• July 14th: Heidi, 4 Color Field placemats in Ink
• July 15th: Nicole, 4 Woodblock napkins in Ink
• July 16th: Rob B., Woodblock apron in Lake
• July 17th: Jane @ the Beach House, 4 Gate coasters & 4 Gate napkins
• July 18th: Michelle H., Mosaic Runner in Sun

*All winners (randomly selected) are notified via email. Think you may have won, see your name above? Please check your email and verify your mailing address to redeem your prize!

Wowzers, all of the eulogies were so heartfelt and emotional! I think some true tears were shed. Domino, you certainly touched our hearts and homes. Yes, that was utterly cliche but I had to say it.

Ok, now I’ll cut the chase. The randomly picked winners of the Domino book giveaway were Barbara (commenter #18) and Miss Ford (commenter #28). I’ll be contacting both of you today! Thanks to all who wrote such creative eulogies. R.I.P Domino.

Kyle Schuneman of Live Well Design’s moss chair.

Water Jasmine trees in Nong Nooch Tropical Botanical Garden in Thailand. It’s like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory coming to life.

David Stark’s recycled shredded paper topiaries adorning the tables at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum’s 2007 Awards Dinner. I am obsessed with these – brilliant, beautiful, and so appropriate for the occasion!

Also, CONTEST ALERT! Garden Design is sponsoring a contest to recognize when great design meets ecological responsibility. Click here to find out the details.

photo credits: Joe Schmelzer, Peter Widmann, Marianne Majerus all from Garden Design Jan.-Feb. 2009

Athens GA has always been a cool town – not only the birthplace of great bands, but also a place where visual arts and architecture are celebrated. For example, right now they are in the middle of You, Me, and the Bus phase II. After phase one, four artist-designed bus shelters were constructed around town. The competition for the eight additional shelters is wrapping up as I write this. This is a perfect combination of public art form applied to an everyday function. Such shelters are usually banal and uninspired.

Has your town had its version of the Cincinnati pigs, the Chicago cows, the Outer Banks dolphins, what have you? I’m hard-pressed to find a city that hasn’t had some version of that project. Isn’t this shelter project a much better and original use of public art funds? What types of public art do you have in your neck of the woods? Would these shelters make you a little more likely to want to take the bus?

photo one by Trevor Frey for Athens Online

photo two by John W. English for the AJC

Dwell is pleased to announce an exciting new product “re”design contest and competition.

Innovate it!
Sponsored by the all-new Volkswagen CC
Phase I – Feb 11-March 31, 2009

From toothbrushes to towel racks to transit vehicles, we often live with inefficiency, inconvenience, and downright discomfort simply because we accept dated and subpar designs as a part of the daily grind. It’s time to put your foot down.

Our Spring 2009 design contest and competition is set up in two phases. First, simply send in suggestions for everyday objects that you think need a rework. Either they don’t function well, are poorly designed or just downright useless for the task they were designed to perform. Dwell editors will select the items for redesign. Then the competition phase launches where you are invited to submit design proposals for recreating one (or all) of the three most tragically troublesome objects. You may participate in one or both phases of this contest and there is no limit to the number of entries.

Phase I: Submit Your Product
Feb 11-March 31, 2009

Dwell editors will vet the submissions and choose the three best (or worst!) products for redesign. The people who entered the winning submissions will receive credit on the Dwell.com blog and a free ticket to Dwell on Design Los Angeles, June 26-28, 2009.

Submit your ideas today!
http://www.dwell.com/services/contests/innovate_it.html

Good Luck.
The Dwell Team

and To Each His Home…

Congrats to the winners and thanks to all of you who commented. It is always fascinating to hear what components stand out in making your home “you.”

Lisa and bluebird, please e-mail ali [ @ ] designpublic [ . ] com with your address information and I’ll get the books out to you asap.

The full scoop with submission requirements: http://www.chdmag.com/chd-awards-submission-guidelines

Thanks to Elements of Style for this post about how to live a Hollywood Regency dream by renting from Room Service.

Oh My God! THE LIZA ROOM TAKES THE CAKE! If you missed SF20, you can lament your loss by perusing these fabulous images Leah posted at More Ways to Waste Time.

Oh My God Part II: Oh Patricia Gray, thank you for this. At first I thought it was a Chelsea Lately sketch, but it really is Sarah Palin’s office

Home Rejuvenation’s posts blow my mind all the time. I’m giddy over the The Next Generation House by Sou Fujimoto Architects.

I’m just nuts about Mrs. Blandings. I don’t know how I missed this charming Kansas City-based blogger’s writing for so long.

I don’t know how it took me ten days to find fellow, the new online design magazine from decor fellow blogger James Saavedra. Thanks to Habitually Chic for the tipoff.

Check out the list of the most inspiring design books of all time from O At Home magazine. I’m such a dork; I circled the ones I already have, which added up to ten. I was really excited to see Luis Barragan, Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown and J.B. Jackson included on the list, but was disappointed that landscape architecture was not represented more.

Bummer! The Farnsworth House, in spite of the plinth it sits on above the ground, is majorly flooded. To make a donation towards repairs, click here. (via AT: Chicago).

Design Bloggers in Print! The New York Times did a huge feature on design bloggers yesterday, and included some of my favorites, like Jennifer Dwyer from The Peak of Chic. Congratulations! Hey, you know what’s weird? Wordpress has the word “bloggers” underlined right now like it’s not a word. It has Wordpress underlined as well. What’s up with that?

• photo from Room Service via Elements of Style

• photo by Leah Hennen at More Ways to Waste Time

• photo from The Anchorage Daily News (Landov) via The New York Times, via Patricia Gray Interior Design

• photo by (I think) Sou Fujimoto Architects, via Home Rejuvenation

• image from Mrs. Blandings

• image from fellow by James Saavedra

• image from amazon.com

• image from landmarks.org

I finally figured it out. For years I’ve avoided reading much about green architecture, let alone writing about it. And not only because it’s boring. As saving the Earth has become the cause of all causes (Hi, Brad!), I thought this might just be my usual knee-jerk recoiling from things earnest and popular. Now I know it’s a deeply principled stand based on the defense of public manners. When one does something good, does one then crow about it, seeking gain? That would be the opposite of grace. But that is exactly what we see in page after page of project after project, each claiming to be LEEDier than thou. Here, planet, I’ve done you this kindness. Look everyone, I’m saving the planet! Clearly there’s a place for specialized literature, a quiet little spot on the journalistic margins where green architects and clients can trade best practices and grow the field. It’s the right thing to do. But that doesn’t mean we need to hear about it.

Anyway, I received this email from a source that has been green and sustainable and responsible since its inception, which does NOT annoy me at all. Dwell.com is having a green contest. Here’s the 411:

Hello Dwellers! We want to invite you to participate in a new contest hosted by Dwell.com and the American Institute of Architects — “How Green Are You?” We want to know. Show us innovative and interesting ways you have “greened” your home and you can win prizes totaling $2000. Entry is really simple, submit your photos and write a short essay on your project. Dwell and the AIA will evaluate entries and choose a winner. The winning project will be featured on Dwell.com for up to one year — great exposure! Enter today at: www.dwell.com/greencontest. Contest entries are evaluated weekly so get yours in today! 

Go on, go act LEEDier than thou and sign up! P.S. Happy Earth Day!

GET WISHIN’!

The details one more time:

• Register to become a Kaboodle member and enter the contest
• Get the Add to Kaboodle button for your browser toolbar
• Go to www.designpublic.com and add the items you want to your wish list
• Tell your friends so they have a chance of winning, too!
• At midnight on December 17th one person will be selected to win Design Public items from their wish list. Good Luck!