Is Stickley is the New Ikea?

June 23, 2017

...but you’re out. Stickley is in. Thanks to the folks at Archive.org you can download a copy of Gustav Stickley’s 1909 furniture catalog as well as Gustav’s brothers Leopold and John George’s 1910 catalog. Gustav and his brothers enjoyed their fifteen minutes of fame between the years 1900 and 1915. Furniture trends changed during and after WWI and Gustav’s company went bankrupt. It wasn’t until the 1970s when interest in the Arts and Crafts movemen...

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Hidey Holes and Hooch Hounds

Mr. Homegrown

October 20, 2017

Design

1 Comment

...sion that most struck me was the elaborate prohibition era hidden liquor accommodations. Ned was a notorious alcoholic and fitted out almost every room with small cabinets tucked into the walls. He even had his own bowling alley in the basement adjacent to a speakeasy cleverly hidden behind a roll up wall. Both were restored for the film There Will Be Blood. Prohibition sparked a lot of creativity in the 1920s even among those with fewer resources...

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How to Organize a Small Workshop

Mr. Homegrown

November 3, 2017

Design

6 Comments

...ommunity. All you have to do is make a quick sketch of your work space and download the components. Make all tools and workbenches the same height. When you do this every surface is a potential out-feed table for a table saw, miter saw etc. Use chalkboard paint to label cabinets and drawers. Clean as you work. I don’t always live up to this principle in the workshop or in the kitchen, but when you don’t have a lot of room you’ve got to put stuff b...

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I Deleted my Facebook Account

Mr. Homegrown

April 23, 2018

Thoughtstylings

44 Comments

...elieves). But Facebook does just the opposite. It leads to the illusion of community while actually encouraging many hours spent alone in front of a computer. Since deleting my account I’ve found myself setting up in-person meetings with people I don’t see very often rather than just looking at their Facebook posts. But it would be wrong, I think, to blame Facebook for pulling us apart. Facebook, as Patrick Deneen put it, “elicits loneliness from...

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Reader Feedback About Facebook

Mr. Homegrown

March 2, 2018

Thoughtstylings

8 Comments

...ere. I’m just as guilty as anyone of posting a poorly considered or heated comment in the moment. That’s why I don’t participate anymore. Even good commenting is fundamentally flawed with the absence of physical cues that make face-to-face conversation work and the popularity rankings that help make platforms addictive. Thread participation too easily deteriorates into open hostility and bastions of groupthink at the expense of genuine thoughtfuln...

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