Tonight: Steampunk Gadgets in Warehouse 13

This just in...

SyFy (formerly SciFi) Network's new show Warehouse 13 -- X-Files crossed with a warehouse full of antique supernatural gadgets -- premieres tonight (and Datamancer has a keyboard featured!).

Read about it here. See more gadgetry pictures here. There seems to be a nice Victorian house involved, too.

If you watch it, let me know what you think. And if you figure out how to watch it without cable, please let me know!

9 The Movie

Automata (or golems -- it's hard to tell if it's magic or science that created them), mad scientist creator, the obligatory airship, post apocalyptic. It's nicely dark and grungy. It's 9 The Movie.



There's some good mad scientist bits here:
http://www.filminfocus.com/focusfeatures/film/9

I'm looking forward to more of the sets.

Kozo Lamps

David sent me this find -- some wonderful, industrial, lamps by kozo lamp. (And we love lighting, don't we? Sometimes I worry that I post *too* many lighting options, but then decide, "nah, stylish electricity is the easiest way to steampunk a house.")

The Kozo 3.

Here's what the makers have to say about the lamps: “With a bit of humor and a certain audacity, KOZO lamps stand as alien lighting figures, telling a new story”

The Kozo 2.

KOZO lamps are made out of galvanized iron plumbing tubes, hand picked and collected from different manufacturers. each bares the trademarks of its origin.

Kozo 1

The materials are left as authentic as possible with a little rust at the joints and some marks from hand tools that were used in the assembly process.

Kozina

Practical Magic's Victorian Apothecary

Did the phrase "Victorian Apothecary" get your attention? (Or maybe just the fact that I'm posting after so long a hiatus while working on the renovations to my house?)


This is the kitchen from the 1998 witchy-fun movie, designed by the duo of Robin Standefer and Stephen Alesch, who went on to create wonderful real houses under the umbrella of their design firm Roman and Williams.

From the Practical Magic website: The New England-style home also features a roomy kitchen -- the heart of the house -- which centers around a British aga-gas stove.

"The aga is almost like a shrine," elaborates Standefer. "This is the place where they do their work; it's where they place the caldron."

The pantry features shelves of home-canned foods -- the kind of thing past generations of women used to spend their days filling which now fell to members of the prop department, who had to fill hundreds of jars.

Standefer sees the house as being a very real character in the story. "The house itself has a certain magic to it. There is a whole world in this house and garden. These women are outcasts and this place is their sanctuary; it almost feels as though all the emotion of the generations is caught up in its walls."

Although the wonderful transom windows above the doors would be challenging, approximating this look wouldn't be hard. Stick to a palette of whites and woods, use a mixture of dark and white glass fronted cabinets (Ikea's LIDINGÖ and LILJESTAD would work) and accessorize with glass cloches and apothecary jars.


Hat tip to Barefoot in the Orchard and Endless Inspiration.

Porthole!

Nothing like a porthole to add some nautical industrial flair to your space...







Embarrassingly enough, I collected these pictures so long ago I no longer have any recollection of where they came from. (Some are obviously from redcover, a stock photography service for interior images.)

The Morning Star Cafe

I just got an email from J.D. Ray with pictures of his cafe in Portland, which has recently reopened in a new space with a steampunk inspired decor. (My plans for world domination march forward, as J.D. says "the pictures, projects, and general ideas on things that you've posted on your blog were instrumental in us developing the decor for our cafe.")


The cafe features warm coloring, fabulous light fixtures, and a lovely gear laden mural.


Thanks for sharing, J.D. -- I know I'll be visiting next time I'm in Portland!

India by Rail

By the photographer Steve McCurry. This was featured on a cover of National Geographic on "India by Rail."

The steam engine, with the Taj Mahal in the background, makes for one of the most romantic steampunk images I've ever seen.