IKEA Kitchen Fronts Made of Recycled Plastic & Reclaimed Wood

Swedish design studio, Form Us With Love, have collaborated with IKEA to create the KUNGSBACKA line of kitchen fronts that are made entirely from recycled plastic bottles and reclaimed industrial wood. They choose to look at used plastic bottles as a resource, instead of waste, with 25 plastic bottles being used for every 40x80cm unit.

The fronts are finished in a matte, anthracite grey, each with chamfered edges that add a bit of detail to the sleek fronts.

From Form Us With Love’s Creative Director, John Löfgren:

We wanted it to feel like a black t-shirt, tuned to fit right, practical and still precious.

Both brands worked together to reduce the high costs that typically come with using recycled and reclaimed materials due to the long research and development period. Luckily, the prices reflect those of IKEA as it was important to all involved to show that sustainability should be available to everyone.

The fronts, paired with the HACKÅS kitchen handles, offer a clean, minimalist look that outlast any trend.

Photos by Jonas Lindström.

from Design MilkDesign Milk http://design-milk.com/ikea-kitchen-fronts-made-from-recycled-plastic-reclaimed-wood/

A Beirut Penthouse with a Floating Staircase & Wooden Skin

Located in Wadi Abu Jamil in Beirut’s Central District, the Wadi Penthouse is a renovation project where Platau updated a segmented, two-story penthouse for a family of four. Originally, the layout wasn’t working, especially between the two floors. To solve that, a double-height space was designed at the center of the home with living spaces, offices, storage, and bedrooms just off of it.

A custom steel and copper light fixture hangs above in the double-height space becoming a minimal, yet necessary feature.

The mostly white space is warmed up with a wooden skin that clads the now widened entryway. It also sets the stage for the floating staircase that’s suspended from the ceiling with the help of vertical steel bars.

The wooden skin is far from boring with its curvilinear vertical boards wrapping around the space as it welcomes visitors. The skin hides various rooms and closets, some of which have incorporated lighting and steel handles that curve out.

Photos by Wissam Chaaya.

from Design MilkDesign Milk http://design-milk.com/a-beirut-penthouse-with-a-floating-staircase-wooden-skin/

Maison & Objet 2017: Putting the Fun Back into Paris

Marcantonic’s Seletti mouse lamps must have been the most Instagrammed exhibit at January’s Maison et Objet. After a sombre show last year with visitor numbers down by 40% (the January 2016 show came shortly after the Paris terror attacks), exhibitors and visitors were both back in droves for 2017 and so was a much-missed sense of fun, color and pattern.

UK-based British design studio, Wallace Sewell, was established by Royal College of Art graduates Harriet Wallace-Jones and Emma Sewell – the collaboration an accident after they shared a stand at an exhibition in 1992. 25 years on, they are still going strong and still making all their textiles in Britain.

Kann Design’s products are all made in a Lebanon-based workshop employing 15 craftsmen that was created in 1958 by Kanaan, a renowned carpenter and the father of founder Houssam Kanaan. Two boutiques in Paris now showcase the bespoke collection.

Copenhagen-based design brand Nomess was right on the money for color at this year’s show, with this Yves Klein blue alongside yellow and the dusty pink that seems to be everywhere right now. These cushion covers are made from memory foam, making them super comfortable.

Rivi (Finnish for ‘line’) is Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec’s hand-drawn 2017 collection for Artek – the Helsinki based design company founded 1935 by Alvar and Aino Aalto, Maire Gullichsen, and Nils-Gustav Hahl.

The Eric bottles by Eric Hibelot for TH Manufacture are inspired by imagining the milk bottles on Eric’s childhood breakfast table have come to life and are telling a folk story. “The setting does not illustrate this story univocally,” he says, “because every childhood is unique.” Their wobbly form and bright pops of color appealed to us whatever their back story.

Jenny Wingfield established Flock in 2013 to discover and nurture the best of new British design. She now works with an eclectic mix of artists, designers and recent graduates to create a bold and beautiful collection of textiles for interiors. We particularly love Northmore Minor (4th fabric from left and 2nd cushion from top) by Rachel Parker.

Another brand established to promote new talent, ‘design editor’ Petite Friture was showing mirrors by Constance Guisset, wallpaper by Tiphaine de Bodman and Shelley Steer, armchairs by Morten & Jonas, and bubble table lamps by Studio Vit.

mud australia was founded in 1994 and today the colorful collection, designed by Shelley Simpson, is made by hand from Limoges porcelain in their Sydney-based factory by a staff of professional and in-house ceramicists. Clear glaze is applied by hand to the inside of each piece, leaving the matt exterior with a stone-like surface that becomes smooth with handling.

And finally, Sebastian Herkner’s glazed ceramic Mila tables for Pulpo perfectly demonstrate the vibrant color palette of this year’s show.

from Design MilkDesign Milk http://design-milk.com/mo17-putting-fun-back-paris/

Exclusive: Loup by Saif Faisal for OTHR

This week, the traditional fruit bowl is turned on its head. We’re excited to give you an exclusive sneak peek into OTHR’s latest launch: Loup, by Bangalore, India-based designer Saif Faisal.

3D printed in black or white porcelain, Loup takes a fresh look at an everyday object.
Its abstract shape only expresses its function when occupied; when left empty, its purpose is up to the user’s imagination. Whether on the mantle or in use, this pared-down kitchen tool adds a subtle elegance to any room.

A container to all, Loup uses simplicity and versatility to put any object on display, from cuisine to memorabilia.

Faisal is part of a generation of Indian designers designing opposite the pervading sensibility of ‘Jugaad,’ a culture of work-around solutions. Instead, he focuses on quality and longevity in his work; one of a growing movement of “avant-garde designers with fresh perspective taking a sensible and progressive attitude towards design.”

Get your early edition of Loup here before it goes on sale to everyone else this Thursday.

OTHR is an on-demand 3D printed design brand producing objects by today’s most talented designers—and each week, we bring you exclusive, pre-launch access to their latest designs.

Add your email to our exclusive OTHR list to be get notified when a new design is available:

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from Design MilkDesign Milk http://design-milk.com/exclusive-loup-saif-faisal-othr/

Umbra + TO DO Compact Living Product Exhibition

Curated by the Toronto Design Offsite Festival, which runs concurrently with IDS Toronto, Umbra’s Compact Living exhibition offers fresh prototypes by 11 Canadian designers. The exhibitors take a look at urban dwellers and what housewares might make their smaller spaces more livable and their lives more efficient. Take a look at this year’s designs.

Simone Ferkul designed a series of suspended planters, called Sling, that bring the outdoors in. A ceramic vessel is held by an elongated loop to created a plantscape in your small dwelling.

Frontières, by Studio Aubry / Levesque, acts as an open room divider for smaller apartments, while providing much-needed extra storage. The movable shelf was inspired by vintage outdoor wire frame furniture pieces from the 1950s but with a modern twist.

Rainville-Sangaré’s Bug step stool provides height to reach those extra tall cabinets making it a practical design for compact living. It’s made of steel with a thick matter rubber finish that makes it waterproof and durable.

Also from Rainville-Sangaré, the K.I.S.S. (Kitchen Island Surface System) is a way to add extra work surfaces to your small kitchen. The flat-packed design comes in four parts that are easily assembled and it even has the option of wheels for extra functionality.

Harbour’s Topside is both a hanging mirror and and a mirrored tray – it’s your choice. Its oblong shape references that of a ship’s top deck, which is how the object got its name. Its tubular bent metal “railing” floats above the mirror creating a frame/edge that makes it easy to handle.

The Moon Quilt & Cover is by Libs Elliott and its compact size, just 5′ x 5′, folds up to be stored inside the Moon cover to become a cushion. It has a geometric pattern created randomly using Processing, a programming language.

Alissa Coe designed the Basalt Bathroom Set, which comprises five lidded vessels for discreet bathroom storage helping to combat clutter. The hexagonal vessels were inspired by the compact natural formations that are made by basalt, or dark volcanic rock.

From Char Kennedy comes the Facet Mirror, a compact mirror that offers four viewing angles depending on how you turn it. Its design encourages you to engage with the handle of the mirror by physically moving it around to get various views. By using the handle, you avoid smudging the mirror with fingerprints.

Using a span of industrial grey felt, Felt Studio created the File & Magazine Holder to help you organize your daily papers. Designed to be placed on the floor or on a desk, the object holds your stuff in between its folds with two wooden dowels keeping it securely in place.

Linus Kung’s Unicorn is a multipurpose lamp that was inspired by the fluorescent umbrellas in the movie Blade Runner. It has an umbrella handle-like body with a magnet at the bottom allowing it to adapt to most any use.

You might recognize the Two Halves Shelf, by Chifen Cheng, as it was just featured yesterday.

We’re big fans of Hinterland and their Section Stool is made of stacked components that swivel around to reveal a storage tray, side tables, a wooden bowl, and a desk organizer. They close up when they’re not needed but swivel out when you need to use them.

from Design MilkDesign Milk http://design-milk.com/umbra-to-do-compact-living-product-exhibition/