Marty Markowitz blessed the 8th annual BKLYN DESIGNS event this morning at St. Ann’s Warehouse in DUMBO, kicking off a weekend homage to furnishings and home accessories designed and/or made in Brooklyn. This sampling from the ‘Republic of Brooklyn’ (whose exports extend far beyond artisanal pickles and yoga wear) features handiwork and artistry of 45 local favorites, including a few never-before-seen designers. If you’re heading over for some (or all) of the still-full weekend left, here are a few ways to get your ticket’s worth:
Free stuff
Arrive before 11 a.m. Saturday or Sunday to enjoy free coffee provided by Brooklyn’s own Crop to Cup.
Exhibitor schwag: pencils, pretty cards (that can be re-purposed as postcards); plus tables full of free copies of the May 2010 Dwell Magazine & New York Magazine’s Spring 2010 Home Design edition.
Ideas for things you could conceivably do yourself
Hook your spare/reclaimed wood planks together using leather hinges.
Stencil some birds on your wall.
Infuse your place with haute (not too pricey) local design
Do it Snug-it Style:
Make your own California king bed frame using three sheets of your own plywood or reclaimed wood paneling (cut to 3/4” thickness, rounding not important) for just the cost of the Snug-it connector pieces, which come in silver and any color you can imagine.
Or with hand-printed wall art:
So wallpapering your rented apartment is of course out of the question, but you might consider framing a 27” X 36” silk-screened narrative featuring femme scientists from the 1800s for $48. Unique over-the-couch or bed art on the cheap.
Some organic cribsheets, maybe:
Ridiculous sale for the brokesters with kids: Originally $185, you can snag this organic, butter-soft dinosaur set for a less-than-whoppin’ $49. They’re out with a new line of same pattern, only on a whiter background, and need to unload this back stock.
Here’s all the info you’ll need on the three-day event, May 7 to 9 at St. Ann’s Warehouse in DUMBO (38 Water St.). Tickets are $15; Students are $10 and ages 16 and under are free.
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Umm… about these “Snug It” things. Since the stool (i.e., 4 snug it connectors and 3 small pieces of plywood) costs $300 — yeah, THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS… how “brokelyn” exactly are these snug it connectors? They don’t seem to sell them by themselves on the website.
You can definitely buy the set-up from them and pay for the custom-fitting and rounding to spec, or you can make your own stool with a single $19 piece of plywood (as I mentioned in the post.) Of course they don’t advertise selling them online separately; you have to ask (via email/phone.)
Being “brokelyn” means being creative, too.
Yeah… I get it, but how much are they? The metal things. Seeing a little stool going for $300 doesn’t exactly motivate me to call… to, ya know, find out they will sell me 4 clampy things for, say, $200. There’s creative exploration, then there’s “Oh jaysus, this company is ridiculous.”
They’re $20 per connector (learned via promptly returned email), so your $300 stool just dropped to $99 (and you have enough wood for 3 or 4 stools.)
There’s nothing ridiculous about making good quality things and getting paid for it; it’s not their fault we’re broke.