Authentic Aesthetic

au⋅then⋅tic  [aw-then-tik] - Not false or copied; genuine; real

aes⋅thet⋅ic  [es-thet-ik] - Pertaining to a sense of the beautiful or to the science of aesthetics; having a sense of the beautiful; characterized by a love of beauty

Authentic Aesthetic.  This is my new term to describe truly beautiful things.

Truly beautiful things can be found anywhere – in the creek, in the garden, in antique store, at a garage sale, probably not at your local big box, unless you are buying plants. Boxwoods are authentic aesthetic. So are holly trees and coleus. And Astilbe. And a concrete birdbath after it has aged.

Authentic Aesthetic has character and a story to tell. It will be around a long time or a short time spreading much joy. Go out this weekend and find authentic aesthetic and let me know what you find.

 

The Search for the Authentic Wood Garage Door

We have been searching quite a few weeks for a wooden garage door. Per my previous posting, I don’t want a “steel” door. The baked on finish is just bad, the faux wood look is a giant “fail”, the feng shui - don’t ask. I want wood. I want authenticity. 

This has been a very eye-opening search as the easiest thing to find is the ugly metal door. We could have had this door installed by now – fast, cheap, and ugly is on our doorstep.

To help the salespeople who don’t know they sell wooden doors, I have decided the above style of a style of garage door. I have received prices (including installation) from $3,500 (ebay craftsman) to $12,607 (big box hardware store) for this door. Some of the doors are better than others – some are insulated, some are not. Some qualify for the 30% energy tax credit, others do not. Our final decision will consider all of this information.

I was very encouraged to hear yesterday from a salesman at a local door company, that he is beginning to sell so many new wood doors to new construction, that he will have a sample door put in his showroom. There is no denying that the wood door is much more beautiful than any other model and once the people see it, more wooden doors will start to appear in local neighborhoods.

The surface is being scratched and authenticity is beginning to be craved by the people.

(The photo of the door attached is from DesignerDoors.com)

Where Has All the Sparkle Gone?

I love sparkles and glitter is one of my favorite things. I put it on my sidewalk in the winter to brighten up the dark nights. I figure, it's gonna be dark anyway - I might as well have fun.

Small details such as this adds such a great oomph to any environment. You may not notice on a conscious level, but your subconscious picks up on it and most likely puts any place that pays attention to detail in your memory as one the specials.

Remember when sparkly concrete was the norm? I am sure this decision to not use sparkles any more was made to reduce "costs" but there is a "cost" to everything. By saving a little bit of money short term, the long-term implications are huge. Concrete poured 40 years ago with no sparkles is still there. And it doesn’t sparkle.

I recently came upon this great product to add to concrete. It adds sparkles to reflect and dance in the light. It makes the place interactive because as you move, the light reflection moves. And it is functional as well – it aids with slip resistance.

Function and beauty – it doesn’t get any better than that! 

Check out www.sparklegrain.com