it’s been a busy week here at d*s and today ac and i are heading off to savannah for a much needed break and a little wedding-location scouting. i’ll be blogging from savannah on monday and tuesday so stay tuned for some photos of the places we’re checking out while down in georgia. in the meantime, i’ll be posting a link to the good morning america segment i filmed as soon as it’s up, along with the date and time it will air on tv! i better run and finish packing so i’ll see you all on monday from sunny savannah. until then, here’s a summary of this week’s highlights. [image above: graham and brown wallpaper: $60 per roll at design public]

• thank you to TIME magazine for including d*s in their “the design 100″ list for design!
• d*s under $100 roundups at domino: decorating essentials and eco-friendly home products
• this weekend: the first ever brooklyn flea and the d*s collective
• 2008 d*s reader survey and alena hennessy print prizes!
• new york magazine shop-a-matic: design*sponge 100-product roundup
• new sneak peek: skinny laminx
• new before and afters: chair love (6 chair makeovers), natalie’s lamp, joanna and marc-peter’s amsterdam home
• new diy projects: subscription card art, bridget’s wood veneer lamp, kate’s leaning shelf
• new city guide: dublin design guide
• new in the kitchen with: mod green pod beet risotto
• new d*s guest blog: elka from popsugar
• interior inspiration: wonderful white
• interior inspiration: alma and nancy’s joshua tree home
• new: porcelain paper plates by virginia sin
• new: orla kiely stationery
• new: cave dwellers print by rachell sumpter
• new: textiles from anna drastik
• new: karen karlstrom pillows
• packaging by palatal collective
• wedding invites: white lettering on dark brown
• eco-friendly: bedding from plover organic

today’s in the kitchen with belongs to designer nancy mims of eco-friendly design company, mod green pod. if you’re new to the site, via new york magazine, each friday we share a recipe from one of our favorite designers. today i’m thrilled to share one of nancy’s favorite recipes, beet risotto. if you’re looking for a way to take advantage of spring’s green markets or just create a meal for vegetarian guests, this is a fantastic weekend meal. nancy has included some gorgeous photographs, as well as the full recipe instructions- click here for the full post, or just click “read more” below. [thanks, nancy!]

On my blog, it?s no secret that I?m a big fan of Kim Myles. Anyone who can resist her bubbly optimism and bold use of color might just be a stick in the mud, if you ask me. I asked Kim if she?d mind answering some couple-focused decorating questions, and she happily agreed. Check out her site for more information on her design work and design- and budget-savvy show Myles of Style, if you haven’t made her acquaintance yet!

Elka: Do you see any trends that follow gender lines (such as, men are more conservative with color; women are more daring with new trends)? Or is it a toss-up?

Kim: So far, it?s a toss up. The only thing that I?ve found to be almost universal is the fear of bold color. It?s funny, I live for color, and everyone I design for on ?Myles of Style? says they like color too, they?ve just been paralyzed by the thought of making the wrong choice?.it?s so fascinating to me! If I had one wish, it would be that we as people who live in a visual world would embrace brave color choices and combos, and just let go of the fear. It?s only color?if you hate it, it?s the easiest thing in the world to change.

E: How stressful is redecorating for a couple?

K: I don?t find it stressful at all; I think that my past life as a hairdresser trained my listening skills to the extreme. My job is to go in, meet the homeowners, and discuss what their dreams and hopes for the space are. Sometimes that includes reading between the lines, and hearing what isn?t being said out loud, and I think that?s one of my strengths.

E: How do you try to make differing design ideas between each person in the relationship sync up?

K: When people don?t see eye to eye on their space, it?s all about finding the common ground first. Baby steps like, ?Ok, you both agree that you hate the current wall color, right??, gets them on the same page and on the same team. Once we?ve established that, we can delve into the ?why?s? of their dislike of the color, and I find that once people start talking about why they like or dislike something (vs. just making a general blanket judgment), all the walls start to come down. As people, I think we?re all striving to understand each other, so my goal in a situation like that is to be the facilitator.

E: What?s your best piece of advice for couples who are butting heads on decorating schemes?

K: Find one piece that you both love. It can be small; a color, an accessory, etc. Once you find that, you?ve found your bridge, and created the beginnings of a ?map,? so to speak.

E: Is there anything that couples should do for bedrooms to keep them, um, couple-friendly?

K: Yes!!!!!! I am so opposed to TV?s in the bedroom!!!! I?ve heard every reason and justification, but I still believe that the bedroom is where you should be focusing on your partner, rest, and sanctuary. Make sure the lighting is warm, inviting and calm, and treat the bedroom like your own private getaway.

E: What if one half of the couple refuses to give up tacky memorabilia, such as high school football trophies/etc.? How can you work around this obstacle?

K: I think that we all have sentimental items that our partners would rather not be confronted with everyday. It?s all about mutual respect, and a willingness to create a space that works for both of you, so be willing to edit/store/relocate those trophies (or stuffed animals), and start with a clean slate.

this sunday, april 6th is the first day of the 2008 brooklyn fleamarket! i’m so thrilled to be a part of this fantastic community project, organized by the gang at brownstoner. every sunday from now till later this fall, a wonderful range of vendors will set up shop in ft. greene from 10am-5pm, rain or shine. in addition to a great collection of vintage sellers, clothing, food and accessories, i’ll be curating a section of the flea called the design*sponge collective. if you’re a reader of the site you’ll probably recognize the names of our vendors (artists like lena corwin (image above), sian keegan, wayne pate and many more) but it will be even more fun to recognize them in person! so if you’re in the nyc area this weekend please stop on by and say hi to these incredible artists. i’ll be out of town for this weekend but i’ll be back, manning the section, every weekend (or as many as humanly possible) for the rest of the summer. hope to see you there! a sampling of the incredible artists and products in the d*s collective are below. want to attend? click here for details.

[image above: bags and pillow by lena corwin]

[image above: bracelet by mollie dash]

[image above: fabric radishes by sian keegan]

[image above: there will be fabrics cut and sold by the yard from repro depot in the d*s collective]

[image above: reupholstered and refinished chairs from chairloom]

[image above: new coasters from sesame letterpress]

[image above: prints and tshirts from wayne pate at good shape design]

[image above: stationery from moontree letterpress]

[image above: tshirt from jezebel design (stationery will be available, too)]

[image above: photographs by john murphy]

[image above: cards and prints from foxy and winston]

san francisco-based designer lisa neimeth just released a beautiful new collection of homemade “diner” plates. available in a wide range of rich, earthy colors (i love the deep orange hue), lisa’s diner plates are available at stores across the country, or via email at lisa’s site. want a little more lisa in your life? click here to check out lisa’s home and converted chicken coop studio.

today i’m running around like a crazy person trying to meet some print deadlines, finish a few website projects and get everything ready for our trip to savannah this weekend. what i could really use right now is a 20 minute break in one of these chairs with a big cup of tea. sadly, there will be no tea for me this morning. but if you have time to take a break, i highly suggest checking out these gorgeous cameo campaign chairs from anthropologie. they look like a lovely place to take a quick time out.

i just wanted to thank elka for her incredible guest blog posts this week. her final post today belongs to the beautiful home of alma and nancy, artists based in joshua tree. there’s only one word to describe their home: spectacular. click here to check out their home photos and read elka’s interview with them.

My fiancé’s dear friend Nancy moved to Joshua Tree, California, several years ago with her long-time love, sculptor and furniture maker Alma Allen. We visited the couple, in their newly built, nearly finished home, this past Christmas, and I immediately fell in love with their modern, bio-regionally designed, green home, which was built to suit the harsh, gorgeous desert climate. Nancy and Alma built the home together over the course of a couple years, with minimal outside help. Here, Nancy tells us about the trials, tribulations, and rewards of living, working, and building with your true love, and how their home has inspired their design sensibilities, future project ideas, and new, rural lifestyle.

Elka: Tell me a little about the process of designing your home.

Nancy: Alma had always wanted to build his own house and thought about the design for years. Joshua Tree provided a perfect climate to incorporate a large courtyard, which had always interested him. The protected outdoor area provides shelter from the wind and creates an area for plants that would be devoured by the local wildlife outside the walls. The design of the house continues to be a work in progress. The layout was changed from the original drawings in many ways while we actually built and we continue to explore possibilities.

E: What were your biggest challenges?
N: Living in a Streamline trailer for two and a half years as we built. The trailer is the polar opposite of the passive solar construction of our house. The trailer is hot when it?s hot and cold when it?s cold. Dealing with the Building Department and local water and power companies for new construction was also challenging. Building codes do not encourage or even allow some aspects of green building. Although you have to pick your battles, we learned to not take no for an answer from the power and water companies, who often give false information.

E: Now that your house is nearly finished, what are you especially pleased with?

N: We are especially pleased with the passive-solar construction of the house. With the large south facing windows (which face directly to Joshua Tree National Park) and more minimal east/west exposure, as well as the thick cement floors with radiant floor heating/cooling and a geo-thermal loop, the house stays cool in the summer and warm in the winter. We?re also delighted with the homemade solar water heater which heats 250 gallons up to 140 degrees in the day and is currently maintaining a temperature of 115 overnight. (If we run the heating all night the temperature does go down as the tank is drained.)

E: Why Joshua Tree?

N: We had a shop for a few years in Los Angeles but grew tired of the daily commute and paying rent for Alma’s studio in downtown LA, our apartment in Silverlake, and our retail space in Venice. Alma and I are both originally from Utah and love the red rock desert. We considered moving to Southern Utah outside of Zion?s National Park, but Las Vegas would be the closest big city and we like our beer and wine. In Joshua Tree we are now only two hours away from Los Angeles, so we can easily have continuity with our work in LA, such as studio visits with Alma?s collectors.

E: What sort of interior features did you consider from both an aesthetic and practical point of view?

N: The fir tongue and groove ceiling. More work in some ways and less in others because it doesn’t require drywall and paint. Once it?s installed it?s done. It also breathes. Due to our very steep driveway, we were required to put in fire sprinklers, which have proven to be very practical for hanging lights!

E: Can you describe your interior design style?
N: Chunky minimal

E: What are your favorite objects in the house?
N: Alma’s sculpture. Fritz & Clara [the dogs]!

E: How about favorite furniture?
N: Alma’s furniture made from salvaged wood! I also love some of the vintage George Nelson cabinets.

E: What’s the hardest part about living here? The most rewarding?
N: The hardest part about living in Joshua Tree is the lack of good food. We miss abundant farmer?s markets and great restaurants, especially sushi…although we have more time and motivation to cook and recently I made my own kimchi! The most rewarding parts are the open spaces, wildlife sightings and the night skies. A giant tortoise tried to walk into our living room this week.

E: What are your needs, business-wise, for this space?
N: The space is comprised of two buildings separated by a large courtyard. The south area is living space and the north building is the wood workshop and sculpture gallery/office. Alma is also building a separate building with a steel frame for stone carving, which will house our solar panels as well as allow for cranes to move heavy materials. Separating the workspace from the living space will hopefully allow us to take advantage of increased tax incentives for solar-powered businesses.

E: What are your future building and renovation plans?
N: We?re going to build an outdoor shower using the solar water heater and the stone carving building.

E: Any advice to folks looking to build or renovate together?
N: Don?t do it… kidding! My advice would be to enjoy the endeavors that go wrong or not as planned as an unexpected opportunity for wabi-sabi - the beauty of imperfection and/or incompleteness. The epoxy that didn?t polish out of the cracks in the cement, the giant tub of permanent black dye that exploded… some of the things that caused tears while in the process turn out to be quite charming in the end.

today’s final before and after belongs to dutch d*s reader joanna and her husband marc-peter. joanna and marc-peter bought a house dating from 1820 in the center of amsterdam. not content with its current state- they decided to completely renovate it. joanna designed several of the pieces of furniture herself (the incredible wooden mirror and lamp) and then had them made locally by a trained craftsman. the rest is a mix of ikea and locally-sourced furniture and the result is a wonderfully airy space full of light and simple modern furnishings (those floors are to die for). thanks so much to joanna and marc-peter for sharing! [for larger, and additional, photos of their home click here and here]

[image above: living room “before”. top image above: living room “after”]

[image above: office “before”]

[image above: office “after”]

[image above: dining room/kitchen “before”]

[image above: dining room “after”]

[image above: bedroom “before”]

[image above: bedroom “after”]

today’s second before and after is a great example of what a little paint and fabric can do. natalie hansen of steamed artichoke studio sent in this great lamp makeover project that cost her only $12! she found the lamp base and lampshade at a thrift store in san francisco and then spray-painted the base and wire with high-gloss white paint and covered the lampshade with amy butler fabric and ribbon from peapod fabrics. all it was required was paint, a hot glue gun, spray mount and a little elbow grease. thanks to natalie for sharing!

[have a before and after furniture or home makeover you’d like to share? just shoot me an email with your photos right here.]