Inhabitat

Incredible LEGO Kitchen Renovation

A lot of us can recall spending hours upon hours of stacking colorful Legos into shapes and sizes that tickled our imagination as children. While some of us outgrew that phase, thankfully some of us didn’t forget the charm of the little Lego man’s smile or the amazingness contained within every little block. As Parisian designers Simon Pillard and Philippe Rosetti have proved with their chromatic Munchausen Lego Kitchen: you’re never to old to play with Legos!

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 4

Fabulous Flatpack Furniture

Over at TreeHugger we are saps for furniture that can slide under your door; flatpack isn’t just made by IKEA. Designers like Eric Ku are doing it with humor, inventing a flatpack alphabet – his Flatpack Chair is pretty self-explanatory. In Japan, Keiji Ashizawa channels Marcel Breuer with a steel flatpack cantilever chair that slides under the door. Read on for more examples of cutting-edge flatpack furniture.

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 0

Hangeliers: Clothes Hanger Chandeliers by Organelle Design

Clothes hangers are clogging our landfills at a rate of nearly 8 billion per year. We’ve recently brought you designers who have been developing brilliant ways to tackle the problem through eco-friendly materials and innovative new designs. Now industrial designers Alex Witko and Courtney Hunt at Organelle Design have hit upon another great idea — Hangeliers, wonderful chandeliers made from off-the-shelf plastic and wood hangers.

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 2

Rocking Chair Uses Motion to Power Attached OLED Lamp

The serene back-and-forth movement of a rocking chair is nothing if not relaxing. It can also be useful and productive, according to Rochus Jacob. The designer’s Murakami Chair, a winner in designboom’s Green Life competition, uses the kinetic energy produced by rocking to power an attached OLED lamp.

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 4

Japanese House Sprouts Spiraling Moss Walls

Awe-inspiring design may not grow on trees, but it sure can dress up walls! Last year, architecture and product design group Nendo Studio completed the renovation of this gorgeous Moss House private residence in the Ebisu area of Tokyo, Japan. Taking inspiration from the plant life that scales the walls lining the nearby Shibuya River, the Nendo designers used dried moss to cover the interior walls with vine-like patterns. This custom wall treatment has a vivid color, a rich textural quality, and gives the starck white corridors a sense that the are alive.

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 3

Ancient Church Renovated into Modern Bookstore

Whether you’re religious or not, this old Dominican church will certainly bring you the enlightenment you’ve been seeking. After months of renovation this magnificent structure originally constructed in 1294 has opened its doors to the public as a “brand new” bookstore in the heart of Maastricht. A superb example of adaptive re-use, the Selexyz Dominicanen infuses rich and historic architecture with plentiful shelves ripe with information.

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 7

Panasonic’s New LED Bulbs Shine for 19 Years

Despite lasting longer and being more efficient than both incandescent and CFL bulbs, LEDs haven’t caught on because of their sky-high prices. But now Panasonic wants to bring LEDs to the mainstream — at least in Japan — with a 60-watt household bulb that the company claims can last up to 19 years, or 40 times longer than incandescent bulbs.

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 10

LED Clip Light Transforms any Object Into a Lamp

Wow those around you by transforming any old household object into a lamp with this “LED Pin” by Korean designer Sungho Lee. To create this subtle, yet awe-inspiring illuminating accent Lee stylized and whitewashed the form of a traditional clothespin. The refreshing take on a familiar design successfully turns the object’s dollar-store stigma into a museum store find, but it’s the techy twist that makes it even more notable.

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 3

Rewritable Chalkboard Lamps by John Beck

Today is the first day back to school for kids all over the country, and now you can get in the back-to-school mood with a rewritable ‘chalkboard’ lamp. With John Beck’s ingenious lighting solution, all you have to do to get some “mood lighting” is to scribble whatever you feel like on these fun lighting fixtures. Made of 95% recycled steel, they’re …

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 0

Recycled Skateboard Stools Transform Thrashed Boards to Treasure

Skateboards these days are amazing examples of graphic design, and some are practically objets d’art – what a shame that they should to go to a landfill after the boards have lost their pop! Thankfully, Pennsylvania-based Deckstools is here to keep art from the trash heap and to add style to your pad with their striking line of furniture made from reclaimed skateboards.

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 0

IS IT GREEN?: The Compact Fluorescent Light

Shortly after Al Gore debuted An Inconvenient Truth the general public started giving a damn about climate change — at least superficially. And in a massive wave of effort to show off our new enviro-consciousness, every apartment, townhouse and megamansion from Norway to New Zealand swapped their incandescent light bulbs for more energy efficient CFLs, or compact fluorescent lamps. Watt for watt, there’s no question whether or not CFLs save energy as compared to their predecessors. But with the concerns of toxic mercury and the recent developments in LED technology, CFLs may not be the smartest choice for long-term sustainability. Read on for our in-depth report!

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 17

OLED Breakthrough Yields 75% More Efficient Lights

Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) recently announced a breakthrough in OLED technology that shatters all prior efficiency standards, reducing the ultra-thin lights’ energy consumption by 75%! That’s no small number – the development stands to raise the bar for energy efficient lighting by leaps and bounds. Literally (and figuratively) a cool technology, we are already enamored by the skinny profile of organic light emitting diodes, and we can’t wait to see their further integration into our everyday appliances.

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 1

Announcing: The Comcast Town Design Contest Winner!

You may remember that back in April we announced a design contest to do a virtual room makeover in Comcast Town. The prize was a collection of sweet new home entertainment electronics and a green room makeover by our editor-in-chief (and green designer extraordinaire) Jill Fehrenbacher.

Well, it is our sincerest pleasure to announce that the winner of the Comcast Town Interior Design Contest is… …

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 0

Dwell on Design Features More Brilliant Green Design Than Ever

Inhabitat is happy to report that Dwell on Design, the west coast’s largest modern design event, featured more smart green design than ever before this year. When we walked the floor yesterday with Dwell Publisher and President Michela O’Connor Abrams (and the carpenter and designer from HGTV’s Carter Can show), it was clear to see that the majority of the companies showcasing their products and services at the three-day festival are paying a great deal more attention to sustainability than in the past. We guestimate that about 80% of the companies there were promoting some kind of green story – in a varying shades, of course. Read on for our highlights from the show!

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 1

Remote-Controlled LED Light Bulbs Offer 7 Shades of White

Energy-efficient LED light bulbs may be more expensive than CFL’s, but Sharp’s new DL-L60AV LED could be worth the high cost. The tricked-out bulb comes with a remote control that features a dimming function as well as the ability to select seven different shades of white… so your guests can never complain that they don’t like the ambiance.

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 1

Dwell on Design 2009 is This Month!

Dwell on Design is back in Los Angeles this month, showcasing an incredible array of modern design from June 26-28. Now in its sophomore year at the Los Angeles Convention Center, the three-day design festival brings together the best and brightest from the design industry to offer visitors “real live modern design” in the form of an expansive exhibition, design conference, home tours and special events. For fans of all things sustainable, we’ve scoured the schedule to find the show’s green highlights. It looks like there will be a lot to check out, and there are of course a few familiar Inhabitat faces in the line up.

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 1

Vote for Your Favorite Comcast Town Apartment Design!

Thousands of you tested out your virtual home renovation skills in our Comcast Town Contest but only 4 talented apartment designs made the final cut. Now it’s time for your vote to decide the winner of a ginormous jackpot, including a 40-inch Sony BRAVIA® HDTV, a Sony VAIO® AW laptop and a Philips digital phone as well as a REAL room remodel worth up to …

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 1

Transformable LED Trask Lights from MIO

Philadelphia-based design team MIO has upped the ante for end-user creativity yet again with the introduction of their first LED light fixture. Called Trask because it can switch from being “track” or “task” lighting, the function of this ingenious flatpack lighting system is completely up to you! The modular units can form everything from desk lamps to linkable suspension lights, giving this eco-centric product the option to snake its way across your entire room.

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 0

Greenworks Self-Watering Living Wall System

Green walls are not only spectacularly beautiful, but they also help enliven a space, humidify the air, and process toxins. We loved this simple and modular living wall by Greenworks, a design duo from Stockholm. The design we saw at this year’s ICFF consists of a lovely felted plant wall with a self-automated watering system and a sturdy base. Inserting more plants into a room through planting tiles, potted plants, or a living wall provides a healthier indoor air quality, as well as a more beautiful space.

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 4

Sweater ‘Sleeve’ Lamp by Sara Ebert

Would you believe that this eye-catching lamp was made for under one dollar? ‘Sleeve’ by Sara Ebert is a lampshade made from a Salvation Army sweater and a discarded apple juice bottle. Showcased as part of Pratt’s ‘Design for a Dollar’ exhibit at ICFF 2009, ‘Sleeve’ was crafted with an eye toward minimizing energy, labor, materials, and transportation costs and waste. It’s beautiful, smart, and straightforward–exactly the way good design should be.

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 1

Pratt Students Design For One Dollar

Far and away our favorite exhibit at this year’s International Contemporary Furniture Fair was Design For A Dollar. With one dollar to work with, students from the Pratt Institute of Design in NYC were challenged to design something worthwhile. Through the design process not only did the students from the Department of Industrial Design learn the meaning of a dollar, but many incorporated cast-off items upcycled into new and intriguing designs. 80 undergraduate and graduate students entered the contest and 15 of the best designs were chosen to exhibit at ICFF this year. Here we highlight our favorites for their eco-friendly design, creative reuse and their affordability.

DRIP PLATE by Catherine Merrick
The Drip Plate by Catherine Merrick is an ingenious reuse of an antique ceramic plate. Originally featuring a winter scene in blue, Merrick renewed the thrift store find by dripping wax onto the plate and then sandblasting the rest away to create a new design. The diner will ponder while cleaning his plate, what the design used to be. The cost depends on the price of the plate and patience of the shopper.

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 3

Stunning Stamen Chandeliers Made From Toothpicks

Designed by Daisuke Hiraiwa, these elegant echidna-esque Stamen chandeliers elevate an everyday material into brilliant expressions of found design. Each one is created by gluing hundreds of toothpicks together to form a flexible disc that gives their bristling points a fluid form. The pointillist pendant lamps recently debuted at ICFF 2009, where they wowed onlookers with their complex folding curves and innovative use of materials.

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 0

Graypants Twice Recycled Scrap Cardboard Lights

Made from stacked rings of corrugated cardboard, Graypants‘ pendant Scrap Lights (which we’ve long admired) are a prime example of the transformative power of good design. The ceiling lamps‘ elegant construction utilizes leftover scraps of cardboard to create a semi-translucent shade that gives off a muted, soft glow. The overall effect is elegant, understated and as far from trash as you could possibly get.

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 2

Woven Palm Leaf Vava Lamp from IKEA

Ikea showcased its brand new PS Collection at this weekend’s International Contemporary Furniture Fair, and one of our favorite designs on display was this beautiful pendant lamp made from carefully folded palm leaves. Designed by Wiebke Braasch, the Vava lamp is inspired by an image from her childhood of dried sea urchins. Braasch wanted the spiky weave of the palm leaves to create a contrast to the soft discus shape of the shade.

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 1

Levent & Romme’s Elegant Laser-Cut Paper Lamps

These wonderful patterned paper lamps from Brooklyn–based Levent & Romme really caught our eye at this year’s BKLYN Designs show. Realized first as pen and ink illustrations, the patterns are then cut into a single sheet of thick watercolor paper. The paper is softly textured and opaque enough to make the designs pop, and the rigidity lends itself to the shades’ intricate cuts. Upping the coolness (and sustainability) quotient, the shade fits together using a tabbed design so that it forms a tube without any fasteners or adhesives.

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 0

Moss Carpet Grows in the Heart of Your Home

Among all the great green designs discovered at the 2009 Milan Furniture Fair, this beautiful biodegradable moss planter at the Tokyo Fiber Sensware exhibition definitely stood out. Japan-based flower artist Makoto Azuma collaborated with Unitika Ltd. to create an indoor glade, populating the planter with an assortment of mosses. The result is an exquisite organic carpet that runs through the exhibition, passing round the furniture and the poles and stunning visitors with its delightful presence.

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 12

Milan 2009: Euroluce Lighting Exhibition

We saw quite a few environmentally-conscious trends at the Milan Furniture Fair’s bi-annual showcase of lighting products, Euroluce. With energy use in mind, LEDs showed up from almost every company. As an extremely efficient and small bulb, the LED allows its surrounding fixtures to morph into innovative forms that highlight the beauty of light. Also in hot demand at Euroluce this year are shades made from natural or recycled fibers, whether strung, woven, or draped — or some combination of the above. The shades help to create soft, glowing light — thanks to their translucent material — but they are also nice to look at when the light is off. Euroluce is showing a variety of lighting options that differ in aesthetics and innovation, and we are happy to report that many of the designs are evidence that environmental responsibility is an important agenda item.

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 0

Planter Wall Tiles Breathe Life into a Room—Literally

Made from recycled materials, Maruja Fuentes’ green pockets give new meaning to the term “houseplant.” Spotted at the 2009 Milan Furniture Fair, the super-cool ceramic tiles attach to any wall to create the illusion that whatever’s inside—herbs, plants, a flower or two—is growing directly out of a room’s surface. It’s the ultimate marriage of form and function: The pockets bring a soul-soothing dose of greenery and nature to an interior space, improving a room’s aesthetic and air quality.

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 2

Pendant Lamp Made from Recycled Light Bulbs

San Francisco’s James Sampayan offers up a bright idea for the Spring Greening DIY Contest that combines old and new to create a lovely pendant lamp that gives the lowly light bulb a second life during which to “live long and prosper.” James’ design snaps ten standard bulbs between two acrylic plates along with a single CFL bulb that illuminates the rest. Simply crafted using bulbs, scrap acrylic, and miscellaneous Ace Hardware bits and bobs, this pendant is functional and economical. If you’re a fan of this design, be sure to vote for it in our contest post!

VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE SPRING GREENING DESIGN >

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 0

Chesta Vase Made from Egg Cartons

Looking for another inspired reuse for all of those egg-cartons left empty after Easter? New York designer Fanny Chen’s “Chesta Egg Carton Vase” gives them a creative second life. The cartons that make up the vase are broken into sheets of intersecting polygons. Pieces of symmetrically-arranged carton are connected with hand stitches, and a coat of varnish makes the vase extra-tough. Chen says that her project is inspired by the overlooked beauty in everyday objects as well as a desire to highlight our environmental problems. We think that she has succeeded in turning trash into industrial-chic treasure – if you agree, be sure to vote for her project in our Spring Greening Contest!

VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE SPRING GREENING DESIGN >

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 0

Gorgeous Origen Egg Crate Chandelier

With Easter on its way, those of us who engaged in egg-dying festivities are likely to have lots of empty egg crates lying around. Rather than tossing them in the trash (or compost bin!), why not follow Federico Otero’s example and transform them into elegant examples of DIY design. One of fifteen finalists in our Spring Greening Contest, the Origen lamp is formed from several 30-pack egg crates interlocked around a light bulb that gives off a soft, warm glow. If you’re a fan of this design, be sure to vote for it in our contest post!

VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE SPRING GREENING DESIGN >

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 3