Kathy's Remodeling Blog

Hot or Not Hot? Brad Pitt Homes in the Lower 9th Ward

As you may know, Brad Pitt helped create the Make It Right Foundation, which has the goal of building 150 new homes in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans. The area was decimated when the defective walls of the Industrial Canal gave way after Hurricane Katrina blew past, making the destruction part of the worst engineering failure in U.S. history.

No one can fault Brad Pitt for his efforts. But when the first few houses emerged from the ground, eyebrows shot up. What are these things, some people said? These structures were designed by some really famous architects, and you get the feeling the architects were trying to express themselves. That's cool. I like to express myself, as well.

But some of the folks who were to move into these houses complained. According to an architect quoted in a New York Times article, the new owners may have been robbed of that feeling of "home" that they would get from homes in the historical New Orleans styles of creole cottages and shotguns houses. (See some old-school New Orleans homes here.)

So you hate to say anything negative about this Brad Pitt project. Few of us will ever do anything this powerful and meaningful. But as only a dozen or so houses have been built so far, it would not be too late, it seems to me, to change direction and build the rest of the houses in a traditional New Orleans style. 

Or am I being a fuddy duddy?

What's your take?

Hot or Not Hot? Bedding inspired by the homeless

By Laura Fenton (Subscribe to Laura Fenton's posts)

Look again, it's a photo print, not real cardboard or pavement. Photo: DutchByDesign.com

We love it when our aesthetic passions line up with a good cause. The Home Duvet from Dutch By Design, a UK-based company specializing in contemporary home goods by Dutch designers, is a product that raises money for the homeless and manages to heighten awareness for the cause in a stylish way. We could see buyers loving the cause--benefiting the less fortunate--or being turned off by what they think are offensive designs.

A detail of the print on the Home Duvet. Photo: DutchByDesign.com

The duvet cover and pillowcases are decorated with a photographic print of a cardboard box, reminding the user that some people don't have a bed, let alone a home. The pattern has been so popular that Dutch By Design is introducing a second print that looks like pavement later this month.Thirty percent of the gross profits from the sale of both patterns will go to Centrepoint, a United Kingdom charity for homeless youth ages 16 to 25-years-old.

via www.shelterpop.com

Hot or Not Hot? Giant wall stencils

The New York Times had a pretty good concept for a series: Remake five rooms around the city for $300 each. In these times of job losses and declining prosperity, $300 is still a lot of money but not too much.

In a living room on Long Island, $250 of the budget was eaten up when a set designer stenciled an oversized pattern on the wall "to give the room personality," the story said.

Is it just me, or do these stenciled patterns look a little startling? A little jarring? Or is this look trendy?

We saw similar stencils on this blog previously, in David Kean's Los Angeles loft. I thought that project was much more subtle and elegant with metallic painted walls and burnt umber accents. See it here.

(Photo: New York Times)

Hot or Not Hot? The blue-green tile kitchen

Me? I LOVE this kitchen. I can feel it in my bones. Maybe it's the $10,000 (or more) worth of earthy tile that gets my attention. The stove is freakishly small for the space, and I don't see why it couldn't be as wide as the blue tile section.

I found this kitchen and several others at The Kitchen Designer Blog. You should head over there and see which of the kitchens displayed by kitchen designer Susan Serra you like.

In the meantime, is this kitchen HOT or NOT HOT? (Or should I say COOL or NOT COOL?)

Hot or not hot? Tin can wall covering

This wall covering made from tin can tops, as seen in the New York Times, has a certain appeal. But there's something a little creepy about it, as well. Or is it just me?

(Photo: New York Times)