Ace Shelving

June 8th, 2009

We stopped by the Ace Hotel to grab a beer and some fish tacos after sneaking around Palm Springs taking images of landscaping. Overall it turned into a very sneaky camera day. I also had to sneak some shots of how the shelving unit in the Ace lobby was constructed so that I might copy it for my living room.

Here you can see the horizontal brackets. All of the supports are made of thin galvanized plumbing pipe painted black. The main vertical supports pass through each shelf with the horizontal pieces connected by a little three way elbow piece. The back support elbow is glued onto the shelf – I think – it wasn’t quite clear except for a bit of glue leaking out of one of the back horizontal support pieces.

Also these tables? YES PLEASE.
I LOVE the brassy inserts.

I think they could be DIY’d…and maybe I might have to do it.

FILED UNDER: decorating, furniture, inspiration

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Palm Springs Voyeur

June 6th, 2009

To get inspired and out of my self indulgent little burnt out funk I drove around Palm Springs checking out mid century exteriors and landscapes.

I know its a tad creepy.

I felt a little like a skeezy voyeur sneaking around slyly snapping shots of peoples houses.

The main thing featured at most places was rock – LOTS of rock. Xeriscape is what the fancy eco peeps call it…I think. Or hardscape? Well, whatever it is – decomposed granite, pebbles, river rock, boulders – its all the rage in this desert climate.

I do like the hedge of horsetail along the front of the above house. The darker green really pops against the exterior colors and creates a nice feeling of architecture against the rolling rock hill. Those grassy bushes are fluffy and nice, but a little randomly placed. KILLER giant cactus though.

LOVE the privacy block with the bright yellow door popping out…not much landscaping to speak of. But love, love, love the white and yellow combo.

This house was RAD. I wish I could have gotten some better shots but this giant truck was parked right in front of the place blocking the best angle. I love the exterior color combo of a pale gray/white and dark gray trim and black accents. The interior walkway had 4 ceiling fans going which was NUTS. I would love to see the interior of this place.

And the frosted garage door! What?? Awesome, but a little weird when you can see the cars. If it was empty and lite up, I bet it would be stunning.

Again more rock. More bushy things. Palm trees everywhere.

I really like these low round cactus’s lining the driveway. I saw a lot of these used around town and think its a great solution for the arid climate. The repetition, sculptural shape and minimal treatment of light gray rocks defining the planting bed is just the kind of modern look I would like to focus on.

Ahhhhhhhh, Palm Springs.

I love you.

FILED UNDER: exterior, inspiration, landscape

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Burn out

June 5th, 2009

I don’t know if all home owners go through this (this being our first house and all) but I am a bit burned out. The projects keep piling up and there seems to be no end in sight. We have no money, little tools, and we lack basic knowledge to solve major issues with electricity, plumbing, wood working, ect.

Everyday I come home and see this patio and just want to cry.

There are at least 5 major problems that need to be solved in this small back patio that serves as the main entrance and exit from the house.

1. Water heater of doom (in the crappiest box in the world shoved into the worst corner between the 2 doors.

2. The door to nowhere (the unpainted door is nailed shut and serves only as the exhaust for the dryer)(on another note – why are there 3 doors in a 10 foot span?)

3. 220 electrical for the dryer (its literally runs through the frame of the door to nowhere)

4. The kitchen door (its installed backwards and I guess the glass pane used to slide open at some point, but theres no hope for that anymore)

5. The random gas line (it runs across the patio from the water heater to where? Oh, nowhere of course.)

I’m just so overwhelmed with all of it all of a sudden and this is just one area of the house. Most every part of the house has at least this many issues or more.

It just seems to take a lot of energy to do the research and try and solve problems creatively. We also have to figure out how to pay for stuff and make the whole house look cohesive as opposed to a hodgepodge of cheap ghetto fixes. I wish I had access to a designer or architect or contractor that could tell me what to do. Its like I have it in my head EXACTLY what I want – but no money to make it happen.

I’m about to go on a little vaca from work since the summer session doesn’t start till the end of June. I want to do projects around the house but feel pretty crappy and beat down.

So how do you battle rehab burn out?

FILED UNDER: exterior, question

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