Papasan can you hear me?

How is this new? And how for that matter is this attractive?

By Fendi Casa as seen in Trendir.

Reader question: Why is my Ikea butcher block splitting?

Help! Exactly one month ago, my husband and I installed a Numerär oak countertop from Ikea. We brought it home, installed it and then sealed it with Ikea's Behandla wood sealer. I thought we were doing everything right, but last night I noticed a split in the wood on the end. Now what? Will it get worse? Should I get a new one?

Oh Lord. I just looked up Numerär on Ikea's website and you paid $89 for that counter. I have to ask, but what were you expecting for $89? Now yes, you spent $89 on a wooden counter and yes it should deliver as promised. But are you really surprised that it didn't? This certainly doesn't get Ikea off the hook. They have a warranty on that counter I'm sure and I would make it my life's work to have them deal with it. After all, $89 is $89. But still, the Numerär costs $89. A similar counter, made from real oak, from Boos will set you back somewhere around $500. Price disparities as wide as that ought to be enough to make anybody look twice.

I got smacked down here a couple of weeks ago for disparaging Ikea's cabinetry. Just ask Becky at Eco-Modernism. Hah! I'll admit, everything Ikea sells isn't automatically crap. So even though it's not crap, it's also not a substitute for the premium products Ikea's imitating either. Wood counters that cost $89 are a case in point.

So the answer your question, you need to look up the warranty on the counter you have and Ikea needs to replace it. They may be a little hesitant to do so if you've attached it to the cabinetry its sitting on, so be prepared to make your case.

If they won't replace it, your crack can be repaired, probably. If it were me, I'd shoot some wood glue into the crack and then get a band clamp and put the squeeze on for a day or so. Then oil that top and keep it oiled. Wood splits when it dries out, so don't let it dry out.

Then I'd think long and hard about what low prices really get you. I love saving a buck as much as anybody, believe me. But you'll end up a happier customer if you start looking for value instead of prices. Sometimes, the value is in a lower-priced product. Sometimes, it's not.

Oh Leonardo, did you influence this table?

I was scrolling through Trendir yesterday. It's the first place I turn when I want to read the uncritical repetition of the furniture industry's press releases. I swear, these people couldn't register an opinion of their lives depended on it. Anyhow, I found this table.

I have two things to day. The first is "ouch."

The second is "Leonardo, is that you?"

In case you're wondering, that's the Abachus table by Extremis.

Have you seen Unhappy Hipsters?

Over the last week or so the design blog world has exploded with the excited chatter that can only accompany a new find. Well, two or three weeks ago two women launched Unhappy Hipsters from an undisclosed location somewhere in the US.

The authors have so far remained anonymous but ought to have landed a book deal by mid next week. What is Unhappy Hipsters? In a word, delicious.

The take photographs from Dwell magazine and then caption them. Hilarity ensues. Here are a few of their gems.

The octopus was full of judgment.

(Photo: Mark Compton; Dwell, October 2009)

Everyone always leaves.

(Dwell, April 2009)

Trapped by the tawny palette, he struggled through yet another brown knit scarf.

(Photo: Randi Berez; Dwell, September 2005)

It became their routine. And so the evenings stretched out before him: still, gray, and gravel-strewn.

(Photo: Dean Kaufman; Dwell, November 2006)

You can come out when you can properly explain the differences between Modernist architecture and postmodern ornamentation.

(Photo: Craig Cutler; Dwell, February/March 2006)

I think this is a scream of course. But what say ye? Is Unhappy Hipsters a hit or a miss?

Who's old enough...

To remember this?