We’ve been on a lookout for a high chair for Luna the past weeks. Instead of buying a brand new high chair, we decided to go for a used one and customize it. I found this wooden high chair on craigslist for $25.00. It had a nice shape to it so I bought it, sanded it, primed it then painted it red. A small can of paint was $20.00 so all in all, her high chair only cost us $45.00! It’s a great looking high chair for a small price tag. And, it was customized especially for her.

We made a painting this weekend! We’ve been wanting a large scale art-piece to go up on our dining room wall. We had a large framed photograph up but, at 26″ x 32″, it didn’t have the right scale for the room. We wanted to go big. Like, 60″ x 36″ big. Now the last time either of us did any painting was in art school. Back then we didn’t enjoy it much, mostly because neither of us were particularly good at it. Undeterred, we gave it a try. Things tend to be more enjoyable when you do them for yourself and it turned out to be a lot of fun.

Inspired by color field paintings, I made a sketch in Illustrator and we tried different color combinations til we were happy. Then it was off to the local art store to buy the acrylic paint, the canvas and some 1/4″ painters tape. A few hours later, we were done and it was up on the wall. We’re enjoying it. It’s the bold, large-scale signature piece the room has been waiting for. We call the piece………“Untitled.”

Update: To complete the dining area, we painted a high chair red to add another splash of color to the room. View the post “Red High Chair” for the full room view. And, check out the DIY/Make section for more project ideas.

Bruce Lee’s “Fighting Methods” series and Charley Harper’s 123′s and ABC’s books are displayed side-by-side in our studio. The colors and design of the books play off each other perfectly despite the disparate subject matter. It’s an example of our all-ages, unisex, ass-kicking decorating modus operandi.

I found the Bruce Lee books, years ago, in the street-side dollar-bin of a used book store on Granville Street. It was quite the score since these are rare and sought after amongst collectors. Although, I have to admit I only bought them because the minimalist covers are cool. The other quirk about this set is that it’s the Yugoslavian printing. Presumably, “Metoda Borbe” translates to “Fighting Methods”.

The Charley Harper kids books were bought a couple years back when Old Navy stocked a small collection of Harper merchandise. At $10 each they’re a steal compared to the Charley Harper retrospective “An Illustrated Life.” We bought them before we were even planning on having Luna. They’re nice to have and beautiful to look at, even if you don’t have kids.

Yep, ABCs, 123s and…martial arts. All good.

Last year at work, as part of the new website design, we created a team section where we individually created compositions that represent who we are. For my self portrait, I decided to gather some of my favourite things and put them together to create a still life. Here’s a list of what you see:

- The framed pattern was a gift wrapper found at the Vancouver Art Gallery

– Framed illustration purchased from Yumi Yumi via Etsy

– My handmade Bricolage journals

– Baby Eames chair reproduction from Nood (50% off sale! btw)

– White Eames Eiffel chair from Herman Miller

– Skirt from Anthropology

– Matryoshka doll was a souvenir from my trip to Alaska

– Twigs & rocks from the beach where I live

– Brown oxfords brought back from Paris

– Smena 8M toy camera

– Catalogues: Habitat, Muji, Anthropolgy

Last note for the weekend: hello to Hooray Design. Thanks for including us in your awesome blog.

We keep an inspiration board up in our studio. It’s a easy way to casually pin-up artwork, clippings and other tidbits that inspire us. Items currently include:

• paint chips and fabric swatches for on-going projects;
• few old photos that don’t have a home in our albums;
• spare art prints that we haven’t framed yet;
• reference material and souvenirs;

But most special are the hand-made cards & mini-crafts given to us by our friends. Those gifts always get a special spot on the board or in our library. Alice Cho holds the current record for most things pinned up.

Xmas tree is up! Thirty-five more days till Christmas. Tree skirt: an old white wool sweater. Star: bookmarks I made a few years ago taped together to make a star. Ornaments: Restoration Hardware, Pottery Barn, Michaels. The hand-carved wooden nativity figures on the mantel are from the Philippines.

Welcome to Luna’s nursery. We wanted to create a playful and creative space where she can grow, learn, be nurtured and dream – a room where her imagination can roam freely and memories are to be made.

We also wanted to surround her with pieces that Peter and I love and have inspired us. Most of the pieces on the walls are things we’ve collected throughout the years. The illustrations on the walls are from one of our favourite illustrators – Charley Harper (It’s actually an alphabet card game that came in a box with other letters but I just picked out letters from her name – L-U-N-A – and framed them individually). The Black & White ABC Neutraface type poster is from House Industries, it creates a visual pattern that is classic but playful at the same time. Also from House Industries, are the wooden alphabet Neutraface slab blocks sitting on her night stand. The large canvas you see on the wall is a Marimekko fabric remnant we purchased in Seattle years ago. We stretched it onto a canvas to create a large piece of art to hang on the wall. The white mobile above the twin bed was a present given to me by Peter 8 years ago; it was made by a local artist. We also love the wooden bowling pins sitting on the ledge of her window. We saw it at our favourite home interior store called Habitat in Paris (they have stores all over Europe). They were so cute, we had to take them home with us.

We hope the space we’ve created for her will make her feel at home – a space where she can create her own memories as we watch her grow.