Kristan Cunningham» Favorite Things

My Life Is In My Moleskine

Kristan — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 08:03:00 +0000

Society and Scott have forced me into an iphone, but I use it primarily for Tetris and the Light Saber. Making sense of my life needs to happen on paper, so I obsessively keep the reporter style Moleskins in my car, at my drafting table, in my purse and next to my bed. But the one I can’t live without is my xtra large agenda. It’s big enough to actually take notes, and gets softer throughout the year. I’ve been using one for years and anything else would feel like having my shoe on the wrong foot.

Van Gogh, Picasso and Hemingway were never without theirs. Get one. It’ll fit you right too…

Moleskine Soft Cover Weekly Planner, $19.95

Watch Me Calculate!

Kristan — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 09:32:05 +0000

If my love of office supplies doesn’t seal my dork deal, how ’bout we throw in a calculator watch?! Don’t care what watch snobs think- when I’m in Target trying to figure out how many inches of drapery panels I need for a job, it feels like just about the smartest $25 I ever spent. Plus, it goes with everything, and everywhere… including the shower and beach. If looking cool while doing math is wrong, I don’t wanna be right.

CASIO Calc. Watch, $24.95

If you love the price, but don’t find yourself handling the same level of heavy duty equating whilst at Target, this other guy is also adorable and affordable…

Casio LQ139 Series

The Ultimate Hug for Your Pencils & Pens

Kristan — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 08:51:15 +0000

There are few $16 items that will make you this happy, and if your purses and bags are constantly tagged with pen and pencil marks it just may change your life. Beautiful, simple, utilitarian- this roll holds it’s shape, no matter how much you cram in it. Plus, you get to look fancy pants in front of your friends when you pull it out…

PlePle Choco Wrap Pencil Case, $16

Life Should Smell Like Le Labo Candles

Kristan — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 07:11:11 +0000

I have an insane- no, I mean off the charts, insane- sense of smell, and a low tolerance for anything flowery. So the first time I walked into the Gramercy Park Hotel years ago, I nearly fell over- drunk from the yummy, wintery scent of its interior- and I’ve needed everything in my life to smell like that lobby ever since. The scent, Cade 26, is custom mixed by Le Labo and is exclusive to the hotel, but the parfumerie carries Santal 26 in its shops and online. If it’s actually a different scent, it’s not detectable to the human nose. Even mine. And, good news, it’s $20 bucks cheaper!

Even buying them through the boutique, these candles are expensive- and I pride myself on being frugal in most aspects of life. But some people need shoes, and I need this smell! If I could live inside a fireplace, where the logs were made of leather, it would smell just like this. Le Labo’s candles are 100% soy blends and 100% natural, but best of all, the $70 price tag also gets you a personally labeled 1lb glass container that is “re-usable as a beautiful pen holder or as something heavy that you can throw at someone you particularly dislike.” I have actually taken the time to freeze and scrape the wax out of mine and use them at my drafting table for the former option they suggest.

Know this. I am dimey in all aspects of life. I want my smell, but I wanna get my 70 bucks worth too… Thanks for the great idea, Le Labo. My pens sure do have a pretty house.

PS I also use the spray, and all of my drapery/ upholstery gets a spritz whenever company is on their way. (Many guests call later to tell me “the essence of my home somehow sticks with them for awhile”, and “how lovely that is”. I decline to mention that it’s because all of my good-smelly pillows rubbed off on their shirts. I have yet to come up with a clever way to reuse these bottles. Lemme know if you think of any…

Le Labo Santal 26 Candle & Room Spray, $70 & $125

Coloring In Between the Lines

Kristan — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 14:12:45 +0000

OK, so sometimes I just want to unwind, turn my brain off, stop thinking about design… and I’ve got a trick that works every time. I like to color. Yeah. Like in a coloring book. Something about the anal nature of making sure not a speck of color makes its way outside the line, that simple task, makes everything else that was on my mind fade away. It is Zen. Or at least my version of it. And I must not be alone because there are adult coloring books out there so you don’t have to stare at The Little Mermaid or Sponge Bob for hours. In fact there are some pretty amazing ones. Like these…

Charlie Harper Coloring Book, $6.95
Scott bought this one for me on a trip to NY, when he was out and about the city all day and I had a long grueling day at a studio. I was a happy coloring camper in my hotel room that night!

Color Your Own Famous American Paintings $3.95

Andy Warhol Coloring Book, $8.95

The American House Styles of Architecture Coloring Book, $3.95
Scott put this one in my stocking a few years ago. It’s my favorite because it’s detail heavy and I can spend several evenings on one image… my idea of heaven.

Mandalas Stained Glass Coloring Book, $6.99

Images 5 The Ultimate Coloring Experience, $6.95

Oh, and instead of Crayola’s, big boys and girls (like me) can use these beautiful colored pencils from Japan. Ya know. To make the experience more… adult acceptable.
Duller Coloured Pencils from Via Alley

USED Is Not a Four Letter Word, Craigslist App Appreciation

Kristan — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 18:56:14 +0000

Anyone who designs on a budget knows that getting things used is the best way to stretch your dollar. Not everything of course, but part of what makes a room special are those unique pieces that you can’t run out to the store for… the pieces that none of your neighbors will have.

Being a connoisseur of all things old, decorative and one of a kind, I am, of course, a Craigslist junkie. By now I think most everyone is familiar with the great online classified site- it has hit every nook and cranny of this great land of ours (and it’s even gone international!). So how unbelievably stoked was I when I found the iPhone app that is a Craigslist Visual Browser? I mean, it displays the pics right with the search results… so you don’t have to click on every coffee table, just the ones that look like you might actually wanna look at! Now the only danger is… I CAN’T STOP!!!

The Not There Necklace

Kristan — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 12:29:57 +0000

S Necklace Phoenix Roze, $185

It’s barely there- so delicate- yet more people notice this sweet little piece than anything else I own. I have the “S”- for my favorite guy- and love that I can shower, work out and sleep in it, and hardly ever notice it’s there. Since I wear so much big jewelry for work, it’s a bonus that it never competes with my other pieces.

It’s a Blanket, a Scarf- a Fabulous Thing!

Kristan — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 06:33:31 +0000

I picked this up at John Derian, on a rare trip to NY without Scott. (What is it about having a few free hours in the city by myself that makes me lose my dootie and shop shop shop shop…)

This guy is pure wool, hand spun and woven, and light as a feather. It’s also available in several other classic stripe and check designs, as well as a few colorways.

It’s become a favorite TV watching blanket, as well as my favorite scarf (which is it’s true role.) It’s also one of the first things you see when you walk into our home! Love.

Khadi & Co. Scarf/Throw, $170

Cloudy with a Chance of Purple Rain

Kristan — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 18:43:03 +0000

My stepdad- Jeff- and I agree more on the awesomeness of it than anything else in life. My college roommate- Shawna- and I listened to little else in the drafting studio when we pulled all nighters. (So what if it was 1996). And Scott says that he realized I was the girl he’d spend the rest of his life with when he watched me channel the little man himself while dancing to “I Would Die 4 U” on the very first night we met. I can still listen to the album in its’ entirety repeatedly and not begin to tire of it, and can watch the film with the excitement of a first timer- even though I can recite the words. I don’t know what’s in that Purple Rain, but it’s powerful stuff…

A Bicycle Built for Two

Kristan — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 18:00:26 +0000

When we moved to Venice, we traded our cars for bikes as our primary modes of transportation. Needless to say, they see a lotta action, so they must be kick butt. This one, by Felt (above), is a tank. Literally, it weighs, like 18,000 lbs- but glides and handles like a luxury sports car. Love that the headlight is old-school and incandescent, and the faux-saddle-leather drives home period perfection.

I was very close to having a roll cage welded by a local guy for Floyd- drastic, you think? HE thinks he’s Batman, and has jumped out of a moving car as well as a boat, so I don’t take chances anymore… I thought I’d invented an awesome new product, but found exactly what I was looking for right down the street. Bought this basket and topper together at Veloworx on Lincoln, but you can find them online (links below)…

Basil Pasja Animal Rear Mount Basket for Bicycles, Natural Wicker

Basil Pasja Steel Frame Cage for Animal Basket Black

When there’s no Floyd or Bean in the basket, it’s a great place to throw a sweatshirt or packages while shopping. But the addition of the saddle bags has even made trips to the grocery store possible by bike!