In our world of focusing on the aesthetics and function of objects, it is sometimes easy to forget that good design is ultimately focused on helping people.  Right now the people of Haiti need help.  For those of us who can, that help means money.  Rather than giving funds to the Haitian government that is a) corrupt and b) not functioning, I chose two charities that I believe will have the most impact.  As a resident of an active earthquake zone, I can only help but send the same help to Haiti that I hope people would send to our area in times of need.

Partners in Health is a non-profit healthcare organization focused on providing medical care and disease prevention and treatment to poor people around the world.  They were part of the first responders to the disaster in Haiti, and they already have facilities and people on the ground.

Donate at www.pih.org

Unfortunately, this disaster was made worse due to poor building design and construction in Port-au-Prince.  Once relief and medical triage is complete over the next few weeks, the hard work will be rebuilding the country.  Architecture for Humanity is a wonderful organization dedicated to making sure Haiti is rebuilt properly and safely.  They organize design professionals from around the world to volunteer their time and knowledge in order to provide the shelter and meeting places that people deserve.

Donate at www.architectureforhumanity.org

Both charities are highly rated by Charity Navigator, which means your money will be going to the right place.

As the decade draws to a close, I hope you and yours are happy, healthy and enjoying good design.  Have a wonderful and prosperous new year.

For years we’ve discussed going to Denmark, but now we’re finally on our way.  We’ll be meandering around the country for the next few weeks, so posting here will slow down.  As far as I’m concerned, Denmark is the mother land of good design so of course I’ll post pictures when I can.

Until then, forblive lykkelig!

Just a quick note, Fourspace now has a page on Facebook!  We’d love for you to become a fan.

Since the majority of fourspace.com is hidden and the front page has been long abandoned, I decided to move the blog to the forefront.  Now http://fourspace.com points directly to the blog, and the old link still works too.

More posts coming soon!  I promise I haven’t forgotten about this.

For now, you can check out my Flickr photostream.

Unfortunately our homes have not kept up.

Like every new couple, we ended up in house after house, each larger than the one before it. Our furniture, dishware, book collection and most everything else were incoherent mixes of the stuff we’d individually acquired and new things we’d purchased and received. Having nice things is great, but nice things don’t equal a home.

When we moved from the suburbs to the city it was necessary to downsize, both in apartment size and stuff volume. This is what I call the beginning of our Big Purge. Through yard sales, Craigslist and donations, we were able to get rid of about two thirds of our stuff… or so we thought.

After being in a much smaller apartment for the past half of a year, it’s dawned on us that we need to rethink the situation and invest time to make our house a home. This will be a painful process but ultimately a rewarding one. At the end of the day, we have come to realize that our stuff is not what makes our life complete, and living among clutter only serves to be an every day reminder that the rest of your life is not in order. We want to change that.