It’s a little boring, no? Rather hotel-ish. All that beige… *yawn*

And really, can we do away with the practice of covering the entire space with a giant oval area rug covered in eagles and patriotic phrases? Because the floor installed in the oval office in 2005 is just amazing. Imagine all that boring furniture sitting on that floor.

Wouldn’t that be a lot more stylin’?

Am I uploading shots of my own place? No. My fave entry? I like this interior submitted by Joel and Ashley, a husband-and-wife team with three cats, a lot of plants, and a well seasoned kitchen (whatever that means) who rock hard when it comes to graphic design, illustration, and photography. For real, I am a huge fan of their company, This Paper Ship, for invites of all kinds, wedding logs, wedding photography, and so on. If you like it, too, throw a vote their way here.

Brilliant! Sweet Paul, a noted food and Prop stylist and blogger, took an Ikea garden bench, sawed the legs off, drilled some holes, threaded in some rope, and ended up with a darling garden swing that is definitely inspirational. How much more simple can you get?

Some mornings are just plain crap. Now you can have a teacup that reflects the crappy mood that was caused by a crappy morning that is probably foreshadowing a crappy day.

And if a crap teacup isn’t making you feel any better, perhaps a teacup featuring a rather snarky haiku that illustrates perfectly just how much selflessness you’re willing to exhibit today. Tea makes a man mean? Sometimes!

HINT: DIY it with a pretty tea cup and ceramic markers

Breakfast for one with a mod Saarinen Tulip table and an Emeco Navy chair, that is. Add to that one bowl, two plates, and three wine glasses. Don’t you judge my breakfast!

What you see, you can get. Okay, everything except for the first blue velvet seat, which I found in someone’s Flickr stream without any identifying details. From there, though, you have: Room and Board, Brocade Home, (steal them from the) Hotel Roger Williams, 5th Avenue

I wrote about Domestic Construction’s teacup chandeliers way back in the day, but at $60 for one DIY is the order of the day (at least in my household). DIY it with some thrift store teacups, some Ikea pendant kits, and something to hang ‘em from.

What else can you make with a simple teacup? How about an itty-bitty bird feeder or a wee candle? The candle is easy – just melt the wax, pour it, and dip in the wick. As for the bird feeder, all you need is the tea cup, a stick of some sort that you can stake into the ground, and some waterproof heavy duty glue.

And when the birdies who’ve eaten all your seeds need a drink, you can use a second teacup to create a very sweet bird bath. This one was created by Oh The Pollybilities and can be bought along with others at Etsy, but if you have the right sort of drill and the right sort of teacup, consider making your own!

Then you have your three-tiered antique jewelry stand (created in this case by Who Made It, and there’s more) and a surprisingly lovely teacup clock created by Sweet Paul. I love them both!

And there’s this, too. It’s a teacup light sconce for an outdoor space – perhaps a shabby chic garden room or porch? Not sure what the light source would be… tea lights? Pillars? I’d love to see more of the yard that this teacup sconce illuminates, but you could put yours together any which way and still come away with something gorgeous.

From the artists:

Through physically invasive alterations, these once iconic, elite, forms are liberated from their old, restrained image. The project is not a critique of the Eames, but rather a fulfillment of their original ideals.

This project was produced as part of a three day charette in the Department of Industrial Design at The University of the Arts, Philadelphia. The theme of the charette centers around Remake and DIY culture. The purpose of this charette is to explore the role designers have in respect to this emerging culture. The team members for this project are as follows: Jared Delorenzo, Tim Peet, Alexandra Temple Powell, Tom Reynolds, Alie Thomer, and Andrew McCandlish.

From a parental perspective, however, my main criticism of the Eames chair as a high chair would be good luck getting a tricksy toddler’s legs through those holes when she was pitching a fit.

I am not ashamed to say that I have a lot of stuff on my walls, but even I felt a little crazy looking at this picture. Maybe it wouldn’t drive me batty, but it would definitely be the most distracting part of my whole house. Why, I wonder, would someone want people to pause there? It seems like it would be uncomfortable – here, stop and look around in this narrow, confined space. But maybe I’m alone in feeling this way. To find out, I created a little poll. Please cast your vote, and then explain yourself in the comments if you feel pressed to say more!

(Image via Elle Decor * Design by Steven Gambrel * Photo by Eric Piasecki)

To answer my original questions, here are a few things you can do with a black and white Greek key rug:

Er, I realized after the fact that the second and fourth pic are different areas of the same room. Still good for ideas, though!

(Images via: 1, 2/4, 3)