design of websites

This blog is mainly about interior design, but design itself is an overriding interest here at Chrometastic. Especially now that there's even a browser called chrome. And yes, that is my favoured web browser.

The interesting thing about websites is that there's never been an accepted or standard way to do things. This has led to some incredibly inventive sites, and to things like blogging becoming big, then social networking taking off.

With smartphones now the norm, and tablets taking off web design remains at the heart of innovation.

Was it really only ten years ago that websites had that unmistakeable Y2K look? It feels like it was a different century.

Now that the old type of light bulb is on the way out and the long life low energy bulb is king, it means that it takes a bit more effort to light a room. This is probably no bad thing, as two or three soft light sources is better than a single 100 watt bulb. Does it save any energy? Probably not, but hey.

Especially important are directional, concentrated lights sources. Have a browse through furniture online and see what would help light up your living room.

Anish Kapoor chrome sculpture

Anish Kapoor's sculptures are often simple shapes made of chrome. Interacting and reflecting with their surroundings, they show changed perspectives and interrogate the nature of perception.

Picture: Oren Rozen via Wiki

Digg

Streetband - Toast (1978) vs Bodum toaster (2010)

I'll bet that when Streetband sang the song Toast on Top of the Pops in 1978 (yes, that's soon to be famous and eventually to be ex-famous soul singer Paul Young on vocals), they would have thought that 32 years later people would be eating futuristic food like green gloop and entire meal-in-a-pill. All of this done in space, or at least on board a jetpack.

But no, we're all still eating toast. Toasters have moved on a lot since 78 though. Think back to what you had then, a little metal walled job that got mad hot on the outside, and more often than not carbonized the kids' breakfast while they fought over whose turn it was on the Atari Space Invaders.

Toasters in 2010 are better machines, and also often use a design aesthetic rather than sit forlornly in the corner of the kitchen. This Bodum toaster is a good example of a fine modern toaster:

The >>perfect>> living space

With the World Cup beginning to hot up, and the weather as well, I thought I'd post a few words on my ideas for the ideal living space.

I think the ideal living space is one that thinks big - big windows, big telly, high ceiling. If you want the first of these, a move to Holland would be in order - the standard house windows there are massive. As for the big telly, you're now talking standard, run-of the-mill tellies being at least 42" screen. I think I'll wait til they hit a 60" standard before shelling out. I also need a TV with genuine cinema ratio. When I get one of those, there's a very good chance I may never leave the house ever again :-]

The other essential is of course a big sofa. Bigger the better,really. A big sofa can almost function as a living space in its own right - a kind of microcosm where you can spend a lot of quality chill time. But the problem I have with the BIG SOFA is that it can sometimes look a bit out of place, like it's just landed there. As with all problems though, there is a perfect solution: the corner sofa. What these do is of course fit the corner of the room, and thus blend in with it. Never trust anyone who when alone in a room with a corner sofa in it, doesn't spend at least five minutes sinking into it and going "ahhh ... I wish I had one of these"!

And amazingly, these sofas don't cost an arm and a leg. Get yourself down to your furniture retail store and give the corner sofas a try. It's a whole new chill experience.



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Alternative furniture ideas

One area of life where there seems to be a fair amount of uniformity is in home furnishings. It's not an area where people really try and show off the quirkier side to their personality. I can understand this, because I reckon some of the wackier things out there could soon get a bit tiring to look at. You could of course spend a bit (well... tons) of cash and import stuff from Mexico for that South American look - although like I say, expensive. You could also try your hand at making your own stuff, but cabinet making is rightly called a profession, not really something us mere mortals can dabble in of a weekend. I mean, it's hard enough trying to get a flatpack kit together without a barrage of consternated, ahem, *phrases*.

Anyway, this little meditation on alt-furniture got me thinking - what would your card-carrying, black-attired, pale Goth have as furniture?

A quick look around the internet and I found the answer in this marvellous Gothic chair. Nosferatu himself would be proud to own one of these beauties, i reckon!

If you snooze you win ...how to choose a bed in 4 easy steps!

How to choose a bed, in a few simple steps.

1. Avoid any newfangled self-vacuuming, water-loaded, massage-your-shoulders sci-fi stuff. A good night's sleep is predicated upon one thing, and one thing only: comfort. Your whizz-bang split the atom laboratory stuff can be bought for other parts of the house. Nothing wong with a few gizmos and gadgets in the kitchen, for instance.

2. Make sure you get a good mattress. Science does feature here, but not in terms of wires, circuitry and motors. The science is all in the design of the mattress. For a decent night's sleep, an orthopaedic mattress is a must. Preferably one that is also hypo-allergenic. I speak from experience here - I have in the past used a cheap non-ortho mattress and paid for it in lower back pain every morning after sleeping on it. Instead, go for a mattress that combines comfort with technology. It's one of life's less exciting investments, but worth every penny.

3. And that's about it. The only last consideration is the price. Some beds seem to cost more than small cars, whereas if you shop around you can definitely spot great deals here and there where money can be saved.

4. One last thing - once you've got the bed, don't get mean with the bedclothes. Decent quality cotton sheets , pillow cases and duvet cover. None of this polyester-cotton mix, especially in the summer. Way uncomfortable.

Check out what's on offer, take your time. Furniture retail stores are there to advise, so check 'em out and see what's on offer. And make sure you get a bed that you're happy with - that way, if you snooze you win. After all, we spend a third of our hours asleep...

>>Retro vibe>>

I'd been meaning to do a retro blog post about the 80s but for some reason the 80s is much less chromey than I remember it. Or what survives of it that I can easily track down, anyway.

It seems the 80s were more about thin red graph paper lines, not-of-this-planet vegetation prints, mega-mega use of plastics, and the odd piece of well designed classicism.

The ChromeQuest (TM) led me, as it almost always does, to the work of the Eames brothers. Check out this classic chrome/leather job on RetroDecades - I haven't actually tried one of these out, but it looks like it's got two of the main design plus points a chair should have - a level of good visual design and also a level of comfort.

Too many retro pieces look like something off the set of a space opera or a film by someone like Michaelengelo Antonioni. I think the Eames were genius because they understood sedentary ergonomics as well as style. The fact that they made use of chrome is just a bonus really.

Another, not dissimilar approach to ergonomics, aesthetics and chrome-ology is [at top of this post] the Breuer "Wassily"chair (named, I presume, for Kandinsky). Even looking at the picture almost works as a posture-corrective!

Aga do cookers not cookware!

When I think of Aga, I think of big hefty cookers in nice countryside piles. Not Aga Saucespans, but they exist.

Mmmm, I like the colour scheme though, I think that they need to send me some on a trial basis before I can get round to actually investing in a whole new kitchen. Might be nice have matching everything somewhere in the house for once in my life.

Kitchen Applianicies With The Volcanic Effect

Eruption In The Kitchen

After all the talk about Volcano's this week I found it pretty cool when i came across some Volcanic colored casserole dishes and pots and pans. Now I'm pretty sure unless you have been hiding away on a dessert island this week you will have seen the news and problems the volcano over in Iceland has caused.

So when i came across the range of Volcanic Effect Le Creuset Cookware, they look pretty cool and have a superb quality which will ensure that they will have a much longer lifespan than average kitchen wear.

The Breakfast Rush

6 Bun Toaster

Coming from a big family myself and then having an even bigger one I’ve always got a bit irritated with having to wait in the morning for breakfast if you’re in a rush going to work and everyone’s leaving at the same time.

So as it goes I decided to take matters into my own hands and find a bigger and better toaster because the two slot toaster just isn’t helping matters. I decided to start surfing around the web and spotted a six bun toaster is available for for just under £200. That should do the job, and keep everyone happy in the morning!

I know some might see this as a bit pricey but if spending lesser money means not getting something of the same quality. It just seems to me as if the Dualit range is second to none as I already have a Coffee Machine of the same brand and is proved an excellent investment.

How to Use a Sharpening Stone to Sharpen your Culinary Equipment

1. Common indirections that are commonly made in sharpening knives are uncontrolled bevel angles, failure to establish a new edge, and leaving the final bevel too rough.


2. Pick an angle to sharpen your knife. If you already know what angle your knife is sharpened at, it is best is to sharpen at this angle again. If you can't find the angle but you wish to, ask the blade company or inquire at a kitchen blade store to determine what angle is appropriate for your knife. Otherwise, you must make a decision: choose an angle of 10°-30° per side; shallower angles make a sharper edge that doesn't last as long, steep angles are more durable, 17° is a good compromise: select an angle that matches the use the knife will receive. When shopping for a sharpening system, make sure it provides an edge guide mechanism that will sharpen knives at a few different angles.


3, If you could, use an angle guide to control your edge's angle. Otherwise, you will have to guess the correct angle to use, which is hard and requires a well-formed perception of angles.


4. For a symmetrical edge, sharpen the blade of your knife using this technique, drag it across the oil lubricated stone in the opposite direction you would move it to slice a thin layer off the stone. This allows a burr to form and prolongs the stone's life.


5. Continue grinding at this angle until your grind goes roughly half way through the steel. Don't worry if this is not the case , just guess. For a one-sided edge ("scandi grind", "chisel grind", etc.),


6. Once one side is done, turn the blade to the blunt side and continue; the easiest way to know if you done this correctly is to sharpen until you have raised a "burr", a feature that steel will naturally form when one bevel is ground until it meets another. It will generally be too small to see, but you can feel it scraping/catching on your thumb if you stroke away (dull side of the knife to the sharp) from the edge. Finer stones produce smaller burrs, but they are still there.


7. Turn the blade to the other side and sharpen the other side of the blade in a similar fashion.


8. Remove the resulting burr by "cutting into" a hone (a finer stone). That is, still holding the blade at the same controlled angle, move the blade in the opposite direction you moved the blade in steps 4-8. Some people feel this step should be done with a dry stone for reasons beyond the scope of this article.


9. If you wish, you may decide to polish or even strop the edge to the desired sharpness. For push cutting, stroping the edge's will give you better results (cutting directly into materials, pushing straight down without sliding the blade across the object) but generally impairs slicing ability: without the 'microscopic serrations' left by grinding with a stone, the blade tends to not bite into things like tomato skins.

I personally use the Global Knife Sharpener.

Knives - Global v Henckels

Everybody that eats needs Kitchen knives [unless your well off enough to have your own chef that is], but the question is which: knife do you choose?

For a start. Let's rule out bog-standard supermarket brand knives. You may save a bit, but you already know that the savings have been made on the the quality, the finishing and the hardening and tempering of the steel.

I see two main runners in this competition

versus

It could be described as a competition between the new & the old, or between youth & experience.
From Germany, Henckels have been making knives in the tradition of steelworkers for over 200 years, and one of the proofs of their quality is their longevity.
From Japan, Global have only been in business for 25 years, but they have taken the world by storm by their breathtaking design and exquisite cutting ability.

Both companies have been given plenty of backing by the worlds master chefs, and both are "global" brands. To tell the truth until they both send me some free stuff, I'll just hesitate on making my final decision.