mean-hearted son of a bitch and you must be like him and I’m leaving.’”

“You see it more in younger girls, like between 21 and 25,” Mr. Bunin says. “Pink, purple, teddy bears, unicorns, all over the bed. I’d just whack ’em off with my arm.”

While his boyfriend was posted in Swaziland, Mr. Lobel sold his 1,200-square-foot Chelsea apartment and bought a 2,500-square-foot loft, with a fireplace and stone bathrooms. … Then his boyfriend returned. “He said, ‘What is this? I can’t live in a place like this, I was just around people who were hungry and dying,’” Mr. Lobel says.

I’m all for a clean apartment bereft of tacky posters and goofy toys, but Jesus. There are about a million things more important about a person than whether or not they’ve decorated their apartment to your liking.

It’s Not You, It’s Your Apartment [NYTimes.com]

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Being a lesser mammal, I am prone to being easily distracted by anything shiny that moves, and therefore I drool over anything chrome plated and on casters. The unit featured here is the “Monster 10 Drawer Mechanic Chest”, retails at the link below for $458.46 before shipping. You’ll find it elsewhere for a lot more, especially after shipping, so I’d start here first.

It’s perfect for storing your S&M gear, your sex toys, your tattoo equipment, or y’know, your socks, underwear and some tee shirts.

product page [everythingfurniture.com]

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There are apparently different types of tiles with the same effect, all of which sound if they’re built for-and-by hippies, from “Tye-Dye,” “Living Art,” and “Northern Lights.”

A four-inch square tile ranges from $25 to $200 a pop. That means the only way you’ll afford to tile your shower in “Northern Lights” is by selling some.

Product Page [Moving Color]

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Repurposing equipment for use in a new context is the maker way and one we can certainly tip our hubcap hats at. This San Francisco couple used a semi-truck foot step as a soap dish in their shower. How many majestic semi-trucks have to die before we stop these soulless trophy hunters?

What other automotive or industrial parts make good household items? (Besides the obvious “stack of tractor tires as baby playpen.”)

Close Up!: Truck Steps Becoming Soap Dishes [Apartment Therapy] (Thanks, Lock!)

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My company, Suzan Etkin Enterprises worked with Elaine Griffin from Elle decor magazine. Elaine designed the room (furniture, flowers, concept). We did the design, glass, assembly and installation of the chandelier. It’s around 280 glass elements, mostly gold leaf in clear, white, smoke and mercury glass. It was for a charity event for DIFFA (Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS) called “Dining by Design.” We only had two weeks to put everything together. That included getting everyone involved to donate time and materials. Of course it was for a good cause and it all came together in the end.

See a larger image, in context, at Decor8.

Dining by Design: Elaine Griffin [Decor8]

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