i wanted to repost this story on cuckoo clocks because i got the nicest note from a fellow blogger, koen van der list, who also wrote a piece about modern cuckoos that i'd like to share: cuckooclockonline.com

mr. van der list sourced many other charming clocks you should know about. he is from the netherlands.. a country that has wonderful, whimsical home design and holds a special place in my heart. ENJOY!

when we moved from amsterdam to boulder, our cuckoo clock came too. he never really got over the jet lag… he still pops out of his house and sings and flaps his wings each hour, it’s just rarely the correct amount of cuckoos. and turning the clock forward and back for daylight savings hasn’t helped him one bit. but we love him anyway. we know that when he cuckoos at 8 o’clock in the morning (no matter how many times he chirps) it is time to leave for school. he reminds us when it’s time to go bed as well… also at 8 o’clock.

our clock from diamantini & domeniconi  is a clean, white, flattened version of a traditional, bavarian cuckoo clock. we hung him on a plain, white wall above the fireplace and he makes amazing shadows that expand and contract throughout the day.

i do adore the original black forest clocks with the dangling pinecones and intricately carved A-frame roofs, foliage and deer heads. some of them even have little balconies with tiny dancing couples. bavarian clock works offers both vintage cuckoo clocks and new ones that have been constructed in the same time honored manner.

we also have a crocheted cuckoo clock from anne-claire petit hanging in my daughter’s room. this guy doesn’t sing, so he is compatible with our downstairs clock. having two birds chirping every hour would definitely make you cuckoo! his colorful yarn construction is joyful and unexpected.

today, there is a variety of modern cuckoo clocks. i love the simplicity of this marble clock, also from diamantini & domeniconi. personally, i have enough trouble telling time when there are markers for the hours so the “portobello" could not be my main clock, but the pared down marble front is lovely. 

the colorful stripes of this cuckoo clock from pedro mealha are framed in black. a circular birch pendulum swings out from the windows on either side of the clock.

diamantini & domeniconi's “short ettore” clock comes in an oak or white base with a variety of color ways for the off-center, minimalist bird house.

this hot pink cuckoo clock from flli-consonni has a heart shaped window, as well as a hanging heart pendulum…a sweet way to tell time.

i love the whimsy and silliness of a cuckoo clock. in general, i am not a bird person. i had a traumatic experience when i was living in new york in my twenties… a pigeon ricocheted off a bus and smacked me right in the chest. i was showered in filthy pigeon feathers and fowl germs and i have not really appreciated live birds since. but a cute little guy who doesn’t go any further than his front porch and can’t give you avian influenza is so much fun to have around.