Cactus Bookcase: Prick a Book, Any Book

Reading: it’s fundamental. Cactuses? Not so much, unless maybe you’re a desert. But combining these two unlikely companions is the Babyletto Cactus Bookcase from West Elm. It’s a bookcase that looks like cactus. Obviously, if you don’t fill the entire thing with western novels about cowboys, you’ve done it all wrong.

The powder-coated steel bookcase is finished in sage green and measures 48″ tall, 31″ wide, and 8″ deep, with eight individual cubbies for storing books and toys. Or, in my case, snacks. As I always say, even a great book without a snack is hardly worth reading.

Don’t already have a western-themed library? What better way to get it started? Personally, I’ve always wanted an old west-inspired reading room and was finally making my dream a reality when my wife caught me trying to lead the horses inside and put an end to that plan real quick. Like even faster than the fastest gunslinger quick.

This smart-speaker is designed to look like a house-plant so it blends into home-decor better!

When Google launched its first smart speaker, the Google Home, in 2016, the design team spoke about how they consciously chose materials and color palettes that complemented the home, rather than being too tech-driven. The Google Home came with a woven fabric clad, and pastel color options, allowing it to occupy space in your home without commanding too much attention. The rounded forms and the lack of edginess just helped it blend in further, making the home feel smart, rather than the product within the home. Jonas Daehnert (popularly known on the internet as Phone Designer) is taking that design philosophy a step further with his Smart Cactus speaker. Designed to blend into homes by looking like a potted plant, the Smart Cactus beautifully intersects tech and decor to create a speaker that’s a perfect fit for the coffee table, the mantelpiece, or the cabinet.

The Smart Cactus comes in a cylindrical format, quite similar to other smart speakers, but resembles a Parodia cactus with a fleshy stem and a planter-base. The stem comes with multiple segments, clad in fabric to look like the cactus’ body, and ditches the spikes for light-strips that run vertically. On the top is an OLED screen that serves as a display, allowing you to interact with it through touch (something you wouldn’t really do with a cactus without thinking twice!) Conversely, you could talk to the Smart Cactus and have it respond with audio as well as ever-changing LED lights. You could ask it to read you the latest headlines, play your favorite podcast, or have it stream music (they say Beethoven really helps nourish plants!) I just wish the Smart Cactus came in a nice olive-green though!

Designer: Jonas Daehnert

This Saturn V Rocket Planter Is Ready to Lift Off

There are lots of types of pots out there for planting things, but most of them are simply variants of the same basic shapes. I’d rather keep my plants in something a bit geekier, like this custom-built Saturn V rocket planter by SimonRob.

Simon created this awesome 3D-printed planter based on the main stage of NASA’s Saturn V rocket. He started out with a digital model by RealAbsurdity (which I now must absolutely print for myself.) After sanding and smoothing the printed parts, Simon panstakingly painted the rocket, and then added plastic flames that he embellished with markers. To complete the effect, he wired up three tiny LEDs inside of each nozzle, and then programmed an Arduino nano to make the lights flicker when switched on.

The finished piece looks amazing, and the little succulent that Simon planted on top looks like it’ll be very happy living there. If you want to build your own Saturn V rocket planter, you cage find all of the construction details over on Instructables. While you’re there, be sure to check out Simon’s nifty Space Shuttle model that he built using recycled circuit boards and electronic parts.

Creative green glassware stacks up to look like a cactus!

I wouldn’t really call this Nature-Inspired Design but there’s surely something creative and quirky about how the Saguaro Glasses stack up to look like a majestic tree-like Saguaro cactus, native to the deserts of Arizona (commonly found in cartoons and even the ‘No Internet’ game built into Google Chrome)

DOIY’s Saguaro collection comes as a set of cups, mugs, and tumblers with fluted bodies and cactus-branch shaped handles. Colored in a remarkably eye-catching green, the glassware stack up on each other when not in use, turning your kitchen-counter into the backdrop of a Western movie. When you do need them for sipping something like Orange Juice, or something more appropriate like ‘Green’ Tea, the branch-shaped handles serve as a nifty functional detail, being decorative when you want, and useful when you need them. Don’t worry though, this adorable set of cactoid-crockery doesn’t come with spikes and definitely don’t need watering. Moreover, they’re freezer and dishwasher-safe too. Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote sold separately!

Designer: DOIY Design

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Cactus-inspired product designs that give your space a splash of greenery this summer!

If the Instagram influencers and Pinterest boards have influenced us with anything, it is how beautiful a green space can look in your home. But given the modern busy era – where everyone wants more with minimal effort, it is the humble cactus plant that has gathered a cult following. What happens when you manage to kill an actual cactus plant as well? (guilty as charged) You get some green that never dies but adds functionality to your home. This is exactly what the team at Qualy Design has managed to do. Combining their love of cactus and product design, every cactus featured here has a fun little functionality along with its evergreen personality! Be careful, this non-pricky cactus collection is addictive!

Toilet Brushes are the bane of a Instagram-worthy bathroom. We can’t live without them nor can we live with them mudding up our aesthetics! The Cacbrush is here to your rescue. Doubling up as a toilet brush, this clever little design hides the brush in plain sight without any accidental pricks to your business area.

Nothing says summer is here like a chilled drink and a cactus themed celebration to support it. Holding your munchies while you sip through the straw, the Cacnuts is a must-have for every green lover.

Beware – this cactus pricks, but only your food! Any Mexican-themed food fiesta is incomplete without some cactus picks to hold your food in place while you nibble and mingle.

The Cacstopper is your wine’s best friend! This fun little stopper retains your wine’s flavor with each design helping you easily remember which wine bottle was it that we opened first – the skinny cactus or the Mickey-like cactus!

No tall glass of drink is complete without a tall Cactus Stirrer. These stirrers will make you look sharp while you unwind with ease.

For every wannabe plant-mommy who has lost a plant, this Caccessories Tray will be your evergreen shrub that holds your precious belongings or a smart way to hide your stuff in a bunch of actual cactus plants! After all, who will risk putting their hand through a bunch of cacti.

The Cactrash Bin sits under your desk but there is no way it will accidentally prick you. This cactus is hungry for your trash – just open it, throw your trash in it and cover it up to compress the trash.

The Cactiss Toilet Paper Holder is the Robin to the Cacbrush’s Batman. This sneaky little succulent will hold your toilet paper roll or tissues or you can repurpose it to plant an actual cactus in it!

Designed to look like a potted cactus, the Cactus Scissors come nested in a cactus-shaped body (sans the spikes, of course) that sheathes the blades. Pull it out and you’ve got yourself a regular, working scissor that you can use either in the kitchen, at your workplace, or just for hobby-work. The cactus plant even comes with its own pot that serves as a storage area for paper clips, stapler pins, thumbtacks, or other bits and bobs, making it an evergreen little piece of greenery for your desk!

Let the hot summers be a breeze with the Cactus Doorstopper holding your door ajar to keep your home breezy.

Summer is here and while we are safely encased at our home and not out in the sweltering heat, these fun products add functionality and some much-needed summery vibes to your home!

Pac-Man Succulent Planters Trade Quarters for Cacti

You know what the ghosts from Pac-Man could use? Plants growing out of their heads, that’s what. Yeah, that makes them much more adorable, and less intimidating for sure. That’s why I love these Pac-Man ghost planters from Dips and Prints.

Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde are all here, and ready to help provide a home for your indoor succulents. Of course, Pac-Man is here to try and gobble them up too, though I’m thinking the spiky plants might get stuck in his throat. Wait, does Pac-Man even have a throat? Who knows? Regardless, these guys would look great sitting on your bookshelf… or your maze if you have one.

These guys are 3D-printed from PLA bioplastic, and come in two different sizes 2.5″ tall and 4″ tall for the ghosts, and 2.75″ tall and 4.43″ tall for Pac-Man, respectively. The small ones sell for $14.99 each or $44.99 for the set, and the large ones are $19.99 each or $69.99 for the set. You can chase them down over on Etsy.

Unlike most chandeliers, the Thorn derives its beauty from raw, aggressive forms

Rather than taking on the traditional approach of symmetry, refraction, reflection, and classical design details, the Thorn is a chandelier that’s designed to have an aggressive, unburnished appeal. The chandelier comprises two different parts that interlock in a combination of ways letting you customize the shape of it. It also comes with a set of sockets for low-intensity bulbs.

The Thorn takes inspiration from the hostile beauty of cacti or barbed wire. The form works exceptionally well in minimalist surroundings, becoming the very showpiece of the room, immediately drawing eyes to its ‘look-but-don’t-touch’ form!

The Thorn is a winner of the Red Dot Design Concept Award for the year 2019.

Designer: Yilmaz Dogan

Someone made an actual toy-diorama of Google’s offline browser game!

Now isn’t this the coolest thing ever! Designed to commemorate the 10 year anniversary of Google Chrome, New York-based artist Andrew Bell created this absolutely adorable box-set of Chrome’s most amazing Easter egg… the offline browser game.

For the people who don’t know what this game is about (basically Safari users), the game starts as a webpage that tells you that your browser is offline. Press any key, and the game initiates, and you’re tasked with getting the dinosaur to jump over cacti, and under flying pterodactyls. Your high score gets recorded on the top corner.

Bell’s toy set captures the key elements of the game. While there are no pterodactyls in the box set (also because they make their appearance later on in the game), the set actually stays incredibly true to its inspiration. You’ve got the dinosaur, four different cacti, and the box is designed to serve as the backdrop too! The box comes with a reversible design, with the starting message on the face, and the game-over message on the back… and the jumping Dino is reversible too! Turn it over and the Dino comes with the familiar wide-eyed expression its digital avatar has when it lands on a cactus, triggering the end of the game!

Designer: Andrew Bell for Dead Zebra Inc.

Be careful with these scissors!

Playful as ever, Qualy’s Cactus Scissors give the stationery tool a bit of character. Designed to look like a potted cactus, the scissors come nested in a cactus-shaped body (sans the spikes, of course) that sheathes the blades. Pull it out and you’ve got yourself a regular, working scissor that you can use either in the kitchen, at your workplace, or just for hobby-work. The cactus plant even comes with its own pot that serves as a storage area for paper clips, stapler pins, thumbtacks, or other bits and bobs, making it an evergreen little piece of greenery for your desk!

Designer: Qualy Design

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Cactus, meet citrus!

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Part decor, part appliance, the Sonora is an adorable little piece of faux greenery to liven up the place… and it juices citrus fruits too! By the virtue of its shape (and a pretty neat observation on the part of the designers), the ceramic cactus not only serves as pretty neat decor, sitting rather well on a countertop or a table, but it also makes a pretty incredible juicer, allowing you to extract juice from citrus fruits thanks to the cactus shape, and collect the juice in its planter-esque receptacle that can then be poured out into a glass or a jug. The ceramic build doesn’t stain or react to the citric acids, and is dishwasher friendly too!

Designer: DOIY Design

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