FLW Entry Dos

More pics from Taliesin . . .

This first picture doesn't really show how great this feature is but . . . I just love the built in indoor planter. In this case the planter separates the entry way from the living room. 

Next up another picture of the living room furniture. This one shows off the coffee tables in the room. The other design principle that this picture highlights are the windows - notice how low they are - perfect for viewing the vistas from a seated position. Since in the living room we spend most of our time sitting the windows are placed low for viewing enjoyment. What a smart guy that FLW was!

Finally here is a picture of the front side of the dining room and main design studio. While the roof line was not conceived by FLW before he passed it was guided by his widow who was much younger and stayed on for decades after FLW passed. In place of the roof they originally had canvas. The architect appreciated the flexibility of the canvas; the fact that it could be easily taken down, rolled away, or stretched taut to provide shade was appealing. Another one of his innovative ideas was to place this pool of water in front of the large windows. This way when the wind blew in from the valley the pool acted as a passive air conditioner. I also love how the corner of the building matches the corner of the triangular pool and seems to reflect the shape of the building and the mountain behind. Much of the landscape was designed by Mrs. FLW. In this case it seemed that there was also a great woman not behind FLW but beside him - leading to some of the best ideas - like the use of glass for windows sometimes instead of canvas. 

Okay I think that's all for my tour through Taliesin West. If you have a chance it's worth the drive out of Phoenix. There's so much more to see - so many great design ideas. Next up will be highlights from Arcosanti. . .

Frank Lloyd Wright Taliesin West

Here are some highlights from my recent trip to the winter home of FLW. It was an extremely hot day. Even standing in the shade of a tree and an umbrella I had sweat dripping down my back - very sexy. It didn't matter though because it was all so gorgeous and unique. 

First up we have the office where FLW would meet with clients in his suit and his funny hat. He was stylish when not working in the dirt directing his students. I love the lines of roof - both functional and aesthetically pleasing. 

Here's a shot of the "living room." All the furniture was made with left over lumber from the construction. Hence the non-traditional shapes.

Bikes, Kitchens, and Siding, Oh My!

Okay so this post is not exactly about modern design instead I just watched this video about modern life. Our big brother to the north Portland is a cool city - it's true. Here's some inspiration for all of us. I just sent this video of Portland's "Sunday Parkways" off to our city office of transportation. Hopefully someone will use it as their great idea and initiate this exciting way to encourage people to ride their bikes. I know I need all the encouragement I can get . . . I am a good walker however and on another walk through the neighborhood I came across this house that has recently been remodeled. What do you all think about it? I like that they were daring (for the neighborhood) and used different materials. I do not like the 2 small square windows at the front of what clearly used to be a garage. So at the same time I applaud them but also wish they had been given better design advice by their contractor. Sidenote: I didn't post the picture of their house with the contractor's sign proudly displayed out front because I've heard through the grapevine that they are unprofessional (often behind schedule) and they tend to be sloppy. So I'm wondering if they just did what the client said - or maybe there were budget constraints or something. Because it does appear to be missing something or just not quite right. I think it's the small windows on such a large wall. I do really like the siding, the corrugated metal wall, and their use of the color red. I'm glad folks like this are in the neighborhood and willing to take a risk. I should take a page from their book. Today Mr. Monkey and I discussed the option of redoing our kitchen to open it up to both living spaces on either side with a big island in the middle. I know this is very trendy but it would fit our entertaining life so much better. Anyway before the summer is over I hope to get a few estimates and proposals. So much to do so little time (and money) . . .  

Pretty Thing . . .

When I came home from my South Dakota trip this week where I saw this . . .

I was so happy to see this . . .  

I'm very pleased with the colors of the violets and the bright orange pot. It adds a splash of color to our kitchen table. The first picture is of the Badlands. Surprisingly  beautiful - plague ridden prairie dogs and all. I looked for modern buildings but in the south west, where I was (think Mount Rushmore and Deadwood) they mostly specialize in all things old & wild & west.  I don't listen to country music much but for my South Dakota trip I listened to nothing but country. 

(The station KAT 98.7 "The Black Hills Favorite Country" played my personal soundtrack for the two day sojourn. I think I heard the word "redneck" more times in the two days that I have in my whole life. It's good to hear people embracing what used to be (?) a negative stereotype. I still think of the word in that not-so-good connotation but it was in a lot of songs and used quite frequently and proudly. Maybe I ought to start using it more often and then it won't seem so bad - just joking.)  Anyway I digress - there was one bulding with modern tendencies that I did encounter - it was the airport. See for yourself.

Now when I started this month in Juneau I was also skeptical about finding modern styled buildings but I did encounter this colorful bagel shop that fits into the modern category. I have to say though after walking around downtown Juneau for a couple of days it was the only one that caught my attention. Yay to the forward thinking people at Silverbow Bagels & Inn! I wish and hope there is a next time I get to go to Juneau for the sole purpose of staying at the Silverbow Inn - that would have been much better than my other accommodations which were extremely dated for $159.00 a night - but I guess it's all about the view and I did have nice one.  anyway it goes to show you that in almost every city there is an ounce of modern love or love of modern - from Juneau to Rapid City South Dakota! This weekend I'll be posting more pics from my great trip to FLW's Taliesin and Solteri's Arcosanti in the Phoenix, AZ metro area.

 

Modern Fences II

Well in one of my recent lay overs at home Mr. Monkey and I went for a quick walk around the neighborhood looking at fences. This is what we came up with. I'm sure there are others but these are the more interesting ones. I'm also posting a picture from Arcosanti that is not a wood fence but a wall instead - one that I've been thinking about in fence form. I think we could leave the center open and filled wih a tinted glass or a small window of woven wood. Just ideas . . .



I'm about ready to just rip out that chain link fence. I'm exercising restraint for the summer though. Since it's our first summer here and on one side of the fence there lives a kiwi plant I'm curious to see if it will bear fruit. So for this summer the chain link will stay. I also was briefly imagining removal of the chain link but keeping the metal posts and building off of that somehow for the new fence. There are craft classes at the local U and they do offer some welding classes . . . but the mind wanders first I have to put away the pile of landry I'm sitting next too then I can think about welding my own fence for the front. Enjoy the pictures of Friendly Street Neighborhood fences.

Arcology

You read it right - not archeology, not ecology, not architecture - but arcology. I just returned from a day exploring Arcosanti - the vision manifest of architect, Paolo Soleri. It was a vision. The spot is gorgeous - the ideas are romantic and the design is a lesson in dichotomies - curves and angles, modern and romantic, smooth and rough, wood and cement, colors and neutrals, experts and apprentices. Overall the experience was lovely - the dining room is a highlight - with two story tall windows framed by huge circles cut from concrete looking out over the ravine and mesa across the ravine. I can absolutely understand the attraction of living in this ever-changing community althought the heat and slower rate of progress would be discouraging. People have been building the community for over 30 years and while they have a lot to show they also have a long way to go with limited funds. It does seem that wth a stronger business vision to match the creative vision there could be more progress. More on this later . . .

Jay Ryan Modest Mouse Poster

Well I just keep saying to myself, "it's good enough for now." With the party tomorrow night and so much decorating and organizing still to do I'm feeling kinda overwhelmed. Mr. Monkey did make great progress with the wall unit in my absence. Last night we hung a new print from one of my favorites - Jay Ryan at the Bird Machine - that we got in celebration of our four year anniversary. This is where you say "Aww in't that sweet." Here's a pic of the print we got. The colors are tremendous and I'm using the blues and greens to decorate this room - the office/library. Before and after pics coming soon. . .

Living Room

Well I've been hesitant to post pictures of our living room only because I feel like something is missing. Too much neutral perhaps? More color needed? Possibly a nice blue or green rug? Maybe the painting needs to be lower on the wall? 

I have recently been reading "Apartment Therapy: Eight Week Cure". While I haven't been following the guide week by week I have been making some changes and using some of the principals to attempt to make our space more organized and less cluttered. This pursuit of organization has been a long time goal of mine but mostly unattainable. So I'm working at it again and one item of note is that according to the book our bookshelf is too full and we just have too many books. So Mr. Monkey and I have pledged to decrease our book collection that is spread across 3 rooms in our house to just 2 bookshelves in just 2 rooms. I'll let you know how that goes. 

I'm back to Eugene tomorrow where I'll get to see what progress Mr. Monkey has made with the wall unit. We're hosting a party on Friday night and I just hope that we have it all put together by then. I'll post a picture of the whole living room and the wall unit later this week. For now here is a picture of one wall where I changed the lighting recently - a before and after. It's a small change but one that really improves the feel. Now there are 3 sources of light instead of 2 which was insufficient. It's hard to tell with these pictures but the chairs have green and blue threads throughout. I'm not sold on the pillows - one is too bold and the other is too subtle. Oh well I'll just keep tweaking. But I'm happy about the light - and what a find at Oak Street Vintage! I'm so glad they have set up shop in Eugene. Our house is much more stylish because of it. Yay for Oak Street Vintage.

 

Before           

After          

Landed . . . a wall unit

Here's our new wall unit. This picture was taken at Hawthorne Vintage and Sheila there was nice enough and smart enough to take this picture and send it to us so that Mr. Monkey would know how to put it back together. In our search for a wall unit we also ventured over to Look Modern. Oh my modern! Everything is gorgeous there. You must go if you're in Portland or you can check out their web site and drool from the comfort of your home or your place of business (during your lunch break only of course). While we were picking up our furniture at Hawthorne Vintage I perused the latest issue of Atomic Ranch. I was tempted to purchase it but it was $6.95! Too damn pricey for me for a magazine. I was also turned off by my own preconceived notions about the city mentioned in their cover story - San Jose. I admit this is wrong of me and hypocritical. In fact there is proabably some girl in San Jose writing a blog just like this trying to convince the world that San Jose is much more modern than folks think. So I'm sorry San Jose and Atomic Ranch. I still don't want to pay 7 dollars for a magazine though. Signing off from sizzling Phoenix . . .

In Flight

Well I made it home for almost 48 hours. Enough time to go to 2 parties and make a trip up to Portland for furniture purchasing and shipment to our house from Hawthorne Vintage. Mr. Monkey will be reassembling the wall unit we purchased while I'm on my work trip in so-hot-it-doesn't-matter-that-it's-a-dry-heat-Phoenix. Next week I'll be back in Phoenix and I have reservations to go with friends to Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West in Scottsdale - I'm so frikin' excited!!!

Are you a raven or an eagle?

It's late night here in Juneau but the sun has just set. It was busy day working - not much time for modern design. So I have to share two pieces with you.

1) The human face at the base of the raven pole in downtown Juneau. The color of the blue is luxurious against the aged wood.

2) The recently acquired modern oil painting, circa 1964, called "Inlets" from an unknown artist. I love the ocean abstract that is now the star of our living room. Pictures coming soon of the living room . . .

Modern Eyes in Juneau

Well I just arrived in Juneau this afternoon. So far I've been in the hotel and the airport. I'm here for work so I probably won't get in too much sight seeing. For now I'll just give you a look at the view of Juneau right now. I'll keep my eyes open for modern design. This week especially I might be hard pressed as there is the Sealaska Celebration 2008. If anything I'll get some great pictures of Native Alaskan Regalia. Several tribes from the Alaska region come together to celebrate their culture and hertiage. I've learned (via the web) that here tribal members can learn their tribal language in short workshops, they can watch dance groups perform, and they can see the ancient arts performed with modern hands. I'm excited to be on the sidelines and hopefully catch a glimpse of the ceremonies.

In the meantime here's a pic from artist Amy Ruppel that I purchased online awhile back. After I purchased the print and learned more about the artist I found out that a) Amy lives in Portland - just a stones throw away - sorta, and that b) I already owned coasters with a graphic bird design that she created for modern-twist.

Funny that. Anyway lately I've been getting into prints from artists like Amy who are of course talented and surprisingly prolific and involved in multimedia projects. There are some great print artists on etsy. There are also some undesireable pieces on etsy - too crafty for my taste - but also some amazing talent that you'll just want to scoop up and place sprinkles on. Yumm . . . affordable art.

Modern Fences 1

Another place that Mr. Monkey and I will be looking to update is our fence. It is in bad bad shape. Part of it blew over in  a wind storm over the winter. This is the first of many posts with pictures of fencing. While the old standby - cedar - is lovely and can be built in creative ways I would like to contribute to the interesting modern fences of Eugene. 

Here's a possibility we're considering. It's a picture of a cool fence with mixed materials we found on a walk in Tucson, AZ in the Sam Hughes neighborhood. Mr. Monkey is not so sure about corrugated metal but I'm liking it. I also really like board form concrete. But Mr. Monkey is right to think that it may too different for the neighbors that we share this fence with. Thanks to CMM for the board form picture.

Finally here's a slideshow of cool fences from Dwell Magazine's website. Actually they're not that cool - they're convenient because they're gathered together in one spot but in general they are pretty standard. It's still fun to go to the Dwell website though. So many slideshows so little time . . .

Lux Starburst Clock

So I twiddled my fingers and I couldn't decide whether to get this lovely clock from my new favorite store - Oak Street Vintage. So they were kind enough to place it on hold for me over the weekend while I went up to the big city (Portland) to look around for similar retro star-burst clocks. Better than similar I found an exact match - 2 actually. 

This discovery was good and bad. It was good to know that the price I would pay in Eugene was less expensive than one of the clocks. It was bad to know that this is a pretty common clock out there - not as special as I thought. It turned out that the 2 clocks in Portland were priced 1) $25 dollars more and 2) $5 dollars less - this second clock however was not plugged in and I was not sure if it worked. It may have had some condition issues but I didn't inspect it closely. The two Portland where I found the clocks were The Lounge Lizard and Hawthorne Vintage - both located on SE Hawthorne. 

I was pleased to know that I was able to find what I wanted right here in Eugene. So I came home and purchased it. Even though I could have purchased one clock that was slightly cheaper I prefer to spend 5 extra bucks and to support a new and unique small business right here at home. This photo is the one we purchased at Oak Street Vintage. 

Neutra or No Neutra? That is the question.

Here's a picture of the front of our house while all the plants were still dormant.  I want to get some Neutra House Numbers but they are a bit pricey so I've also been researching some alternatives. Over the course of this summer we'll be making quite a few changes in the front yard. Pictures of progress of course will be posted. 

Welcome to the modern side of Eugene!

Hi, all! Welcome to my blog based out of Eugene, Oregon. My goal is to show that even in a small city we have a growing group of creative people focused of great modern design. At the same time I'll be showing how I am decorating my first home along with my husband - who is the real monkey - with our Eugene resources and a limited budget. Basically I'm obsessed with decorating our home and this is an outlet for me to post pictures - before and after - and show off some of the cool design that is going on here in Eugene. I read Dwell, Domino, Ready Made, and Sunset and most of the locales in these magazines are based in the big cities. It's time to show that Eugene is more than its reputation of college-town with hippie highlights left over from the 60's. Much of Eugene is looking to the future with an emphasis on a healthy environment out in nature as well as in the home. Yes - it may be a trendy focus but it's been a constant in Eugene as long as I've been here (since 2001). I'll be doing a bit of traveling this month and I'll be sure to post pictures from my travels.  Cheers!