A Recipe for Oilcloth
July 10, 2009
Who doesn’t love oilcloth? That texture, that smell, that pattern, that swift-sternum-kick of nostalgia for your granny’s kitchen table. Too bad, though, duckies: all the newfangled oilcloth out there is coated in PVC (ick!) or some other petrol-based product, which makes the cloth neither earthy nor particularly human-healthy.
Imagine my Smallish delight, then, when I spied this Craftzine linkage on DIY oilcloth, made the trad way: cotton duck (or canvas) and linseed oil. It takes some doin’, but the results are way better than eating pretty peach pie off petroleum.
Tiny House Tuesday: Shipshape in NYC
July 7, 2009
WHO: Michael Finger and Joanne Kennedy, plus kids Jonah and Esther
WHERE: New York, New York, in Manhattan’s East Village
WHAT: A family home fit for the sea
SIZE: 640 square feet
Smart storage, ahoy!
Michael Finger and Joanne Kennedy, plus their two kids (ages 9 and 1), make very merry in a small family home done up with multifunctional furnishings and seaworthy storage (think closets under the floorboards, desks that morph into Murphy beds). With the help of noroof architects and some nods to son Jonah’s pirate obsession, Finger and Kennedy carved out a family-friendly space in just 640 square feet.
See for yourself, matey. Check out the slideshow.
Make your own undies!
July 6, 2009
Another great DIY drawers tutorial, via CRAFT and belle and burger. If you’re bummed on bloomers, try these standard panties made from your favorite tees that have maybe seen better days. Double plus good!
It’s Independence Day.
July 4, 2009
Here’s how to celebrate:
Dress up as Elvis and Priscilla Presley for a costume-party wedding. Or just because.
Happy 4th of July.
People in glass houses…
July 3, 2009
High five to Heike, who built a wee-little outdoor shed from discarded windows:
Design*Sponge featured Heike’s “hideaway” (a misnomer, right? I mean, it’s made of glass.), lauding the reuse factor: “it’s so great to see people who are inspired by something seemingly left over and fit for the trash,” D*S dueña Grace Bonney writes, “and end up imagining (and creating) something new and beautiful.”
My Small sentiments exactly.
Living Small 