Perfect Room Screen: Bamboo Wave or Plywood Eames?

Over the years, one of the very best purchases I have made were two bamboo Wave Room Screens made of thin bamboo slats that unfurl to create an organic wave shape. I have had mine at least 15 years in two spaces and they have proven to be endlessly useful. They are an inexpensive, stylish alternative to the classic Eames plywood screen I could not afford. Here are SOME of the ways I’ve used them…

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Disguises for Computer Cables + Other Ugly Stuff

As we scroll through design sites, we periodically spot some new gadget for keeping ugly computer wires in check: reels that wind them up, dongles that collect them behind your desk… Perhaps the BEST improvisation we’ve seen is in Christoph Niemann’s workspace. The inspired illustrator/artist/author disguised an ugly black cable by placing a black and white image…

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Storage Solution: Puzzle Box Thinking

When enlisted to design a compact tea shop in a limited  footprint, Brazilian architect Alan Chu created a giant puzzle box whose color blocks unfold to reveal its wares. Seeing it unfold gives us lots of ideas for maximizing our own storage spaces, and making them visually appealing. With each panel that is opened, the…

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Collected’s Fritz Karch: the Pleasures of ‘Hunting and Gathering’

Creative director/editor/stylist Fritz Karch’s official bio begins:”he became an active collector at age eleven and has always been an ardent believer in the benefits and pleasures of hunting and gathering.” Recently, he collaborated with Rebecca Robertson on Collected: Living with the Things You Love, a tour of fantastic, often eccentric collections around the world, and an entry IN to your own creative collecting.

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Transforming Wall Bed-Bookshelf-Storage Unit

Last May I posted the life-size prototype I made out of FoamCore to help me design a complex combination of berth-style (sideways) wall bed, storage and bookshelves for my space in Harlem. I had been struggling with the design problem for some time: how to make the massive volume of the wall-bed blend into the structure, so you…

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Low Shelving as Settee, Display and Storage

Lately, we’ve been seeing appealing LOW shelves in some of the interiors we’ve come across. The low-to-the-floor horizontals they create have the effect of making the ceiling look higher, especially useful in low-ceiling rooms. We especially like the these clever shelves spotted at Il Richiamo Del Bosco (The Call of the Woods), and eco friendly bed & breakfast in Sala Baganza,…

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