While visiting our pal Janet at her home in Austin Texas a couple of years ago, we fell in love. Not with Janet (that happened years before), but with her house.
Besides being ultra-cute, it:
was of a certain age (50ish);
was a manageable size;
had windows to open on all sides;
was surrounded by a bit of property and (best of all for me);
was house shaped!
Though we knew we were loving her home while intoxicated with the scent of blooming jasmine and being shaded by the arched branches of pecan trees from across the street, 
we both suddenly knew how we wanted to live.
And so we were thrilled, a few months later, to welcome Janet into our own wee house after our move fromToronto condo to St. Thomas
"The design and lifestyle bible for a growing
generation of 20 - 30 years olds ... inspired ideas in sustainability, great design, home solutions, named after Marcel DuChamp's phrase "ready-made" used to describe everyday items displayed as art". This blurb from their website sounds a bit like copy from a loan application and it doesn't do justice to the do justice to the brainchild of Grace Hawthorn (president and publisher) and Shoshana Berger (editor-in-chief).
More accurate is Mini Manifesto pledge #5 from Berger and Hawthorne’s book “ReadyMade”;
Actually, if they used the pledge line at the bank, they’d likely have been turned down as a bad risk. I mean, the health of Western culture seems so dependent on the youth-fueled forward thrust of acquiring the “new” while abandoning the “been done”, who would have enough faith to back such ambition? Well, someone did (maybe it just themselves or friends and family) and since 2001 ReadyMade has been motivating, instructing and inspiring.
Part of the secret to their success might be their website (designed by Toronto based Fluffco) which is extremely interactive; apart from the usual bits like an on-line store (note cards made from damaged back issues and reclaimed all-weather billboard vinyl with design ideas – pretty cool) and project downloads, there is also a blog and searchable archive through which you can find any scheme they’ve published, streaming how-to videos, MacGyver style challenges and discussion forums.
The magazine layout is both clever and verging on over stimulating, and I get that tinge of vertigo I remember getting when I laid my eyes on the first issue of Wired. There’s a lot going on each page and the regular departments offer a wide variety (who was the smarty pants who convinced Todd Oldham 
to write and photograph a column?). But the strongest point for me is, though it may be designed for a 20 to 30 year old’s speed of sound attention span, this magazine doesn’t condescend. The instructions aren’t dumbed-down and the quality of writing is taken very seriously (Rachel Sherman’s Tree Envy: How to decorate like Shiksa had me rolling!). In short, even someone closer to 20 plus 30 years will get jazzed.
Although their formula must be working, there is a key part of the ReadyMade model that seems disconnected. The inside of the magazine is very hands-on and realistic, yet the cover is frostily staged with pretty models; perhaps they’d consider using real people instead of cover models?
This bi-monthly, US based mag is disproportionately pricey at $7.25 Cdn an issue to the US $4.99, while a subscription at $24US for 6 issues, would likely get you each issue for $4.00 Cdn. As well, it’s available at Chapters/Indigo/Coles/Smithbooks and a few independents.
Besides being ultra-cute, it:was of a certain age (50ish);
was a manageable size;
had windows to open on all sides;
was surrounded by a bit of property and (best of all for me);
was house shaped!
Though we knew we were loving her home while intoxicated with the scent of blooming jasmine and being shaded by the arched branches of pecan trees from across the street, we both suddenly knew how we wanted to live.And so we were thrilled, a few months later, to welcome Janet into our own wee house after our move from
"The design and lifestyle bible for a growing
generation of 20 - 30 years olds ... inspired ideas in sustainability, great design, home solutions, named after Marcel DuChamp's phrase "ready-made" used to describe everyday items displayed as art". This blurb from their website sounds a bit like copy from a loan application and it doesn't do justice to the do justice to the brainchild of Grace Hawthorn (president and publisher) and Shoshana Berger (editor-in-chief).More accurate is Mini Manifesto pledge #5 from Berger and Hawthorne’s book “ReadyMade”;Actually, if they used the pledge line at the bank, they’d likely have been turned down as a bad risk. I mean, the health of Western culture seems so dependent on the youth-fueled forward thrust of acquiring the “new” while abandoning the “been done”, who would have enough faith to back such ambition? Well, someone did (maybe it just themselves or friends and family) and since 2001 ReadyMade has been motivating, instructing and inspiring.
Part of the secret to their success might be their website (designed by Toronto based Fluffco) which is extremely interactive; apart from the usual bits like an on-line store (note cards made from damaged back issues and reclaimed all-weather billboard vinyl with design ideas – pretty cool) and project downloads, there is also a blog and searchable archive through which you can find any scheme they’ve published, streaming how-to videos, MacGyver style challenges and discussion forums.The magazine layout is both clever and verging on over stimulating, and I get that tinge of vertigo I remember getting when I laid my eyes on the first issue of Wired. There’s a lot going on each page and the regular departments offer a wide variety (who was the smarty pants who convinced Todd Oldham to write and photograph a column?). But the strongest point for me is, though it may be designed for a 20 to 30 year old’s speed of sound attention span, this magazine doesn’t condescend. The instructions aren’t dumbed-down and the quality of writing is taken very seriously (Rachel Sherman’s Tree Envy: How to decorate like Shiksa had me rolling!). In short, even someone closer to 20 plus 30 years will get jazzed.
Although their formula must be working, there is a key part of the ReadyMade model that seems disconnected. The inside of the magazine is very hands-on and realistic, yet the cover is frostily staged with pretty models; perhaps they’d consider using real people instead of cover models?This bi-monthly, US based mag is disproportionately pricey at $7.25 Cdn an issue to the US $4.99, while a subscription at $24US for 6 issues, would likely get you each issue for $4.00 Cdn. As well, it’s available at Chapters/Indigo/Coles/Smithbooks and a few independents.
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