New Airbnb logo concept.

My favorite submission from the emergency logo design contest on Freelancer.com.

Logo by dutruc

URGENT: Design a Logo for airbnb! | Freelancer.com

p.s. If you haven't read about the actual new Airbnb logo controversy, you can catch up on it here.

KEE Desk Phone Dock

 Not new, but very pretty.

With KEE Desk Phone Dock, use your iPhone as your one and only integrated wired desk phone in your office or home environment. You can make and receive calls like you did with an ordinary wired phone. Meanwhile, your iPhone is always fully charged and ready to go at any time. It is very convenient for your business and personal needs.

KEE Desk Phone Dock

Pop & Lolli removable wallpaper and decals.

I don't even have kids and I'd love these wallpapers and decals from kids' furniture and decor store, Rosenberry Rooms. Spendy, yes, but they definitely look worth it.

Also – I love that they have a wallpaper that is just girl pirates!

 

Rosenberry Rooms | Pop & Lolli

MMT Calendar // Walnut - MMT - TouchOfModern

Pocket watches are lovely – but this one is particularly so.

MMT's Calendar pocket watch rocks a strikingly simple design that lets the natural beauty of the wooden case and leather strap shine. This sleek, modern take on the classic pocket watch is the perfect way to add a dash of refined style to any outfit, plus it's wonderfully functional. The clean face features three hands and a date display for easy reading any time, and the Japanese quartz movement will keep your watch perfectly calibrated for years to come.

MMT Calendar // Walnut - MMT - TouchOfModern

Game of Thrones fan? Check out The Wines of Westeros.

Heaven only knows what the wine tastes like, but the label designs are beautiful. Pinning these on my Gift Ideas list.

The Night's Watch

The Targaryen

The Stark

The Wines of Westeros

(via The Mary Sue)

Google plans to pay for women and minorities to learn to code.

Image via @myasmine

The new plan was announced by Google X Vice President Megan Smith as part of Google I/O. It expands the recently introduced Made With Code initiative,
a $50 million plan focused on getting school-aged girls to code. The
new diversity push will pay for three months of continued education in
coding for women and minorities in tech.

Google is joining with Code School for this endeavor and will be offering thousands of free accounts to qualified and interested people. According to CNET one thousand of these accounts have already been given, with an unknown number of spots still available. 

(Kudos to The Mary Sue for always staying on top of these things.)

The Mary Sue | Google Wants to Pay for Women to Learn How to Code

INTERESTED? You can apply here.

Global concepts of beauty via Photoshop.

Esther Honig, a 24-year-old freelance journalist from Kansas City, put the saying "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" to the test with this fascinating project titled Before & After. Using freelancing platforms such as Fiverr, Honig sent an unaltered photo of herself to over 40 Photoshop enthusiasts in 25 different countries and made the simple request: "Make me beautiful."

(I'd love to see all professionally Photoshopped versions, based on cultural norms.)

Woman Had Her Face Photoshopped in 25 Countries to Compare Beauty Standards Across the Globe - My Modern Met

handmade art dolls by lassandaliasdeana

Really lovely.

original design and handmade art dolls by lassandaliasdeana

Recommended: RugsUSA.com – Radiante Trellis BC55 Red Rug

While I've been kitting out my tiny hotel condo, I've looked at hundreds of furniture and rug websites and thousands of rugs. This was the rug I settled on. I cannot even express how happy I am that I did. It was ridiculously cheap ($172 for a 7.5' x 9' area rug – with free shipping), and it's absolutely gorgeous. AND, best of all, it was delivered quickly without a single hiccup.

Photo: RugsUSA.com

In the process of renovating the condo, I've bought a LOT of stuff online – absolutely mindbending amounts of furniture, hardware, rugs and accessories. In doing so, I've run across a few companies that have genuinely impressed me with their exceptional service, products or both.  RugsUSA.com was definitely one of them. Great prices, incredible selection, quick delivery and absolutely no fuss.

Sorry - crappy iPhone photo, but this is what the rug actually looks like.

Buy it here: Radiante Trellis BC55 Red Rug | Contemporary Rugs

p.s. This is NOT a sponsored post. I just like sharing good vendors and nice stuff. 

A quick, helpful infographic – Circles of Hell in Dante's Inferno.

I'll get around to reading it one of these days.

 

CIRCLES OF HELL IN DANTE'S INFERNO | Visual.ly

IPPAWARDS | 8th Annual iPhone Photography Award Winners

Loads of amazing photos in this year's IPPAWARDS gallery - you should check it out. It's astounding what some people can eek out of their little iPhones.

© JILL MISSNER
Ridgefield, CT United States
3rd Place - 2014 Photographer of the Year

© JOSE LUIS BARCIA FERNANDEZ
Madrid, Spain
2nd Place - 2014 Photographer of the Year

© JULIO LUCAS
Bradenton, FL United States
1st Place - 2014 Photographer of the Year

IPPAWARDS | 8th Annual iPhone Photography Awards™ ||  2014 Winners


(via WebDesignerDepot)

Recommended: Chasing Paper temporary wallpaper.

Confession - I'm in terrifying, brain-crushing, full-on crunch time trying to finish renovating my hotel condo so it's ready for Milwaukee's biggest summer festival, Summerfest. One of the things I put off too long is sorting out a backsplash for the kitchenette. Chasing Paper to the rescue! So many great designs and small panels that are just the right size.

But my favorite thing about it? It's a great product created by Wisconsin entrepeneurs, and manufactured right here in Milwaukee! Yay!

UPDATE: 6/25/2014 – The wallpaper is absolutely beautiful and super easy to put up. If you need a quick decor fix, definitely look into Chasing Paper's wallpapers. 

 

I bought the grey polka dot paper and will beg one of my handy loved ones to put up a wooden trim strip above it.

Chasing Paper

p.s. The links are for clarification - not link bait. :)

Canoe Haiku print.

 Culture Label: Canoe Haiku

ABC Dresser

One for type geeks everywhere.

Fancy - ABC Dresser

Calder Rug

One for swissmiss, who loves all things Calder. :)

Urbanspace Interiors – Calder Rug | Nanimarquina

Budget-friendly polished aluminum tables.

If you're looking to fancify your environs, these little transitional beauties are insanely cheap and SO cute.

Aspire End Table - $58

Amazon.com - End Table

Bella Polished Aluminum Accent $75

Amazon.com Bella Polished Aluminum Accent Table

Classic Red British Phone

I don't have a land line, but, if I did, I would own this. Man, what a beauty.

This bright red British Phone is a classic of post-war British design. It was first launched by the Royal Post Office in 1967, and since then, its sleek curves have ensured its place as an icon of the 1960s. This version offers an updated style with push-button dialing rather than the traditional rotary.

Classic Red British Phone - Dot & Bo

Colour O'Clock

I'm digging this little clock with colors that change as time passes.

 

A modern wall-clock that complements the passing of time with colour. As
the seconds, minutes and hours roll steadily by, the colour window
glides subtly through the full spectrum of colours, creating a timepiece
that adds a more relaxed method of reading the time, not by number, but
by colour.

Colour O'Clock | Analog Timepiece | Duncan Shotton Design Studio

Calamityware: Don Moyer's Willow Ware plates with a twist

Thanks to my buddy, Eric, sending me this link, I will not have to scramble for a birthday list this year. All I want is a set of these plates.

Calamityware: For Those Who Like Their Dinner with a Side of Supernatural Disaster - Core77

Llamas and balloons.

Some days I just love people. Who wakes up one morning and says, "Know what I'm going to do? I'm going to put some balloons on some llamas and take photos of them." Thanks, Gray Malin, for making me smile.

gray malin | One Kings Lane
 

In and Out Tray Set

I think these are fun.

 

Fancy - In and Out Tray Set

Birdhouse wall-mounted WOOD indoor bike rack by DIMINI.

I love that it's got a little helmet house.

Etsy :: Bike Rack Birdhouse Wall mounted WOOD indoor bike rack by DIMINI

Anne Lamott is cool.

The last sentence is brilliant.

 

From the always-mentally-and-spiritually-satisfying Brain Pickings blog. 

Brain Pickings || The Definitive Manifesto for Handling Haters: Anne Lamott on Priorities and
How We Keep Ourselves Small by People-Pleasing

Electric Paint House Kit.

This is really cool. Make paper houses, draw circuits on them with a special pen and light them up. Sweet.

This unique kit is made for budding architects and electricians to
explore and learn about electronics through play. The special pen
included uses electrically conductive paint to create a circuit turning
your two beautiful paper houses into an illuminated voltage village
after the sun sets. The paint is specially formatted to be non-toxic,
solvent-free, and water-soluble, and becomes conductive when dry.
Step-by-step instructions show kids how to decorate and assemble each
house, draw a circuit with the electric paint, and attach all the other
components to complete their little town. Set includes: two pre-cut
paper houses, electric paint pen, four LEDs, two resistors, two LDRs,
two transistors, two battery clips, two 9V batteries, and sticky dots
and stickers. Ages 13 years and up. 3h x 6w x 3"d.

ElectricPaintHouseKit | MoMA Store

Cheap, eco-friendly, hand-knotted, vegetable dye hemp rugs.

If you're in dire need of a new floor toupee, but don't have a lot of cash to throw at the problem, you might want to check out these hemp rugs on Overstock.com. They're beyond reasonably priced, eco-friendly and (I think) quite stunning -- even if you don't have those fabulous floors. (Sigh.)

Fashion meets sustainability in this Green Collection of eco-friendly original designs hand-knotted of 100 percent high-quality hemp and jute pile on a cotton warp and weft.  All-organic, with exquisitely fine jute pile woven onto a cotton warp and weft, and an earthy natural color palette. The high quality jute chosen for this collection are biodegradable and recyclable, with an innate sheen because it is harvested only from Cannabis Sativa, a quickly renewable resource that excels in length, durability, anti-mildew and antimicrobial properties. The rugs are twice washed to soften each yarn before weaving, and then brushed to an even more lustrous sheen in a hand-knotted pile contruction to ensure a rug to be enjoyed for many years.

Hand-knotted Vegetable Dye Chunky Search Results | Overstock.com