
Los Angeles companies Environment Furniture and Aether Apparel have joined forces to create a limited edition outdoor seating product that hits on all the right notes. Perfect for an afternoon at the beach or beers in the backyard, the Beach Folding Chairs & Table merges function with elegance, with two collapsible chairs and a table, each made of sustainable Ash hardwood and finished with a......read more
For the past thirty years, Japanese photographer Tomio Seike has divided time between Japan and Europe. In 2010 he lived in a holiday apartment on Marine Parade in Brighton, England, where he took these photos of the beachscape below. The series, titled "Overlook," show tiny human figures at the edge of an endless sea, harkening Romantic landscape paintings. In fact, on first glance, they......read more
In a world where brand collaborations pop out of nowhere and disappear just as fast, the 40-year partnership between Crate & Barrel and Marimekko is something to behold. From Marimekko's summer collection, available exclusively via Crate & Barrel, comes this organic cotton beach towel that would make the perfect summer gift to the design fan in your life. The soft cotton towel......read more
Roaming around deep within the Internet, we recently stumbled upon these epic images of sand art by Andres Amador. Over the last several years, the San Francisco artist has carved over 100 graphic patterns in the sands of Ocean Beach, becoming somewhat of a local celeb in the process. The temporal land works disappear with the rising tide. Amador even proposed marriage via sand painting! She......read more
Baltimore dream-pop duo Beach House just dropped this eerie new video for "Lazuli," the gorgeous lead single from their latest LP, Bloom, released last month. The spooky clip, which follows three lonely souls to another dimension, was directed by Alan Cordell, who created a similarly bizarre video for "Walk in the Park," off of previous album Teen Dream. Bloom out now on Sub Pop....read more
In the market for a beach house? Got green ideals and a few million to spare? If so, then we've found your dream home. It's in Encinitas, California, and it hits all the right notes (save for affordability). Called Neptune Norte, the 5,000+ square foot residence was designed and built by brothers Jeff Adams of Wave Crest and Steve Adams of Adams Design Associates, who managed to land the house......read more
SHFT compadre and Honey Brothers member Ari Gold (no not the Entourage one) just sent over this moving bit of video based on an idea that came to him in a dream. While sleeping, Ari's unconscious mind offered up the idea of combining the harmonious pop of Beach Boys with the classical avant-garde of Philip Glass. Inspiration in hand, Ari mashed up the 1962 Beach Boys ballad "The Lonely Sea" with......read more
Everyone loves the beach. That's why protecting beaches is such an important pursuit for coastal communities. The most common method of preserving beach sand is the seawall, which slows down longshore currents that shift sand away from the shore. But there is an emerging technique that has many advantages over the traditional seawall. Artificial reefs not only protect the beach from eroding......read more
With summer in full swing, many among us will be heading to a body of water, where cooling off is just a splash away. But do you know what the water quality is at your favorite vacation spot? Us neither. Luckily, the ever-resourceful folks at the NRDC have done the work for us. NRDC's 2012 report on water quality at beaches around the US is a useful guide, not only for vacationers looking for a......read more
For his ongoing series A La Place, A La Piscine, photographer Gray Malin takes to the air in a doorless helicopter to capture exotic beachscapes from the sky. The results, a sampling of which you can see here, aren't doing anything to suppress our desire for a seaside vacation. Malin’s photography showcases beaches large and small, rocky and sandy, crowded and untouched, from......read more