We don’t normally exchange gifts on Valentine’s Day, but since we totally bypassed Christmas this year and have been on the thrifting downlow, it was about time we picked up a few new goodies.

Juli got John:

A Hadeland glass whale, hand signed and made in Norway to join our Hadeland viking.

We have always coveted Nils Thorsson and Martin from Rogue Gallery always has a great selection. Except that now that we have decided to actively collect it, he no longer has any pieces! BAH! I picked this one up at Twice Found.

The other side.

John got Juli:

My first piece of modernist jewelry! John found this piece at Modernity. Designed by Hans Hansen for Georg Jensen, in the 1950s. I am not a jewelry gal, but I love this ring. I see more modern jewelry in my future, yes indeed.

The silver is a little scratched up, but I find it adds to the appeal. Besides, I am notoriously clumsy so I feel much better knowing it’s already broken in.

So to all of you lovers out there, happy belated valentine’s day, and to all those who have yet to find their love, all journeys lead to it, if you keep along the path (just remember to look in the most unlikeliest of places).

We found another charred cedar house by architect Tetsuya Nakazono (via Mocoloco).

We actually had an email a few weeks ago from a couple who are building a house in Germany and wanted to do charred cedar siding, but on a budget.

I think I scared them off when I told them the process and amount of labour needed to char all the planks! After you get past the expense of labour and materials it’s a really low maintenance siding that will last a lifetime. They never emailed me back haha…

What a beautiful collection of materials. The powder coated staircase, red brick, and black charred wall. I want a courtyard with a tree!

Tatami room.

Did they do charred cedar floors?!?!

It looks like OCAD.

We just got our shipment of Futagami bottle openers by Oji Masanori.

These brass bottle openers have a fantastic weight and are just pleasant to hold. Only the two versions are available at the moment, $65 for the eclipse, and $60 for frame.

John’s at it again (thankfully)!

Anyone want some FREE laminate flooring? Get it outta here!!!!!!!

John started painting but he ran out pretty quickly and the paint store was already closed. More to come later!

I am not going to lie. Buying a toothbrush holder is as much fun as buying socks. But in a tiny little bathroom, you need such things to keep the peace. We just got a new shipment of Vipp products in so I decided to bust out the toothbrush holder to see what it was all about…and it promptly ended up in our bathroom with two new brushes and a new tube of toothpaste.

This is the atrocity before:

Ordinarily I would clean these up before presenting them to the world, but I am showing this to you so that I can easily demonstrate our current disdain for stainless steel. This set is from Restoration Hardware, and it wasn’t cheap. I bought it because it was the only thing that I could find that matched our old bathroom, which was beautiful but more classic in style. But seriously, who has time to clean this stuff? I clean it and it’s dirty again within three days. Ridiculous.

The Vipp should hold up longer, because it’s easier to wipe down, and the inside rubber part comes out so you can easily wash it. Plus I now have room for everything in one unit – space saver!

You may remember a while back we were debating coffee makers. Well, thanks to all of your suggestions we were able to make a decision!

The Technivorm Moccamaster was our number one choice, due to great reviews and its super retro look. Doesn’t it look amazing on the teak counter top?

We’ve been using it this past week and every cup of coffee brewed has been perfect. It’s a marvel to watch it in action – so quiet, and it uses a really unique method of brewing. See it here, if you are so inclined. The water moves up a central column in the water tank (you can see some very fuzzy bubbles, the water level is just below the 2) and through an arm over to the coffee grinds, where it is sprinkled on them via about 10 little holes, distributing the hot water evenly on the grounds.

No one sells this particular model in Canada so we purchased it from Boyd’s Coffee in Oregon. [Edit: You can buy similar models at Crema Coffee in the Junction and The Green Beanery in Toronto.]

John’s been using his wooden Oji Masanori mug that my mom bought him for Christmas (from our shop!). It’s such a cool mug, because the coffee can be really hot, but your hands can hug the mug comfortably because it doesn’t conduct heat like the ceramic Kaj Frank heart mug I have been using. Oh, and the wooden mug doesn’t get coffee stains either. It feels so good to finally be able to brew our own coffee, both environmentally and for our pocket book’s sake.

Bonus cuteness:

Let me introduce you quickly to Grover’s sister, Isha. Isn’t she ridiculously ADORABLE? I’m going to go force her to snuggle right now…