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Archive for the ‘Found Objects’ Category

Coast Live Oak Desk with a Live Edge

Posted in Found Objects on March 24, 2012| 2 Comments »

John was working in the driveway this morning making a flat surface on a big live edge slab of oak. It will be a desk top by the end of the day.

Here it is installed with some Watco oil finish

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1907 Berkeley Craftsman, mostly original

Posted in Found Objects, tagged Berkeley, houses, wood on March 23, 2012| 1 Comment »

This 1907 Berkeley craftsman is quite a nice specimen of design, carpentry, and old growth wood. Its on the market for the first time in 50 years. Check out some more photos here and here.

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The fun of remodeling your house!

Posted in Found Objects, tagged bathroom, Brooklyn, fun during construction, humor, process, remodeling on March 22, 2012| 1 Comment »

My friend Jenee just sent me this picture. She is remodeling her 1860’s row house in Brooklyn, NY. Some people love the construction process – bare studs, uncovering 100+ years of layers, camping out in the city, and unexpected fun like using this toilet. Some people would rather just have the job done.

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Electrical Timers

Posted in Found Objects, tagged bathroom, energy efficiency, gadgets, green on March 21, 2012| Leave a Comment »

It is a good idea to put your bathroom fan on a timer so that you can set the fan to turn off in 1 minute or 30 minutes or anywhere in between. This way you get the damaging moisture out of the house without forgetting and leaving the fan on all day.

This is an elegant product from Lutron – clean looking with a sparkle of tiny lights….but it might be hard for farsighted people to read and it seems a bit complicated for what it does.

This one by Leviton has a simpler design and looks easier for clumsy fingers to operate. I think it could lose the “min.” and just have the numbers, but perhaps then it would perplex first time users for a few seconds.

This old-fashioned spring-wound timer from Intermatic that probably makes a clicking sound as it winds down. …but its operation is very obvious.

I will report in after I test my choice, the Leviton.

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Whimsical Coat Hooks

Posted in Found Objects, tagged accessories, bronze, details, metal, whimsy on March 20, 2012| Leave a Comment »

These coat hooks remind me of antlers and organic growths. You can get them in a variety of nice patinas. They are sand cast in Idaho by Sun Valley Bronze.

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Black and White in Comanche Texas

Posted in Found Objects, tagged black and white, color, curves, minimalism, trim, windows on March 19, 2012| 3 Comments »

I saw this house on a visit to Comanche, Texas a couple of years ago. I like the curved roof and the entry porch with the door and window with pointed head trim. I like the proportions of the attic vent. Most of all I like the tasteful paint job. Siding, trim, and windows, and foundation are all painted white and there is one accent of black trim. I am curious about the person who lives in this house in small town central Texas. Clearly an artist exercising great restraint and minimalism.

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The Simplest Decoration

Posted in Found Objects, tagged decoration, holes, metal, patina, patterns, sparkle, value on March 7, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Removal of material in decorative pattern creates sparkle of light on plain steel chair back

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Planned development in the Catalina Foothills, Tuscon

Posted in Found Objects, tagged arizona, color, desert architecture, historical styles, houses, rigid design guidlines, Tucson, turquoise on March 5, 2012| 2 Comments »

It’s not the greatest photo, but here are the promised southwestern blue (turquoise) windows. From the Catalina Pueblo architectural guidelines – DunnEdwards Reef Encounter– DE573 ) Probably the color is just right for the Sonoran desert because it mimics the color of copper and turquoise, abundant in the region. This photo is the front of my aunt’s house in the Catalina Pueblo. It is part of a 108 house development designed and built in the 1970s by Don Maxon. The association has fairly conservative design guidelines, but they do allow this one bright accent color.

Ahead of their time in the 1970s, the architect and builder preserved much of the native desert vegetation, including many saguaro that are now well over 100 years old. They modeled the houses closely after houses in Alamos, a pueblo in Mexico, sticking to design elements that were carefully documented. The community also has shared amenities such as swimming pools and walking trails. I have mixed feelings about rigid design guidelines, but in this case the result is a very tasteful and cohesive architectural fabric.

: Curving wall with lamp post

: Giant saguaro cactus and southwestern blue windows (and Aunt Dagmar)

: Curves in brick, stucco, wood, and metal

: Burnt adobe bricks with scuppers

: Curving cream colored stucco wall with black lampost

: Triple scupper and road runner weathervane

: Giant Saguaro and nice transition from stucco to adobe bricks in carport wall

: Stucco curves with mountain backdrop

: Shadows

: posts and beams with decorative ends painted dark brown

: Community pool with salmon deck chairs

: Roof deck

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Diamondback Rattlesnake Bridge in Tucson, Arizona

Posted in Found Objects, tagged bridge, color, colored concrete, desert architecture, diamond, metal, rattlesnake, steel, Tucson, turquoise on February 28, 2012| 2 Comments »

On a recent visit to Tucson, Arizona I saw this cool bridge for bikes and pedestrians over East Broadway Blvd . (If you zoom into the map and switch to satellite you can see the extent of it. It was designed by Simon Donovan. I also liked the bright blue bollards and railing. This particular color looks just right in the Sonoran desert, but Im not sure why. You will see the identical color in another post later this week. The painted steel mesh skin really looks like a snake – kind of like a dry, discarded snake-skin. The shadows created by the crisscrossing steel are also quite nice.