Home Improvement: Windy Chien’s Inspiring Knots + Best of the Web

Friday, 6 January 2017

Windy Chien’s Inspiring Knots + Best of the Web

Over the break, I was talking about life and business with my dad, who also runs his own company. We were discussing up years and down years and all of the various phases of business, motivation and inspiration you go through as you evolve. I was talking about this next chapter of Design*Sponge and what I wanted it to look and feel like, and he said, “What if you went back to what you used to talk about all the time, like new artists and profiles?” I’ve always loved profiling artists and designers here (and always will), but sometimes I forget it’s okay to occasionally post the way I used to — short, sweet “Isn’t this cool?” posts — rather than spending a few days or weeks gathering detailed information (although that’s helpful, too). So when I came across Windy Chien’s “Year of Knots” project I thought it would be a great way to close out the week and possibly inspire some yarn or rope-related DIY projects. Windy spent a year devoted to the daily ritual of creating and photographing beautiful nautical knots. She said, “Knots are a new language. Every new knot is like learning another letter in the alphabet.” I love the idea of combining a tactile craft/skill with a little bit of a history or lesson. Click here to check out her website and here to check out her daily knot project on Instagram. Until Monday, have a safe and happy weekend! xo, grace

Why not indulge in a little fancy-bathroom window shopping? One Kings Lane did a nice roundup of uber-chic bathrooms with some amazing wallpaper and color.
Yes, please, more of this! Wendy McNaughton and Julia Rothman created a resource website, Women Who Draw, where you can discover/hire women and gender-non-conforming people for illustration work. The site highlights people of color, people from the LGBTQ community and from different religious backgrounds. This is one of the most positive solutions to the very big problem of women (especially women of color, etc.) not being hired as often as other artists.
Holiday schmoliday, it’s never the wrong time of year for spiced molasses cookies.
I want to see the world through florist Doan Ly’s eyes at all time. She manages to always find the sparkle and the perfect shade of blue and pink in life.
Have you seen Moonlight yet? No? Get thee to a movie theater, post haste! It was the best film I saw in 2016 and the acting team was basically a dream come true.
I redid our dining room chairs (with some Japanese indigo fabric) in an impatient fit right before New Year’s Eve. Hence, my ode to the humble but all-powerful staple gun.