Morgan at The Brick House made this beautiful bench from some old fence posts and a pair table legs salvaged from worn vintage side tables. Utterly clever. Entirely recycled.

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From Mexican design firm Omelette: “Mexico’s culture has been sculpted by its prolific natural world and its blessing/curse of petroleum.  Hotel Básico is an exploration of these twin mothers and their vastly undervalued aesthetics.

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This bin calls out to your empty plastic bottle, in Mexico City’s Chapultepec Park.

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This is a Japanese tradition we desperately need to adopt in North America – re-using textiles to wrap presents. It’s an art form, but it’s worth learning because it dispenses with all the annoying and wasteful tape and paper and ribbon, it’s a fun skill to learn (for kids too), and it’s an educational conversation piece – you might have to explain to the recipient what it is, but that’s probably worthwhile.

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The post Furoshiki – Wrap holiday presents in the green, Japanese style appeared first on Ouno Design.

This Japanese boro (futon cover) was made in the 19th century by recycling remnants of indigo dyed cotton and joining them together. It’s so well-made that it’s still in perfect condition.

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I’m not sure why I bought this last week, considering how much I dislike flags, flag waving, or any other patriotic or nationalist behaviours, or sentiments, or merch, but it was somehow appealing when I saw it in the fabric rack at VV.

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Linda and John Meyers of Wary Meyers Decorative Arts assemble these mod, chic, distinctly 1960s and 70s interiors almost entirely from furniture and objects they find in thrift and vintage sales.

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The photo above shows the central living area of a rural farmhouse on the border of Tochigi and Ibaraki prefectures. The house was restored by Kenji Tsuchisawa who bought it as a rundown heap when he was only 20, after seeing a photograph of a traditional Japanese farmhouse on a Tokyo magazine cover.

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This is our friend Jonathan’s 100% lambswool, infallible laptop sleeve. If you don’t feel you can carry off the sleeves, then here’s an excellent upcycled armless laptop sweater you can easily make yourself, but it should be called a sleeveless.

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Spock: They remind me somewhat of the lilies of the field. They toil not, neither do they spin… but they seem to eat a great deal.

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