I can’t remember where I found this originally, but I did think it was cool enough at the time to bookmark it.
This is definitely a design I’d like to see up close and personally.
P.S. Happy fourth of July to our American friends!
Archive for the ‘Furniture’ Category
Inspiration | Beyond just a folding chair
Wednesday, July 4th, 2007Inspiration | Multi-functional furniture
Tuesday, September 19th, 2006There’s something functionally cool about furniture that does double duty for different functions. In the most recent issue of dwell magazine, we saw an ad for some pretty cool products by the European furniture company, mobelform.
Many of their pieces are suitable for very small European-type spaces and makes great use of very tight spaces. Of course, there are some hefty price tags to go along with such ingenuity, unfortunately.
First up is the Nuovoliola at $10,180. It’s a wall-bed unit that went put away is a little love seat with a shelf on top. Pulled down, the shelf is a support for the bed and a shoe rack. Nifty.
This next piece, the Doc Divano ($5470), is kind of fun since it’s a sofa and a bunk bed all rolled into one:
Finally, the Spazio 05 ($6020) is a neat idea, but I think it only works well if you can keep a desk uncluttered enough to withstand the movement up and down.
The listing of mobelform’s latest products is here, or you can view their full catalogue.
Inspiration | Play with your furniture
Wednesday, August 16th, 2006We found Movisi‘s modular storage/shelving system, PLAY, via DesignSpotter. In many ways PLAY is like lego for grown-ups except that it allows you to make your own furniture.
There are 3 basic elements to the PLAY system and together they let you create a variety of configurations. Movisi sells PLAY kits starting at €30.00 for a one-cube kit.
Seems both fun and practical to me. Fun since you can reconfigure your shelf whenever you like and practical since the pieces are made with a lightweight closed-cell foam that’s friendly to hardwood floors and walls and easy to clean.
Inspiration | Benchmark furniture
Tuesday, June 20th, 2006Here’s another Eric find: Benchmark Furniture — a British company that makes furniture from sustainable-forest European hardwood.
A few years back, we had actually seen “Plank” in person as part of a touring exhibit on British design:
Plank (£475) is simplistic in appearance and a nice study in wood joinery. I’m not completely sold on the look, or its functionality since it rests such a large surface area on the ground for support, but if nothing else it is original and it would be fun to configure.
Also designed by the same designer (Thomas Heatherwick), is a piece I would love to examine in person:
The Twisted Cabinet (£2780) looks so intriguing to me, and I would love to see just how it is put together.
Benchmark’s got plenty of other well-crafted pieces in their collection of wooden furniture.
(Ooh — like this sideboard)
Check out their catalogue for more.
Inspiration | Canadian design at Umbra
Tuesday, June 13th, 2006Everyone knows Umbra for their enormous collection of picture frames (almost 300 different ones). Pretty much if you need a contemporary looking frame, they’ve got something for you.
What you might not have known is that a lot of their design comes out of their design studios in Toronto. Or, that they’ve also got a few nifty things besides photo frames.
I particularly like their Postino mailbox, $77 CAD. It sure beats your standard, black-painted, rusted-out ol’ mailbox.
These Nestle nesting tables are quite nice too, though at $715 CAD, might be a bit pricey until you consider they’re solid oak and made with beautifully put together finger joints (not ugly visible fasteners) — and there’s three of them!
Finally, the Rolly Storage mirror, $220 CAD offers a convenient, hidden place to stash the keys, mail, stuff that you gotta hide because people are coming over right now!
So, if you’re looking for some good ol’ Canadian design (eh!), go and check out Umbra and their full collection of goods.
Inspiration | ICFF
Thursday, May 18th, 2006I have to admit it, I’m a sucker for beautiful, contemporary furniture. And, two years ago, Eric and I went to our very first ICFF – International Contemporary Furniture Fair. Held every May in NYC (this year’s starts this Saturday, May 20th), it’s one giant, modern ‘stuff’ heaven. We went to last year’s ICFF too, but unfortunately, this year, we won’t be able to make it.
Sad to say, we’ll be missing some of this year’s new exhibitors — and of those, these ones in particular piqued my interest:
The Pagoda60 lamp from Button Design of BC
Their Pagoda lamps have an Asian-esque look to it, and I guess you could say I’m really into that sort of thing :). I’m also drawn to the Button designs because they’re Canadian and they use Canadian lumber in their products.
Another new exhibtor to this year’s ICFF is Brooklyn-based Brave Space. I know I’ve seen this before, but the tinkling tetris music in my head and the wasted-youth spent playing the game means I just can’t help but mention it here:
I love products that offer versatility and a means for the end user to customize its use. Again, there’s a bit of an Asian feel to how they’ve set up this particular set of Tetris shelving since the configuration is reminiscent of Japanese Tansu chests.
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