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Outdoor Decorating
This is Misterarthur, filling in while Jennifer (who actually knows about design) gets a hip examination. Men have definite points of view on outdoor decorating. We’re happiest when we can use equipment, you see. The bigger, noisier, and more dangerous, the better. We’d jump for joy at the prospect of a nuclear powered hedge clipper, or a steam powered lawn mower, I’m sure.
Men like symmetry and straight lines.
Where women are happy arranging different kinds of flowers in lovely decorative pots, men are more interested in using machines to make precise edges.
If not that, then we’ll settle for a geometric-in-its-perfection hedge.
And above all, we want a lawn that is more like an outdoor rug than something one would find in nature.
If we can’t have things the way we want them, we tend to give up entirely. And park cars in our yards.
This all makes sense, really. Men probably invented junk yards, too.
Singgih Kartono Mango Radio
This way cool radio is the perfect gift for Misterarthur. It’s cool looking. No one else has one (yet). It’s made of wood. Best of all, it will pick up weird radio stations from around the world.
Designer, Singgih Kartono, kept eco-ethics in mind when creating this series. The radio is manufactured in Indonesia (thus helping employ local workers), from sustainably grown woods. The radios are mp3 compatible, and contain an AM/FM and shortwave radio. They’re a bit pricey - starting at $200. But Arthur’s worth every penny. You can find these at Design Public.
Chair of the Day: from IKEA Hacker
Here’s a fantastic IKEA hack to inspire you. It’s an IKEA Terje chair refitted with hockey sticks. I notice, however, that they left out the Red Wings. Oh well, it’s pretty cool anyway. I found this over on IKEAHacker - a very fun site.
Men in the Kitchen
It seems that Misterarthur left a week early. Porche and Poggenpohl have teamed up to create a Man Kitchen. Poggenpohl says, “Our kitchen P’7340, is a minimalist tribute to the increasing number of men showing an interest in kitchen and cuisine.” The new kitchen will release this Summer, 2008.
“Our co-operation with Porsche Design enabled us to design a kitchen whose sleek and functional design language specifically addresses male customers,” says Elmar Duffner, managing director of Poggenpohl. Anyone named Elmar must know what he’s talking about. The kitchens come complete with Meile appliances (good for heating things up I guess) and, of course, a state of the art audio/visual system . Can you smell what the Rock is cooking?
I’m baaaack!
I’m back from beyond wireless range. I hope you’ll join me in a big round of applause to Misterarthur for handling things while I was gone. His posts were so funny I could hardly breath from laughing so hard. He certainly filled my Louboutain’s very successfully.
I now have a lot to live up to. So, I have to tell you that he is a professional writer with lots more experience than me. He says he’s an “Eminence Grise” (Google it), which only proves that he’s a smartypants.
I was away longer then I had expected. But I’m back now to regular blogging starting tomorrow. Thanks for sticking with Design Hole in a difficult time.
If most men were decorators (Part Three) by Misterarthur
Please don’t get me wrong. Most of the best furniture designers in history were men: Mies, Noguchi, 1/2 of the Eames, Corbusier. But that doesn’t let us off the hook. Men are also responsible for some exceedingly odd, though enduring, designs, too. Case in point: The classic “Let’s saw a couple of logs into pieces, and voila, furniture”.
That bench will last forever. Who cares if it weighs 700 lbs? That’s why they make pickup trucks, dang it. Durabililty is important for men and design, I think. Men would be delighted to have this as a cocktail table, for example.
And why not? You can’t break it, and you could probably use it to move engine blocks around your (no doubt beautiful) garage, should that become necessary.
If most men were decorators, (Part Two) by Misterarthur
I have found (through completely anecdotal evidence) that with almost every hetero couple, the woman takes on the responsibility for decorating the house. (Please don’t call painting the walls the color your wife chose “decorating”) Slowly, the man’s stamp of decor is reduced to one or possibly two “rooms”. The basement. And the garage. There you can see the man’s full decorating ability come to the fore. Here are some visual stimuli if you’re having trouble imagining what might happen with a man as decorator.
First, the basement. Please note the wall color. As I predicted yesterday, it’s white. I think this design is called modern hurricane.
Next, the only other room open to a man’s personal touch, the garage. I found this photo online, and I’m using it for illustrative purposes because the owner of this garage wrote: “I’m quite proud of it.” I think that’s because the owner can see the floor. I like the “wall treatment”.
If most men were decorators. (Part One) by Misterarthur
I was thinking about how the average house would look if most men were the decorators. Let’s be honest. Sadly, the proportion of men with any sense of style is pretty small. First, you wouldn’t need color chips:
Think of frat houses and dorm rooms.
From my experience, most men would always choose white, off white, sort of white, cream, ceiling white, or bright white.
There’d likely be no curtains, either. The same goes for throw pillows, hand towels, candelabras, chandeliers, guest soaps, valences and duvet covers. I have nothing against any of these items, in fact, I like (most) of them.Same goes for table cloths. But I think most men could not care less. How do you think things would look with men in control?