Furniture as a source of light

Created by japanese designer Shinobu Koizumi, 'Light in a drawer' integrates lighting into the drawers of a small cabinet in a very ingenious way - the plastic construction of which makes illumination visible around the sides of each box even when the drawer is shut, but one can vary the degree of illumination by the degree of opening the drawers! In the day one can guess about the double function of the cabinet by its knobs - the knob on each drawer is the screw cap of an electric light bulb. (source: designboom)
Multifunctional is not a new trend in furniture design, but to use a cupboard also as a source of lighting is rare - most often lighting is used to illuminate the cupboard itslef. To illuminate the whole room and to have the ability to control the degree of ilumnation by just opening drawers is a great idea!

A bed uniting the functions of several rooms

A chinese design for a multifunctional bed may supply you with everything necessary for sleeping, working, enjoying music, browsing, communicating, etc. - all just in one pice of furniture!

source: Core77

As you can see, there are slots for avaerything you need - even your hairdrier :)

But I wonder how good and healthy would be your sleep in a bed with so many appliances around you.

For children - safe, multifunctional and funny!

That is what Karim Rashid has designed for B-Line - Snoop, a stool in rotomoulded polyethylene, reveals its triple identity: it also becomes low table with two built-in pockets and can be used as a stackable element to create bookcases of various shapes and sizes.

  

Radiators as Sculptures

About 3 years ago I discovered a new fashion - radiators becoming a filed for sculptural exercises for designers . Then they began to get multifunctional and more and more new inspirational designs appeared. And from mundane heating appliance suddenly radiators are transformed into visually intriguing sculptures and elements of interior architecture that can stand on their own. That is the theme explored by exhibition curated by designer Karim Rashid titled "Totally Rad: Karim Rashid Does Radiators" which will open on March 4 at the New York's Museum of Arts and Design. Great idea!

And what is even more interesting - the show also inaugurates the museum's Design and Innovation Gallery, a second-floor space that will house short-term, guest curated exhibitions examining emerging trends in design.

on the pictures: Caleido's Rain, 2007; Caleido's Honey, 2006

(via Interior Design)

Bulgarian Furniture Design - a Higher Level

I am impressed with the growth of Bulgarian furniture design - both, as quality of design and implementation, that we saw at the annual exhibition "BULGARIAN PRODUCT DESIGN: FURNITURE" this week, organized by MD MAGAZINE. They are beautiful and functional, made of quality materials:

Uilo Sofa, BoBox, 4th Armchair

COSH

Cosh Next to Me

Ilian Milinov - Hestia sideboard

Ilian Milinov - Multifunctional Table

Just some of the most impressive designs.

The exhibition is part of the annual Melba Design Festival.

Home Trends 2007 and On

A lot of the visitors landing on my blog come from Google search on today's home trends - space planning and interior design in general. I think that this is just a proof of how important changes are happenning nowadays in the spaces where we live. The rapid changes in the world we live make us change our homes, too. The concept for the modern home is already much different than the one we had only a decade ago.

Here is one of the best short descriptions of the contemporary home I found in MoCo Loco by Harry Wakefield:"the living room is a room to live in (not a sitting parlor), the dining room is the place used to dine every day and the kitchen is the new entertainment room where preparing food is a communal activity"

About 3 years ago we discovered that we like to stay in the kitchen and entertain with our friends while prepairing the food and suddenly the kitchen has become the center of the home.

Today, instead of investing in larger homes, people seem to prefer to invest in making the available space multifunctional and better organized.

Customization is also one of the main trends on the market as a whole and what is very important - even in home appliances. The latest example: with Integra® Refrigeration by Bosch you can now customize your refrigeration to your kitchen as well as your lifestyle, with a choice of refrigeration units, freezers and wine coolers that can create a truly customized cooling solution. With sizes ranging from 18" to 36", you can create virtually any configuration you want. If you don’t freeze much but have a lot of fresh food, pair an 18" freezer with a 30" refrigerator. Then add a 24" wine cooler for your treasured wine collection.

Another major trend is the desire to make our homes greener - both as a living environment and as general attitude to the world we live in.
Homeowners are embarking on home redecorating and remodeling projects that add pleasure and wellness to their home environments and preserve the environment around them.

The fusion style is alive and thriving (one elegant example is from Greg Natale Interiors above). Many designers avoid working with a specific 'style' preferring to draw from diverse sources of inspiration and breath new life into past decoration elements. As a result more and more home owners begin to understand that over- coordination, in both color scheme and era can make a room banal and sterile and it is better to be creative and choose furniture for its shape and the way it relates to the other pieces in the room.

It is very interesting to ascertain that the trends expected for 2007 are a fact already. What is next?

I am starting to publish here regularly my observations and finds about the most interesting Home Trends we spot at the end of 2007. A detailed analysis is available on request.

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interior design

Salone del Mobile 2025 - a Glimpse

Enjoy a preview to some of the new designs that will be presented at the coming Salone del Mobile 2025 in April:

Curuba by OLEV

ZED collection - the new Carimali proposal that enriches the range of multifunctional shower heads for the shower environment

MAXIMO by Nardi

LikeShadow by OLEV

Musola unveils an innovative line of modular sofas “Outdoor Feeling” with side tables, designed by Carlos Guijarro:

We are all looking forward to more news from Salone.

Milan 2014 Preview: REINVENTING KITCHEN & BATHROOM - IS IT ALWAYS SENSIBLE?

Milan Design Week 2014 is coming in less than a month and we are all eager to see the new design solutions that will be launched there. But how sensible and useful it is to devise new designs and concepts if they are not better? At first sight I was inspired by the vision of the new  ‘Islands’ multifunctional kitchen concept designed by London based Studio, Raw Edges forCaesarstone  that will be presented at Fuori Salone 2014, Milan:

source

The question to ask is how practical and accessible it will be for everyday life? All the designs comprise a thin surface supported on two slices of the material and feature rounded corners:

"For the Milan presentation we want to further-explore the concept of the sliding of objects into Caesarstone Islands," explains Raw Edges founders Yael Mer and Shay Alkalay. But in this concept it is not the function of interior design that is  of first and foremost importance, the center stage here takes the material Caesarstone, which is used to create surface (not easily accessible, especially between the two supporting slices) with sections removed for slotting in storage units, appliances and accessories.

Where is the user comfort? Have a look at this quite interesting design of a bathroom - it definitely has too many uncomfortable edges!

What do you think?

There are other interesting new designs for kitchen and bathroom that will be presented at Milan - check often to see them.

EUROCUCINA 2022 - a glimpse

My impressions in a just a few words from EUROCUCINA 2022 - the modern kitchen is flexible with warm tones, accent on kitchen islands, multifunctional,

with soft floating lines

my photos

and connected to the rest of the home.

ICFF NYC 2017

ICFF NYC 2017 is over, but good design will continue to inspire us. Have a look at some of my selections:

 Franke's new "Chef Center brings open-concept and multifunctional living to one of the most elemental aspects of the kitchen, reinventing how home owners use and think about their sinks,” says Gary Langbo, President of Franke Kitchen Systems. 

designer Kenneth Cobonpue

Moissonnier

source ICFF - I could not find information about the designer of these unusual lights, but I like them!

 wall sconce by Articolo 

Cloud Mast by Molo

The kitchen is changing its traditional design

Dishwasher raises above the worktop - Indesit's Aqualift redesigns the washing-up zone with an integrated dishwasher and sink, thus eliminating the need to bend down to use the dishwasher and liberates considerable space under the worktop.

Fluid spaces in contemporary interiors require that kitchen blends better with living room and dining room. 'Repeat’ kitchen system, design by Danilo Radice and produced by Elam is part of a multifunctional modular storage system for any room of the house and these cupboards, shelves and drawers fit comfortably in the modern kitchen. With lacquer and wood finishes to mix and match,they are particularly suitable for an open plan space where cooking and living areas blend. Open-fronted units can be arranged as desired and Repeat modules can be alternated with storage units and domestic appliances, plasma screens and enclosed units.

Trends: Bathroom becomes source of emotional multi–sensorial experiences

Contemporary bathroom is since long ago not just a mere washroom and even not only a relax space, it is also intended to be a main source of emotional multi–sensorial experiences.Tubs are getting more sculptural and designed to occupy the center of the room, "compact but sophisticated multifunctional volumes or theatrical recessed pools. Between a sense of intimacy that still clings to nostalgic references, or the desire to astonish and to share a collective ritual of wellbeing in a domestic mini-spa.", as magazine Interni describes this trend.

Two luxurious examples:
Left - the new Techstone bath from INFINITO, with its sinuous shapes and soft and smooth surfaces seems to stimulate tactile emotions. Techstone is a compound material formed by a high percentage of natural minerals (ATH deriving from bauxite) and a low percentage of very pure polyester and acrylic polymers. It is an inert, non–allergenic and non–toxic, recyclable materialthat can be 100% restored, practically fireproof and with excellent resistance to UV rays. 
The Faraway interior mini-pool (top), designed by Ludovica and Roberto Palomba for Kos is a concept spa piece. As you descend the steps into the pool you’ll feel the tension wash out of your body. Gentle ripples are created by the blower, cleverly placed under the steps. 
And, one of my favourates, Urquiola's Bathroom for Two for Axor - is also a real example of the "collective ritual of wellbeing" trend mentioned above.

 

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Milan Preview 1

Frame Magazine has published a series of 6 up to now previews of the Milan Furniture Fair 2008. One of the most ionteresting new products seems to be the new chair Her by Fabio Novembre. As they say,

Fabio Novembre once more shows his obsession for the female body. Yet there is a
male version on its way, called Him. Her is made from polyethylene, available in
black and white and suitable for in- and outdoors.

But this is also another project that accents on the trend for a dissipating border between in and out - a number of interesting furniture collections that are equally comfortable and elegant to serve us both - at the veranda and in our living rooms. It was last year's B & B Cansta collection by Urquiola that seems to have started it, although Urquiola made aslo the Maia collection, designed exclusively for Kettal.


Another new product suitable for both in- and outdoors:




This multifunctional stool SOS by Josh Owenis made from polyethylene, available in black, white, blue, light brown and orange. The two elements attached to the seat can be used as cup-holders, handles or hooks. Turned upside-down it becomes a fun and unusual vase or container.



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home furnishings

DENIM EVERYWHERE Trend

Denim is always fashionable - it is comfortable, elegant and sturdy. You can find it on the spring runway trends previews











































and at furniture shows. The latest trend for upholstered pieces is quilting done up like a Chanel handbag.





You can have both in denim textile - this Kvilt sofa from the Swedish firm Garsnas was presented at this year's Milan Furniture Fair (highlights here).

As always fashion and interior design go hand-in-hand.






But you can make an elegant seating from denim pieces yourself! Like this multifunctional Denim chair by Scrap Lab below.