FilliQvist

   Our walls have been blank too long. Taking what we already have I hung our Greenland paddles that I made a couple of years ago with our canoe paddles and a spare (who doesn't have one of these?) propeller.  I love the idea that we have everything we need to decorate and make our house our own we just need to take the time to figure out the best way to present it.

Enjoy!

 We have dogs. Our dogs like to lay in cool soft spots. Our dogs like to hangout near us when we work. When we work in the garden this tends to be the flower beds and that is not good. What to do?
Quick cheap fencing made in China. Nope. We didn't even have to leave the house to solve this one!

 We are not vain people but I have noticed that since moving to Sweden we have appear to lack any vanity as the details of our personal grooming have been seriously neglected. From unkempt heads of hair to a bundle of ear hair, an unevenly plucked eyebrow, and even perhaps miscolored cosmetics. But it is not for lack of want. It was for lack of a lit mirror. Well that has been remedied now.

 Here is a new chandelier by Filliquist. Since moving to Sweden I have realized how important it is with proper illumination as the sun is now hiding in the Southern Hemisphere.
You cannot go wrong with combining candles with lights! I bet it would look good over your dining room table.

   If you are up to date with the design world then you will be thrilled at the news that is generated by Pantone and their annual color choice of the year. This year is Emerald! How wonderful. Or as Craig Nakano of the L.A. Times puts it, "It's Green."
  I too was expecting something a bit more, I don't know, just not green. I was also hoping fpr something that would work with last years color. I don't think it is very fair for Pantone to be jumping all over the color spectrum from one year to the next. It makes it very difficult to match last years color of the year with this years color of the year. Sorry but Tangarine Tango does not work so well with Emerald. So again like last year I am putting forth my suggestion for the color of the year. After last years choice of Bergbana Blue, also known as Pantone's 3025 EC, I am crossing the color wheel and lightening the color 30 points (in Photoshop) to get .......


                                                                                            Pantone 5005 EC.

  In the middle of the seach for parts and supplies for a dining table lamp I came across this gem.... a Flos Model 2097-30 chandelier! Very excited to find the lamp unassembled in its original box I asked the attendant at the recycling center (yes a recycling center!!) how much for this light here, he looks at it shugs and says 150 SEK or about $25! The Flos 2097 retails for around 12,000 SEK which is about $1800 USD. Recycling centers, flea markets and thrift stores are always a great resource. Just remember it pays to recycle!

After a very long trip from Sweden we are greeted with this sunrise over the Patomac. Now off to see the capital! We'll see what we can find today!

Here is a shot just outside of town on the way to Kolbäck. It is sunset and in between rain storms. Many types of birds coming though on their way south. The next day there was a flock of Sandhill cranes just down the road from the house.

  Things are changing have changed! I won't soften the blow so here it is -the tearing off of the Band-Aid from a really hairy arm- FilliQuist is now in Sweden!
How about that!
  Once FilliQuist found out that it was moving I stopped posting (since work more or less stopped in the shop) and we began preparing for our move. With much work and a significant amount of streamlining we readied for the move. Pretty much all tools that ran on 120V electricity found new "forever homes" and the rest are on a boat in the Baltic headed to port as I type. Yea! Can't wait to get all of our goodies!!
   Since it has been about three months since the last post I figure that it is time to get back to work on the blog and in the shop.
  Since being here I have already made/put together a table, scrounged up some old school chairs, and am working on some benches for the time being....
  Oh and taking wallpaper off of our bedroom walls, patching holes, stacking firewood, clearing saplings and dead trees in the yard, meeting the neighbors.....well keeping busy, anyway.
  I will keep you informed of all the new changes...I promise. And there will be some great new content as FilliQuist gets used to a new country and continent.
  So for now... Hej då!!

Sorry Sergio the 60's and 70's are gone. Besides Craig McCracken already beat you to the punch with "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends" that was good for six seasons and a total of 79 episodes.

from Core 77

These type of caricatures, drawings and colorings have, and will, always make me cringe.

     For comparison here are Foster's friends in their house:

daryltay.com

 Here is a restoration project that was recently completed. An early piece maybe 1920's(?) this desk was originally one of many ordered to furnish one of Chicago's libraries.

 Barn doors a great. They take up little operating room since they don't need to swing open. They don't get blown open, or slam shut. Best of all they can bring a touch of character to any room.

  With guests staying with us we have had to devise ways of creating privacy in an office/guest room. A dressing screen kind of worked(not really) but was awkward to use as a door. A curtain was just too flimsy and offers no audio interference. In other words, guests make noise, like snoring and the sort. It is also nice to be able to keep the cats and their curiosity out of the room and off the guests. So the installation of a solid door was in order.
  See more pictures and the "How To" after the jump-

Right:

Below is a few samples from a line of tents by Field Candy.  They have taken a few designers and let them have at the rain flys of their tents. A refreshing take on the stand-by solid color tents!

I did this in kindergarten. 
Wrong.
     Edit: OK I need to be less bitter. The use of strong magnets and iron filings, and resin is great and produces wonderful "flowers" that ultimately display the wonder of Mother Natures magnetic power. The ultimate issue that I take is, why a stool? A stool is about one step up from a lamp base, which by the way can be made out of anything. For an object that is as heralded as this I expect more, much much more.

Design Milk

Why is this being done by an adult?

Right:

c/o Remodelista

     Barn door rails and wheels come in many variations. Here they are applied to an exterior window, quite brilliantly. These wonderful workhorses (no pun intended) have lasted decades and centuries and I can't wait to use them on a project.