Customization trend: Create your Own Rug

Customization is one of the most popular trends in the last years - creating your own unique look for the things that surround you is a great possibility to express yourself and more and more companies offer customized and personalized products. As an interior designer I am very much pleased with the possibility to choose a rug  and customize it to literally any color combination, size and shape required - carpets are an important part of our interiors and this allows us to implement exactly the color scheme we want for a certain room. We can also use the rug as a way to unite all the colors in a room in the most suitable pattern and style. 
Rug Couture offers an online service which allows you to design your totally unique custom rug. You can choose from hundreds of bespoke rug designs - from funky contemporary through to straight laced traditional, from post modern to the truly outrageous. Also, you can  choose from over 1,000 colours to add to your custom pallet. Then, depending on quality and size chosen, the rug will be hand made by true master craftsmen for as little as 6 weeks.All rugs are made from beautiful New Zealand Wool in 3 distinctive qualities each priced individually: Tufted, Hand Tufted and Nepalese Hand Knotted.

True luxury is exactly that - best quality and unique design.

Another denim afrerlife idea

I like clever re-cycling and elegant re-use of objects and materials and I have posted about denim afterlife ideas. Here is another one from Springwise - you send in a back pocket from your aging jeans and get a one-of-a-kind smartphone pocket in return from Dutch Deadjeans. All you have to do is only carefully remove the pocket — it must be at least 14cm high by 9cm wide — and mark the front and back of those pockets with stickers Deadjeans provides.

Color Inspiration - Aubergine hue

As an interior designer I am always looking for inspiring color schemes and products that can be used to create them. I am in the mood of aubergine now. I like this sophisticated hue - it always implies a feeling of something special, helps create an atmosphere of elegance and imagination and certainly speaks of an artistic personality. And if you think it is a little too cold, then a combination with old gold suddenly softens it - like in this beautiful carpet below - this is one of my favorite color schemes:

Couristan Silken Treasures Area Rug Collection - Gabbeh/Aubergine
Even one piece of furniture, textile or an accessory in this hue is enough to enliven a room and evoke this feeling or serve as an accent - like  these:


Sitsational 1 Seater  Bean Bag Chair in Aubergine. Its ergonomic design provides solid back and neck support for hours of sitting. Fiberfill is made of 100% recycled, shredded polyester. Side pocket fits remote, iPod, MP3 Player, magazines and more Great alternate solution to a loveseat or small sofa. Soft outer fabric provides plush seating surface.




Sis Covers Premium Suede Solid Aubergine Futon Cover

Silk cushion covers, 'Hypnotic Lilac' (pair)

Perch Pillow in Violet by Thomas Paul from Burke Decor

Corona Decor Purple Dahlia Pillow



You can have your whole room designed in this color hue - have a look at a beautiful example by Uber Furniture - Metro Aubergine.

Pretzel Bench

It is elegant, seems to be strong and comfortable and shows that a very popular material as rattan can still be used to create something unexpected and inspiring. Pretzel Bench from Abie Abdillah is

"a piece of furniture made by pretzel shape rattan poles modules, to show the most unique of rattan characters which is the stretch and able to be bend character" - as the designer explains in his portfolio.

Sofia Architecture Week - "Being Peripheral"

Sofia Architecture Week (SAW, 15- 22 of October) is one of the most interesting events in Bulgaria dedicated to architecture. It is an annual international architecture festival, a platform for dialogue and exchange of ideas between people who are actively engaged in the problems of their environment. This is its 3rd edition and its aim "is to build up a critical mass of urban scenarios which generate good architectural and social practices." It has a topical theme - Being Peripheral - "Living in the periphery is not just a geographic, political and economic condition, but a state of mind, too."

The program has two modules taking place in very peculiar places: 
Forum – a two-day international conference which took place on October 16 and 17 at the former Communist party’s house in Sofia (left).

Open House – the festival’s free access program which will be held between October 15 and 22 at the Central Mineral Baths in Sofia

One of the most interesting and inspiring presenters Aneta Kamenova-Bulant, Architect and cofounder of Bulant & Wailzer Austria, talked about "Architecture of the present". The studio is famous with their innovative use of glass in architecture which has brought them many prestigious awards in Austria, Germany, and France, and in 2001 Aneta Bulant was awarded the Golden Vizar. Their glass bridges in Vienna also won them the highly valued good design award at the 2007 Chicago Athenaeum.

With examples of her work and sharing  her experience Aneta Bulant showed the fascinated audience that "Peripheral situation is not negative - when a person is satisfied with his work he stays firmly in the center."

Great design by a great woman - the luxury of good design!

If you want to learn what is the role of the designer in general and especially of furniture and interior designer, just look at this video - it shows how a designer can make your life easy, flexible and happy. It is dedicated to one of the best collections by Patricia Urquiola "Night&Day" for Molteni&C. Enjoy!
 via

Blog Action Day 2010 - Water: how design can help?

Blog Action Day 2010: Water from Blog Action Day on Vimeo.
Water is precious. And we have to show we are aware of this every time we use water - this means all the time! 
Blog Action Day is an annual event held every October 15 that unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day with the aim of sparking a global discussion and driving collective action. This year's topic is water.
How can design help saving water? In many ways - with every object we use. I recently published a post about domestic ponds as a beautiful way of re-using water. 
And especially in places like bathroom designers have concentrated their efforts to create modern living environment with the least water waste possible. Here are several examples:

• a modern design  of a new faucet Fiji  wich allows us to consume 40% less water;
• 5 Beautiful Shower Designs That Actually Save Water;

• W+W – GROUND BREAKING DESIGN FROM ROC. Here below is the information from Roca: 

"Created by the Roca Innovation Lab together with the designers Gabriele and Oscar Buratti, W+W is a truly exciting new product revelation from Roca.
The washbasin and WC are two essential elements in every single bathroom. Highlighting its commitment to design and innovation, Roca has combined these two elements to create W+W – an all-in-one washbasin and WC made from vitreous china, designed to maximise space and conserve water. This ground breaking idea, incorporating Roca’s new ‘water-reuse’ technology, uses waste water from the basin to fill the WC cistern, thereby reducing water usage by up to 25% compared to a standard 6/3 litre dual-flush WC.

The basin in W+W has two wastes – the basin waste and one further down the waste pipe. Once the basin has been used and filled with water, the user has the option of either diverting it to the mains (e.g. if the basin is being used for shaving, or brushing teeth), or recycling it by storing it in the cistern ready for the next flush."

One important project that includes many cheap solutions for saving water is Design for the Other 90%
like this Drip Irrigation System:The kits are significantly less expensive than conventional drip systems used on commercial farms. Studies show that drip irrigation reduces water use by 30-70% and increases yields by over 50%.

   

Denim Afterlife - RECYCLED DENIM CHALLENGE

Last year I wrote about the DENIM EVERYWHERE Trend - it is still the order of the day and probably will continue to be. But what we do with our favorite denim after its expiration date? Ecouterre recently publuished  7 Unexpected Ways To Recycle Old Denim Jeans.

Do you have an idea how to incarnate your favorite jeans into a new garment or accessory that can offer them a second lease of life? To help kick off Gap’s nationwide denim recycling drive, Inhabitat have partnered with the Gap 1969 Style Stream to source out the most creative denim reinventions on the planet. If you’ve wrangled an old pair of jeans into a dress, a piece of jewelry, or a conversation-starting handbag, enter the RECYCLED DENIM CHALLENGE and send your photos by 11:59 p.m. ET on October 20, 2010 for a chance to be featured on Inhabitat, Ecouterre, and the Gap 1969 Stream, and a chance to win a $200 Gap gift certificate!

Luxurious Minimalism

 I am becoming a fan of luxurious minimalism when I look at the latest collection of products by Mark Holmes of Minimalux launched at London Design Festival last month. My favorite is this  Conical Vase. 

Copper, Glass and Silver Vase L85xD85xH150mm. Borosilicate glass has been metalised with layers of silver and copper then mirror polished – the silver is sandwiched between the copper and glass, creating a seductive three-way fusion of materials.

Copper gives the necessary warmth that balances the coldness that is often associated with minimalism.














How do you like luxurious minimalism in interior design?
 I have two very good examples below:

A-Cero - teen room

Luxury Bedrooms Ideas by Cattelan Italia

Knitted sculptures for your home

A great way to personalize your home and make it more cosy - with knitted stool tops upholstery. But what is more interesting, they are not the usual knitted flat materials - they are like sculptures you can sit on:)
The author is young Irish-born, London-based designer Claire-Anne O’Brien and her work was shown recently at Designersblock during the London Design Festival via

domestic ponds - beautiful way of re-using water

I like this! It is not only beautiful, but also very practical:

"aquaponic agriculture allowing the symbiosis of fish and plants. the plants are nourished by the fish water, full of nitrate-rich waste. the plants therefore play the role
of natural filter by retaining the nitrates and assist in maintaining balanced water for the fish."

domestic ponds by mathieu lehanneur, benjamin graindorge + eric jourdan via designboom:

Luxury for Bathrooms from CERSAIE 2010

Get inspired with the fascinating new designs presented at CERSAIE - Bologna's International Exhibition of Ceramic Tile and Bathroom Furnishings which started on September 28the and continues until October 2nd - luxurious mosaics, innovative textures and high-tech graphics, elegant fluid forms.

Il Bagno Alessi 'One' for Laufen

"NET" by Patricia Urquiola for Mutina Ceramiche

three-dimensional relief - "Cubo" by Domenico Bisogno for Cotto Mediterrano ,