Oh Canada

I'm leaving for Toronto in the morning and I'll be there as the guest of my friends at Blanco. As grateful as I am to them, my gratitude pales in comparison to the level of hospitality and generosity they've extended to me over the last couple of weeks. I learned more than I thought there was to know about sinks with them in Germany last week and I'll be touring another sink factory with them tomorrow afternoon.

While I'm in Toronto, I'll be at the IDS gala tomorrow night so come find me if you're there. My sources tell me that there will be big contingent of Canadian design bloggers at the gala tomorrow night and since I know most of you virtually already, let's meet up in person.

Furniture recap from IMM

Here's the furniture trend report I wrote for Houzz.com. It went live on Houzz this morning and I have a kitchen design trend report coming later today or tomorrow.

Special Report: Interior Design News From Cologne

Houzz- Kitchen Design, Bathroom Design and More»

Browse by Space and Style- For Example:

Modern Kitchen · Modern Bathroom · Modern Living Room · Eclectic Bedroom · Traditional Dining Room · Mediterranean Homes · Contemporary Patio · Modern Landscaping ·

I know this was real

I know this was real because I was there. But still. Last week in Germany feels like something I imagined.

There's a recap coming, I promise.

This is how they see us

This sign was hanging on a display by Gorenje, a Slovenian appliance manufacturer I've blogged about here frequently. If you don't know, the rest of the world calls full-size, side-by-side refrigerators American refrigerators.

This is the model that sign was promoting.

What is creativity? A Blog Off Post

What is creativity?

This is a 13,000-year-old spear point and it's an example of creativity.

John Weinstein, © The Field Museum

This is a 5,000-year-old, Elamite bronze figurine and it's an example of creativity.

This is a 3,500-year-old Babylonian Cuneiform tablet and it too is creative.

More than 2500 years ago, the Greek mathematician Pythagoras proposed a theorem.

You guessed, it's creative.

This is an example of Roman opus reticulatum and it's around 2,000 years old.

Opus reticulatum was an earthquake-resistant stone construction technique that was creative.

This is 1,200-year-old Chinese paper money, the world's first. It's creative.

This is an 800-year-old Gothic arch from the Cathedral in St. Denis.

It's creative.

This is a 500-year-old Gutenberg bible.

It's creative.

Antonio Stradavari hit his violin-making prime some 300 years ago.

He was a creativity machine.

152 years ago, Charles Darwin published the Origin of Species.

It was and is creative.

106 years ago, Albert Einstein proposed his Theory of Special Relativity and it ushered in the era of modern science.

It was creative.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed Executive Order 7034 and established the Works Progress Administration in 1935.

It was creative.

Neil Armstrong took his One Small Step 42 years ago.

It was creative.

A little more than 20 years ago, the Berlin Wall fell and Germany reunited.

The Cold War was over and bringing about its demise was creative.

Ten years ago, Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger launched Wikipedia from St. Petersburg, FL.

It was creative.

Six months ago, four people solidified something called a Blog Off.





It was creative.

Creativity is problem solving, something human beings are uniquely wired to do. Whether it's forging a bronze plow, walking on the moon, composing a symphony or composing a grocery list. Any time somebody uses his or her critical thinking skills, that person is being creative.