This quirky key holder is a collaborative project of Luz Cabrera and Malorie Pangilinan, designed for Fab’s “First Things First” competition/showcase for NYCxDesign 2014. Inspired by the 50s iconic phrase “Honey, I’m Home”, the piece resembles a honeycomb with pockets for key chains. Designers elaborate: “Home is the place you return to, and that home becomes yours when you receive that shiny new set of keys. But even keys need a place to return to. The bees will come buzzing home to this retro chic key holder that also doubles as an elegant wall piece.” The key chains come in different colors to differentiate each household member’s set of keys. Lovely. Wishlisted.
Bicycle Taxidermy is an eccentric project by UK based designer Regan Appleton. The idea first came as an attempt to immortalize his father’s old bikes that could no longer serve their purpose. “A somewhat sentimental take on a mass produced object becoming defunct, the handlebars are given the care and craft of a preserved family pet, – designer explains. – The bikes have now been re-appropriated as a family heirloom.” You have a choice of buying just a plaque (with your own epitaph text, engraved on a stainless steel plate) and mount parts of your departed bike on it. Or you can buy a plaque with the newly sources handlebars already attached. Very cool. The pieces can also be used to hang coats, bags, umbrellas and other items.
This versatile little shelf has been created by young designers Tadej Podakar and Luka Fabjan, together – studio TRIpike. The piece consists of adjustable wooden elements that provide slots for books, artwork, clothes and various small items. Thanks to its artistically cut edges, the shelf looks good even when completely empty. A great hybrid of storage and wall decoration.
(via design-milk)
I’m a big fan of the Bouroullec brothers’ designs, and this particular one is especially endearing. The little smooth shelves, called Corniches, create beautiful and multifunctional storage. Here is how designers describe their idea: “The same way that we hang our belongings on a rock jutting from a cliff before diving into the sea, we need small, informal storage in everyday life too.” Shaped as individual, isolated protrusions in space, Corniches adapt to your unique taste and purpose. Use them for your keys beside the front door, as a pedestal for a small collection of objects or as a broad wall display, – the choice is yours. And to aid your creative process the manufacturer, Swiss brand Vitra, created an iPhone app that lets you take a picture of your wall and virtually test the location of your chosen shelves. So cool. Corniches are available for purchase here.
Wallpockets are clever cardboard storage clusters, designed by Cincinnati based studio Ampersand. Inspired by barnacles and simple geometric shapes, the pieces look like wall decorations. They beautifully occupy any underused wall space and thanks to their ingenious shape store a large variety of items inside. Perfect for worksplaces, Wallpockets can also be used in an entryway, living room, kitchen and other areas of the house. The product ships flat and comes in six reversible colors. It’s currently on sale at Fab.
We’ve seen lighting fixtures imitating natural light before. But this one is a new and rather refined take on the idea. Daylight lamps by Philippe Malouin come in various shapes and colors and look just like closed shutters with the sunlight shining behind them. This beautiful concept has recently been introduced by the designer at the Design Miami exhibition in Basel. Driven by the lack of natural light in London, Malouin created an item capable to improve any dingy space by adding faux windows wherever they’re needed. A clever idea that urbanists everywhere can appreciate.
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)
I’m all for flat things, they are cool and sensible in tiny spaces. Add to that a bit of designy humor – and you get ColoredShape, a lamp from Florence based designer Sabrina Fossi. The piece, made from plastic, echoes the shape of a classic abat-jour. The center and a focal point of the lamp is the source of light itself – the bulb. Everything else is built around it. “The shape of this table lamp is born from the idea to reduce the space occupied by the object.” – says the designer. Amen to that! The ColoredShape lamp is compatible with most standard light bulbs and comes in a variety of colors.
If you like blackboard paint but not quite ready to drastically apply it all over your walls, you might consider the IdeaPaint. It offers a similar concept and much more predictable color scheme. This paint turns any wall into a dry-erase surface, allowing you to communicate messages, pin down ideas and generate volumes of marker art. With several colors available, the IdeaPaint may be used in any room – kitchen, home office, entrance area… It will definitely be a hit in a kids room! The application is as easy as painting the walls.
This good-looking kitchen clock, available at Terrain, doubles as a writing surface. Its chalkboard face is minimal and uncluttered, providing enough space to write notes, shopping lists and reminders. You can also fill your own numbers, if there is nothing else to say. Made from birch wood, the piece contains chalk and eraser storage (points for space-saving!). Assorted chalks in primary colors are included.
