AFFORDABLE ALERT: This Is (Not) A Decoy

This is the real thing. A small company doing it SO right. Decoylab explains it best when they say they make "playful and creative, unique items that are not mass produced but still affordable." That's right. You don't always have to pay more to support American-made goods. Decoylab makes large selection of adorable and sustainable laser cut bamboo clocks, housewares and accessories. All of their products are made to order and each piece is lovingly hand-crafted in Kansas City, Missouri.

Ants in your Pants?

The classic look of work pants never goes out of style. Rugged, simple, and just a little bad ass. But if you are a woman, one with a few feminine curves, those men's styles never quite fit right. That's why I love this little company, Red Ants Pants, started by outdoor enthusiast, Sarah Calhoun. (The name comes from a little piece of trivia: in ant colonies, women do all the work.) They make work pants for women, genius! Here is their explanation of how they solved the fit problems with existing work pants on the marketplace. They use cotton duck which is dyed and sent to Seattle where the manufacturers can proceed to cut out the patterns and sew the pants. The pants are then shipped to Headquarters in Montana. Gentlemen, if you are feeling left out, Red Ants Pants says although these pants are made for a woman, men often like them too.

You don't need a barn to have a Barn Light

Like so many of the best jobs, Bryan Scott started Barn Light Electric Company because it was his passion. A part-time hobby of searching through antique stores, estate sales, abandoned buildings, and garage sales looking for vintage lights to restore, Bryan soon realized this could be more than a pastime. In 2001, he found a true American manufacturer who could create barn lighting with the same high standards he held himself to. While this company has grown by leaps and bounds, all the products are still 100% manufactured in the US, headed up in Titusville, Florida.

Blackboxes, they're not just for airplanes anymore.

Coors Beer is not the only thing being made in Golden, Colorado. This beautiful Southwest town is also home to Blackbox Case, a family company making wooden Macbook and iPad cases that are guaranteed for life. These little beauties bring the natural beauty of wood or bamboo into your busy, electronic-filled everyday life. Light weight, strong, good looking and made stateside. Yay!

The Classic Little Red Wagon

Speedway Express Wagons Lancaster County, PA, could be considered the source of the original Little Red Wagons.  They have been making classic wood wagons since 1962. These Amish made beauties aren't just great looking, they're perfect for outings with kids: swap meets, farmers markets, pumpkin picking. Each wagon is built to conform to strict specifications, from no tilt auto turn steering and ball bearing wheels to welded heavy gauge steel framework to handle heavy loads. So they aren't just for kids play, they are built for gardeners, farmers, and contractors too. Did I mention they make tricycles too? Love they're simple utilitarian look.

My Corner of America

Taking a walk this morning in my little neighborhood of Los Angeles, in this particular chunk of the state, within this 50th of America, I got inspired by the beauty. Not obvious beauty, but the unique splendor of my tiny niche. I took some photos and then I got to thinking. What if we all stopped to appreciate what is different and beautiful about our little piece of this great country? Would we be inspired to support it? Would we want to help bring it back to the days when it was the greatest producer of goods in the world? Would we take more time to check a tag and see where the products we buy are bought?

Send us some photos of your gorgeous neck of the woods. Maybe this will be a recurring theme.

DWELL Guest Blog: Cisco Brothers' Factory Tour

Cisco Pinedo began making custom pieces for his neighbors when he was in his early twenties out of his garage at his home in South Central Los Angeles. As his business grew, he began buying old abandoned buildings on an industrial strip of Western Ave. in the downtrodden neighborhood where he started out. Cisco Home still makes all their upholstered goods, case goods, and their welded and hand-blown glass lighting in Los Angeles (under the name Cisco Brothers), employing over 100 workers in their factories alone. Every item in the huge range of stylish pieces is made with an eye on sustainability and green practices. 

Cisco is by all accounts an unusual business man. He is the rare kind of boss who is loyal and flexible with his employees. It says a lot that the very first upholsterer Cisco ever hired when he started his business over 20 years ago is still working with him. He also made the all too rare decision to keep the vast majority of his manufacturing stateside. I was fortunate to get a guided tour of Cisco Brothers' factory in South Central Los Angeles this week and I truly was impressed by what I saw. I headed straight from the manufacturing side to the retail side, visiting the showroom in Pasadena. From raw materials to beautiful vignettes, Cisco keeps it locally grown.

All the wood Cisco uses is sustainably harvested or reclaimed. They use FSC certified hardwoods, guaranteeing that all their wood comes from sustainable legal sources

Hand-turned selection of legs!