Who wouldn’t want a beautiful mermaid motif on their wallpaper, especially one that isn’t reminiscent of 50’s kitsch pop? Carolyn Ray has been creating textiles since the seventies and finds inspiration in the flora and fauna near her minimalist mountain home on the Atlantic coast. As she expresses on her website, “Design is the rush that comes of taking a long ride and finally arriving someplace new.”

What do you do when you buy lovely furniture that becomes a part of the house and you have to leave it when you move? Well wipe away those tears, because Kohler has created a vanity with an innovative hinge system that can be effortlessly assembled and disassembled. Made with a polyurethane finish and moisture-resistant materials to ensure durability and available in four standard sizes, and four distinct architectural styles. You can find examples of the newest creation by Kohler here.

If our college dorm looked like this, we’re sure that we would be smarter today. The Award Winning, Lundgaard & Tranberg Architects and their Tietgen Dormitory in Copenhagen, Denmark boast 360 residencies for 365 days of the year. The building takes on a circular form, that is said to be a symbol of equality and community. Each dorm is set in a different depth and alternating rhythm, expressing the individual’s unique identity through its form.

To see more of the inside and outside of this beautiful building, click read the rest of this entry below.
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In need of some rest and relaxation? San Francisco based hotel company, Joie de Vivre, carefully creates landmark destinations full of soul and personality. Each of their properties celebrates California through a unique visual style, uncompromising design principles, one-of-a-kind amenities and personalized service. Founder and CEO of Joie de Vivre Hospitality, Chip Conley, swears that people who stay in hotels as creative and sophisticated as his, feel a little closer to themselves when they leave.

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We had a party. We bought/borrowed/stole some chairs so all of our friends aren’t sitting on the floor. Now comes the big question, what the hell do we do with all these chairs?
Studio Dror seems to have answered our prayers with the BBB Pick Chair. When not in use by your stylish party guests, you can unfold them and hang them on the wall and add a little style to your place instead of trying to find a dark corner to hide them. Available through Studio Dror’s online store for $1800.

When you can solve a problem and make it look cool at the same time, you’ve pretty much hit the definition of good design. When this bookshelf staircase from London-based Levitate Architects it made so much sense we couldn’t believe we haven’t seen it before. If nothing else, it looks as though someone really smart lives here.

The field of tile has lately been infused with a spectacular range of products, namely the RepTile Collection by Kale. The recent winner of a number of design awards, including I.D. magazine’s 53rd Annual Design review Award, RepTile creates an interlocking system of tiles resulting in a flowing, organic form with surprising texture and depth. The tile was designed in Turkey for the Kale Group’s Canakkale Kalebodur and Seramik brand.

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, nothing changes the mood of a space like the way it’s lit. This new light emitting wallpaper by dutch designer Jonas Samson redefines how a space can be illuminated by making it “possible to use a two-dimensional flat surface as light source instead of a 3D object.”
This concept inspires a lot of interesting questions which we unfortunately don’t have answers to yet. The sheets in this photo have a design which illuminates, but could you have the entire sheet emit light? Can you make custom designs? What is this made of? How is it powered? Can you adjust the intensity of the illumination?
If you have answers to any of these questions, please post them in comments.

Owning an Eames chair is on that short list of items you buy that universally says you’ve made it. For the 100th anniversary of Charles Eames’ birthday, Herman MIller has reproduced the 1946 Eames Molded Plywood Lounge Chair (also known by the acronym “LCW”, meaning Lounge Chair Wood).

This simple design was declared by Time Magazine as the best design of the 20th Century. That means if you’re only going to drop some dough on one really nice piece of furniture, this would probably be the one. The chairs are offered in a wood or chrome-plated steel base in eight new colors for $750 or one of the original five for $629 though hive modern.

This linear bonfire, designed by London sculptor Cathy Azria, is a dramatic construction of steel rods. Each piece is custom and made to fit into any opening. The “burning branches” glow and emit crackling and popping sounds as the steel expands, providing a sensory impact that is unique each time it is lit.

As her website explains, ”Fireplaces are no longer just about winter warmth. Now they are year-round focal points in our living spaces.” Whether they provide solace and comfort on a cold winter evening or a stunning visual display, we are enticed by the ever transforming pieces that Cathy has created. We recommend checking out her site at bd-designs.co.uk.