I can’t walk past a home garden idea, especially when it’s as elegant as this one. The Quadra lamp, designed by Italian label Bulbo, is a gardening tool that can let your herbs and windowsill veggies feel happy all year long. An adjustable aluminum frame is fitted with LED lights and accommodates plants of various height. Bulbo people claim that the lamp is energy efficient and eco-friendly. I love the sleek design and subtle glow of the piece. The Quadra lamp comes in two sizes.
If you like to read at the dinner table (I do!) – you will love this little stool from Montreal based designer Loïc Bard. Slick and minimal, the piece features a discreet storage compartment, suitable for a mag, a newspaper or various kindles and pads. Lovely. Made from maple. Available for purchase through designer’s website.
I find this item to be absolutely delightful (and not only because of my book fetish). Ideal for small and dynamic urban dwellings, Lumio by Max Gunawan is a portable, rechargeable, and powerful little light. Disguised as a book, it unfolds to reveal a warm high-performing LED lamp. You can take it with you to bed, outside of your apartment, use it as an alternative light source for dark areas, as a desk lamp, as a pendant… The possibilities are endless. And to recharge the battery, simply attach it to your computer or an outlet via USB charger. Available in three colors, Lumio is big enough to light a dinner party and compact enough to fit a small bag. Brilliant. Watch the video after the break to see the product in action.
Sgabo is a collapsible piece created by Italian designer Alessandro Di Prisco. This stool is both attractive and functional, and it’s ability to fold flat makes it a solid contender for a small urban apartment. It can provide an extra seating or serve as an impromptu side table. The folding is done with a single fluid motion. The seat features ergonomic holes for your fingers (nice!). Sgabo is available in four colors – white, yellow, light green, and light blue.
Multifunctional Desk is a concept project, developed by Polish designer Agata Nowak. A comfortable workspace by day, the piece unfolds into a dining table big enough to accommodate six persons. “The multifunctional desk is designed to help solving the problem of living and working in small spaces, – designer says. – Users can easily adapt the desk to their needs, and transform it during the day.” In its folded state the piece is very compact, and by simply unfolding one side – you can easily create another workspace or extend the existing one. I also love the secluded feel the desk has with both sides lifted. A useful feature for working in a room, where other activities take place.
Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Donald M. Rattner.
Designed by Carlo Contin in 2012, the Orbit Server is an adjustable, 3-tiered server that combines eco-friendly bamboo plates with a sleek stainless steel base. Shift the supports around to suit your table and the foods you want to serve – Orbit works just as well for a family meal as it does for a dinner party of invited guests. Folded compactly it also preserves space when not in use.
The server measures 12 1/2 inches long by 3 3/4 inches high. Bamboo plates are 8 inches in diameter.
The Italian Contin is perhaps most widely known for his Satellite Bowl of 1999, and his more recent NINNA chair, designed for Adentro. His earlier SNAKE table for Meritalia is a larger-scale version of Orbit, being made up of multiple round tables set at different heights.
The beauty and versatility of this piece make it an exciting option for any stylish shoebox dweller. The Parity cabinet by British designer Gareth Batowski is a small oak cabinet comprised of two shelves and four colored drawers. The item can serve as a desk compliment, printer stand, night table, side table, even as kitchen storage, if you so choose, the options are endless. I also love the aesthetics of the piece. Parity’s upper surface is tinted in black while the drawers are painted in bright colors. The rest of the structure is finished in natural wood, which creates an authentic and rich personality.
– Ikea designs a flatpack refugee shelter. Cool project.
– Mind-bending – Tableware by James Stoklund.
– Guggenheim museum has a rad new app. And it’s free.
– Dutch photographer Jan Banning made these compelling portraits of homeless people.
– Iconic eyeglasses of the famous.
– What a cute idea – a pencil that can be recycled as a plant.
– Love this space-saving seating – JumpSeat Wall.
– And for the senses – Sakhalin Odyssey Project.
Have a good weekend, folks!
The Acapulco chair is an iconic piece, inspired by a Mayan hammock. It was designed in the 50s. The legend has it that a French tourist vacationing on the Caribbean coast of Mexico felt hot and uncomfortable in a solid back chair and wondered why it wasn’t styled like an open web Mayan hammock. The idea was born. The slightly pear shaped frame, colorful webbing and mid-century modernist flair make the Acapulco chair a great addition to any space. And thanks to its transparent body, the piece would not add visual clutter to the room. Innit Design, that produces the original Acapulco chair today, offers a detachable base that lets you choose a chair or rocker function, or both. The webbing is made from UV-resistant PVC, which makes it a perfect indoor/outdoor item. The frame is steel, powder coated in black or white, or a chrome finish. Available for purchase here.
Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Donald M. Rattner.
What better inspiration for a wine rack than a bunch of grapes? Grape is a modular wine rack that can be mounted on a wall, placed on a table top or sat on a floor. Interlock multiple units for a growing wine collection in all sorts of appealing configurations.
The rack is made of expanded polypropylene, a 100 percent non-toxic, recyclable closed cell foam. Because it’s both light weight and strong, the material is used as a packing material for high-end electronic goods which need maximum protection with minimal added weight during shipping. Reducing shipping weight has the added benefit of lowering the carbon footprint, adding to its environmentally friendly qualifications.
One unit holds 12 bottles and measures 23 5/8 x 15 3/4 x 7. Grape is sized to accommodate Champagne-sized bottles too.
Robert Bronwasser designed Grape in 2007. Son of an architect, Brownwasser is the principal of Smool, an award-winning and widely exhibited design firm based in Amsterdam.
Purchase here.
