Le Weekend

Wherein I break down and talk about work, just a little bit.

Generally speaking, my job is not that interesting.  Mostly I clean (and clean and clean), count cabinet hardware, and occasionally do plan-o-grams.  I've learned more about cabinetry and appliances than I ever wanted to know.  And yes, once in awhile I sell things.  Yesterday, though, I spent four hours updating our countertop sample boards.  Most of them are still hideous, plain, and will never sell, and a lot of the new samples are in the "pretending to be real stone" vein*, but when I saw these samples! (click for a slightly larger version)

I was so excited! They are Formica patterns, and they are so refreshing to my eyes!  I love the retro boomerang pattern, and the colors!  Although I will probably never sell a countertop in any of these, since most people seem to want to match their cabinets/countertop/wall/flooring colors instead of finding things that coordinate.

(Keep in mind the region I am in too--I'd say at least 70% of the cabinets I sell are in oak, usually in a light to medium finish...and more often than I would like in a very dated cathedral door style.  If you have plenty of extra time, you can try asking me about that someday.)

We also carry a number of Wilsonart patterns, but they aren't usually as exciting.  There are a couple I do like, the first one we do have at the store, but the second one I found while browsing the website:

(And two more Formica patterns I like):

I could go on about countertops if I really wanted to.  You know, the benefits of solid surface, granite vs. quartz, that sort of thing.  But...I don't! 

 *Some of them are okay on the sample board, but overall my opinion on that subject coincides with that is shared in this blog post.

As a final note, I also wanted to add a link to this website: Heath's Ceramics. 
I happened on this website only today through Dwell, but I wanted to
share it because, besides the fact that I like the design of their
products, through this weekend they are donating 25% of their sales to
Architecture for Humanity for rebuilding in Haiti (along with free shipping).  I know a lot of
people have already donated directly to relief efforts (so I won't link to any of those), but I wanted to
share this anyway.  Since you never know who might need a new tea towel
or some bowls!  You can also find a number of artists on Etsy who are
doing similar sales, just search "Haiti relief". 

Like a kid in a candy store.

I think I need to unsubscribe from the KnitPicks email list.  Today I ordered:

Pattern and yarn for these socks, named after Agatha Christie's knitting sleuth, Miss Marple.

And the pattern and yarn for this hat, which I am going to knit for my uncle.
That was me showing much restraint, as there are several other patterns I'd like to try!

I have also been eying (but won't be buying anytime soon) this, the Yudu screen printing machine.

And as always, I'm looking at cameras again.  Just in case mine's not worth fixing.