A kitchen made entirely out of beads?

Here at The Bead Shop, we’re crazy about beads - it’s what we do. It’s who we are.

We knew there were other bead enthusiasts out there, but we didn’t think they’d come close to matching our enthusiasm.

But then we heard about Liza Lou.

Liza Lou is an American who really is crazy about beads. You might have heard about her. She’s a visual artist who’s known for her large-scale works made from unusual and unlikely mediums, and she spent 5 years of her life creating an art installation she called Kitchen and Back Yard.

It’s comprised of a to-scale, fully-equipped kitchen replica and a 525-square-foot garden model entirely covered in beads.

And when we say entirely...

The cupboards, the counters, the tablecloth, the floor and even the water that spouts from the tap; every available surface is covered in beads.

Around 30 million of them, to put a figure on it. Each one painstakingly applied, one at a time, by a pair of tweezers.

And because seeing is believing, here are some pictures:

Liza’s now a South African resident herself these days, after founding a studio collective with Zulu artists. So if she ever plans on returning to her bead-covered art works in the near future, we’d love to get involved!