I will never draw by hand again

This is a studio apartment by Surya Murali.

This is a willow tree by Beibel.

This is the Trevi Fountain by Antonino G.

Here's an office with an Eames Lounger and a Noguchi table by SmartFurniture.com

All of the images above were created in Google's SketchUp and uploaded to Google's 3-D Warehouse for use by anyone anywhere. I've mentioned my appreciation for Google's SketchUp a number of times, but recent events have awoken a missionary's zeal in me.

If you're a homeowner and you're interested in playing around with the floor plan of your house, download SketchUp and once you master some very basic concepts, you'll be modeling in three dimensions before you know it.

If you're a professional who needs to plan spaces and create construction or production documents, then SketchUp's for you too. Download the free version, master the skills and then upgrade to the Pro version so you can crank out measured plans and eye-popping presentations.

SketchUp is a rendering and modeling program and by itself it's a wonder. However, the software that sits on your hard drive is only half of the equation. SketchUp has a companion online library called the 3-D Warehouse that contains hundreds of thousands of models and components that you can select and download directly into the model you're working on. So if you want to see what a Design Within Reach sofa would look like in your living room, create the walls of your living room and then download a model of the sofa you're interested in. Bam! Instant preview.

SketchUp's training videos are easy to follow and are a perfect way to learn how to use this amazing software. So what are you waiting for? Go download it now!

And this is my friend Eric's self-portrait.

In the bleak midwinter

The great and powerful Fifi from Fifi Flowers Design Decor takes her readers on a virtual vacation every Saturday. She asks that people send her photos and a description of a location and she takes that supplied material and spins a tale of a weekend getaway. She paints a few of the images and adds what she needs to complete her journey of the mind. Great stuff. Well, this weekend, she took a bunch of my photos from my various trips to the Out Islands of the Bahamas and uses them to tell a story of quiet seclusion and beauty. Beautiful work Fifi, thank you.

So if you're looking for a break from February, take a stroll over to Fifi Flowers Design Decor and let her fly you away in a pink airplane for an adventurous weekend jaunt.

I've been aching to go away lately and Fifi's post today cements it. I need a break!

Cool pendants from J. Schatz

These pendants from J. Schatz were featured on Dwell magazine's website this week and I think they're cool as all get out. Besides, after knitting my brow for the better part of yesterday over all things Tuscan and contrived, I need to look at something clean, modern and whimsical. Thank you J. Schatz.

J. Schatz is the brainchild and life's work of an artist and designer named Jim Schatz. Jim has an admirable philosophy that guides his business and a sense of playfulness and wonder that won't quit.

These pendants are from a series he calls Cilindro. Each of them measures 11-1/2" tall and they're 5" in diameter. The pierced Cilindros retail for $275 and the solid Cilindros cost $255. These pendants are hand made and they're available through J. Schatz's website.

And here's a pink one for Fifi.

Quick! Run outside!

Check out Venus and the Moon. I just took this shot a moment ago. If you're on the east coast you have about 15 more minutes of Venus lining up like this. Cool!

Reader Question: How do I decorate my Tuscany dining room?

Help! I am in the process of gutting my first floor and I'm going to get a Tuscany dining room. I want to decorate the room with bunches of dried roses but I'm worried that they're not right for a Tuscany theme.

Oh man, there is so much wrong here I don't know where to start. Before you spend a dime, stop what you're doing. Stop and then take $1500 out of your budget and fly to Florence for a couple of days. Well, maybe $2000. Whatever it costs, it will have a value that transcends its price. You see, while you're there you'll gaze at what the real Tuscany looks like and hopefully you'll forget all about this dining room you have in mind. Oh, and as a point of order, Tuscany is a noun and Tuscan is an adjective. What you have in mind is a Tuscan dining room, not a Tuscany dining room. If I have anything to say about it you won't have either, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

This Tuscan thing that you see in your mind is an entirely American invention. It's not even an homage, it's a cartoon. Here's what a dining room in the real Tuscany looks like. 

Note the lack of bunches of dried roses. There are no fake sunflowers or clots of plastic grapes either. There aren't any framed posters with nonsensical Italian phrases hanging on the wall, nor is there any faux painted brick. It's a basic, small table jammed into the space not already taken up by a tiny kitchen. It's neat as a pin, it's simple and it's orderly. But real Tuscan style isn't about decor or themed dining rooms. It's about views like this.

Or views like this.

Views like that beget a worldview that's entirely Tuscan and how things look over there are a product of that worldview. The real Tuscany is about making the best use of a small space. The real Tuscany is about embracing life, it's about authenticity, it's about quality over quantity in everything. There's no theme here, there's no attempt to recreate a magazine spread or a dream house from some Developer's unimaginative mind. The truth of the matter is that unless you can see the Arno river pass under your dining room window, no amount of clutter will give you a "Tuscany dining room."

Man! That room up there burns my eyes. Please don't do something like that in your home. Sorry to be so brutal but what you're asking is for some kind of permission to turn your home into a miniature Las Vegas and that's something I refuse to go along with.

Listen, your dining room and indeed your whole home should tell your story, not somebody else's. The things you decorate with should be your things and if you're going to buy a dining table, buy one that's classic enough and made well enough that you can pass it on to your kids. Then in 50 years when it's in your daughter's home that same table will tell your story as it passes into her story. I suspect that's the feeling you're after. A feeling of permanence and a feeling of knowing you belong somewhere. That sort of thing isn't a theme, it's a way of life.

So if you want to bring some Tuscan sensibilities to your dining room, by all means do so. But study the real place, not The Venetian or the Bellagio. While you're enjoying the quick jaunt over to Florence I so strongly recommend, have your photo taken with the Duomo in the background then get it blown up and framed. Hang it in your dining room. I don't think it's possible to get more Tuscan than Florence, and it'll be yours. Authentically.

If you like bunches of dried roses, go for it. Just be sure that you like them and that you're not just adding them to advance some kind of ill-advised theme. So instead of asking me if they're appropriate, the person to ask is you. What do bunches of dried roses say about you? If you're happy with the answer than hang them by the bushel. If you're not happy with the answer then don't. If you're not sure then don't do anything. It's pretty simple really.