In a recent article on CNN.com regarding COINS (Collaborative Innovation Networks, or online communities of like-minded individuals up for a good common challenge or two), noted science journalist Dr. Paul Willis asks, “Is collaboration the future of innovation?” It’s a really good article and you should read it, so I won’t go into minute detail, but the author […]

 
If you’ve ever studied a traditional Japanese flower arrangement and said to yourself, “Hey, that looks easy. I think I’ll try it at home” you may find out later there was more to your project than, at first, met your eye. It’s kind of like Picasso’s simple line drawings: anyone may be able to imitate […]

 
The question is, why wouldn’t you want to add some metal to your petals and do a little “hardscaping” before the season’s in full swing and you haven’t the time, nor as many choices, to pepper your patio with the pretty and the practical (not always mutually exclusive, as you shall soon see!):
             
A dining set […]

Sure, many parts of the Midwest are still blanketed in the white stuff, but that’s only temporary, right? Right? Well, can we just pretend that that’s true? It is officially Spring, gosh darn it, after all, and not a moment too soon to start thinking of, once again, making our gardens snow—er, grow.
Seven years ago, […]

No matter the hue of your home, the shade of your state or the flag of your country, it’s much easier to live green  than it was as few as five years ago.

Flip through any design magazine or catalog. Surf any channel or website or walk through any store or mall and you’ll find heaps […]

   
Each day, you hear more and more about authenticity-this and authenticity-that. (It’s the new “express yourself.”) Heck, mea culpa for blogging about Seattle’s authenticity a couple of days ago. So it was with equal parts amusement and intrigue that I picked up Time magazine’s March 24th issue, with the cover story, 10 Ideas That Are […]

Yesterday afternoon, I deplaned into a space that, for me, was not unlike entering someone’s home—and a really cool home at that. I was in Seattle, in the new section of the SeaTac (Seattle-Tacoma) Airport.

Now, I’m a firm believer that you can judge a book by its cover. What better way to sell it (as […]

         
Today, as part of–oh, I don’t know…let’s call it some sort of ad hoc Spring Training-and-refresher-course-in-conservation, I happened across this little tidbit on page 127 of the New York Times Bestseller, The Little Green Book:

Get ceiling fans and use them instead of air conditioning. It costs just a penny an hour to […]

With spring—tee-hee—just three weeks away, who can resist the urge to go a little au naturel? I’m speaking only of color and motifs, don’tcha know. Lucky for us, Chiasso has all things flora to fawn over—and, better still, there’s no formula to follow. So let’s get ready to let our hair down everywhere, shall we?
You […]

Okay, so sometimes only drywall will do, but how ‘bout those other seminal moments when you have the urge to hide or separate a portion of your space? You know, when company’s coming and there’s about five loads of laundry and two bins of recycling to put away and you don’t have time to do […]