It’s like Saarinen meets Alien: the E-lastic table by Timothy Schrieber, at Contemporist.

If our modern fire pit round up from a few years back wasn’t inspiration enough, CasaSugar’s got a smokin’ hot roundup of modern fire pits.

Coolest Easter eggs ever! Find out how to DIY your own Mondrian inspired Easter eggs at Curbly.

One of our favorite bloggers has hit the big time — er, kinda. Pam from RetroRenovation had her highly-informative video about her bathroom remodel featured at Urlesque, and apparently, they think it’s the funniest thing they’ve ever seen!

Over at Collectors Weekly, read a fascinating article about Kem Weber, the mid-century innovator of flatpack modern furniture. Via BoingBoing.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! That’s right… National Grilled Cheese Month! If you need a little help in the creativity department, let the helpful tutorials and recipes at The Grilled Cheese Academy guide you through the next few weeks like Yoda training Luke in the ways of the Jedi.

I’ve become the person that never makes it to the flea market on time. The result? I see a lot of good stuff walking out. This year, I resolve to make it to at least one flea market with the early birds in the hopes of scoring a deal on a McCoy vase. While I like the simplicity of the deep green glaze, there’s something kitschy and exuberant about the bird and animal vases that makes my heart go pitter-pat. You can see a gallery of McCoy pottery, along with a history of the family-owned Ohio company, here. — Sarah L.

Velocity Art and Design is offering 15% off Roost products through 4/30, and free shipping with orders of $50 or more. We want one (or a few) of these recycled glass bubble terrariums (pictured above).

Wow. Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams are offering a too-good-to-be-true 20% off custom orders, until 5/8, so get in your orders soon, like a pimped-out custom Liam sofa. Wouldn’t it be delicious in velvet?

Jonathan Adler is offering deep discounts on selected patterns and colors from the Positano pillow collection, regularly priced from $68 to $125 , now on sale from $34 to $98.

Score a sweet deal on housewares from Alessi at UnicaHome’s massive clearance.

For all the love we give Etsy, there are a lot of artisans working for larger companies that deserve a shout out. Case in point? Motawi Tile in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Nawal Motawi started the company in 1992 in her parents’ garage. Now the company has its own space (tours available) and is carried at nearly 400 tile dealers nationwide. The glazes are inspired, in part, by Rookwood while the designs are a definite nod to the Arts and Crafts era. If you’re interested in ordering tiles for display purposes, you can shop online through the Motawi store. — Sarah L.

I stumbled upon the Unruly Mustache collection($24) first, just doing some Etsy browsing for fun. It was the name that caught my attention, but when I saw the vintage Tin-type photos I was enraptured. I love these fellas. And then I saw the Groomed Mustache collection($25) and fell in love all over again. I think both sets would be so fetching in our bathroom, as part of a gallery wall, each framed in something like one of these vintage frames — though I’d hate to see Mrs. Halmer evicted. Sadieolive is a one stop shop of Victorian vintage delights! — Megan B.

You know you want to. So go ahead and enter the third annual Make Your Home Your Own contest, where there are two chances to score a $1000 Rejuvenation gift card: simply upload three photos of your home renovation project along with a brief description of that project between now and May 1st. One winner will be selected by popular vote, kinda like “Renovation Idol”, and one winner will be chosen by a panel of experts (not to brag, but our own Mary T. was one of those experts last year). So go and enter — and make sure you post a link to your entry here in the comments or on our Facebook page if you do!

It’s not often that I want a recipe for salad dressing after eating out at a restaurant, but after my last trip home to the central coast of California, it happened. I was having lunch at the iconic Big Sur landmark Nepenthe with two of my oldest and dearest friends, enjoying the amazing view and basking in the warm sun (which is reason enough to pay a visit, honestly), and ordered one of their famous Ambrosia burgers with a salad. And for the dressing? Jaime, a seasoned Nepenthe pro, leaned over, and insistently whispered “Get the blue cheese”. This was no normal side salad with bottled fake dressing, no — what I got was the best blue cheese dressing I have ever tasted. The vinaigrette was balanced between tangy and sweet, and FILLED with chunks of greenish-blue veined, sheepy roquefort cheese. Even better, was after seeing the delight I took in said dressing, Jaime leaned over and whispered five of my favorite words: “I’ll send you the recipe”. And she did. And I made it — only thing missing was the view. So, from the pages of the beautiful My Nepenthe cookbook by Chef Romney Steele, I bring you a taste of manna, in salad form! — Megan B.

above: (top) my version of Nepenthe’s Salad, (below) the restaurant version, with burger, beer, and peek-a-boo of the view.
click for the recipe and the rest of the amazing view, after the jump! (more…)

Call me slow to catch on. I love boxwoods outside, especially the dwarf varieties, but outside of Christmas time, I never thought of adding them to bouquets. This spring I decided to go all in after hand pruning the front walk. I was worried it would look too seasonal, but after plopping a bunch of greens (sans water) into a pewter cup, I’m hooked. There’s no changing water and the price is oh-so right. Watch out variegated euonymus. You’re next. — Sarah L.

Like most people I know, I like to have coffee in the morning to wake me up. And since I often work from my home office, “picking up a cup on my way into work” means making it in my kitchen! Here are a few tips I’ve learned over the past few years that will help perk up your morning coffee (pun intended!):
– Always use fresh filtered water
- Switch to a metal coffee filter, which lets more flavorful oils through than paper filters
- Add a pinch of salt to the grounds before brewing to help combat bitterness.
Want to spice things up a little? Try adding one of these to ground coffee before brewing: cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, almond extract or vanilla. Or, on special mornings –- stir in a spoonful of Nutella before adding frothed milk or creamer. Mmmmmm. Do you have any coffee tricks of your own? — Rebecca F.

Photo credit: Rebecca Firlik

Full confession time! There is always a remote on mine, unless it’s migrated to the hub’s. (A TV in the bedroom is one of those rules I’m happy to break.) What else? A tattered and much-loved copy of “Peterson Field Guide to Birds” that’s gone everywhere with me since I was four. A phone with a crazy-stupid glowing light on top. Whatever book I’m currently reading. (Two if I can’t get into the first one.) And a clunky alarm clock that I’d like to lose so the watercolor could sit on top of the books, but I can’t quite bring myself to trust the phone alarm. What’s on your table? — Sarah L.