The other day we went to our favorite Japanese restaurant out of town to talk about how we wanted to decorate the house. Asahi and Kirin beer are key.

Amakara is our favorite place because the menu isn’t limited to California rolls. Udon, soba, rice bowls and other traditional dishes are offered.

Vegetable Tempura to start with. They normally give an appetizer of noodles with cabbage, but not when they’re busy on the weekend.

We opted for maki rolls, nigiri and some new stuff this time. It’s always fun to switch things up!

Sushi pizza is definitely a Western dish, but oh so yummy with Sashimi, Masago (caviar), cucumber and sliced nori.

One thing we really like about this restaurant is that it’s very small, with low lighting and a nice atmosphere. It also has the best sushi in the region AND they remember that we want our beer without a glass! What more could you ask for?

Located in the Fukuoka Prefecture in Southern Japan is a unique home created by Suppose Design Office for a growing family which brings the outside in.

The home is divided into separate structures connected by a glass canopy above with narrow paths and so-called avenues in between.

With an almost courtyard quality, the furnishings are kept to a minimum with accents of light woods, metal and dark leafy greens. We love the large industrial planters.

“Rather than a park or garden that was built to be played in, we wanted to make a house with a courtyard that would become a playground naturally.”

Large windows allow for more natural light to fill the space.

A modern bathroom for “a private space that feels public.” We especially like the almost transparent glass door and would like to have one in our bathroom.

“When they are young, narrow path between houses, the edge of a garden, the back of a shed, or an open lot are the preferred playgrounds of children.”

“Just like children who use space outside to its full potential, we wanted to make equal the relationship between inside and out by using the courtyard as a part of everyday life and bringing inside activities outside.”

“-We want to continue to try and envision the architecture of the future, moving past the inside-outside relationship to find new types of connections.”

“In that space the children can run around, you can enjoy a breeze while you eat, read under the sun, and fall asleep watching the stars.”

via dezeen

Hi Everyone!

Sorry we’ve been neglecting the blog the past week, we’re in the middle of preparing for a BIG update on the shop coming soon.

Just to get you up-to-date, we’ve chosen the design of our DIY cat bed and are in the process of creating it. We’ll have a full tutorial with lots of photos later this week, and lots of new things for our home (growing vase and mineral collection, bathroom cabinet, wall art - just to name a few) plus architecture and more inspiration to share!

You can sign up for our newsletter and be the first (yes, even before our twitter followers) to find out about shop updates, new vintage items, upcoming sales and more HERE!

See you soon! xoxo

Swedish designer Johan Lindsten wanted to elevate and promote the neglected art form of needlework when he created this series of Idyll Concept chairs seen at the Stockholm 2010 Furniture Fair. Depicting a typical Swedish landscape in cross stitch, he mixed a contemporary feel and an exposed wood grain.

A wide back chair depicting a scene with red cottages and a church and water.

Details of the cross stitching

Chair with cottage and snowy landscape. Note the wood grain visible along the seat and legs.

Details of the cross stitching

via mocoloco

I will turn today’s post over to Studio 360, who brought you redesigning X-mas up to modern standards.

The hardest part is grasping the extent to which Valentine’s Day had become a more obnoxious than enjoyable holiday and finding glimmers of hope in the traditions of this holiday.

The Positive

Effusive with an intense display of affection in a single day.
Convenient with a predetermined palette of solutions.
Memorable with the potential for unique gestures.

The Negative

Generic with mass-produced, off-the-shelf solutions.
Divisive with the exclusion of singles.
Stressful with the pressure of getting the right token of affection.
Obnoxious with visual clichés of hearts and explosions of red.

Obnoxious with visual clichés of hearts and explosions of red.

Establishing Goals

We can’t fix everything, so we decided to focus on five aspects:

-Clarify expectations

-Simplify visual clutter

-Update color palette

-Revamp traditions

-Transform Cupid

Goal #1 - Clarify Expectations

Sorry single people, this day is not for you. Father’s Day isn’t for mothers and Mother’s Day isn’t for fathers… you have Spring Break, what else do you want?

Applies only to romantic love between two people, so if you want to celebrate friendship you will need to find another day.

Responsibility for displays of affection falls on both parties.

On January 1st discuss with your partner whether you will celebrate Valentine’s Day. Sign a piece of paper if needed.

Goal #2 - Simplify Visual Clutter

Among all the visual manifestations of Valentine’s, one stands apart as a recurring icon. The heart. But the heart is not unique to Valentine’s Day (the heart association, I <3 NY…).

By drawing from the heart’s symmetric anatomy and curved structure we arrive at a new, exclusive icon: The Valentine.

The Valentine stands for unity, simplicity, and partnership. It also makes the shape of a “V.”

Ahhh, there.

The Valentine can serve to indicate relationship status or romantic intentions depending on its orientation. It lets your friends know whether you are “open” or “closed” for romantic business.

Goal #3 - Update the Color  Palatte

The primary color associated with Valentine’s Day is red, which is also the color for other significant icons. The supporting color is pink, in many hues… yuck.

Since red can not be owned by Valentine’s and there is equity in pink, a viable solution is magenta, a vibrant, contemporary and strong color — it is also a default printing ink, yielding efficient and sustainable print production.

Magenta is coupled with a dark gray for a touch of seriousness and sophistication — overlaying these two colors creates a third one, burgundy.

The Valentine rendered in various combinations of the new color palette. Personally, I like the white and grey backgrounds.

Goal #4 - Revamp Traditions

Tradition: The Valentine card
Offering a Valentine card as a display of affection has lost all sense of significance. Originally created by hand with meaningful materials and gestures, today’s mass-produced cards have lost all sense of romanticism. But how do you change people’s behaviour to go back to Valentine’s roots?

Introducing The Valentine Card Tax regulated by federal, state, and local law. Applied to any Valentine card design produced in quantities of 1,000 or more. Yes… Hallmark and American Greetings, you are out of luck.

If hand-made Valentine cards are not for you, get a silver marker and a stack of sticky notes branded with The Valentine, then use them to leave unexpected notes on Valentine’s Day and even throughout the year for your loved one to find.

Tradition: Flowers
Sure, flowers are pretty but a large percentage of the nearly 200 million sold in the U.S. on Valentine’s Day come all the way from Colombia — hello carbon footprint — harvested by workers in reportedly dire conditions and pay. Not to mention the chemical sprays and dies used to keep them looking pretty. Flowers must go.

Instead, and to retain the connection to an object that grows from our earth, we suggest selecting from a range of more functional, lasting organic products that, ahem, are also powerful aphrodisiacs: saffron, chili peppers, eggplant, ginger, durian, okra, and papaya.

Tradition: The chocolate
There is absolutely nothing wrong with chocolate on Valentine’s Day or any other day of the year. Banning it would be a crime. Chocolate… stays! (Abstain from enormous boxes though, it’s hard enough that most of us have already given up on New Year’s resolutions by this time.)

Goal #5 - Transform Cupid

When it comes to other Holidays’ characters, Cupid just does not measure up. We would like to offer some alternatives. Three of favorite illustrators to dreamed up possible replacements.

Chief Valentine Officer by Amanda Woodward
A more benevolent form of C-level executive, the CVO’s sole end-of-year bonus is the joy of procuring romantic love between two people, no matter how hard they are to bring together.

Heart Worm by Von Glitschka
On Valentine’s Day let your heart be infested with the Heart Worm. Its burrowing presence will give you passionate heart burn for the apple of your eye. Eat your heart out Cupid! Plus, it can flex into a number of helpful shapes.

The Love Puppy by Jessica Hische
Nothing sparks conversations between strangers — of both genders and all orientations — than a dog. This winged puppy rejects Cupid’s bow and arrow in favor of the Care Bears Stare, “in which the collected Bears stand together and radiate light from their respective tummy symbols. These combine to form a ray of love and good cheer which could bring care and joy into the target’s heart.”

An Improvement?

It’s not perfect, but it’s a start.

And, regardless of what you do or don’t do on Valentine’s, a simple “I love you” will be enough.

And for the record, we don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day :)

via underconsideration