Kane Chan, the owner of this sleek NY loft, moved to Big Apple from London in 2009. He found this 520 square feed one bedroom apartment in an old industrial building in East Village. The 1929 landmark has been converted to co-ops in the seventies. What in real estate agents’ jargon sounded like “charming prewar details” (pardon the bitterness – I’m apartment hunting) in reality amounted to scary-looking dingy surfaces, narrow rooms and an unlivable loft, occupied by the AC system. Only his photos (see the thumbnails after the break) can speak to the level of transformation.
But the apartment had good bones, not to mention – great light coming from a huge window. With the help of the designer Sergio Mercado, the full benefit of these qualities emerged. “The space was bisected by the bedroom wall,” Mercado says. Once that came down, the full beauty and light from the windows was revealed. The mezzanine loft is now a bedroom. Though only 227 square feet, it is elegant and efficient, with storage area for books in the oak shelf. Thoughtful color accents throughout the apartment, expertly played against shades of gray, break the monochrome scheme, diving the sense of completeness to the space.
(via hvhinteriors and nymag)
This product makes so much sense – it’s hard to believe no one came up with it earlier. Culla Belly by Manuela Busetti is a baby bassinet that can serve as a regular crib during a day, and as an attachement to a grownup bed at night. One side of the bassinet can be opened via two zips to allow the fall of the barrier between the child and the mother, creating a single space in which the mother can move easily in case the little one needs her. The wooden attachement, in which the baby crib rests, is secured under the bed’s mattress. The weight of the mattress and of the mother guarantee the stability of the structure.
Danish manufacturer Montana Møbler created this collection of modular storage. Comprised of 42 basic units, each available in 49 colors and special sufraces, the system allows you to customize the size, the look and the transparency of your storage. The number of accessories featured in this line is also quite impressive. You can add drawers, doors, partitions, lighting and many other elements to your design. In description of the product, Montana referes to the notion – system design. Here is how they explain it: “Montana is a system design that is based upon the cardinal number 5.7 cm. 1/12 of a shelving unit corresponds to 5.7 cm and is the distance between two shelf positions. 5.7 cm is the measurement linking Montana to the universal DIN paper formats, including the A4 format.” The vibrancy of colors is, however, my favorite part of this collection. Allied with many customizable details, it makes storage beautiful.
Here is another amazing Kickstarter project – RoboChair by Brad Benke of Stahl Architects. This cool foldable chair doubles as wall art. We’ve seen a similar chair/art idea before, but you can’t beat the fun of this robot one. Here is how designer describes it: “RoboChair was designed for three purposes: to be entertaining, to be displayable, and to be awesome. It all started with a simple robot sketch, and then the question came: How cool would it be if that folded into a chair?! After weeks of designing and building protoypes, RoboChair 1.0 is finally here. He’s made out of Baltic Birch plywood and comes completely assembled. Just lower his legs until they lock into place and you’re good to go!” Lovely concept. We can pledge in the next 23 days to see it produced.
(via swissmiss)
Cork surfaces are as addictive as bubble wrap – we can’t help but pinning things to them. And pieces made out of cork inevitably double as improvised bulletin boards. Just like this lamp, called Post, created by Brazilian design studio Ninho. This simple and multifunctional product is comprised of recycled cork sheet, pine wood, lamp, socket, and a power cord. The pins (included) attach the cork sheet to the wooden base and suggest attaching whatever you wish to post to the sheet. The assembly process is intuitive and requires zero tools, glue or knowledge of industrial engineering. Watch the video to see how effortless it is… Only sustainable materials are used in creation of this lamp. And clever compact packaging optimizes storage and distribution.
(via designboom)
