Arguably, the COVID-19 pandemic has made some dramatic changes to our lifestyle. A prominent one, personally experienced, is the curtailed visits to the gym. In the post-pandemic era, therefore, there has been a tremendous rise in home gyms and the probable equipment to fill them up. To that accord, IKEA wants to pitch in. But the Swedish furniture giant has its own way of doing it. It doesn’t want you to have a separate room for your gym, in fact, every bit of the furniture and equipment humbly adjusts wherever you keep it.
Enter the pastel-colored DAJLIEN collection: A consortium of 19 compact and versatile gear you can use as part of your living and exercising routine. The equipment here is not extraordinary; each one of them is easily identifiable and usable, like the options we have had over the years. The only difference is, that the fantabulous collection includes stress relief and recovery gear.
Made with the idea to help people live a more active lifestyle without the use of metal bars or drives to the gyms. The collection is making heads turn at the Art Basel Miami, where it is on showcase, before being available for purchase in January 2024. Before you head that way, be familiar with the expansive assortment of products on the list.
IKEA is offering equipment in a colorful blend of subtle green, yellow, and white, which allows it to gel naturally with the home and everyday environment. These include ring-shaped dumbbells, exercise mats, and step-up boards, which can all be stacked away when not in use. Interestingly, the collection has an air purifier, slippers, two distinct ponchos, a portable waterproof Bluetooth speaker for post-workout sessions, and kneepads, yoga straps, and more for recovery.
The highlight of the DAJLIEN is a wooden bench that doubles as storage. Designed to help with a range of bench exercises, it can allow the user to store the gear in the bench by lifting the lid. Beneath, the bench has a non-slip mat and it comes with a clean top so it can be used as a coffee table at home. All-in-all the collection, with all the gear, included, helps bridge the gap between home and active life and gives users another reason to invite IKEA into their homes.
Regardless of how you feel about Artificial Intelligence, it’s an interesting time to explore what creativity means in this age. We don’t believe that all these new technologies will replace writers, artists, and designers but these are tools that individuals and brands can look into when it comes to creating new products. There’s a lot of ongoing debate on how technology like this is a detriment to how we’ve been coming up with new things but there’s also space for using it to harness creative ideas.
Space10 is a Swedish design agency that Ikea has been funding and uses as a research and design partner that cab explore technology like AI, augmented reality, and Web3. They used generative AI to experiment with futuristic-looking designs based on old Ikea catalogs which they used as data sets. The results are pretty interesting and some may actually be the basis for designing new pieces for the brand in the future. If you didn’t know it was just an experiment, you can even think that they’re actual products from the brand’s latest catalog.
The various designs that the generative AI was able to produce was a mixed bag and also depended on the decade of the catalog used for the data set. Those that were from the 70s were more colorful and playful while those from the 80s had a cleaner and more minimalistic look. Not all of them are actually something that can be produced though since they looked pretty impractical and some even violate the laws of nature. Some even had missing parts that would make the furniture functional which will defeat the purpose.
So despite the amazing things that AI can generate, there still needs to have a human touch in terms of finalizing and fine-tuning the designs. If you’re willing to work with generative AI like what Ikea is doing with Space10, you can use it as inspiration or a starting point for coming up with new products. There’s still a lot of things like ethics and intellectual property that we still need to figure out but don’t start thinking of it as the enemy of creativity.
Offices have been opening up, and people have been making their way back to their dreary old work desks. However, companies have begun to adopt a more flexible and hybrid working system that also includes a fair portion of work from home. In such a situation, not only do we need well-designed commercial offices, but home offices as well. And a great way to ensure that we have a productive and efficient space to work in is by adding nifty and ergonomic furniture designs to them! These pieces of furniture need to be not only comfortable but ergonomic, and aesthetic as well. And we’ve curated a collection of furniture designs that meet all these criteria. From a wall desk that transforms from a work of art into a functional table to an IKEA-worthy minimal fold-away desk – these furniture designs are all you need to create the ultimate office.
1. The Flow Wall Desk
The Flow Wall Desk is a great piece of office furniture for those spaces that aren’t quite large. It’s the kind of furniture piece that is both functional and decorative, but at the same time maintains a rather simple design philosophy and is sustainable as well!
Why is it noteworthy?
The Flow Wall Desk is something that might be able to fit all of those requirements for a piece of furniture. When “stored” and folded up, it looks like a piece of art on your wall with its minimalist, geometric shapes. Initially, it’s a flat canvas and when you unfold it, it looks like a “spiraling caterpillar” and you realize that it is turning into a desk where you can work, read, or write in your journal.
What we like
Multifunctional design
Sustainable
Features a flatpack form
What we dislike
Folding and unfolding the desk whenever you need to use means we can’t have a constant setup.
2. Coffin Office Chair
Are you someone who absolutely despises your dead-end corporate job, well then, we may have found the chair for you! Shaped like a coffin, this wooden chair recently took the internet by storm. A Twitter user shared it on September 7th, and everyone who’s downright fed up with their jobs completely resonated with it.
Why is it noteworthy?
The conceptual coffin chair perfectly represents all the dreaded emotions employees feel throughout the entirety of their workday. It reflects the feeling of doom one experiences, as they have to sit through another pointless meeting that could have been an email.
What we like
Inspired by Rene Magritte’s painting titled The Balcony (1950)
Perfectly captures the feeling of having a dead-end job
What we dislike
It’s an uncomfortable idea to implement in reality
There’s no cozy cushioning to get comfy in
Not the most practical design for an office in reality
3. The Worklab
Narbutas teamed up with Italian design studio Baldanzi and Novelli to create a mobile office divider called the Worklab. It serves as a multi-functional component for workspaces, combining multiple elements such as a media wall, mobile workstation, whiteboard, space divider, and shelving unit.
Why is it noteworthy?
The highly customizable furniture design is available in a wide range of colors, finishes, accessories, and side panels which come in perforated metal or upholstery. The two combine to provide an intriguing visual elevation to the workplace. It has been equipped with castors, so you can easily move it from one place to another in the office, wherever the need arises. It features a pretty portable design! It creates a private space or provides a division between spaces.
What we like
Adds a multifunctional element to offices
Sturdy + durable
Blends effortlessly with different spaces
What we dislike
Not the best option for offices that have space constraints
4. The ZooZoo Collection
Adding an element of warmth will surely help employees to ease into their new work routine, after spending more than a year working from home. And a great collection of furniture could really help with that – such as the ZooZoo collection by Narbutas.
Why is it noteworthy?
Designed by Annie Lee for the workplace furniture brand Narbutas, the ZooZoo collection includes an intriguingly high coffee table and a complementing pouf. The sleek coffee table is 27.2 inches tall and features a metal base, as well as a smooth top. The coffee table is available in two sizes, and the metal base can be customized to the color of your choice. The collection also includes a series of matching poufs available in a variety of colors and textiles. The poufs are accompanied by cushioned seats.
What we like
The entire collection is available in a single color, or a two-toned option, hence allowing it to suit diverse interior spaces
The poufs can be neatly stowed under the coffee tables, and also boast handy storage nooks to hold books, folders, and other miscellaneous items
What we dislike
The design is more convenient for temporary use as its not ergonomic or posture-friendly for working long hours
5. Chatpod 700
Office booths are an excellent addition to modern-day office spaces, especially after COVID-19 hit. They create private spaces to work in and allow you to truly focus on your work. And the Chatpod 700 is one such booth, and it claims to be the most sustainable office booth on the market.
Why is it noteworthy?
Made entirely from recycled materials such as post-consumer cardboard, sawdust, rubber, and plastic bottle, the Chatpod 700 is quite proud of its sustainable composition, and with reason. Designed by Jeffrey Ibañez for Impact Acoustic, the office booth was ideally created for team meetings. It has the ability to hold up to four people and serves as an extremely quiet place that would work well for those team meetings where you need to shut the rest of the office off.
What we like
Most sustainable office booth on the market
Serves as a quiet and isolated space to work in
What we dislike
Besides being super sustainable, it’s quite similar to other office booths on the market
6. Iko
The ‘Iko’ is designed to be “a levitating sphere, a focused capsule, a refuge for the senses”. Designed by Ivo Andric, the Iko is a far cry from the traditional chairs you usually come across. It is influenced by the nest of a weaverbird, and the little hanging cocoon creates a neat and cozy space to lounge about in, enabling you to take a break from the office.
Why is it noteworthy?
Iko is made using a few well-curated materials. Its outer frame is crafted from wooden elements that are machine-made and surface-treated by hand, with metal rod internal cores. The rods provide rigidity, the wood gives Iko its classy appeal, and the negative triangular spaces are filled with wool-covered acoustic panels that absorb sound.
What we like
Almost every aspect of the Iko (barring the metal) is designed with natural materials
What we dislike
While designed for a cozy space, its not great for collaborative spaces or open office setup
7. The FLO Concept
The FLO concept aims to be much more than your ordinary swivel chair. It attempts to take on a more visually whole and expansive shape and is constructed from different parts that you need to assemble yourself. But once built, it looks as if the chair has come out of a factory!
Why is it noteworthy?
This design allows the eyes to smoothly follow the contour of the chair like flowing water, hence the name. Perhaps almost as a side effect, the chair’s overall design looks futuristic and something from a utopian office. The sleek form and twisting structures of the armrests and the bent shape of the backrest give it an almost otherworldly appearance, definitely not something that would fit in today’s office settings.
What we like
Visually striking
The structure of the chair is actually designed to provide more stability and durability, especially when leaning back
What we dislike
The hand rest and the back rest are not adjustable to match unique user needs
8. The Flip Desk
An excellent desk is imperative for a productivity-conducing office space. Not only should our desks be clean, but they should also sport an ergonomic and functional design. And with the space constraint issues that most modern houses face today, we can also add ‘space-saving’ to the checklist. And one such design I recently came across is the Flip Desk!
Why is it noteworthy?
The issue of space constraint is really a major one in the contemporary apartments of today. Hence, having a dedicated workstation that not only amps up your everyday productivity but also manages to consume a minimum amount of space in your home is always an excellent idea. And this is where the Flip Desk jumps right in. Designed by Zurich-based designer Charles O. Job for the Dutch design brand Vij5, this minimal and sturdy desk promises to take up zero floor space.
What we like
Space-saving design
Minimal and contemporary aesthetics
What we dislike
The desk does not offer any aesthetic solutions for when the desk is closed
9. The HÅG Capisco Chair
The HÅG Capisco chair ergonomic office seat is an innovative chair design that’s been amped with a variety of active sitting options, that ensure you don’t have to sit still all day long! It pairs perfectly with standing desks, or desks with an adjustable height. It comes in twelve different upholstery options, as well as three different color options.
Why is it noteworthy?
The chair works well for all kinds of people. Whether you’re a fidgety personality who loves to move around, or someone who enjoys stretching and practicing yoga – this chair works perfectly for everyone! It supports any seating position you may occupy – whether you sit backward, sideways, kneeling, cross-legged, squatting, or more.
What we like
Adjustable height – 15″ to 40″
Supports a maximum weight of 250 pounds
What we dislike
The chair’s quirky form may not be suitable for every office interior
10. The Zedo Desk
Not only should our desks be clean, but they should also sport an ergonomic and functional design. One such desk I recently came across is the Zedo Desk.
Why is it noteworthy?
Designed by Paolo Pampanoni for the workplace furniture brand Narbutas, the Zedo desk is great to bring some personality and character into a dreary old corporate office. It can be used as an individual desk or linked together with multiple other Zedo desks. The flexible desk system has distinct metal parts, and colorful accessories to help you create a desk space according to your personal taste and requirements.
What we like
As ideal as Zedo is for office space, it could also work great in your home office
You can team it up with the Polytone-L chair, which is also by Narbutas
What we dislike
The aesthetics of the Zedo Desk are strictly minimal – adding individuality will be a task
A piece of furniture that’s a bit uncharacteristic of IKEA might redefine what it means to be a couch potato.
Sofas, sometimes called couches, have long been associated with relaxation and comfort. In more modern times, they have also been associated with TVs, home entertainment, and the food that usually gets consumed during such passive activities. The kinds of foods commonly thought of when talking about couches and sofas usually range from light snacks to microwavable meals, but a new design that’s coming to IKEA turns that idea on its head and might make you crave for a different kind of treat.
Designer: gab bois for Tommy Cash and IKEA
Bread is not exactly the first kind of food that would come to mind when the word “sofa” is mentioned. Pastries are often messy and would ruin upholstery, while certain rolls are best eaten with other kinds of food that might also make a mess on the sofa. That said, bread is also often associated with soft and fluffy feelings, which may have been the inspiration behind this tasty piece of furniture.
Rapper Tommy Cash is probably better known in design circles for his eccentric and outlandish ideas, and this LOAFA sofa is a clear testament to that. Designed to resemble a serving of glazed bread rolls, the sofa really looks good enough to eat. While it looks comfy, it almost also looks a bit sticky, perhaps generating conflicting feelings when deciding whether to sit on it or not.
Curiously, the LOAFA’s inspiration came from something unrelated to food. Designers gab bois indicated that the sofa is a nod to designer Mario Bellini’s classic Camaleonda modular sofa. Then again, those do look a bit like dinner rolls as well, and it didn’t take too much imagination to knead it into a Camaleon-dough. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like the LOAFA will be just as modular and will forever be frozen in its L-shaped form.
designboom recounts how Tommy Cash tried to garner more than 10,000 comments in order to convince IKEA to start selling the LOAFA sofa. The Instagram post already surpassed that number, though the famed furniture maker has yet to confirm if this piece of furniture is already baking in the oven. Given it will be IKEA that will be selling this pan-tastic piece, some people might end up biting more than they can chew for its price.
Imagine instead of having a self-care app send you a notification that reminds you to read (especially if that is your resolution for the new year), the furniture itself can be a reminder! That is what Slice essentially is, a minimal, compact, elegant bookshelf that looks like an open book so that it can nudge you to read without having any more screens or digital stimulation.
“In amazingly digital era books aren’t easily opened, having this in mind ‘Slice’ is a bookshelf that intends to motivate individuals to read more often,” says Portuguese designer Joao-Teixeira who is known to always understand the assignment and delivers every single time with unique pieces like this.
Slice connects the environment, the activity, and the user very seamlessly through its form and function. Besides its emotional character, the bookshelf also takes on an aesthetic approach based on minimalistic and sleek shapes. Its elegantly formal look allows the product to become modular, enabling dynamic configurations as a means to highlight its presence and therefore its use.
You can access books from both sides (front or back) easily and the shelf was deliberately created with a slim profile to better fit in smaller spaces. It is horizontally stackable if you want to add more colors or create a piece for your home library, but Slice is certainly a slice of heavenly furniture for every book lover out there with big dreams and little floor space!
The Summit Sofa is a dual-purpose, modular furniture design that blends a changeable, functional couch together with a minimalist piece of artwork.
Like every worthwhile lifestyle change, downsizing to meet the demands of tiny living comes with its own set of challenges. The secret to making the most of tiny spaces comes down to finding the right furniture. Following the surge in popularity of tiny living, designers have come out with versatile and modular furniture products to make tiny living feel spacious without taking up too much space. The Summit Sofa from Mousarris, a Cyprus-based interior design company, redefines what versatile and modular furniture can look like, merging artwork and functional furniture into a single design.
Dual-purposed by design, the Summit Sofa is made up of curved cushions with integrated magnets that allow them to attach to one another to form different sofa configurations and the sofa’s main magnetic board to create a minimalist piece of wall artwork. When propped up on its magnetic base, the Summit Sofa’s sinuous cushion modules fit into one another like pieces to a puzzle. When users would like to create their own sofa, they can remove the cushions from the magnetic base and attach modules together to create countless configurations. When the modules are attached to the base, the user’s living and floor areas remain clear for plenty of space. Then, on movie nights or when guests arrive, the Summit Sofa can be detached from the magnetic base to become a sofa.
Sometimes the most practical furniture isn’t the most beautiful. Tiny living shouldn’t mean compromising your taste in interior design for functionality. With Mousarris’s Summit Sofa, you won’t have to sacrifice aesthetics just to save space. When displayed on the magnetic board, the Summit Sofa creates a minimalist display of artwork to tie any room together. Then, when used as furniture, the Summit Sofa can be configured in any arrangement to fit your room and taste.
Though I am a cat person through and through, I cannot help but go gaga over doggos from time to time. They are just so adorable, and not to mention insanely loving (a quality most cat owners aren’t used to witnessing in their pets). And as much as I love pampering my kittie cats with presents from time to time, I’m sure all dog owners feel the same. Ensuring your pet feels safe, secure, and comfortable at home is every pet owner’s priority. We want to make sure they always feel loved and truly at home! It’s important to create an environment where they feel completely safe to let their guard down, while also managing to stay active and playful. And, we’ve curated a collection of furniture designs to help your doggo feel completely at home! From the most beautiful doghouse you’ve probably ever seen to a DIY desk that doubles up as a doghouse and bed – these fun yet functional furniture pieces are all your best boy needs to have the best time at home!
The Fetch House was designed by CallisonRKTL as an entry into the Bark + Build Pet House Design & Build Competition held in Dallas, Texas. The house (designed to shelter one incredibly happy canine) comes with a modular internal structure that allows you to compression-fit as many as 1000 tennis balls into it. The balls can randomly be pulled out of their individual enclosures for the purpose of playing fetch (hence the name), and can easily be press-fitted back in when done. Conversely, owners can add fewer balls to form patterns in the facade or create windows for light and ventilation. “Ultimately, we would like to create a platform that allows individuals to customize the doghouse design based on their specific dog,” says Brendan O’Grady, VP of CRKTL’s Dallas office. “They can then download the digital model and use a local maker space or their own desktop 3D printer to fabricate the structure.
In her uploaded YouTube video, A chair made for needy pets Giertz takes us through the construction of both the chair’s initial prototype and its final form. Using Fusion 360, Giertz created a 3D model of the pet chair. The model features an enclosed crate, the main dog door, footrest, stairs, and roof to also work as Giertz’s seat. Employing CNC milling to construct the chair’s top seat and roof, sidewalls, stairs, and front entryway, Giertz cut vertical ridges along the sidewalls to bend them around the radius of the chair. After mounting the pieces of plywood together to form the prototype’s planned structure, Giertz uses screws to attach them, but the finished prototype saw some improvements. Giertz turned to CNC milling to construct the chair’s bottom piece, this time formed in two sections to fit onto the CNC bed. On top of the chair’s joined bottom piece, the rest of the CNC-milled pieces of plywood came together. To help Scraps move up and down the chair’s steps with more confidence, Giertz narrowed the distance between the steps and added a railing system to border the chair’s stairs, main seat, and roof.
If your doggo has been around for a while and is aging, then the Dog Cloud Bed may just be the perfect bed for him! The Cloud Bed is a therapeutic bed that helps relieve any joint pain or discomfort they may be experiencing, by massaging them. The massaging bed provides a 3D cloud wave vibration massage using its layers of orthopedic and memory foam. In fact, you can even schedule and set up four massages for your dog in a day! You can pair it up to your smartphone via WiFi or Bluetooth connectivity, and control the bed through your phone. The Dog Cloud Bed also helps with separation anxiety, circulation, and in assisting your pet to relax and sleep better.
MUF is more of a curatorial experience for you and your pup. Inspired by the MBTI, which is a lengthy introspective test that indicates different tendencies in regard to test-takers personalities. For example, I am an INFP, indicating introversion, intuition, feeling, and perceiving, which ultimately reveals how I interact with everyday life and decision-making. Hyemin Kim, the designer behind MUF, created her own doggo-inspired MBTI system that comprises different personality traits for different dogs. A total of eight possible traits, any combination of which can be applied to your own dog, make up Hyemin Kim’s MBTI for dogs, and a piece of dog furniture is associated with each personality type.
The Playground is a doghouse that also alternates as a modular sofa! The various modules of the sofa can be arranged creating not only different sofa designs but also fun spaces wherein your doggo can hop, bounce and play about! The wooden doghouse on one side of the furniture piece seems super comfy and adorable! A little hole on its roof, allows your dog to pop his head out of the doghouse, and connect/interact with you while you lounge about on the sofa. It’s the perfect way to spend quality time! Xiao designed Playground, especially for millennial pet owners. The designer kept in mind that the homes of millennials often have space constraints, and nor do they have much free time on their hand. Hence, Playground is extremely easy to put together, and will not occupy much space in our modern-day cramped apartments. Since Playground was created for young target customers, Xiao tried to give it a trendy and cool appearance! Bright colors, minimal woodwork, and a little plant give the furniture design a modern appeal.
This dog house is your pet’s dream house, it’s crafted with Brazilian teak wood responsible for the classy look which rests on a powder-coated steel frame so it’s sturdy. To make it long-lasting, the base of the dog house is made from concrete which also adds to the existing strong structure. The MKD9 Dog Haus gives interiors the same importance it gave to the exteriors, it comes with a custom bed by Jax & Bones which is made of an ultra-luxe memory foam pillow because your best friend deserves nothing less – he can choose the color too! For the finishing touch, you can add a nameplate made with brushed aluminum letters and an “outdoor eating area” so he can enjoy the good weather days.
Surprisingly easy to set up, store, carry around and maintain, Revol comes with a load of exciting features! The most exciting one would be its collapsibility. To collapse the crate, you simply pull the handle at the top, rotate it at 90 degrees, and lower the ceiling. Along with the ceiling, the rest of the structure collapses instantly as well. Fold the sides of the collapsed crate to create a compact box that is extremely portable. Revol comes with multiple access points, ensuring several easy entrances for your pet. The main front door can be opened with one hand! Simply push up against the handle with your hand, and watch it open while you hold your squirming doggo in your other hand. A ceiling hatch with rotatable knobs allows you to pet your dog, place and remove items, as well lift out our tinier furry friends. A garage-style side door functions as the final medium of entry and exit.
Nest Bowl is a food and water bowl designed for dogs with an optional, silicone-lined stand that elevates the food bowl so that your dog won’t have to strain their necks every meal. Designed with a hexagonal shape to keep the food in place better than a round bowl, dogs can really lick their bowl clean with Nest Bowl. Coming in two different sizes, Nest Bowl’s elevated stands are included to elevate the food bowl so that it meets your dog’s height, allowing your pup to eat without having to strain their neck. In addition to its customizable height, users can choose a dual-tone color scheme to match their dog’s personality and home decor.
Designed by Ben Hansen, this simple yet innovative dog house uses excess water from watering plants and filters it into the dog’s water bowl! Rattan with green accents gives it a light, airy feel. The minimal dog house will brighten any corner of your home – hard not to when it holds a cute plant and pet! It’s an adorable piece of furniture that not only serves as a home for your pet but also doubles up as an elegant plant holder, harmoniously merging with the interiors of your home. Ben’s approach to this is almost reversal to the way we treat our pets and plants. While we love the use of rattan and wish to promote this sustainable material, there is also a certain lightness to the material which needs to be balanced by a strong and heavy metal frame to keep your energetic puppy from toppling this over! There are rather obvious questions about the actual purification of this plant water runoff and we hope Ben will soon share more details on the design’s execution.
Casano has a light and airy feel that extends to the room it is placed in, especially if you have a smaller apartment then it is a well-designed alternative to the traditional bulky dog house. It gives your pet a natural territorial separation while blending in seamlessly with your interior settings. It is created with a simple black iron frame that adds minimal elegance to your existing decor. The choice of using an iron frame for the build was so that the upkeep and care can be minimal. The floorboard is made of 15 mm thick laminated maple lumber – you can add a cushion to match the color scheme and for a little extra comfort. The geometric visuals of the Casano make it stand out from the rest of the pet houses in the market.
After spending 99% of my time at home in the last two years, I have naturally developed a keen eye for good furniture designs. My preferred style is Japandi or Scandanavian design because I love their minimal aesthetic, functionality, and evergreen pieces – all of which I see in Lur! It is a furniture collection that includes pot planters which also double up as seating in the most organic manner. It was designed for Alki, a brand that is always seeking to collaborate with local businesses which makes it even more special because it unites distinct know-how and materials.
To create the Lur collection, designer Iratzoki Lizaso went to Goicoechea Pottery and work with the local team. The pottery workshop is based in Ortzaize in Lower Navarre, just a few kilometers from Alki. The Goicoechea family has been working with terracotta for three generations. The materials used, the solid oak, and the clay from the Goicoechea family quarry are here entirely natural.
The collection consists of planters and a bistro table. They all have smooth curves and organic shapes featuring a warm aesthetic thanks to the choice of materials and CMF details. It is minimal, timeless, and can work equally well for homes, offices, and public spaces. The idea of being able to vegetate our interiors with pots that are also low tables or seating participates in the creation of living and changing arrangements. These terracotta containers with an eccentric hole on the upper part, house flower pots that allow many unique and artistic compositions that can change the look and feel of a space!
Alki, the pottery team, and Iratzoki Lizaso enjoyed bringing together different craft skills to create Lur. The collection is centered around the idea of plant pots that can work double duty as shelves and coffee tables that add an extra dose of greenery to our spaces. Everything is bio-sourced and made with the intention to work universally as well as for a long time. The clay is transformed into a beautiful rose terracotta with a distinct texture with an off-center opening ready to hold flower pots and plants. The Lur range shows beauty in simplicity while doubling the functionality with minimal design!
Chair designs are the first category designers are told to explore because it is simple and yet the smallest of tweaks can make it innovative. Also, let’s accept it – you never get tired of looking at new chair designs! It could be a new material, a bold shape, maybe it has a dual purpose or something like KERF – a space-saving chair that you can literally hang up like clothing!
It can be called a stool or a chair, but KERF gives the otherwise rigid object warmth and flexibility. You can literally put it on a hanger and store it like clothing in a wardrobe which makes it stand out from its counterparts. When needed, simply open the fold and you can get a setup ready for your guests in a few seconds.
The intention was to enrich plywood, make it flexible and fold it like it was paper for origami art. KERF has been designed for small living spaces and for practicality, it is perfect for those living in urban apartments or shared spaces. It reminds me of Japandi style furniture or Scandinavian home decor with its warm and minimal aesthetics.
The unique chair gets its name from the technique of kerfing – it is the method of bending plywood by patterned cutting. It is only good for doing it once to achieve the desired curvature, but not suitable for repetitive, long-term bending because that would cause the veneer layer to crack. The kerfing technique can be optimized for the CNC milling process to save production time and cost.
The mood board for the project shows bending plywood with kerfing, flat-pack laser cut furniture, folding chairs, and interlocking leather belts – all of these come together in the final design as details. The chair us.es kerfing, the hinges are made from leather, it can be compactly packed and it has an origami-like silhoutte.
To make sure it was durable yet flexible, Hamza decided to use thick leather instead of hinges. This detail lets KERF withstand repetitive bending cycles while the alternative hinge (leather) can outlast the traditional hinge making it a piece of furniture that stays with you in the long run (its moving-friendly too!). KERF is definitely a wonderful example of how chairs can be simple while still adding on to the existing form and function!
If you’re an independent millennial who recently moved out of their family home and into their own, then a major issue that you may be dealing with almost every day…is space constraint! These modern-day cramped apartments call for modern and smart solutions, which often come in the form of multifunctional and modular furniture designs. And one such solution that I recently came across is Sipario. Sipario is a wall-mounted design that does much more than you might think! Created from a combination of wood, plastic, and metal, Sipario is a compact furniture piece that can transform into a workstation that not only offers privacy but reduces noise as well.
It was created to provide a more flexible means of working, and it does exactly that! It comprises of wooden strips that are in fact bendable! When kept open, Sipario functions as an open wall-mounted work desk, that occupies minimum space, while providing you with a comfortable nook to work in. However, when the strips are bent, Sipario transforms into a more personal and private workspace. In fact, the gaps in between the bendable wooden strips contain a layer of sound-absorbing fabric, that reduces noise and creates a peaceful and quiet environment that is conducive to your daily productivity. It allows users to pick and choose between an open and a more private home office, without making the process too complex or complicated. The fact that Sipario is aesthetically pleasing when opened or closed, is something to be appreciated as well.
Sipario is a simple, minimal, and clean desk design that would fit and merge perfectly with any living space it is placed into. I could see it working for a cramped apartment, as well as a sprawling home. It’s a flexible and multifunctional furniture design that could cater to the needs of a variety of users!
Designers: Leon Bora Yegenoglu, Sara Ubertosi, Luca Riva, and Ines Schillemi
