Chandelier No. 5

   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.

Pantone Trys Again...

   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.

  I don't know what to call this color, and neither does Pantone apparently. So I am open to suggestions and comments. The strong blue from last year will be easily matched by this color and I have started to see this and darker more saturated versions of this around and it seems to work well with the times. Since the seasons seem to have been particularily dark and damp lately this should lighten the mood.   

  With that in mind I can almost see the reason for Pantone's choice this year's color but it just doesn't work with the choices from the past. So here's to a bright and sunny spring where all colors will be saturated by beautiful pure sunlight and this year's FilliQuist Color Choice of (what should it be called?)  hanging from windows, accenting tables and maybe even covering a bit of sun kissed skin.

It Always Pays to Recycle!!

  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!

The Fall Migration

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.

Well Well Well.....

  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!!

Chicago Library Desk Restoration

 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.

 

From this......

  

To this.

Installation of a Barn Door for a Room

 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.

Thinking in Tents

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!

Anything Can be a Stool

I did this in kindergarten.
     OK I need to be less bitter. The use of strong magnets, 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, 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

This Barn Door Hits the Mark

c/o Remodelista

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