It’s not over till it’s over
September 7, 2015
While Labor Day may mark the unofficial end of Summer, it’s actually not over until September 23rd. So, today, my time will be well spent flat out on one of those lounges indulging in a bit of vitamin D therapy or refreshing myself in the cool depths of that slate lined pool. Topping the day off with a simple alfresco dinner and an evening fire at the pool house and I’ve put together the perfect holiday stay-cation.
Photo via: http://cabbagerose.tumblr.com/post/128362395033/green-glass-tile-cd-poolhousemarc-merckx-via
Road Trip!
August 2, 2015
What better way to spend a gorgeous Summer day than a road trip. A micro vacation if you will. With perfect temps, blue skies and an early start, todays destination: the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I concentrated on the Sculpture Garden… 30 acres of meandering walkways, plantings, meadows and waterways. Around each turn and down every path I experienced another of the world’s most significant works of outdoor sculpture, each expertly presented within a site and plant environment specifically chosen to compliment it alone. A unique museum experience to be sure.
top to bottom:
“Cabin Creek” Deborah Butterfield
A cooling rock falls along the way.
“Plantoir” Claes Oldenburg
iPhone snaps: gp
Forecast: H O T
July 30, 2015
When the temperatures reach into the 90’s a pool looks awfully inviting. And, there are none more inviting to my simplequietmodern mind than this beauty…the work of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe for his 1929 Barcelona Pavillion. If you’re in need of a little modern pool inspiration, here it is.
Photo via Gardenista http://www.gardenista.com/posts/20-best-architectural-swimming-pools-minimalist-new-modernism
Crossing The Line
July 19, 2015
On many levels. As I wrote in an earlier post, if black fences make chic neighbors…what does an ugly fence make? You decide. Picture it. Finally, a gorgeous summer day and you’re seconds away from your idyllic wooded yard at the end of a long one…gentle breeze, birds singing…a hint of pine in the air and the gentle tumbling of the river. As you turn that last corner… B A M! I nearly drove into the ditch. Drunken fence posts. Everywhere. WHITE PVC fence posts. It was like a punch in the face. Could it get any worse? You’ll see. Apparently nothing sets off a quiet natural setting of mature Austrian Pines, White Pines and Birch like a boatload of white plastic. My neighbors must have been binge watching the DIY network with a case of beer when they came up with this plan. And, the myopic installer must have been nursing a hangover himself while drilling the post holes, clearly crossing the property line and coming dangerously close to the gas main. As is often the case we are asked to ” suck it up” or file a lawsuit. Lovely. You mind your own business and live a simplequietmodern life and now you‘re sh*t outta luck? In one fell swoop some douche changes the entire complexion of a neighborhood…the aesthetics, the property values… and everyone else is supposed to roll over. Yeah….that’s not gonna happen. All that comes to mind is E-I-E-I-O ! In the meantime I need to focus on something else. Something simple, something quiet, something modern. That’s better…the Dresner House.
Top three iPhone snaps: gp Photos of the Dresner House via Plastolux
Cheers!
July 13, 2015
Congratulations to one of my simplequietmodern favorites, Heath Ceramics, the recipients of the 2015 National Design Award for corporate and institutional achievement. You might want to celebrate along as well with a piece of two from their 2015 summer collection
From top to bottom:
The modern cup set, bud vase set and pair of cafe bowls are available for a limited time only in these refreshing glazes of mint, pomelo and storm. photos: http://www.heathceramics.com/
A Little Privacy, Please
July 8, 2015
While a fence can provide a little privacy where it’s needed, sometimes something more substantial is required. A solid wall comes to mind. But, something with a bit more panache…something with a style reminiscent of early mid-century residential architecture. This example by Kennedy Nolan Architects elevates the lowly concrete block to another level entirely. That’s a lot of style, texture and pattern based simply on a $1 brick. Brilliant.
photo: http://www.kennedynolan.com.au/
Fireflies…Fireworks…
July 3, 2015
and a long full day of July 4th celebration. Phew! I can’t think of a better way to recharge for the rest of the long weekend than in a bed dressed in these crisp, summery cotton percale sheets and shams. Now, if you’ll excuse me…
Photo: http://www.parachutehome.com/products/percale-sheets?variant=4220118657
A summer breeze…
June 26, 2015
a great view and a tall cool one. The only thing missing is a place to relax and take it all in. That’s exactly what Thomas Lee thought when he set out “planking” together what would come to be an icon of Summer while weekending in the Adirondacks in 1905. Many incarnations of this classic design have evolved over the last one hundred plus years, but none compare tho the elegant simplicity of the original. The Westport Chair…inviting you to kick off those flip-flops and sit a spell.
photos via Gardenista and Remodelista.
Size Matters
June 14, 2015
What do you get when you combine artist Lars Zech, a felled tree, a chainsaw and total immersion into the process? This bleached oak bowl of epic proportion.
Oak 40″ diameter
For more of this artists work:http://www.larszech.com/10.0.htmlphoto via:http://www.marchsf.com/store/lars-zech-bowl-sculptures/dp/5490
In like a Lion…
April 9, 2015
out like a punch in the face. As if another brutal Winter and fourteen weeks in a sling with a fractured wrist and elbow weren’t quite enough fun for one season…Bam!… a two-week bout with some new strain of Spring virus. I might be delirious or just have cabin fever…or, it might be that I just can’t seem to get warm that has me dreaming of the desert. Any desert, the hotter and drier the better. Ahhh…I can almost feel the sunlight baking the chill right out of me.
top to bottom:
A simple branch parched by the sun and sanded smooth by blowing sands. photo: gp
A T shirt and linen pants. What else do you need to loll around on a 100 degree day?http://madebymuku.blogspot.com/
Ocotillo, or Devil’s walking stick. I’ll have to wait for my get-a-way in the desert to put it’s sculptural qualities to good use.http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/trans-p/nature/images/ocotillo.html
Georgia O’Keefe knew simplequietmodern when she saw it in her Abiquiu home and studio early in the last century. Not hard to get inspired here I’m sure. http://www.okeeffemuseum.org/abiquiu-home–studio.html
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