Storage solutions with style 21 February, 2010
Posted by kiadesigns in mydeco bloggers, mydeco guest blogger.Tags: art, bargain, colour, designers, furniture, storage solutions
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One of the biggest problems for my clients is storage: where to put it, how much to have, what to use it for… So in my hunt for different and stylish storage I have spotted some top finds.
Image credit: Yanko Design
These fantastic “book pills” have been designed by Je Sung Park and make a really flexible storage solution. The inner colourful material is flexible so the book ends can be moved around to suit your mood, and since they are modular you could put together as many as you need!
Image credit: Nest
Image Credit: Coroflot
Shelving like this would be wonderful in a study or in a kids’ bedroom, as it allows you to see everything at a glance.
This storage system is a little different from your average bookcase:
Image Credit: Fresh home
This bookcase really would be a statement piece! A little bit of fun for a TV room maybe?
Adopt a bot 8 February, 2010
Posted by kiadesigns in mydeco guest blogger.Tags: adobtabot, eco design, fun presents
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These wacky designs are “orphaned” robots that are waiting for a new home, made from old hold house equipment including pencil sharpeners, coffee machines… you name it and it’s probably in one of the bots.
Image credit: Adoptabot at Etsy
My favourite is Dipper who is descriped as “…is not the sharpest tool in the shed but he is a lot of fun hang around. Ask nicely and he might even fire up his jet powered fan blade and take you for a wild ride! “
At only 13 inches tall we probably won’t be taking that ride but he still is gorgeously sweet!
Image credit:Boxheart
Also by artist Brian Marshall are some of these amazing feature lights. Brian on says he picks up pieces for his artwork from “Garage sales, flea markets, metal recyclers, ebay, junk yards, the side of the road, and sometimes they just show up in my classroom (anonymous donations).”
Image credit: Boxheart
Where can I use one of these? 1 February, 2010
Posted by kiadesigns in mydeco guest blogger.Tags: art, chair, design, designers, Eco, furniture, interior designer, recycled furniture
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I have recently been designing a living room for a client in London who has asked for the room to have a slightly New York style apartment theme to it and I stumbled across these fantastic chairs – although not great for this project they would be fantastic for a home office or even as funky chairs for a dining room!
Image credit: Bel&Bel
Image credit: Bel&Bel
Plus they are from re-cycled vespa’s so are carrying on my New Year’s eco resolution.
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So you thought the shopping for others was over? 27 January, 2010
Posted by kiadesigns in mydeco guest blogger.Tags: art, clock, cushion, design, design boutique, Eco, handmade, interior design, kia designs, kia sunda, tealights, wall clock
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With Christmas come and gone the sales are usually a time to think about buying yourself all the things that you have been holding off for. However, what about all those wonderful people (my husband included – whose birthday it is today!) who have their birthdays in the month of January?
Well here are a few items that will come as a wonderful surprise after the melee of Christmas gifts that have already been thrown at them!
Image credit: Olive shop on Etsy
This cute Postcard Pillow that is available from Olive’s shop on Etsy is a great personalized present. Each gorgeous pillow is customized to your specifications so it will make a lovely personal gift. Plus it’s made from Eco white bamboo cotton so it’s even great for Eco buyers!
Image credit: Ecocentric
This is the perfect gift for the house (especially if you have those friends that are always saying “is it just me or is it a bit cold in here?”)…
Image credit: Ecocentric
These are simple yet beautiful and will light any room with a wonderful glow – definitely needed in this cold January weather!
Eco friendly gaming 25 January, 2010
Posted by kiadesigns in mydeco guest blogger.Tags: Eco, eco-friendly, energy efficiency, gaming
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Image credit: Autodesk
Having a 17 year old brother can be a bit of a pain, you get used to the monosyllbic answers (Big sister – “How is college going?” Little brother – “Alright”). However, one thing that you do get is to constantly be told about the newest “cool” thing on the block. Most of the time it’s something that really doesn’t interest me but little brother has come up tops with this one – RetroFits Online Game. This game is free and fun, and bound to take up some of that “free” office time you might have.
It is designed to help people “make buildings better“. Designed by California based software company Autodesk, it has been made in response to the news that most of American’s green house gases actually come from poorly designed and built buildings. It takes you through all the simple steps that can change a building into an Eco friendly building! With some really startling facts thrown in!
A new year and new cushions 18 January, 2010
Posted by kiadesigns in mydeco guest blogger.Tags: Cushions, designer, hand made, round cushions
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Image credit: Niki Jones
The new year always brings revelations and my most recent one has been that I NEED to update my cushions, they are simply looking tired and worn. Updating accessories is the easiest, quickest and usually the cheapest way to completely change the look of the room. Here are a few of the items on my wish list!
I love these cushions [above], they are hand embroidered and take their inspiration from Uzbek textiles from North Afganistan. They have a wonderful look to them and will add all the right colours in to the room, gorgeous deep plums (very this season), wild yellows (gonna be big in 2010) and my current passion – fuschia!
Image credit: Soap Studiooos at Etsy
Also dogearred (no pun intended) are this sweet and very fun Pigs and Dachshunds Pillows. Since I am not allowed to get a Dachshund till after we come back from honeymoon in April these will simply have to do and it $35 each they will be a fair amount cheaper too! I simply must have one of these but with four gorgeous designs it is going to be very tough to choose!
Image credit: Niki Jones
And as it usually happens, I have started looking at the gorgeous cushions and have seen a beautiful rug! This piece is made from felt (a very Eco friendly materia) and uses a fantastic cut out design.
Image credit: Niki Jones
And this chair would be the highlight of my home office – and guess what? It comes in fuschia – it was clearly meant to be! – Now where’s my credit card…
Eco home office 11 January, 2010
Posted by kiadesigns in mydeco guest blogger.Tags: book ends, clever design, Eco, eco design, home office, office, office design, stationery
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As an interior designer I am always helping to create other people’s perfect homes, finding and designing fantastic storage solutions, picking gorgeous fabrics that will work with the colour scheme however my home always seems to be a little like the cobblers shoes – I simply never get round to doing it! So another one of my new years resolutions is to properly set up my home office, and to do it (as always) in an Eco friendly way.
Here are a few of the products I have ear marked for the design
Image credit: Graham and Green
I have had a huge hankering after pink recently (including having painted my living room chimney breast wall a gorgeous shade of rose) and I think these are simply gorgeous and are now down from £34.75 to only £17.25!! Bargin!
Image credit: Ecocentric
This beautifully crated item is in fact a book end – the branch appears to be magically growing out of the side of your books but is in fact ingeniously attached to the books through the magnetic book end that is inside the book! Simple yet very effective.
Image credit: Ecocentric
I am a huge fan of the gorgeous relaxing light given off by fairy lights and am really missing them since I’ve taken down my Christmas tree (and had it recycled of course!) so this may be the perfect accessory for my new desk area!
Image Credit: Yanko Design
This really is the ultimate gift for the office worker who has everything. This USB Key gives off a wonderful aroma so that they can be slowly calmed throughout the day by the wonderful fragrances. After Christmas I thought I had seen it all but this may be on my post Christmas list!
Feeling Morbid? 8 January, 2010
Posted by kiadesigns in mydeco guest blogger.Tags: artisan, coffin, couches, eco-friendly, upcycled
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Image Credit: Coffin Couches
Ok so it’s finally Friday after a long and snowy first week and I am hoping the new year is all you’ve hoped for however, if the new year snow and ice has gotten you down. Here is a product that might be right up your alley! Carrying on with my Eco theme these recycled coffin couches are the ultimate in up-cycling. Created from a surplus of (un-used) coffins these are truely unique artisan products each created individually to your requirements and able to be shipped internationally (I wonder what it would say on the customs slip?!)
Image Credit: Coffin Couches
These couches start at around $3,500, now if I could just find out if my Victorian flooring is strong enough to hold one ….
New Years Resolutions 4 January, 2010
Posted by kiadesigns in mydeco guest blogger.Tags: eco design, eco-friendly, resolutions
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One of my new years resolutions this year is to be more Eco friendly, as a designer it is always important to see not only how our environment around us affects us but also how we affect that environment – not just in the home but around the world. As a person I am always looking to be environmentally friendly – I don’t drop rubbish, I recycle, I don’t waste water – but this year it is really important to see how our design choices affect the world. This blog (and quite a few throughout the year) are going to be focusing on Eco friendly products and companies.
Image Credit: Debbie Wijskamp
These “Paper Cabinets” are made with papier-mâchécoupled with traditional woodworking methods, the artist Debbie Wijiskamp hand forms the recycled paper pulp into molds, and then assembles the parts into amazing white furniture pieces that will definately be a talking point.
Image Credit: Who’s Glass
Using glass bottles collected from within a 10 mile radius of their studio, Who’s Glass’ ware has been reformed from Coca-Cola and Corona beer glass bottles from local pubs, clubs, restaurants, cafés and campsites. Did you know that reforming existing glass products is 90% more efficient than re-melting the glass into raw materials and working from scratch. Millions of tonnes of glass is used in the UK every year and over a million ends up in landfill! The energy saved from recycling one bottle will power a 100W light bulb for almost an hour or a computer for 25 minutes, or a television for 20 minutes! Amazing I feel more Eco friendly already!
If you think of one I’ve missed please give me an email through at kia@kiadesigns.co.uk i’d love to hear about how you think design could and should be more Eco friendly
Home Grown Designs 28 December, 2009
Posted by kiadesigns in mydeco guest blogger.Tags: american design, artists, artwork, designers, english design, etsy, home grown
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Home grown, but not always necessarily on this soil - Etsy allows us access to some of the most amazing and creative people around the world. Here are a few of my favourite interior pieces from some of the most inventive people around the world. The hours spent on each of these pieces will make them shine in every room!
Image credit: FireHorseTextiles on Etsy
This fantastic wall hanging will be a statement piece of any wall!
Image credit: Tina Tarnoff on Etsy
This piece is by Tina Tarnoff who was whisked away on a two-week vacation to San Francisco and has never come home! Her paper cuts, like the one shown above entitled “Waiting for the phone to ring” is one of many wonderful and unique designs.
For something created a little closer to home (North London to be precise) you might like to check out www.mrkarno.com for some 21st century oil paintings each of which the artist usually completes in one sitting and each of which takes around 7 months to dry (prices available upon request). The artist in question only sells originals and is firmly against the concept of ‘prints’ some whatever piece you may chose will not be also adorning your neighbour’s wall!
Image credit: Mr Karno
Image credit: Mr Karno
So when looking for something a little bit different to put on your walls give etsy a look as it really does have items that you won’t find hanging on many other peoples walls!
