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Show Friday. Unwy l, 2000, THE DAILY HI RAl.U, fhwK Magamc Page 15 Clever design can be comforting for body, mind By GARY nap. But they kept insisting. They knew something I didn't the absolute glory of an KRINO Knight Ridder Newspapers You've heard all about comfort food. Things like macaroni and cheese, hot apple pie, beef stew, fresh outdoor sofa. Their outdoor sofa is not the standard indoor model: It's more like a wood bench in bis- cuits. It's food that's good for the soul. Maybe not so hot for the body, but that has noth! ing at all to do with what we're talking about here. I was in New Mexico a few months ago visiting friends and got a lesson in comfort design. It's kind of like comfort food, only you can't eat it. My friends kept telling me to go out on their portal (that's New Mexican for a covered porch) and take a nap in the afternoon. I kept telling myself that I was not yet to the point in my life where I needed an afternoon sofa style. Old. From Mexico. Peeling and chipped red and yellow paint. It has large seat cushions covered in a serape fabric and large throw pillows to 6often the arms. My only regret about taking an afternoon nap on that sofa under that portal is that I didn't do it sooner. Snuggling down in the warm afternoon sun was candy for the senses. Very sweet stuff. The outdoor sofa thing is a great example of how we can pamper ourselves at home and get a good look in the process. These same New Mexican Magazine highlights cutting-edg- By KAREN KLAGES Knight Ridder Newspapers How about this for a modern convenience? A cell phone so handy or hands-frethe microphone and speaker e are implanted under the skin behind the ear. Or for those who work at home and feel out of the workplace loop: a gossip session activated by networked household objects, specifically the teakettle. Switching on the kettle launches a telephone line allowing offsite coworkers to chat with one another from the friendly confines of their kitchens. Find these and a slew of other fascinating, futuristic projects and people in the January issue of Metropolis, which offers one of the best friends have a small TV room that is just large enough to hold the twin recliners they simply had to have. I will not go into that. But I will give them credit for the neat pile of attractively upholstered floor pillows they've provided for people like me who like to stretch out on the floor to watch TV. When they're not in use, they're stacked in a corner and become a part of the design scheme. Topped with a maybe brass or large tray silver the stacked pillows can act as a low occasional table. A decent double deal. If you'd rather curl up instead of stretch out, considhalf. This er the chair-and-is exactly what it sounds like a chair that's half again as large as standard models. When you really want to a get cozy, toss on a down bed pillow and a luxurious throw, grab a good book and a cup of hot chocolate and go to it. From a design standpoint, a is the perfect fit for the space that's just a little too large for a standard chair and a bit too small for a love seat. For the bed, I think we're all aware of the excruciating-,- , ly decadent aspects of the down comforter. Multiply its physical pleasures by 10 and you've got the down feather bed. What it amounts to is a down comforter that you sleep on instead of under. All very European. Of course, in chair-and-a-ha- lf Southern California, this r might not be an thing. But during the fall und winter, there's nothing quite the feather bed is definitely an undercover thing. Out of sight, out of mind. I've got a small TV tucked into the corner of a kitchen counter. It doesn't have much to do with physical comfort, but it does provide plenty of entertaining company when I'm cooking or otherwise futz-inaround in the kitchen. Because it's tucked under the cabinets, it really isn't that obtrusive. I soften it with a bowl of fresh fruit on one side and a crock full of cooking utensils on the other. Not a bad look, and when the TV's turned on, it's even Design-wise- , g , all-yea- like it. Yjsit us online Qj www.heraldextra.com ideas e design 6tories of the many we have read. The magazine talked to scores of designers and architects in six cities around the world New York, London, Tokyo, Sydney, Stockholm and asked and Los Angeles them to share their thoughts on the most exciting projects happening in their cities projects that distinguish their corner of the world and prevent these cities from looking like every other city in the world. (The new buzz- For The Pen To B e Mlmhtler Than The Sword, ust Ua!G Paper. A word for that is "global blanding.") By the way, the surgically implanted cell phone comes from Razorfish, a design firm out of New York. The telemat-i- c teakettle is from a recent graduate of the Royal College of Art in London. state-of-clone-ne- y been denied a mortgage or have had difficulty purchasing a home, and it you tail into one or more of me following categories, or if you require special handling program- s- If you have WE CAN HELP! Single Parent Fixed Income No Down Payment Need Credit Rebuild Prog. Owner Carry Down Payment Assistance For Down Sweat Equity For Down Because of these special finance programs all homes being offered must meet HUD requirements. Call Today for Application Words on paper. They will always be the most powerful tools human beings use to communicate. They place no limits on how much we can say, and the furthest reaches of the imagination are the only limits on what we can show. They have the power to make complex ideas simple, and simple ideas powerful. We do more than read them, we hold them. And, from the advertising we see in publications to the letters we receive in the mail, the things we hold in our hands have the quickest routes to our hearts. 801-489-91- 94 or Trade-i- n 801-489-92- 81 Ask for Special Programs Director. Say ItiPrin .4 |