Our seating furniture is a notorious clutter magnet. Its demoralizing coziness compels us to pile more and more things closer to our bums, so we don’t need to bother getting up. Design firm Quinze and Milan and backpack manufacturer Eastpak took this desire quite literally and created the Backpack Sofa, a transformable piece of furniture with unlimited storage possibilities. The number of pockets and compartments is impressive and will allow storing books, DVDs, periodicals, iPads, and all other toys and spoils you like to keep close to you. Beautiful and at the same time dangerous idea…
If you know what it feels like to be taking a lot of medications, you also know what ugly clutter they create. That is because your main supply and daily dispensers need to be stored separately. Add to this meds you have to take with you, and you get an overwhelming picture. Not to mention – the very aura of pill bottles has this sickening ‘Sweat November’ doom about it. Luckily this artful storage system, created by young French designer Celine Forestier, can address all of these issues. The collection is comprised of three parts – wall cabinet, weekly pill organizer, and series of handheld single-dose boxes. These components are not only convenient and cover nicely all medical storage phases, they are aesthetically pleasing as well. Thanks to this destigmatizing design, medical supplies can now be comfortably stored at your fingertips.
It seems that the more commonplace e-readers get, the more popular it becomes to incorporate actual books into objects. Even Philippe Starck participated in this trend by creating Bibliotheque Nationale – a lamp that features bookshelves. This multifunctional piece will help you to store your books, periodicals and other reading materials right under your light source. And if you have gone completely paper free, the lamp provides a comfortable charging station for all your devices.
When it comes to bathroom storage we, small space inhabitants, are not spoiled with the abundance of choice. Which is why this collection from Royo Group is so exciting. The Keops Evolution series feature functional drawers and shelves around the bathtub itself. This elegant solution allows for much needed product/towel storage while taking virtually no extra space. It also provides for easy access to your beauty spoils. Thoughtful… The bathtub finishes are available in white acrylic and walnut and the furniture part can be chosen to be white or black.
Bedpack is a clever design by Eveline Borgermans that can help you to organize your bedside space. We all like to see our bedroom neat and serene, but at the same time – we like to have our essential things at our fingertips. Bedpack allows to achieve both. It hangs off the sides of the bed giving you an extra space for your books, notepads, glasses, medicine or anything else you need to have immediate access to. The product is available in several sizes and various colors.
DMY Berlin’11 festival is in full swing, giving the stage to many delightful designs. This coat hanger, called Mr. T, is a vivid example. Marcel Kieser and Christof Spath of German studio Kieser Spath, the proud authors of the piece, have this motto for it – ‘plain, simple, intelligent.’ And indeed – what can be simpler than two wooden T-shaped strips with a metal rod in between? And when not in use – the item can be disassembled and quite intelligently stored flat even in the tiniest of closets. Light, minimalistic, adaptable storage… Something every small space needs.
This piece reminds me of the folded ribbon game, I played as a child. The Wow shelf by Latvian design student Arthur Analts was created to enhance your entryway and provide a convenient place for your keys, loose change and other small items. Made from a single aluminum sheet, folded in a crisscrossed pattern, the shelf is light and sturdy (it can hold up to 93lb). It is attached to walls by a special fleece tape. ‘The inspiration came from the unique metal’s bending possibility, creating the form from one piece of aluminium with almost no material loss,’ – explains the designer. ‘My goal was to be sure the whole object will look aesthetically pleasing and be lightweight, even without accessories in it.’ The Wow shelf can be powdercoated in various colors.
The Sey hanger (‘say’ means ‘thing’ in Turkish) takes the simple idea of a string with two hooks and brings it to perfection. The powder-coated metal string can hold great many items in relatively compact space, which makes Sey a perfect storage tool. You can use it for books, coats, linens, jewelry. Anything that can be thrown over it – will be held. And that’s the thing, really… Sold in MoMA store.
When it comes to making our space appear bigger, the less storage we see – the better. This cool little item, called Selfshelf, allows you to create stacks of books seemingly floating in the air. That is because the bottom ‘book’ is a shelf in disguise. The title of it reads ‘Ceci n’est pas un livre’ (which is a fancy way of saying ‘this is not a book’). A subtle gag, only noticeable under closer inspection, adds charm to this lovely design idea. The shelf is available at Dutchbydesign.com.
The truth about books is that they are rarely stay neatly displayed on the shelf. Rather they pile up right around the reading spot. So, if you read on your sofa – why not store your books there as well? This is the idea behind the Calypso Chair from Brandon Allen. The piece is generously equipped with storage spaces and transforming parts. You can slide your books and magazines under the seat, you can pull out the shelves for your cuppa, you can flip the shelves and use them for your laptop or writing pad, you can rotate the sitting parts, or you can remove the sitting altogether and transform the sofa into a coffe table. With all these options the Calypso Chair might be the only piece of furniture your living room will ever need.
