Let's get over to Hamburg!

Just been checking out this amazing shop in Hamburg, Germany ... imagining that one day we'll get Know Your Product looking this amazing.

The store's called 'Wohnkultur66' - and is run by a couple named Martina and Manfred - and specializes in Scandinavian mid-century furniture.  They stock a nice mix of pieces from some of our favorite designers - Wanscher, Juhl et al - and their display is nice if you're into that kind of thing.  We most certainly are.

We first came across them earlier this year when their home was featured on the apartmenttherapy site ... just nice all 'round!

Take a look if you have a few spare minutes - beautiful place in a nice setting.  Though I suspect they suffer the same problem we have where friends come to visit and often note that our house is just like our shop, but with a tv ...

... tis the season ...

 

What with all the decking of halls we've been doing (not to mention the comfort and joy one is constantly tiding this time of year), we almost forgot that it's all a big buildup to the 25th.

It's all kind of a retail festival as much as anything else these days ... but we like to think that there's a little more to it.  Please try - be nice to somebody in the carpark of the mall, tip your waitress, take your shoes off before you kick the dog ... niceness begins at home.

Thanks for visiting us and entertaining us thru the year - have a safe break! 

reptiles again?!??!

Always thought we'd be sharing our love of mid century design on our blog ...
We went down to Morwell see a lady about a sideboard on Monday ... the sideboard's lovely, and has enjoyed a touch of restoration and is on the floor at PRODUCT now.

But the real action came when she asked if we could help out with a lizard problem she was having.  She had spotted a blue-tongue in a tea-chest of old magazines in her shed a week ago, and was too scared to go back into the shed since.

Turns out that blue-tongues move kind of fast when they see a hand coming towards them, so decided to carry the whole box across the road to a bushier spot and our scaly friend was soon off to terrorize some non-humans.

Oh ... if you need to be reminded why we have sent all the politicians off to Copenhagen this week, we recommend a trip down to south-east Victoria ... the views ...

can't hide from nature ...

As much as unexpected visits from creepy crawlies 'round the house can be mixed blessings (I feel a bit tense and bummed every time I see a hairy spider on the ceiling - the prospect of relocation is never fun), it's great when you get a fun one.

Seriously, this little mantis was under 1cm long - proper thumbnail size - and spent the evening relaxing on our knife rack.  We moved him out to the chilli plants on the patio and he seems to have settled well.
Nice to know that the critters are doing their thing all around us ... just gotta keep a lid on the surface sprays!

more woodgrain ...

Meanwhile, we finally succumbed to some faux log ceramic mugs we came across at a local op-shop.  Not the first time we've seen them, but we have always managed to control our "It's fake wood, buy it!" urges up 'til now.

So, having crumbled, and now having 4 mis-matched (and some may say tacky) woodgrain coffee cups on the shelf it looks like yet another thing added to the list of "We collect those - keep an eye out ..."

A friend once told us that once you have more than 2 of something, it's the start of a collection ...

back to nature

 

 

When we arrived at the ranch on Monday we were greeted by the sight of a 'deceased' lizard (young goanna, small dragon ... not sure exactly) all sad and limp in the kitchen sink ... we were kind of sad - what a lonesome place to have ended his/her days ...

After about 10 minutes of feigning death, the lizard dropped the pretense and decided to make eye contact with us - a big relief to know it was alive, but it made the prospect of repatriating to the wild a bit less simple.

Quick saucepan ride out to the dam and it was all good ... happy lizard, happy us ... and the house is just a little less like a reptile enclosure now - so that's good too!

those clever swedes ...

From this ...

... to this!

A 1940's Swedish treasure, we just finished restoring a super-amazing 3-piece lounge by Svegards.  Put together, it was a nice, clean and modern looking set - all open lines and pretty detailing ...

But the crazy amazing thing is that 2 armchairs and a 2-seater sofa pulled apart (no screws, no bolts) and fitted into the back seat of a sedan - including cushions!  An early example of "KD" (knock-down) furniture, you can see where IKEA are coming from.

Sad to say goodbye to such a beautiful set, but it went to a good home, so all OK.  Life would be so easy if all our favorite pieces packed up so neatly.

welcome to PRODUCT

Hi all ... sorry we have been a bit lax on the new entries over the last couple of weeks.  We've been busy with our new baby - a gigantic new store ...

For the past year or so, visitors to Know Your Product have been known to ask "Do you have any more stock that's not in the shop?" to which we reply that we have lots, just nowhere to display it ...

So when the opportunity arose for a short-term rental across the road from us in a big, big space, we jumped.  After much moving of furniture, and a few late nights, we are proud to present PRODUCT ...

We are loving being able to see our collection out and on display - hope you will too ... there's a big mix of Australian and Scandinavian furniture and hi-fi - all of which would be in our loungeroom if we could fit it in.  Mum always said it's good to share though, so it's all for sale.

The new showroom is at 118-122 High Street Northcote, and is open Wednesday to Sunday until the end of the year ... now we just need to get to work on taking photos of everything for the website and we'll be sorted.

Come visit if you get the chance!

etc

Norwegian architect Sverre Fehn (r.i.p.) - via edificial ...

we sold the mini version of that ryamatta rug on Sunday ... nice ...

modern, warm, and fake-tree!  that's about all anybody needs in a bar ...

architecture by Isoha Ghini - pic via 'behind the curtains' ...

inner peace

While we're complaining about how good life could be with a little less clutter ... a touch of Swedish Modern decorating ...

You may have your own opinion, but we think that these sofas look close to the ultimate in comfort (and manage to look mildly cool at the same time) - as far as that goes, we could settle in for an evening of lounging even if they are facing a blank wall ... who needs television when you're that relaxed?

mercy!

To be fair, if you knew the photographer was coming over, you could probably make a corner of your house look super-nice, even if it meant piling up all that clutter on top of your bed temporarily ...
Still, in our hearts we know that this is just one view of the near-perfect interior ... love it.

mmmmm ....

Need somewhere to stash all your tiny things?  From bird and banner again ...

 ... too cool.

sweet coathangers

Just came across these totally nice hangers by Antonio Vitali on bird and banner ... as always, wood is good!  Almost enough to make you want to remove those wardrobe doors?

monday again ...

Since we have the shop open for biz on the Saturday and Sunday, the days most folk call Monday and Tuesday are our official 'weekend' ... meaning, of course, that Wednesday gets to carry all the stigma generally associated with Monday.

If it seems confusing to read, imagine living it!

We spent our weekend up at the farm - being amazed at the amount of rain still falling, and marvelling at the ever-rising levels in the dams, and at the kangaroos' ability to totally ignore the wet and cold.

Took some nice photos - will post a couple soon as the film's back from the chemist.

more nordicity

Pity our Dutch is so rusty - can't work out too much about them, but PIET EIN EEK make super-duper cool stuff ...
... and


... oh, and

okay - enough already. Best you just gather your Euros together and take a look ... oh - they do have an English translation ... just got too hypnotized by their work to notice.

... up

Sure everybody's seen it by now - well, we finally went to see UP last night. Carl and Ellie - just about my new fave movie couple. And that Ellie was a pretty good decorator too.

more woodiness

I know ... seems like if it looks like a log we love it. True dat. If there's a way to bring the outside world into our little compartmentalized lives, we're up for it. Next week we might finally get a few days of quiet up at the farm - do a bit of kooky woodworking/tree-appropriation of our own.

We spotted this serious looking table on birdlette - a blog from Sweden jam packed with really beautiful images ... if we ever get sick of Melbourne (HOW could anybody?), I think a few years in the fjords might be a nice plan. Anyway, do visit birdlette for some heartwarming stuff ... oh, while you're out checking the blogs, go to fine little day - it's extra nice too.

architecture begins at home

Now to be frank, we would happily take this crusty old farmhouse on as-is - lick of paint and a few swoops of the broom and we'd be in. A visit to rusted mustard (via what's blogging my view) tells more of the story ... take a stroll around the back and ...


Just too fun - Canadian artist Heather Benning has created a life sized dollhouse in a Saskatchewan feild, complete with mid-century furniture and fittings ... genius!

sign of the times?

Possibly not the most important question of our era, but where have all the macrame owls gone?

When we opened our store 3 years ago, they were kind of our 'thing' (along with flip-clocks, polaroid cameras, etc etc) - we always managed to have 4 or 5 in stock, and could usually find more when somebody bought one ...

Could be another symptom of climate change, or part of the 'string-theory' fluxus, but we haven't had a new owl arrive in our lives for months now. Anybody looking to offload theirs (what do you need 'em for?) - please get in touch.

dream home

That's why we dream in black and white ... pic by Selwyn Pullan - prolific architectural photographer - via Ouno Design, a canadian blog well worth frequenting. Thanks!

the pathway to enlightenment

For the last couple of years we have been tossing up between flagstones, slate slabs and quartz gravel for a bit of paving out the front of our ranch - but on our budget we have been cooling our jets and going with the 'mud and grass' option so far.

Happily, the convergence of (a) a fallen tree in the front paddock, (b) the government's new and relaxed attitude towards removing bushfire fuel, and (c) this beautiful pic from apartmenthterapy ... has led us to the solution.

Chainsaw will be out and creating pathway magic over the next few weeks - hopefully we'll remember to take some pics.

SpY ... spanish street-art

Man, there's nothing better than street-art that makes you smile. SpY, an urban artist based in Madrid, definitely fits the bill. A bit of irony in the vein of Mr Banksy, si?


We came across a few of his pieces on we heart stuff. Definitely recommend a stop by SpY's site while you're out there ... nice. It's not ALL basketball themed, promise.

home made wood ...

Too cool ... I'm sure we came close to making these in kindergarten, but the clever kids at Tenth Muse Studios have taken it to a whole new level of goodness! Clean and nifty plaster bookends in the best faux bois tradition ...

Grab an empty milk carton, some plaster of paris, a melon-baller and your best carving-skewer and you're on the way. All we need now is a few fake plaster books to squeeze between 'em and our fake study will be complete.

just like the Ramones said ...

Ahhh ... a break from woodgrain, but still keeping it natural.

This supercool bit of shelf-candy is a Rock Radio, designed by Guus Oosterbaan ... a man of ideas with plenty up his sleeve. Simple and clean - just 3 plugs at the back (speaker, antenna, power), and the cracks are deliberate - better reception.

As much as plastic has changed the world and given us plenty of fun stuff, we still say science+nature=joy.

genius ... or too much free time?

WOW!

This is pretty nuts - a wooden ipod mini, fully functional, made without glue.

Pls check out Josh D's flickr set for more photos - including the matching dock and i-trip transmitter.

Will wait for the ipod touch version - though the risk of splinters may deter some ...

digital radio ... whatever.

Okay - let's all just remember who our friends are.

Today was the big launch of digital radio with hype a'plenty - like any of us have a radio that will give us the cd quality sound that digital can deliver. Don't get us wrong - we love a new gadget if it gives us something exciting. Still, nothing keeps the consumers consuming like a bit of forced obsilescence.



And our clock-radio isn't susceptible to any virus either ... good luck world.

mo' log

There's nothing we love more than fallen timber, repurposed effectively.

We love these bowls we saw on sub-studio - it's a really nicely curated blog too. Go visit sometime for pretty pictures.

some days ...

So - does it make you a better person, or just a fool with persistence?

Latest update on the rat-race - the rats are still winning.