Wednesday’s news: The Telegraph’s got talent, heavy metal and a bright future for energy renewal 4 November, 2009
Posted by katiehodgkiss in Daily news.Tags: bungalow, competition, eco-friendly, homebuilding, industrial interiors, metal, renewable energy, self-built, solar power
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Image credit: The Telegraph
Hello faithful followers! This morning dawned with the news of a new hero, valiantly protecting our capital city. I can only hope that in the near future London will have its own Boris signal, perhaps a bicycle-shape insignia, beaming out into the night whenever our blonde prince is needed. Now that you can all rest in the knowledge that Mr. Johnson is literally is fighting back against crime, why not take a minute to read through our pick of the best design news for your enjoyment?
mydeco’s pick of the top 3 news stories:
1.The Telegraph: Homebuilding & Renovating awards: the finalists
Competition seems to be the driving force for much of the entertainment industry at the moment: X-Factor, Masterchef, Strictly Come Dancing, and then of course there’s that group of amoebas fighting it out to become Paris Hilton’s new best friend…I’ll say no more. Still, there’s no reason for the design world to miss out on all the fun, and over the past few weeks Telegraph readers have voted on their favourite self-built and renovated houses. The final five have been selected, so I thought I would show you my favourite (pictured above). It’s no so much the aesthetics that attracted me to this converted bungalow, as the sheer magnanimity of the task – transforming a three bedroom bungalow into a five-bed-house in a mere 7 months! Follow the link to check out the other contestants and cast your vote now.
dornob: Industrial interior: Intense modern metal apartment design
Image credit: dornob
If Simon Cowell were cartoonised as Batman’s new nemesis (and lets face that’s not a bad idea), I imagine that this is what his evil layer would look like. Designed by Peter Kostelov, the apartment is given a little added texture using exposed rivets and visible welding to break up the large planes of single materials. Not the cosiest of interiors, but could provide some inspiration to those of you looking for some relief from the chintz revival.
3.inhabitat: $555 Billion Sahara Solar Energy Belt Takes Giant Step Forward
Image credit: inhabitat
Okay, so $555 billion might seem quite pricey for what looks like a giant greenhouse, but this solar belt is actually set to be the word’s largest renewable energy project. If all goes to plan, in the future it will be supplying 15% of Europe with mother-nature-friendly energy, and with 12 backers now safely signed, the vision has taken the next step towards becoming a reality. What’s more, if the image above is an accurate prediction of the finished product, it will be visually stunning.
The best of the rest:
inhabitat: Stunning open air library pops up in East Germany
The Guardian: 10 of the best orchid buys
Daily Mail: House prices up for fourth month in a row… but experts predict 5% drop by end of 2010
Daily Mail: After Dragons triumph, Sharon Wright moves out of her Scunthorpe den
Daily Mail: How Self build can be ticket to delays, debts…and divorce
The Telegraph: Interiors: the Paris flat of the celebrated perfumer Jacques Polge
The Telegraph: Word on the street: Dawn French’s house “best house on the market for the money”
Hurrah, my first pre-lunch blog! Tune in again tomorrow to see if I can keep it up. Right, I’m off to get a pasty…
Creating beautiful rooms doesn’t have to be expensive 12 October, 2009
Posted by cleberry in 3D room design.Tags: 3d rooms, asian living room, cheap living room, competition, home sale, home special offers, pink living room, recession room design, sale living room, special offers living room, win money
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Take a look at this room by community member Morakimu2002 with it’s gorgeous bright colours and Asian inspired style. The ‘tea room’, has so much detail – just look at the Japanese cherry blossom style trees outside; and all this for under £1,500! Morakimu obviously knows how to design high style on the cheap.
The challenge was to create a beautiful room for the cheapest total value, for the ‘recession rooms’ competition. Take a look at the runners up here and be sure to enter your 3D room designs into the other competitions to win some great prizes. Morakimu has won £25 to spend in the mydeco sale… with such a talent for great looking bargains, I wonder which spectacular special offers she will find?
100% mydeco 30 September, 2009
Posted by katykimbell in Editors' blog.Tags: 100% Design, 3D room planner, competition, mydeco
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Whilst the mydeco editorial team has been non-stop blogging about all the cool stands we saw during the London Design Festival, we’ve rather neglected the most important stand of all –The mydeco stand!
Image credit: Eliot Lovell
The mydeco stand caused quite a stir amongst visitors at the 100% Design exhibition. Not only did it inspire a great deal of interest from designers and shoppers alike, but it also received some excellent feedback. We weren’t eaves dropping or anything, but we did overhear a designer exclaim that our stand ‘was the most interesting’ he’d seen ‘by far.’
I’m hardly surprised that visitors were lured in by mydeco. The striking visuals in the stand helped explain the ins and outs of the site and the funky display of furniture reflected mydeco’s commitment to sourcing fresh young talent. Most visitors left the stand with broad smiles emblazoned across their faces – the infectious mydeco enthusiasm had obviously rubbed off!
Image credit: Eliot Lovell
Visitors seemed most impressed by the 3D room planner, and lots of young designers have promised to enter future mydeco design competitions. So all in all – a positive event. Let’s hope that word of mouth will get mydeco on the lips of every cool kid in town.
Exclusive: Tent London tickets with mydeco 3 September, 2009
Posted by eleanorjoslin in Editors' blog.Tags: 2 for 1, competition, design, exhibition, London Design Festival, show, tent london, tickets
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2oo9 Design Class Competition winner and Tent London exhibitor, Omri Barzeev (inset) and his design, Zaza.
When you want to be at the fore of great design, mydeco is here to offer a helping hand – or a ticket or two. Being design-geeks, you’ll know that the excitement of the London Design Festival is upon us and that Tent London is renowned for being the most design-diverse and comprehensive exhibition there. And as well as all the emerging and established design talent from across the globe, Tent London will include ten winners from the 2009 Design Class Competition held earlier this year.
Join the winners with exclusive 2 for 1 Tent London tickets on offer from mydeco. This amazing offer is valid for adults, students and children so why not make a day of it with the whole family?
You’ll need to book online at www.tentlondon.co.uk before midnight on the 18 September 2009 and quote the reference code ‘MYDECO09’ when they ask.
And below is all the info you’ll need for a day of exciting design at Tent London:
Tent London will take place from 24‐27 September 2009, at the Truman Brewery, Brick Lane, London, E1 6QL.
Opening times:
Thursday 24 September: 10.00 – 20.00hrs
Friday 25 September: 10.00 – 20.00hrs
Saturday 26 September: 10.00 – 20.00hrs
Sunday 27 September: 11.00 – 17.00hrs
Ticket prices:
Public & students: Admission fee – £7.50 in advance / £10.00 on the door.
Children: Under 16 – £5.00; Under 5 – FREE
See you there!
Designer MP expense scandal revenge 28 August, 2009
Posted by eleanorjoslin in Editors' blog.Tags: architecture, competition, design, mp expense scandal, winner
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The winner of an architecture competition aiming to design ‘state-owned, temptation-free’ housing for MPs – and to poke fun at the embarrassment that is the MP expense scandal – has been announced.
The winning design by Collective Architecture
Image credit: The Architects’ Journal
Glaswegian company Collective Architecture won The Architects’ Journal competition with their design ‘Common Houses’. This details a scheme that aims ‘to increase participation in democracy through a network of local assemblies served by re-nationalised railways and ferries’.
Only one problem here – MPs would have to give up their chauffeured BMWs and hop on trains and sweat next to the public whose ‘interests’ they supposedly serve. Expect another John Prescott / egg / punch-up debacle.
The former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone was one the competition judges. He said: ‘I can’t remember how long I’ve been in favour of moving parliament out of London. The Foreign Office can go to Bradford and the MoD to Liverpool, spread the jobs around a bit.’
The MPs would have their heads in the clouds with this competition entry…
Image credit: The Architect’s Journal
Design company Hole in my Pocket created the competition amid the furore of the expenses scandal. In the wake of the scandal many MPs had to ‘apologise’ for their absurdly high expense claims for second homes and refurnishing – though it is more than likely they were sorry about being found out…
The winner’s prize was very apt – part of it was the fulfilment of an MP-styled expenses claim form. But quips aside, the competition produced outstanding designs and imaginative ideas.
This competition entry is a political game – much like politics in reality then
Image credit: The Architects’ Journal
Sarah Siena Edwards was the runner-up with her ‘Ministers Mole Hole’ design. She portrayed the London underground as a house for ministers. In real life, wouldn’t it be brilliant if we could taxi around willy-nilly like many MPs did before the scandal, while they suffered in the underground’s cloying heat?
Neil McGuire was another runner-up for his design ‘Redacted Residencies’. His system resulted in shrinking the accommodation of MPs the more their expense claims were blacked out. Justice would be served.
These designs will be exhibited at The Lighthouse in Glasgow and all the entries can be seen via the The Architects’ Journal.
Win an exclusive design consultation on your home! 4 August, 2009
Posted by cleberry in Editors' blog.Tags: competition, design consultation, interior design, win
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Do you have a room in your house that could do with a facelift, but don’t know where to start?
How about a FREE interior design consultation help you out?
You can win some expert design advice on a room in your house by simply becoming a fan of mydeco on Facebook. Easy!
You should become a fan of mydeco on Facebook here.
We will pick the winner at random at the end of next month.
Good luck!
Cleberry -_-*
Be inspired: Gorgeous garden by community member Sputnik 12 June, 2009
Posted by cleberry in 3D room design.Tags: 3d design, 3d room, community, competition, conservatory, flowers, french windows, garden, patio, plants, trees, vase, wooden floors
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Congratulations to community member Sputnik, who designed this striking 3D garden and won the Gorgeous Gardens competition! We are inspired by the simple elegance and chic style of the space, where we would love to spend the summer..
See more of Sputnik’s designs here.
Don’t worry if you didn’t enter, we are currently running plenty of brilliant competitions which you can take part in. Be sure to keep your eye on our competitions page.
We have improved community competitions 2 June, 2009
Posted by cleberry in 3D room design.Tags: 3d room, community, competition, copy, design, entry, fair, win
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Good morning!
Over the past couple of weeks we have been set on improving your experience in the community section of mydeco, by answering your questions and listening to your suggestions.
A few community members said they would prefer it if other members didn’t copy their 3D room designs or moodboards and present them as their own, with no mention of the original creator. This is especially frustrating for people when the copier enters the copy into a competition, and starts gaining votes for something that they did not do.
So now, when a 3D room is copied, the original creator’s name is automatically added to the copy, so everyone knows who really created it.
This means that new people can still be inspired and easily get started, as they are still able to copy established designers rooms, but without annoying that designer.
It also impossible now to enter a copied room into a competition.
Also, competitions are much fairer as more entries are displayed on the page, so your entries may get more votes.
Hooray! xx
Doudou is a community star 28 May, 2009
Posted by cleberry in 3D room design.Tags: 3d design, community, competition, wedding, wedding reception
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Congratulations goes out to Doudou who won our 3D wedding room design competition! But not only that, she also had the fabulous design featured in our weekly newsletter, a picture in our article on a Groom’s Diary and featured again on the Design Your Home page! Now that is what I call promotion. If you want to be featured around mydeco, make sure you enter our competitions. You can sign up to the newsletter to be updated on everything to design and shop for your home.
