Home sparks – Page 8 – everydaysparks

Bonjour, stylish kitchen!

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Cate

They’re not called ‘whitegoods’ for nothing. Kitchen appliances, while practical, can be kinda boring. (Except if you live in my apartment, where the previous owners were so funky that they matched the fridge and dishwasher with the glossy blue laminated cupboards and drawers. That’s a whole lotta blue, I tell you.) Anyways, I say boo to boring kitchen appliances – and hello to these fabulous dishwasher and fridge decals by the clever French folk at ADzif, recently featured on Fab.com.

If you’re looking to expand your cooking space into a serene wonderland with beautiful images of nature, you might like the green leaf fridge decal. Or the tricky pile o’ logs photo. Laugh as visitors to your home try to work out how you’ve managed to turn your humble refrigerator into a portal to the forest.

Or perhaps you’re more of a city person and you want to recreate the hustle and bustle of New York City on your dishwasher or fridge. These decals are big enough to have you sitting on the floor in your kitchen, imagining you were really there. In which case, you might also want to buy a soundtrack of honking taxis, emergency vehicle sirens, shouting people, a subway rapper impersonating Jay Z, and someone yelling, “HOT DOGS”.

Or if you’re fancier than me and prefer to say bonjour to your dishes, you might like this Parisian dishwasher decal. They also have a Parisian fridge decal, but this is my blog and I prefer New York to Paris, so you can check out the website if you’re interested in all things Frenchy. (The default ADzif website is actually written in French, so you’ll love it!)

I think these are a brilliant idea – they can be cut to size with your trusty scissors, they can be removed without leaving marks (but can’t be reused). For less than $70 for a fridge and less than $50 for a dishwasher, a trip to Paris, New York or the forest has never been cheaper. (Unless you actually live in Paris, New York or a forest, I guess.)

My pick? Thanks for asking. It’s this fabulous image of my favourite part of Times Square, where the overwhelming tackiness of all those lights is replaced by street furniture that’s reminiscent of a cobbled European side street. In the middle of such a busy city. Love ya, New York.

If you like these, there are plenty more amazing decals on the French website of ADzif. These images are from Fab.com and I couldn’t find all of them on the ADzif website (the dishwashers and my favourite fridge decal were missing), but maybe I need to brush up on my high school French and have another look. Toute de suite!

Food sparks, Home sparks, Sparky gifts

Willy Wonka’s World

Posted on April 29, 2012 by Cate

What a wonderful world that would be, right? With Mr Wonka’s passion for all things sweet and magical, it could be a kid’s dream come true. Not that you’d necessarily want your home or office decorated by Mr Wonka, but if some Wonka-like touches here and there appeal, you might want to check these out…

Ice cream lamps. Sure, why not? They come in a delicious range of colours and are over two feet high. They come with a bulb, but you will need to resist the urge to lick the giant soft-serve (even if the cone is marked ‘Safe-T Cup’) as I don’t want you getting zapped.

Or how about a cupcake cushion? With coloured sprinkles. It looks really cool in this picture, but I should warn you that there was another picture of it on a lounge…where it looked like a squished old piece of cupcake, rather than a fresh and tasty treat. You’ve been warned.

And if you want to listen to some sweet tunes while reclining on your cupcake on a lazy Sunday, you might like these Gummy Bear Earbuds. They’re scented. Uh huh. It does seem a little bit wrong, especially if your Grandma ever told you not to stick jellies in your ears. Although these are attached to a cord, so I guess it’s ok.

This one isn’t in keeping with the dessert theme, but Willy was a fan of messing with people’s heads via distorted sizes and shapes, so I think he’d approve. And I am tipping he liked his caffeine (amongst other things) to keep him so perky. For you, or perhaps to prop up that guy in the office who always seems to be sleeping, I present the giant coffee cup. It can hold 20 cups of coffee. But I am not suggesting that you drink them all at once. (Unless you record it and put it on You Tube.)

Whether you’re looking for a gift or something to make your home a little bit Wonka, you can check out all of these things, and a bzillion more, at fredflare.

Arty sparks, Home sparks, Uncategorized

Oh deer

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Cate

I’m not sure where you stand on hunting. I don’t mean hunting for bargains at your favourite shop, I mean chk chk boom – there goes a defenceless deer / duck / clay pigeon. Hunting in the British Royal Family or Sarah Palin style. Hunting that sometimes leads to someone stuffing the head of the dead thing and sticking it on an otherwise perfectly nice piece of wood so that you can put it on display in your lounge room or men’s lodge or wherever. I don’t really get it, I must say, and have never understood the appeal. (NB, hunting for goodies at the post-Christmas sales, however, I understand completely.)

So I’m not sure if I should like this collection on etsy as much as I do. Bree in Los Angeles makes plush faux taxidermy figures and mounts them on wood, ready for displaying as a “creature trophy” in your home or office. Or kid’s bedroom, as long as it wouldn’t freak them out. These hand-stitched felt animals look nice and friendly – clearly they did not meet a horrible end like those other poor taxidermied critters. Bree has given her animals names and they seem to have a real personality. Well, as much as a felt head can.

I especially like her “backwards faux taxidermy” pieces. Whether you see it as a funny little bear trying to get back through the wall, or a stinging attack on hunters everywhere, there is a lot to like about this collection. If you have some space on your wall that could do with an animal friend (well, part of an animal friend), you can check out Bree’s etsy shop here.

Home sparks, WWWhat?

Sit down, pet

Posted on April 18, 2012 by Cate

Sometimes mainstream furniture doesn’t quite cut it. You’re looking for more of a statement piece – something that you won’t see in the lounge rooms of all of your nearest and dearest. Or perhaps you’re just no good with an allen key, which rules out the array of flat-packs that magically turn into real-life furniture (give or take a few extra screws). Or maybe you fancy a life like Old McDonald, rather than a cramped studio apartment in the city. Or you’re bored with your pet mouse and want the company of a new furry friend. Whatever the reason, you should check out this range of animal chairs/stools from Japan.

There are a range of different animals in the collection (from the farm to the jungle, via the forest) and they hold up to 80kg in weight. So you could sit on a donkey, giraffe, zebra or elephant (and a deer…at least I think it’s a deer). But I like this cow – it is cute and the Fresian markings are actually a map of the world, which is pretty cool. However, please note that, as in real life, adults shouldn’t sit on the small cow stools – it will not end well.

Want to moove (sorry, couldn’t help it) some of these into your home? Check out the collection on the Matomeno site here.

Arty sparks, Home sparks, WWWhat?

Help! My Lounge is Mutating!

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Cate

I first saw these amazing pieces of furniturart (ok, so I just made that word up) on the fantastic My Modern Met website (and they had sourced them from the very cool peeps at Design Boom) under the heading Mutating Furniture Made of Bubbles. Yes please! You don’t get that at Ikea.

And I was not to be disappointed – like a Miss Teen USA contestant, these are at once beautiful and kinda creepy. I’m not sure how comfortable they would be, but as soon as you contemplate that thought, you know you’re not really worthy of the furniturart. Same goes for wondering how you’d keep them clean of dog fur and childrens’ handprints. Or how they’d look next to your teak coffee table. But we can still look, can’t we?

Belgian designer Maarten De Ceulaer’s Mutation Series will be presented this year during Milan Design Week. Each piece is unique, made from foam spheres covered in “a durable rubber or velvet-like finish”. According to My Modern Met, Maarten says “I want to use my work to tell stories, to stir people’s emotions, to tickle their imagination or to make them wonder.” The Willy Wonka of the furniture (furniturart) world, I guess.

And, like Mr Wonka before him, Maarten’s creativity knows no limits. Apparently he said, “Maybe one day we will be able to grow a piece of furniture like we breed or clone an animal, and manipulate it’s shape like a bonsai tree.” Yes, Maarten, maybe we will. I kinda like the idea of a naturally grown, fully furnished tree house. Add a glass elevator, chocolate river and an everlasting gobstopper and I’m sold!

More info in the My Modern Met post here.