Dead-End Housekeeping

Photo courtesy Flickr

Photo courtesy Flickr

I began to worry about the direction of the culture when elaborate place card holders appeared on the market for the first time since 1950. As vital signs go, faux-elegant place card holders indicate overgrowth. A straightforward good quality tent card will fend off the most rigorous critic. A tabletop should focus on the gathering, the flowers, and the food.

The Dutch design group Droog is selling a batch of used folding chairs bought at a bankruptcy auction. Each chair will be restored by a nail artist in a brilliantly innovative application both of skills and material.

There’s a compelling argument against pesticides that convinces even a devoted lover of the hybrid tea rose: if the timetable for application isn’t followed exactly, the product doesn’t work, the toxic harm is done anyway, and the time and expense of using the poison is wasted. That argument often evokes a grin of relief at not having to bother.

Time and honest use reveal whether a design is viable or merely showy. Place cards make sitting down to a meal a graceful experience, buffed nails defend health, and a well-fed rose will look good from five feet away no matter what is chewing on it.

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