Category Archives: Furniture

New Diggs

Posted on by Kim

Knoed Creative has a new home away from home. Located on Ravenswood, our new studio is full of character and  O P E N  space. Something we have desperately craved. We had a few big DIY projects to complete before it was ready… like a 10-foot work table, 16-foot shelving unit and lighting. [Check out the before and in-progress shots at the bottom.] We spent too many hours at Home Depot, IKEA and Consumers Plumbing Supply… ordering, returning and reordering. It kept us busy and sweaty, but it was worth it! We’re so happy with how it turned out and feel so inspired in this new space. Notice the 2 empty desks? We hope to fill those… someday.

The photo above is our cozy little rooftop deck. Can’t wait to use it when it’s warm out again. Pictured below are the promised before and in-progress shots. The first one is our first look at the space. You can see me in the bottom right thinking about all the potential it has.

This one was taken after they tore down the wooden loft structure from the last crew.

We had them take up the linoleum flooring in the meeting room to bring the cement look back.

New lighting and a fresh coat of paint on the floor! The first thing we moved into our office was a dog bed.

Moving Day!!

Picking out the least warped planks for our work table at Home Depot.

Staining all the wood for our shelves and table.

This is about 1/4 the amount of the pipe we used.

Putting together and spray painting the pipes.

It wasn’t as easy as we thought.

8′ tall x 16′ wide pipe & wood shelving unit

4.5′ x 10′ pipe & wood work table

Yay!

Eames: The Architect and the Painter

Posted on by Kim







Over the weekend, we watched a documentary on Charles and Ray Eames called Eames: The Architect and the Painter (available on Netflix). It gives great insight into who they were as individuals and as a couple. Kyle and I have always known them for their furniture, but didn’t realize they had done other things like reinventing the splint for wounded soldiers during WWII and making films — one film being the Power Of Ten:



Do you remember this? We had no idea they did this film. It immediately brought us back to Junior High and watching it in class. I hadn’t seen it since. And look! The picnic people are right by Soldier Field.
This documentary is really inspiring for us. We never thought we’d be a husband and wife team at work… it just happened. So seeing another husband and wife team like Charles and Ray just hits close to home for us. The film lets you in to their relationship, which had its good times and bad, but he needed her just as much as she needed him. Together, they produced brilliant work that was both structurally sound and aesthetically beautiful.



Watching the film reminded me of British-born Andrew Byrom (above, with his wife and son), another thinker and designer who is greatly influenced by the Eames. Andrew creates experimental typefaces out of things like Band-Aids, drinking straws, steel railings, neon lights and kites. He’ll see something while out in the world and it will remind him of a letter… like when he looks at a chair, he sees a lowercase h. At some point he wonders what the rest of this alphabet will look like. And so begins his process of designing the typeface and usually building a 3D form to go along with it.





To hear more about Andrew’s process, check out his TED talk at UCLA last year. To get a glimpse of his more personal side, this interview is a great read. I was lucky to have Andrew as a design professor during his 6-year stint at NIU. He now splits his time between teaching at California State University, creating experimental typefaces, designing for various clients and playing with his 3 sons.

Thanks to Ohn Ho for sharing the interview with Andrew Byrom

Bike Storage

Posted on by Kim

A while ago, we posted about the design of the Bike Shelf, a new way of incorporating your bike into the design of your home. Since then there have been a number of products based on this idea. These are a few of our favorites, but the Bike Shelf still wins me over. Oh, and if you’re wondering what that first photo is, it’s part of Street Art Utopia. If you haven’t seen their collection of street art, check it out.