To Sophie and the group of architects in Monterrey...

To Sophie (who's opening an architecture + interior design for kids store in Monterrey, Mexico),

Please send me an email message again to kiersten@modmomfurniture.com. I couldn't find your email address in your form inquiry but I'd love to chat with you.

Thanks,
Kiersten

When I'm not building toy boxes or haunted houses...

Don Draper and his pregnant wife Betty from Mad Men. Notice the long fake glue-on nails. I currently only have 5 left between both hands. It was fun while it lasted but it's hard to build furniture with long nails.

NOT REALLY PREGNANT!! Just a prop. As is the cig. I think I might, for fun, just be faux preggers every once in awhile. People do stuff for you like bend down and pick things up.

And finally, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OONAGH!!! You're my favorite slapper...I mean flapper...of all times!! You do birthdays goods!!!

My Living Room

Just an ordinary day at the Hathcock's. Complete with partially contructed 8 ft. parts of a faux haunted house.



Our house has never looked better!!

Deep Thoughts by Mod Mom

I'm feeling all list-y and philosophical today so here goes....

1. My kids are now 11 and 7. When did that happen? I know everyone says that but really...when did they grow up? I must have been staining furniture.

2. A designer friend sent a link of a very similar owl toy box (to my Noah Owl) being sold on the Internet. I think I've realized I feel flattered. And I'm truly not feeling animosity because I was once a naive furniture builder making stuff that looked a lot like other designer's stuff just trying to make a living. And then I learned the laws of the modern furniture design world. It's not like the fashion industry or even Target where loads of knock-offs live happily ever after. You live and learn, right? And hopefully come out better for it on the other side.

3. I am a person desperate to be organized but I live in a disorganized, cluttered person's body. I do have bouts of manic organization but in between, I have Miller Dowels on my desk next to furniture polish, an old cup of tea, jewelry, and sunblock. My poor, poor husband.

4. Lastly, how can Sally Field make me cry every time she does that crying speech she does. It happened with Steel Magnolias...and again last night at the end of Brothers and Sisters. She's got mad acting skills! And she's even really good and natural in the Boniva commercial where she looks like she's living in Alaska on an incredibly high pier with a dog whilst not feeling her arthritis pain.

Dwell Magazine's Make It Yours Buyer's Guide is Out! And Bertie is in it!

This Dwell Special Edition Buyer's Guide is AMAZING!!! And not just because the Bertie is in it. But that does make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. :) If you're looking for ideas and products to make-over your modern home, this is the book for you! It's on sale at newsstands through January 1, 2010 for $9.99.

It includes 197 tips and ideas as well as the 2009 Buyer's Guide for: kitchens, baths, living rooms, home offices, bedrooms, outdoors, dining rooms, and kids' rooms.

The Bertie Box is featured on Page 102 (kids' room section). They flipped the image so the bird faces the opposite direction than I design/build it but it looks cool to me! They could've added a mustache and a beer under Bertie's wing and I'd be happy with it. Thanks, Dwell!

Managing Employees Is Hard Work

I know you've all been wondering if I've just gone and run off with Edward but I'm here to say my feet are firmly planted on the ground.

But there has been one tiny issue with my new assistant....

HE SCARES THE S*&$ OUT OF ME when I forget he's there and think it's a real person standing in my garage. I've done that twice today and nearly gave myself a heart attack. So the poor guy now resides behind my table saw. Dreamily, behind the table saw.

(* Some guy who was casually walking past my open garage asked, "Is that James Dean?" I just said yes for fear he'd think I was a crazy nutjob cuz I had a vampire cardboard cut-out in my workshop. Somehow, James Dean doesn't seem so off the wall, ya know?!?! Did I ever mention that my sweet family gave me Edward AND a Twilight t-shirt for my birthday. Now that's love!)

I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends

I got A LOT more done today with Edward at the table saw. Look at him in his safety glasses...he's all Mr. Safety Guy.



Here we are talking about health care and the obstacles small businesses face today.




This is one of those serious talks you have while drinking Corona Light. He's a complex man.




To lighten the mood, we had fun with hand mirrors (Oonagh) and yes, you can see his reflection in the mirror (Jim).





I popped up behind him and he had no clue. We laughed so hard afterwards.

The Daily Norm

Aside from the intense heat, today was just one of those ordinary days when you call up your favorite Brit and ask her if she'd like to ride out of town like Thelma and Louise or go grab some coffee. She chose the coffee. Then we decided to beat the heat and extend our vacation from work and see a psychic. Why not, right? Being that neither of us had ever done that before, it seemed to be the natural way to spend a portion of my Thursday. That, and the fact that we were curious if the psychic could tell us more about the potential TV show I mentioned here .

It sounds as if, even given my complete lack of ability to do good voice-overs, the show may just fly! But I don't want to jinx it, give too much away, or appear crazier than you may already think I am. So I'll just leave you with this question to ponder...

When we get booked on The Tonight Show with Conan and Robert Pattinson is also a guest, should I be honest with him and tell him I have a small Twilight poster in my closet or just pretend to not know him? Ah, the tough questions asked by we modern moms.

Dluxelist - A Chic Guide to Beautiful Things

(photo courtesy of dluxelist.com)

Dena Smolek contacted me recently about wanting to write a post about my furniture. So I told her ABSOLUTELY NOT! Actually, I kept my fingers crossed for days hoping she wouldn't suddenly find my furniture repulsive and not post it on her website. Her site is very cool -- I've become a bit of an addict checking out her lists daily. She has great taste in all things modern and fabulous, from clothes, to jewelry, to hand bags, to shoes, to body care products. She even posts alerts to online sales.

Check out her site at http://www.dluxelist.com. Even better, check out this link with an article about Mod Mom Furniture. :)

Here's a bit about Dena, the creator/writer....

D~LuxeList is written by Dena Smolek, a freelance writer and based in LA. She is a fashion fanatic, shopping pro, and beauty product junkie. This is D’s list of favorite things. When Dena is not busy writing or scouting story ideas, you’ll most likely find her shopping (which is technically a requirement of the job) or relaxing at the beach. Other work by Dena can be found in C Magazine, The Tip Jar and California Apparel News. Her work has also appeared in Daily Candy, Robb Report Vacation Homes, Woman’s Day, California Home & Design, EcoFabulous, Glam, Refinery29, Splendora, The San Francisco Chronicle, Trendcentral, Malibu Magazine, Metro.Pop, Citysearch, Elle.com, and SOMA, among others. View published clips at DenaSmolek.com

Bloody Hot

A bloody nose has been my new workshop sidekick. I wished for R.P. helping me in my garage but I got a bloody nose and friends being evacuated because of the La Canada Flintridge fire. I'm now refusing to hand over any more coins to the fountain. It's been unbelievably hot here (plus the fires close by) so my workshop is a toasty 100+ degrees and all I can think when I'm opening the garage door is why am I doing this? The air quality is so bad right now -- there's ash on everything that hasn't moved for 10 minutes. But I do anyway because if I don't, after a few hours in a closed garage with no cracked windows, I'm roasting and can't see through the veil of sawdust particles in the air.

I can remember back when I worked in a tall office building in downtown Chicago, we had a very different kind of pollutant scare. Someone sent fake anthrax to the office so naturally we were all sent home while the HAZMAT team examined the envelope and its powdery, white contents. It was a weird, scary feeling to think you may have just inhaled something horribly toxic. Ironically, living in LA with its gorgeous scenery and mostly blue skies, I forget that everyday I'm breathing in some form of toxic agent whether it be the smog, fire ash, or sawdust.

I'm thinking a nice mountain cabin in Colorado sounds really good right about now.