I was blown away by all of the research Amy did to prepare for this month’s daily color facts. In addition to learning all sorts of amazing facts (I didn’t know that monks in Thailand dye their robes with the heart of the jack fruit once a year!), Amy exposed us to an incredible range…
I think there was a collective gasp when this book slid across our desks – which sometimes happens when we stumble upon something good. Cute plants and TINY! In vintage containers! Yes. That many exclamation points. Since we’re all friends here, I’ll confess that I don’t have the greenest of thumbs. I really really want…
As much as I might daydream about digging in the earth, no amount of wishing on falling stars is going to turn my fire escape into the garden of my dreams. Luckily, I stumbled on Principles of Gardening: The Practice of the Gardener’s Art, which is the absolute perfect book for the garden daydreamer because…
I have no doubt that the single greatest thing about my job is getting to work with people who inspire and continually impress me with their dedication, talent and creativity. Two of those people are Alethea Harampolis and Jill Rizzo of Studio Choo. For two years they wrote “We Like It Wild” for Design*Sponge and…
Ever since I read Susan Orlean’s 2009 essay about raising backyard chickens in The New Yorker, I’ve been completely and totally obsessed with the idea. Although I consider myself a city guy through and through, there’s something irresistibly romantic about the bucolic act of owning one’s own chicken coop. As the modern world’s gastronomic climate changes…
This book was recommended to me by the amazing florist Amy Merrick. She and I have been friends for the past five years — I think I told her that she had to be friends with me since we shared both a first and a middle name —and like great friends usually do, she points…
Confession: I will read pretty much any book with an animal on the cover. Luckily, I do most of my reading on an iPad, which allows me to save face on the train. (My latest reads have ranged from Dewey: The Small Town Library Cat Who Touched the World to Cat Daddy to Love, Life, and Elephants.)…
Late February marks the time of year when winter’s charms begin to wear out. Sweaters and scarves, once donned excitedly, are now put on begrudgingly. Snow, which once seemed magical as it fell to the ground, is now just an unwelcome reminder that cold days still lie ahead. While one might prefer to simply hibernate until spring…
We’re ending the day with a grand Paris-themed dinner party, so it seemed only fitting to start off with something Parisian, as well. Some of you may be familiar with the illustrator Robinson’s work. Born Werner Kruse, Robinson became well known for his beautifully detailed line drawings of cities and his X-ray-like manner of drawing building…
As a sappy romantic, it doesn’t need to be Valentine’s Day to get me in the mood for a good love story. I’ll take it whenever I can get it — the sappier, the better. I’ve been leaning toward nonfiction lately, so most of these are real-life love stories, but please add your faves to…
The month of February seems perfectly suited to paper crafts. Whether you’re cutting red construction paper to create handmade Valentine cards or just trying to take your mind off the seemingly endless winter outside, paper craft offers an easy and calming diversion. That’s what Irving Harper, one of the head designers for George Nelson Associates,…
We’ve been focusing on health and wellness this month, so I rounded up some of our favorite healthy cookbooks. I try to eat pretty healthfully year round (sometimes more successfully than others), and I actually love this time of year because I can make a big pot of soup that lasts for nearly a week…
When Kate visited in October, I mentioned how much I love simple home tips, and she suggested that I track down this book. All Things Wise and Wonderful: A Big Little Book of Hints was published by the Pasadena Art Alliance in 1975. The Pasadena Art Alliance is an independent organization that formed in 1955…
I’ve been blogging for almost a decade now, and I can say that, without a doubt, writing a book is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Not only does it challenge you to have a clear, focused vision and voice, but it also requires a level of dedication and passion that can be difficult to maintain…
As the world hurtles faster and faster toward an all-digital age — of non-printed books, non-stamped mail and film-free cameras — we begin to look fondly upon objects that have outlived their intended use. The Brownie Hawkeye camera with its now quaint knobs and lenses, the vinyl record with its oversized cover art and plainly…
I love coffee table-type books that you just want to read straight through, and this one certainly hits that mark. When I was reading Style by Saladino, I continually annoyed everyone in the office as I made them stop what they were doing and listen to me read parts aloud. In fact, I would venture…
Every inspiration library should have a healthy food section. After all, most of are eating three times a day. Before I started flipping through The Surf Cafe Cookbook, I hadn’t realized a surfing community even existed in Ireland. But now the seaside village of Strandhill on the West Coast of Ireland is on my list…
I love to read. In middle school, I obsessively entered all the reading competitions in my school, winning such prizes as a ski map of Mammoth Mountain and a copy of Where the Red Fern Grows. As a teenager, I still loved to read but became more than a little self-conscious about the number of…
If anyone had walked into our office last week, they would have witnessed quite a sight. Max, Amy and I took turns wearing the geekiest 3D glasses while we stood over Barry Rothstein’s Phantograms from Nature book, oohing and aahing like crazy. I stumbled upon Rothstein’s book at Beautiful Dreamers in Brooklyn and ended up…
Anna Blessing might be best known as one third of BBB Craft – three amazingly talented crafty sisters – they’ve contributed both DIY and entertaining stories to design*sponge. For this project, Anna struck out on her own and profiled 20 Midwestern farms and the chefs with whom they work. The result is Locally Grown: Portraits…
