10 basic principles when decorating

Ok, it's time to get busy. HGTV.com comes to our aide with a 10 step guide when decorating your home. Now, this web may not represent the peak of modern design and style, but this is about the basic principles - you add the style. So if you like to refresh the basics how to get it right, take a look at this short and handy guide. You can drill down in every step to get an example from a designer.

Warning to style sensitive people: HGTV.com may contain cheezy images like this one.

Lord Of The Rings Furniture

I know a lot of you folks out there enjoyed the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, as did I. Peter Jackson put a lot of effort into the incredible environments in the films and I think a fair amount of people got inspired by all the costumes, gears and interiors. I can see why it would be a good idea to try to re-create that, and perhaps make a buck or two, selling it to LOTR fans.

Over at Middle Earth Furniture they're making a pretty decent effort to capture the LOTR spirit in their products - and it's not just about churning out copies of furniture as seen in the films. If you're into LOTR, take a look for yourself.

The Rohan & Gondor Coffee table, I kid you not. Imagine our heroes kicking back with their tired feet on this baby.

Exceptional Woodworking

Following up on the previous woodworking post, I just wanted to share some more inspiration that I stumbled upon when I was checking out the web of the talented woodworker James Krenov, who used to live here in Sweden. He's well known for his delicate cabinets and his gentle approach to the material.

On his web there's a link to the Pritam & Eames Gallery and I recommend you stopping by their display of some top notch crafted furniture.

This chest with drawers really blew my mind. Not to mention the coat rack to the right.

Woodworking hotter than ever

We've seen more and more pro equipment moving into the domestic domain the last couple of years. It's not just picking up an ordinary coffee maker when your old one gives up it's last breath (after the one-year guarantee + one day). Oh no, you have to read up on pressure numbers, coffee and water qualities in order to wrestle down the big stainless steel monster of an espresso machine and drag it home to your cave. The same goes for the whole household. You need to hammer down a couple of nails? Why not go pro and buy that nail gun? Need to lift something in the garage? Well, that new overhead crane you installed may come in handy some other day - who knows? Life's an equipment sport.

So, now you've got all those tools. What to do? That's why woodworking is so hot right now. Think about it. You got the tools and can get the palpable satisfaction from working with your hands creating something after a day of pen pushing at the office (bit pushing, nowadays I suppose). Let me start you off with a woodworking plan to make a fine Finger Joint Jewelry Box. Good luck! Not that I think you need it - since you got the tools for it!

Hmm those finger joints look tricky...I think I'll need to get a band-sawing machine

Enter the Hive

Time for some design shopping, folks! Style and business don't seem to mix very well on the web. For some reason stores on the web usually are butt ugly and confusing, but let me point out one of the exceptions. Hive is clean, lean and has a mean stack of classic design products. Just browsing the categories waters my mouth (and makes my credit card run and hide). Ah well, in another life, maybe.

One of my favorites, a re-make of the 1966 "Joe" chair. Perfect for the lawn.

The wallpaper making a comeback

Remember in the 70's (oops tell tale phrase), when wallpaper patterns were bold and colors hammered the daylight out of your senses? Since then we've seen wallpapers becoming more and more anonymous, even replaced by paint. However, a few years ago we saw bits of patterns showing up on one or two walls in our homes. Now again patterns are bold, but they enhance the room rather than completely occupying it.

Maybe it's time for the total comeback for the wallpaper? New York Times has an interesting piece about new designers putting the cool back on paper. Take a look and be inspired.

Wait a minute...someone tore up my wallpaper! It's the design, man! Oh, ok...cool

Hamster's lair gets my vote in coolest room top list

Welcome to the other side of the New Year! Hope you made it through the holidays fairly unharmed. Let's start off 2006 checking out futuristic e-homes over at Wired. Many times so-called "e-homes" are nothing more than a poorly integrated home entertainment center and perhaps some remotely controlled dimmers, but in this article you can find a couple of solutions that are genuinely original and well integrated.

My favorite is the Aspen house on a plot developed by Mr Hamster Face himself, actor Michael Douglas. It's surrounded by beautiful mountain views, which it flaunts shamelessly in bath- and bedrooms (I would've used the two-layered glass with liquid-crystal to add some privacy). All tastefully packaged in natural materials. If you're looking for the tech stuff check out the plasma screen that is swiveled out from a closet by a robotic arm - or the tennis court sized server room!

HELLOOO NEIGHBOR! What's up? Not much...taking a shower...