An exceptional garden

old tobacco barn at Swallowtail Gardens

Gardens always reflect the gardeners who create and tend them, in my experience.

Creating a garden (distinctly different from keeping up your yard) is a personal experience, from plant choices to garden style.

The gardener at Swallowtail Gardens (Edmund Taylor) is an exceptional plantsman, plant collector, and garden designer.  A semi-retired former SC extension agent, he's created an extraordinary garden full of choice Asian woodland plants and Eastern woodland natives.

The group that visited on a recent Garden-supported field trip was totally impressed with the lovely expanse of garden that he shared with us.  More photos will come!

Steampunk Home by Bruce and Melanie Rosenbaum

Steampunk is a branch of science fiction which messes with both new and old. It includes machinery that has modern functions but might look like it could work, for example, with steam. When talking about interior design and steampunk, there probably isn't any better example than the home of Bruce and Melanie Rosenbaum. Check pics below and further reading from the links in the end of the post.

Kitchen includes old restored stove that is fitted with electric cooktop and electric stoves:

Door doesn't always need a regular handle:

The wildest part is probably this work desk that has fully functional PC under the hood with LCD screens, web cameras and everything!

Check more pictures and descriptions of Rosenbaum home at here and here. More interesting steampunk designs can be found for example from mental design blog.

-K- 

Arcade Coffee Table

Do youremember the good old arcade games played on machines in amusement parks? Nowyou can again enjoy that feeling at your home with Arcade Coffee Table. For first timenormal looking coffee table but with integrated computer, sound system,19" flat screen and flipping arcade control panel with joysticks andbuttons for two players. On the website of the company Surface Tension you can choose fromtwo prepared designs or order your custom table. The integrated computer systemis in fact normal PC with Windows 7 so you can use it for browsing theinternet, listening music and watching movies. If the integrated sound systemor screen is not sufficient, you can also connect table to your home cinemasystem.