I love pulling themes from our Sneak Peek archives; it’s fun seeing how people creatively respond to different problems. One of my recent favorites was our best of bikes, and after looking through hundreds of homes, I realized we had a lot of musical home dwellers. Everyone seems to have a guitar propped in the corner…
Image above via Caren Alpert I’ve been dreaming about writing this post ever since I first stepped foot inside the Heritage Radio studios in Brooklyn. I can’t even describe how happy and lucky I feel to announce that this spring, I’ll be hosting my own radio show! It’s been almost nine years since I put down…
A few years ago, I found myself seriously considering closing down Design*Sponge and moving to Georgia to try and do for that area what Dave Alhadeff did for Brooklyn. I am still in awe of how effectively Dave managed to organize, promote and truly elevate “Brooklyn Design” to the place it is now. Clearly the…
Last night I found myself in tears as I stood over a tiny kitten we rescued, trying to decide if we should put her down, according to the veterinarian’s advice. I listened to my heart and to my gut and took her straight back home where I emptied our spare bedroom and made her a…
Yesterday Amy and I picked up the keys to our very first D*S office. It was a pretty big moment for me, considering I’ve never had an office of my own that didn’t involve someone else being my boss. To have a place where I (along with Amy’s input, of course) can make my own…
Last Friday through Monday were such a blur with the Portland Bazaar that I didn’t have any time to drive around town and visit other shops. One in particular I’m bummed I missed was the awesome-looking “Boys’ Fort” pop-up shop. Created by the men of Kenton Collective, the shop was designed with a “manthropology” theme in…
Whenever I get stuck in a creative rut, I like to step away from what I’m doing and see something new. Sometimes I’ll head to a gallery or museum, but often I’ll find myself wandering the aisles of a hardware store, salvage shop or flea market — just to see some stuff and take in…
Last Thursday, Grace and I rented a white cargo van, filled it with boxes and boxes of greenery from the New York City Flower Market and drove to Philadelphia for our last Design*Sponge at Home book tour event. We left early enough to make a lunch stop at Terrain. (And when I say “lunch stop,” I should…
There are few things I enjoy more than eating in Portland. There’s Pok Pok, Tasty & Sons, Toro Bravo and Meat Cheese Bread . . . I could go on forever. But the only thing I like more than eating in Portland is eating for free in Portland. And thanks to West Elm, the first 100…
For the past eight years, I have been running Design*Sponge from the deeply recessed divot in my polka-dotted couch. It has happily been my own personal headquarters since the beginning, but just as I’m not the same girl I was when I started D*S, neither are my working needs. Slowly and organically, D*S has grown…
When I first started D*S, I felt like I had endless time to follow link after link and load websites until I fell asleep against the soft blue glow of a computer screen. This weekend I finally had a bit of time to get back on my laptop and fall into a few online rabbit…
As time moves on and technology advances, I find myself with an overwhelming desire to pull back on the reigns a bit. I love the web and all the opportunities and advancement it represents, but I also really love the simplicity and beauty of paper. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed embracing and supporting a wide range of…
Today I am thrilled to announce a special project that I’ve been working on since my trip out west this summer: The Portland Bazaar! After an inspiring month spent in Portland, Oregon, I found myself wondering why Portland didn’t have its own version of The Brooklyn Flea. Portland is positively teeming with talented woodworkers, metalsmiths,…
Seeing a summer collection right now feels like a cruel joke as I pack multiple winter layers for this week’s trip. But it’s had to resist when the colors are this bright and saturated. Marimekko debuted their Summer 2012 collection in NYC last week, and I was excited to check out some photos of the new…
With all the traveling and work happening during the last few legs of our Design*Sponge at Home book tour, it’s sometimes hard to take a moment to stop and reflect on all that’s happened this year. It still hasn’t hit me fully, but one thing I wanted to be thankful for this morning was getting…
Remedy Quarterly was one of the first projects that inspired me to join Kickstarter and donate money for a creative cause. I’m a big fan of food publications right now, and Remedy is fantastic because it highlights recipes from all food fans, including amateur home cooks and professional food writers. I love the packaging for their…
After weeks on the road, our great big book tour adventure is finally hitting the home stretch. As of this week, we’re 20 cities into 30, so the finish line is within sight (although we’ve thoroughly enjoyed the run). While we’re back in the South this week, I wanted to share a little diary update…
Sometimes the simplest ideas can have the most powerful impact. I drove by this beautiful installation outside Cooper Union this past Friday and haven’t been able to forget it since. I’m a sucker for neons, but these pretty plastic ties (they looked like plastic from the moving car — does anyone know if they’re metal?)…
Last week’s book tour leg ended with two days in Austin, Texas. I feel like I’ve been dying to visit Austin for years now and all the hype lead to an almost ridiculous level of expectation that I was convinced no city could actually deliver. But Austin did. From the moment we landed until our…
It’s so nice to be back in Brooklyn, but I have loved getting to travel across the country over the past few weeks to celebrate Design*Sponge at Home. I shared some of our tour diary from the West Coast last week, and today I’m excited to share some pictures (and ridiculous videos) from the first…
