Villa Sibi modernist doll house:



This Miesian dollhouse is from Sirch, a German toy company, which is my new favorite company ever. The house has Plexiglass doors, a large deck, an indoor-pool house and beech-wood custom furniture. I wish I could live in it. It even has the coolest minimalist shower. Future baby is definitely getting this!

Desu 1-Line Spice Rack:


I spotted this clever use of steel at the Brooklyn Designs show earler this month. Desu Design began as an LA-based architectural metals shop but it seems they've relocated to Brooklyn (very smart of them). I'm glad they're here, because I think this is one of the most ingenious spice racks I've seen. The cute spice jars are include, and I really love the spot for the vinegar bottle (I choose to ignore the fact that the website says it's intended for olive oil). I really wish we had more wall space in our kitchen— this will have to wait for another home.

Lawson-Fenning NurseryWorks rocking chair:





I saw this rocker online last week at Zac and Zöe (which offers free shipping!) and thought it was pretty nice. Then Bri and I saw it at Nest, a cute home goods store in Park Slope, this weekend and I liked it even more in person.
It may win out over the Womb chair for baby needs. You have a choice of fabric and leg material.

I opt for the slate microsuede and light birch legs. Of course.

Rosendahl stackable wine rack:



We haven't been able to find a wine rack that works in our new kitchen and we've taken to just storing all our wine in the ridge (it is all white, after all). However, whenever we get a FreshDirect order, our fridge gets too stuffed for anything extra to fit. So, I think it's time for us to get a wine rack.
This stainless steel one from Rosendahl, a Danish company that focuses on good design, can be mounted to the wall. Perfect for our small kitchen.

Angela Adams Islands rug:



A possibility for our bedroom. Or maybe the baby nook. It's also available in a "moonstone" colored background. For once I'm not sure which one I like better.

Kerberos wall door stop:



Another find from Oriac, a stainless steel and rubber doorstop that goes on the wall to protect it from banging door handles. This would look much better in our living room than the ugly one we have now. And Bri, it costs less than $25!

Flensted Symphony in 3 Parts Mobile:



Flensted mobiles have been made in Denmark (where mobile-making is a traditional craft) by the Flensted family since 1954. They make amazing abstract models along with cutesy baby-type ones, all of which are created so that the elements are in constant motion while the entire mobile maintains a harmonic balance. Of course I prefer the abstract ones for the future bambino. I think "Symphony in 3 Parts" is elegant, but will also look good from below. I'm also a fan of their "Turning Leaves" model. My two favorites come in black and white, which at the time Calvin was born was thought to be the most visually stimulating for infants. Now they've come up with research that says babies are stimulated by bright colors more. Good thing we painted the wall and ceiling of the baby nook a brilliant sea blue.

Atacio Umbrella stand:



I am sick and tired of all our umbrellas falling out of the coat closet anytime I grap my yoga bag out from the corner. I've seen several umbrella racks that I thought would work out in the hallway of the building but this stainless steel one from Oriac is my favorite. Now we just need to make sure we won't get in trouble for putting something outside our door and creating a hire hazard.

Pseudosasa japonica bamboo:


Our plan for our garden last summer was to build a seating area and a long planter out of concrete. We completed the seating before autumn came, but the planter didn't get done. So, that's my project for the spring. Once it's done we'll be filling it with a long row of Pseudosasa japonica bamboo. For centuries this type of bamboo was used in Asia to make arrow shafts. But I like it because it can withstand temperatures as low as -15 degrees F, it likes the sun and shade equally well (good thing since our garden doesn't get a whole bunch of sun), and it won't grow above about 15 feet tall.

A simple metal shoe horn:


I somehow lost the only shoe horn I had and now it seems to be impossible to find one that's a)metal b) not designed for elderly men who can't reach their feet and c) sold separately instead of part of a set of "grooming" tools.

The one pictured is the closest I've come and it is being sold by American Bridal as a groomsmen gift. Too bad I've never been in a wedding party or maybe I'd have an extra shoe horn.

The Modern Fan Company's Halo ceiling fan:

After suffering through a winter of a hot upstairs and a cold downstairs, We've concluded that we need a ceiling fan. The Halo fan from The Modern Fan Company has a fluorescent light that is large enough to light up an entire room so it could solve our lighting problem downstairs. It also will look perfect with the new sconces I've eyed for the living room walls (see Jan. 1st post)Plus, it qualifies for the EPA’s Energy Star labeling as a highly efficient, energy conserving design. And it's not one of the modern fans that you see everywhere around NYC. I really hate being just like everyone else.
Lighting by Gregory, a huge store on Bowery that I once dragged Bri to in the middle of a rain storm, has it for $120 under the suggested retail price. I really like that.

A fawn like this one:


My Mom just forwarded me an email from a friend of a friend who found a sic fawn in their yard and took it inside to nurse it back to health. Their dog immediately took over the parenting and now the dog and fawn sleep together. I think Lexie would like a fawn of her own.

It looks like the winning highchair is going to be the Stokke KinderZeat:



After reading the comments to yesterday's post (well, just one of the comments), it looks like we're going back to our original winning highchair . (Yes, I'm whipped.)
Stokke is a very cool Norwegian company that's been making the KinderZeat for as long as I've been alive. However, their products have only been available in the US for the last several years. Bri likes the KinderZeat because it looks good and costs $200. I like it because it has such a simple, clean line and comes in plain birch so it will match our own dining chairs, the Series 7 chair by Arne Jacobsen . And I like saying KinderZeat.
But I still like the "Nest" better.

The Mozzee "Nest" high chair:



I wasn't planning to post baby stuff here for quite a while. Not until there was at least an embryo. But we've been deciding on what to buy for a baby (and occasionally actually buying the items) for a couple years now because it's difficult to find things that we both adore equally. A couple years ago while in Europe we found Stokke's Kinderzeat and it was what we've assumed we would get once there's a baby that sits up and eats. It was perfect because it's a simple chair that can be adapted as the kid gets bigger. Ingenious.

However, last night Bri mentioned a post about high chairs on a cool blog I stumbled upon recently called Daddy Types . I came across this one by the Australian company Mozzee, which I had actually seen in Dwell maybe about six months ago. I wrote it off then because it didn't seem to convert to a chair that could be used by older kids. But I was wrong. It can be used until the kid is 6 years old. And it comes in black so it would look great in our dining/living room. I think we might be lugging this back from Europe this summer.

The KnollStudio Albini Desk:



This desk was in the Sunday Styles section of the New York Times this weekend and I fell in love. In the article the desk was from about 50 years ago (and was owned by filmmaker Louis Malle's nephew) and so I assumed it would be an impossible item to ever find. However, low and behold, KnollStudio still makes it.
The desk was created by the Italian rationalist architect Franco Albini , one of the first European designers commissioned to work for Knoll, in 1958. The free-floating drawers are beautiful and surprising all at once.
Rationalist architecture and design began in the early part of the 20th century because of the development of new materials and construction techniques, as well as an increase in urban populations. It's the stripped down type of logical design that presented the internal structure and processes of production and knowledgeably used the inexpensive raw materials of the post-war area such as the plate glass and steel used in this desk. In other words, it's a look of which I'm often a fan.

The Teagan rug for the future baby's nook:



I get on Briar about the fact that she talks about the baby constantly and we're not even at the point of trying to conceive. I can't imagine what she'll be like when she's actually pregnant! But I, myself, completely enjoy looking for the baby accouterments. And I have a feeling I'll only get worse about that, too, by the time there's an actual fetus.
I think this Angela Adams small, rectangular rug from Modern Seed will look great in front of the crib. And I think it will match the blue paint I just bought for the walls. None of those dorky kid-prints for us. They are as bad as dog beds with pictures of dogs all over them.

Computer-equipment "cord management":



We have way, way too many cords around our desk and we need some way to control all them all. The Room& Board Leg Cord Manager, along with the Horitzontal Cord Manager seem to be the smartest things out there.

An umbrella rack:



This aluminum one from Chiasso would look perfect in our hallway (and it would make our coat closet much less cramped).

The Dyson DC07 "Animal" vacuum:


This model actually has a special attachment to pick up pet hair from carpets and upholstery. I would really like that. I also thought Dyson vacuums lacked HEPA filters, but I just learned they do have them and they are approved for allergy sufferers. But with this new information in hand, I have a new object to lust over. Plus Amazon has it for $25 off this month making it a mere $475. I just wish the pet-friendly model wasn't purple.

A Spring coat:



It's so warm and beautiful today that my short walk to the subway wearing my winter coat practically had me sweating. So, it's time for me to get a new Spring coat since Bri has stolen my other one (she said it looked to girly on me). This one from Banana Republic is really cool for a guy whose mom used to have to sew pockets onto the clothes that didn't have any. Plus, I get a discount through work, which is always a bonus.

Karim Rashid's "Yum Bowl" for pups:



Not only are they so cool, they also have non-skid bottoms and come in two sizes, perfect for Gertie and Lexie (and I'd like one for the cats, too, please). Although Rashid typically annoys me (he's the industrial designer wunderkind who is behind so much of the rounded, colorful plastic furniture and accessories of the last five years or so), I think he's finally designed something beautiful.
These bowls are made by a company called For the Dogs which has won several design awards recently. And they're for sale at a store called Embellish in San Francisco (177 Brannan Street, Bri, so remember we'll be stopping there).

A sliding wall for part of our mezzanine:



When we first bought our apartment and decided that the upstairs area outside our bedroom would someday become a baby nursery, we've known that we will evenually glass in that side. However, living in our aprtment and learning the quirks of it made us realize that closing off that side would be impossible since nearly all of the heating vents for the apartment are there. If we want heat, we can't close it off.
Then I stummbled upon a Raydoor ad at the back of Metropolis magazine.
. Raydoor is an NYC based company run by a furniture designer Luke Siegel. He makes all sorts of sliding walls and doors, but his masterpiece is a telescoping sliding wall that has no floor tracks. Luckily for us he does custom sizes and designs so that we can have a frosted glass wall that can blend in with the rest of the mezzanine.

The Stella Carafe:



Ever since J & P had us over for homemade sushi and served us water in a beautiful carafe, I have wanted one of my own. This one works well for either wine or water and is available at Global Table , a tiny store in Soho that carries unique tableware from various countries (but I guess the name makes that obvious). The Stella carafe is from India.

Finally, I've found the perfect sofa:



Last weekend, our apartment building had an "open house" in order for all of us to check out each other's apartments(although everyone has seen our apartment since we held the last condo meeting in our place). We started on the top floor of our building, at a very nice, but not quite finished apartment belonging to a gay architect who was savvy enough in college to have purchased a Barcelona chair from a friend for $20. Then we went to the next apartment, which also belongs to a stylish gay guy, and it was there that we discovered our future couch. Made by Italian furniture company Molinari , the leather is buttery soft and it's so comfy. And best of all, Bri and I both fell in love at the same time.

A stainless steel patio heater:



I noticed a heater like this on a neighbor's roof deck and I thought it was a brilliant device. The heater provides a circle of heat about 20 feet in diameter, which is large enough to heat our patio.
Smith & Hawken has a gorgeous industrial-use one but it's $500. The one pictured is from Home Depot (the new one on W. 23rd St. is actually sort of nice and doesn't smell like sawdust) and is $200 less.

A new doormat:



It's difficult to find a doormat that isn't ugly or isn't "country". What quite a bit of sleuthing (I know, I can spend way too long looking for silly things) turned up were the two mats above. The top citron and black striped one is from CB2 , a younger and hipper sibling of Crate and Barrel and the bottom "Art Deco Swirl" mat is from Chiasso . The problem is now, does a door mat need to match the building's hallway? What if it clashes with a neighbor's doormat? Or do you go with the one that matches your own apartment's decor? Opinions?

Ann Sacks tile for our kitchen backsplash:


This tile line by Ann Sacks Tile & Stone is called the Erin Adams Zen Weave and it is described as having a "creative aesthetic that employs a wealth of color to reinvent any room. " Sounds like just what we need for our kitchen. I think a combination of bright greens, greys , and silver would be perfect. See, Bri, I'm getting open to the use of color. Sort of.

Angela Adams new Spike Rug:



Designed exclusively for Design Within Reach in 2004, the Spike Rug is inspired by the rugged coastal topography of Maine. Although I've never been to Maine (crazy, I know), this rug makes me want to go there. Actually, I'll skip the trip to Maine, go to Paris instead, and get this rug for our bedroom.

Coach's new Flatiron II leather overnight bag:



I've never liked Coach products, especially since working with the CEO's daughter and getting countless Coach picture frames and assorted other little goods from work because of the connection with said daughter. However, for the past five years I have yearned for the perfect black, leather overnight bag and this one comes close to perfection. The metal accents are silver, there are inside and outside pockets, and it's designed to fit under airplane seats.

Studio Nova Beeker vase:


Bri keeps telling me I am not allowed to get any more vases. But since she's not the boss of me, I think this may have to be the next addition to my collection (especially since I currently have a 15% discount through work). Mikasa's Studio Nova line does very modern, fun items (see my "Columbus Circle" dinnerware entry from last month) and right now it seems that many of their items are being discontinued. I guess is that the typical Mikasa fan wants things that are more traditional. Well, that's just my gain, then.

The Phaidon Atlas of Contemporary World Architecture:



The Phaidon Atlas was in every design magazine's holiday gift list in November and for good reason. It features over 1,000 buildings from around the world—"from the Arctic circle to the African deserts"— built in the last 5 years. Basically a who's who (or should I say what's what) of contemporary architecture, it's so massive— about 20 pounds—that the book comes packaged in a plastic case with a carrying handle. Of course, the price is just as massive—$160 (although Amazon.com is now selling it for $100.

A trip to the heart of Patagonia:



Patagonia, which encompasses the southernmost parts of Chile and Argentina, is known worldwide as one of the most beautiful, unspoiled and remote places on the planet. This photo is the Explora resort in Chilean Patagonia, north of Punta Arenas in the Torres del Paine National Park . The rooms either overlook the Paine Massif mountains, which originated 12 million years ago, or the Salto Chico waterfall. And from the hotel, you can go horseback riding in the mountains, hike through forests, and climb the glaciers of the South Icefields of Paine Massif. Plus, the hotel has a spa. What more could anyone want?

A new sofa, this time one Briar may like:


It turns out that for the past year I thought that the type of sofa Briar disliked was actually the type she likes. I thought she required a sofa to have arms that are shorter than the back. But, no, it is only arm chairs that need to have arms that are shorter than the back. For couches she wants the arms to be the same height as the back. (And she says I'm the picky one.) All this time I kept seeing sofas that I liked and I thought she would nix because of the arm-to-back ratio. This B&B Italia couch was one such one. Of course, I want it covered in black leather to solve that pet hair and vomit issue I've so often mentioned. It was designed in 1993 by Antonio Citterio , who also designed the Diesis sofa I posted last month.

Room & Board's Madake floor lamp:



This is just about the coolest floor lamp I've seen (and believe me, I've seen plenty). Plus it's under $230. I think it's the perfect addition for our living room.

A new, leather sofa:



After Gertie puked on our couch three times in one day (which was preceeded by Briar's vomitting on the couch only a month earlier) we became even more aware of our need to have only furniture that can be wiped off with a cloth. That means we really should only have wood, leather and metal, which suites me fine.

Although I really, really like the B&B Italia "Diesis" sofa that I posted last month, Briar wasn't completely sold on it. I think this one by Keilhauer is a good option. It's nice and cushiony and it looks like Gertie would be able to snuggle right in.

Jean Prouvé's Potence lamp:



We have some lighting issues in the downstairs and this lamp would be a very cool solution (although Briar is still not convinced).
Jean Prouvé designed the lamp in collaboration with Charlotte Perriand in 1950.
The single metal rod extends almost 7 feet and pivots 180 degrees, which means one lamp can be used to light various parts of our living/ dining room.
Plus, in 1930 Prouvé helped establish the French Union of Modern Artists, whose manifesto read, "We like logic, balance and purity." If only I had been alive then— I would have joined.

Cyanide pills:


I don't want to end up like my Grandma— bedridden, unable to eat and miserable to still be alive. When I saw her this summer she told me she was "ready for the grave." "This is no way to live," she said. I'm thankful that she finally died.
I think we would all be smart to keep a cyanide tablet around just in case we end up like that. Instead of waiting for who-knows-how-long to finally die, we could take matters into our own hands.

I said it once before but now I mean it. I need new boots:




Both of these are Kenneth Cole (and both are black although they look different colors) but are strangely made in my tiny size. I'm not sure which ones will put me at the dressy-but-not-too-faggy-level. Opinion?

Fish's Eddy's 212 Skyline dish towels:



They feature the Chrysler Building and the Brooklyn Bridge, two of my favorite structures in the city (plus, it has the Twin Towers since these were first made pre-9/11). And now Fish's Eddy has opened a store in Brooklyn Heights, thank goodness because we have to restock all our Dog glasses , all of which we've broken over the last year or two.

A nice, new steel back door handle:



When we moved into our brand new apartment I was dismayed to see that the developer had for some reason used a curvy brass door handle on our patio door. Not only is it butt-ugly, but it also clashes with the entire apartment. I thought it simply meant we would have to go out and buy a new door handle. That would be wasting a bit of money, but it would simply mean going to any of the numerous cool "hardware" stores in the city ( Simon's Hardware & Bath on 3rd Ave being my favorite and the place I got our cool bedroom door pulls). Of course, we never seem to get things done the easy way, so the type of door that we have can only take door handles made by Andersen , the company that made the door. Luckily, they have the Metro "Anvers" handle, which basically matches the handle on our front door. Of course, though, the handle costs $200! It seems like our developer should have used this handle in the first place. Oy.

I keep seeing the cutest bunnies:



Not real rabbits, of course, just pictures of ones online, mostly on Pet of the Day .
I took a look at Petfinder.com to see if they had any for adoption in the tri-state area and they had hundreds, each one cuter than the next (I'm especially fond of the ones with fuzzy faces and giant feet).
When we first moved into our new apartment, I was walking up the block and saw a little girl holding a bunny. At first I thought it was a kitten since how many bunnies do you see in New York? When I got right up to her I realized it was a sweet rabbit just sitting in her arms.

Mikasa tableware based on buildings.
Columbus Circle:


TRUCK is a group of architects who joined forces several years ago to create architecturally inspired home products. Last year, they partnered with Studio Nova , one of Mikasa’s brands, to produce its first line of tableware. Although they have several different patterns, the building-inspired ones are the most appealing.

TRUCK based the pattern of these plates, bowls and mugs on 2 Columbus Circle, the landmark 1965 building by Edward Durrell Stone. The building is often referred to as "the lollipop building" because of it's circular opening at the top of the ground level columns.

I had the pleasure of going to an event there about 8 years ago when it housed NYC's Cultural Affairs Department (the agency moved out in 1998 and the building has been vacant since then.) Now it is slated to be sold and renovated as a permanent home for the Museum of Arts and Design. The Museum wants to completely change the facade and since the building is a nationally recognized (but controversial) icon of the Modern Movement, there have been numerous panel discussions and debates about the preservation of the building. The building is currently listed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as one of "America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places of 2004."

The Cat Tree (aka the coolest scratching post ever):



From San Fran's Everyday Studio ,a wall-mounted scratching post framed with 16 gauge steel and available in 6 colors (I like the midnight blue I pictured). Everyday Studio writes: "Cat Tree provides a refreshing alternative to the banal carpet and plywood pieces which currently saturate the market." I couldn't have said it better.
 
The best part is that the corrugated cardboard surface can be replaced. And although it's more expensive that a scratching post should be, at $70 it's not fall-over-fainting extreme.

Both Art and Amelia would love this— Amelia because it's the cardboard type she loves and Art because he rwally likes to stand and stretch. (And as soon as I started to write this Amelia jumped up onto the desk as if to give this some feline approval).

Cubox 21 Wall Sconce by Italian design studio Laser Illuminazione:



Our living room lighting sucks. What we need are some great sconces that will shine light both up and down. The Cubox sconce available through YLighting is my favorite. The thin metal frame is subtle and gives a very unusual look to the light. I'm sick and tired of the typical light sticking out from a flat base that's attached to the wall.

Today I'd really only like to see a return to normalcy for Indonesia, Thailand and the other regions effected by the tsunamis.

The Aceh province in Indonesia once looked like this:




But now this is what it is like there:


The earthquake measuring 9.0 magnitude struck the western end of Indonesia's Sumatra Island at 7 a.m. local time, Sunday, Dec 26th, flattening buildings and sending a wall of water higher than the tops of coconut palms into the towns and villages in the province of Aceh. It was the fourth-largest earthquake since such measurements began in 1899.
Some of the resulting tsunamis reached as far as 91,000 miles from the epicenter of the quake (as far away as the eastern coast of Africa), which was located about 100 miles off the coast of Indonesia's Sumatra Island at a depth of about 6 miles.
The death count currently stands at 150,000, with 500,000 seriously injured and millions lefthomeless.
To help, donate money to the Red Cross , Oxfam or similar groups.