living | laptop to desktop

Rain Design's mStand

I'm a believer in the desktop... but owning one is impractical for me; I'm always on the go - always writing from somewhere or producing a story on location. If I only did work when a desktop was available, I would be working 30 minute days.

But when the lights are low, and the fire's a-blazin' (check out today's severe weather and 5 Day Extended Forecast) I kind of wish there was a big 'ol lug-of-a computer for-to watch a movie or play around on Photoshop.

That's never going to happen for me, but I can at least recommend this sexy thang for the devoted laptop user:

It's Rain Design's mStand - designed specifically to boost Apple notebook computers a loft, to make way for a wireless (or USB) keyboard and a Mighty Mouse (effectively making a little desktop arrangement).

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living | baby, let your light shine

Innermost's 'Lighthouse Shade'

I blogged a bit about industrial lighting a few posts ago (living | hollywood (backlot) chic floor lamps) but I couldn't resist putting this out there:

Lighthouses are a huge inspiration for a ton of lighting design; they're the original floor lamp, as it were. That's precisely why I love this 'Lighthouse Shade' from Innermost.

As a company, Innermost is one of those firms that's always pushing the design curve - coming up with stuff that fills a room with just the right amount of light while tying the environment to something raw and real.

The 'Lighthouse' is available in three sizes (Small: 8" high x 12" diam, Large: 12" high x 18" diam
and Giant: 18" high x 24" diam) and can be paired with a variety of different bases on Design Public's Web site.

living | super good loft sofa

I've always been a fan of EQ3 furniture - they're on the afforable side and tend to take design cues from mid century furniture, giving their stuff a vintage mod look.

The SAGA from EQ3's current sofa line is perfect for a medium loft or apartment space - especially if you plan on setting your living room furniture in from room walls. At $799, it won't induce any furniture buyer's remorse.

The greatest part: the company boasts complete customization for most of its furniture - so you can pick your color and fabric from the extensive swatches catalog linked near the bottom of the product page.

I wouldn't pair it with any of the collection's chairs - they tend to be a lot less of a value than the larger pieces and I worry about getting too matchy-matchy (oh, yea - Hills reference).

style | 'tis the swimshort season

Yay swimming!

Regardless of how rainy it is outside the office window this morning... (answer: very rainy); I can't help but be inspired by the promise of sunny skies and days by the pool just around the corner.

So it's not like any of us have to get new swimshorts this summer... but the old boardshorts model is getting a little old (though I'll admit: those baggy things do have staying power).

This season though, I'm digging the vintage snap short thang -it conjures up visions of Dead Poets Society and the decades I missed out on but secretly carry with me in my heart and soul.

It's kinda like seeing that kid with the weird croptop haircut and the aviators smoking a cigarette outside the public pool. Yea, it's like that

Parke & Ronen my absolute favorite swimwear designer, operates two tiny boutiques out of Los Angeles and my favorite haunt - New York's Chelsea - but thankfully all their stuff is online, too.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Stripes:

The 'Royal
la Rochelle' - Print Stretch Low-Rise Swimshort from Parke & Ronen. I
happen to own a pair of these bad boys: highly recommended.

The 'Le Mans Stripe' Snap Short from Parke & Ronen. I thought I'd throw this out there - the alternating stripe sizes work better for some guys.

Solid two-tones:

I just love these: Parke & Ronen call this the 'Normandie' - the style comes in about a dozen different two-tone palettes. The yellow and navy (above) and the white and navy (below) are my favorites. Navy's gonna be huge... I can feel it.

living | hollywood (backlot) chic floor lamps

'Studio Halogen Floor Lamp' from Lamps Plus

Working in media production, I always get all excitified whenever I see something that screams 'studio style' - especially when it looks like it could work in a room.

DWR's 'Fortuny'

I've had this lamp bookmarked on my web browser forever - since I went on a lamp-looking tangent after seeing DWR's Fortuny floor lamp (it reminded me immediately of a 1920s Hollywood studio). In love with the Fortuny, but strapped for the $5,000 (shucks, man), I decided to look around for stuff that might fit the industrial-chic thing I was after.

After a couple wild goose chases on Craigslist and Ebay, I found this 'Studio Halogen Floor Lamp' from the rarely-chic dudes over at Lamps Plus.


The lamp's design cues are pretty thoughtful - it took me back into the TV studio, but in a warm and inviting way. The slim neck and quad-blubs (each individually aimable) go together nicely.

Course there's nothing like the real stuff... next DIY project: rig up an old flashbulb floor lamp; oh, yeah.

style | the ring that looks like a puzzle

Georg Jensen's 'Fusion' Ring

My friend Emily - who's studying in København, Denmark - just turned me on to the fascinating Danish silversmithing firm, Georg Jensen.

Jensen the man died in 1935, but his designs are held in pretty high esteem in the silversmithing world.

The Interior Mind's favorite piece is the fusion sterling silver ring - it looks like two puzzle pieces, fit perfectly together. It's both functional and stately: simple with that added artistic element.

The current collection also includes pendants, cuff links and bangles and even a couple pieces in white gold.

No doubt I'll be following this collection in the future. Adding it to the 'Resources for the Hungry.'

living | the ultimate eco-centric lamp

Jaime Salm's 'Bendant' Lamp for MIO

The Interior Mind loves this favorite from MIO. Designer Jaime Salm takes the eco-centric route (without compromising design) with this flat-pack chandelier that's fully customizable through bendy leaf-like shades.

The Bendant is 100% made in the USA from locally sourced materials, and takes the Earth-friendly bit a little further with flat-pack shipment designed to use as little space and materials possible.

Beside all that, it's really freakin' cool.

Each shade is fully self-designable and bendable to create custom lighting schemes and shadows for any imaginable space (more light can be shed for a big, open space or toned down for moody lighting in a lounge or study setting).

Salm's Bendant sells for $175 on the MIO Web site.

living | gaga for this storefront-turned-residence

The 'storefront loft' a la Vancouver

If there's any dream I'll try harder to never let go of (grammar check?), it's the one where I grow up and live in an old storefront-turned-loft.

The idea of living at street-level, watching the hustle and bustle of a busy day on a crowded downtown street, sipping tea and pouring over the Wall Street Journal: ba-liss.

I ran across this article in the Vancouver Sun. Wish there were more photos - but I love the inset front door that opens directly onto the street. Of course a good security system would be a sound investment...

This property's owner had it easy, though. The block he lives on was rezoned for residential use mid-century, so it probably wasn't too big of a hassle to move into the space. I doubt it would be quite as easy today, if the laws weren't already in place.

Still, a fun one to read! I'd love to get my decoratin' hands on something like that.

style | per this week's poll: the perfect cardigan

Burberry's 'Cashmere Cardigan'

Okay - whether or not it's as satisfying as the perfect lover, I'll let you decide (looksies to the right for this week's poll). But I'm still qualifying this bad boy as the 'right cardigan.'

It took me awhile to find - but I'm picky. I'd settle for the BDG's slim-fit or any of American Apparel's cardies... but I had to go full tilt on Burberry's 'Cashmere Cardigan' this past weekend (you'll find it making an interiormind cameo in my title and sidebar photos).

If you're familiar with Burb's cashmere stuff, it's way worth whatever you spend on it. Just be careful when you're driving - they're so cozy you might dose off mid-commute.

living | super sad day for detroit

Michigan Central Station

While not extactly an issue of style, this struck a chord with me today:

Anyone who loves design and arcitecture should be getting on a plane to
Detroit ASAP to demonstrate against the planned demolition of one of the city's
(and possibly the country's) most intricate and historical landmarks.

Mayor Ken Cockrel Jr. wants to raze the historic Michigan Central Station
site - designed by the same firm responsible for another sort of famous Central
Station in New York. The building has stood neglected and empty since 1988.

Of course there are complications to the demolition. The property has been
on the National Register of Historic Sites since 1975 and the State Register of Historic
Sites since 1974.

What's more: Cockrel wants to demolish the building using $3.6 million of a
federal economic stimulus package for city costs (of course the City Council
expects property owner Manuel (Matty) Moroun to pay it all back).

What gets me, is that this building could be renovated top-to-bottom -
potentially creating hundreds of new jobs in the economic tornado that is 2009's
Detroit. The space is so multi-fuctioning that there shouldn't be any excuse
that the space is unsuable; it's too useable.

Instead of levelling something beautiful - with Federal bucks, no less -
I'd like to see Detroit man up and keep some of its history around. The present
isn't looking so good for them, anyway.

Here's the article from the Detroit Free Press. It's a short hit, and has already generated 220+ comments from Freep
online readers.

One of my favorite blogs, Treehugger, has some good further
reading.

living | where no laptop has gone before

Not me.

I'm writing this post from the bathtub. It's shameful but I'm a workaholic.

Not that I haven't been warned - a few friends who know my secret bathing/computer ritual have even done a faux electrocution dance to elevate my caution... hasn't stopped me yet.

The way I see it, we have to bathe... and most of us have to get things done. Why not do both? Enter this little bad boy:I'm liking Peck's adjustable bent wood laptop tray - I found it here, on Amazon. It's out of stock - but I'm curious about where I could find something like it.

Thoughts?

living | dreaming of beds

Sean Yoo's Matera bed for DWR

I've been up for about 24 hours straight now, so I'm prepping for a big drool-filled nap fest before a string of meetings this evening.

All the internal nap-chat got me thinking about my dream bed (pun definitely intended). There's nothing like the perfect sleep spot.

I've always been partial to low-lying frames, but have noticed a definite back problem developing over several years of awkwardly bending into my mattress-on-the-floor a la 1960s Japan chic I've been trying:

| My bedroom layout: Mattress on the floor | Wall-mounted orange headboard (homemade) | Low bookcase runner/nightstand from Crate & Barrel |

So how do you maintain the look without the pain?

I'm gonna go with Sean Yoo's Matera bed for Design Within Reach.

Of course I'll have to save until I'm collecting social security... but when you go for your dreams... okay, I'm semi-over the sleeping innuendo. No promises though.

The storage version of Yoo's solid walnut frame with storage drawers beneath is perfect for a slim memory foam mattress, and ideal for that floaty good night's sleep.

Find it at DWR.

living + style | planners

The Filofax "Domino"

Procrastination is kind of my thing - not normal procrastination, but like... extreme procrastination.

I thought getting a fancy planner would help me - turns out it just organized the things I should be doing. I sort of expected it to do them for me...

Regardless, I have to sing the praises of UK's Filofax. I've got two Domino personal calendars: one for school and one for work appointments. At $25 each, they're not hard to stock up on - especially when you've got a tight schedule.

Each organizer comes with a two-page week calendar layout with plenty of free-form space for writing in to-dos. I hate being confined to specific times, so the empty space is a plus for me.

There's even a clear slip-pouch in the back that allows me to stow my BlackBerry - the touch screen even works through the sleeve. Brilliant!

Now, if you'll excuse me I have a paper due in 2 hours. Wish I were kidding.

living | makeup magic

Dior's Nude Natural Glow Fresh Powder Makeup SPF 10 from Sephora

Thought this was worth mentioning - though it might be a little niche-y. I'm just so happy.

Working in new media, I spend at least a couple hours under harsh studio lights in front of a high definition camera (hey, pores).

It's taken awhile to find a foundation that - despite looking great on camera - wouldn't make me break out like an off-set Zac Efron.

May not work for everyone - but I swear by Diorskin's Powder Foundation. It's at Sephora.

style | in the man-bag

This week's *in the man bag* |Rag & Bone's Mod Messenger from Barney's CO-OP|

First saw this bad boy at Barney's CO-OP in Chelsea. I'm a sucker for Rag & Bone, but managed to keep the 'ol calfskin in the pants - the $415 price tag wasn't working with my budget that day. I opted for Leonello Borghi's vinyl duffel instead.

All-in-all, the Rag & Bone is a masterpiece. Everything's tight and the inside is completely fabric lined. Messengers can be hit or miss, and Barney's offers a return policy of 30 days. You'll have to take the hit on shipping though.

USPS, man.

style | gotta have my plimsolls

dream shoes

They're out-of-stock on the UK's Asos.com, but I found some just like them with a shiny rainbow swoosh and detail at Nordstrom today. There's nothing better than that pancake-y sole. Don't elevate me, man!

style | easter's look

|Cardigan from Burberry|Shirt from H&M|Black pants from H&M|Slingshot from dear 'ol dad|

Every day on theinteriormind, I'll be blogging my outfit. Some days will be better than others.

living + style | celly cases unsquared

My phone dresses better than me.

When my dad told me I needed to get a case for the pricey BlackBerry I'd invested in, I knew he was right.

I pictured something sleek and stylish, but the big-box stores left much to be desired. I even hit the Apple Store, praying that a trendy iPhone case would accommodate the similar shape and size of my phone. Nothing worked - but the trip wasn't a total loss. Enter the fashion-forward leather cases from Sena. The Apple Store had a few for the iPhone, but the selection on the company's Web site is mind boggling. Sena makes tight-fitting cases in tons of colors for nearly every phone imaginable.

Prices range from about $40 to well into the hundreds of dollars for their more high-end celly snuggies.

style | skinny tailoring

I keep getting asked about skinny - slim fit - tailoring. Christian Dior in the 90s comes to mind:::

Suits always seem to fit great on gramps: a little baggy to fit in all that extra man. Even on the indie end, tailors like Ben Sherman don't necessarily hit the mark - but there's hope:

Found this Black Jersey Jacket at TopMan, the UK style giant (they're opening a New York store, and shipping on the US Web site is free for now...)

//welcome//

I'm Jimmy: a Colorado-based news and weather reporter, designer, artist and student. When I'm not in the newsroom or in front of the chroma-key, I'm on the mean streets looking for new classics in clothing and décor - or designing and styling local homes, including my own (featured in the current issue of Boulder County Home and Garden).

Working in a newsroom makes writing second-nature... and research a passion. I love finding new things and telling the world about what I've uncovered.

So here's my urban life: style ideas, decorating tips and steals from the underground.

See you in urbia :)

Jimmy