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Here Are a Few of My Favorite Things

One of the fun things BonAbode will do is allow people to trade great resources. I thought I'd kick things off with a list of ten of my favorites.

1. CASE da Abitare - This magazine is in Italian, but when you buy it on the newsstand in the US, the big articles are translated in the back. I love this magazine. No publication better captures the wonderfully warm crossover between contemporary and organic design. Every week I see something truly beautiful.
2. Wright Gallery - This is an auction house in Chicago that specializes in American 20th century collectables. I've never bought anything from them, but I always look at the items for bid. Really wonderful. And while you'd spend more money there than you would at say, IKEA, you won't spend more than you would other fine furnishings.
3. Ann Sacks - A Portland based company with about 30 locations across the country. Totally out of my league, but wow, do they have beautiful tile. Maybe someday, when BonAbode is really big and famous I will finish my bathroom in Turkish Seljuk style tile.



4. Etsy - This is a site for handmade work. Right now it's dominated by young people, so while the skill level is not always top notch the ideas and energy are fantastic. A great place to look for little accessories and it's super affordable.
5. Delia - Handmade steel furniture and accessories. A nice collection of things for the home and office that are both contemporary and organic. Check it out. (I own it-which makes this a shameless plug)
6. Mantiques Modern NYC - If you are a guy who likes modern design and modern materials especially industrial influence than check this out. I doubt that you've seen anything like it.
7. Lowes and Home Depot - I didn't want to put them on this list initially, but I go there every week and they are a fantastic collection of the stuff you need. If only they would take some of those millions and hire a few more people to walk around and be helpful.
8. Limn SF Furniture Store - Another place that is out of my league. I lived in San Francisco for ten years and I went there the way I would go to a museum. I'll never actually own any of it, but it's so good it's just a pleasure to see it.
9. I draw a lot of inspiration from nature. (Sounds corny, I know.) For instance, when I was a trying to find colors to paint my house, I found myself driving home from work and seeing how much I liked the evening sky set against the green and brown of the hillside trees. I wanted to come up with shades of browns and blues. And with some sound advice from Becky at Imperial Paint I got just the color I wanted. By the way, if you need help with paint, Imperial Paint on NW Yeon in Portland, OR is terrific.