Obsession | Bend Seating

m | monroe design — Wed, 09 May 2012 22:35:46 +0000

I love all of these pieces by Bend !

They also have these super fun trophy heads/ coat hooks:

Brooklyn Flea

m | monroe design — Wed, 09 May 2012 21:59:52 +0000

At the Brooklyn Flea last weekend I saw so many cool things. Both new and old alike, each piece seemed unique and special… With everyone into ‘vintage this’ and ‘antique that’, flea markets feel like the last truly accessible place left on Earth to buy something cool and one of a kind. We can’t all be the original forager or treasure hunter that goes into the crazy old barn upstate (or wherever) to get the wood and old glass jars etc… For most of us, the flea market is as close as we’re going to get, and as Martha always says, “It’s a good thing.”

I only have a few vendors to share with you here, you’ll have to discover the rest on your own:

Beautiful, thick, leather bags by Flux Productions. (Flux on Etsy) The hand printed felt bags with leather handles are so nice.

Prints and Photos by John Murphy. I especially love his animal collages and house prints:

Venice | Danghyra

m | monroe design — Thu, 03 May 2012 17:35:01 +0000

A few weeks ago, after Milan Design Week, I got to spend one night and two days in Venice. It was wonderful. A much needed break after the craziness that is Design Week. One of the only souvenirs I bought on the entire Italian trip was this porcelain bowl by Danghyra. We walked into her shop somewhere in the labyrinth of Venice and fell in love with her modern vessels. Her work ranged from small tea light holders, to large vases, and abstract art. Each piece was hand made, glazed and sold by the owner herself. Danghyra is both the name of the shop and the owner. She was very sweet and excited to know that we were from New York; Where she dreams of someday opening a shop.

Movie | Design Thinking

m | monroe design — Thu, 03 May 2012 17:07:57 +0000

I cannot wait to see this movie! Design Thinking. Screening now at film festivals, the movie is expected to launch in June 2012.

Check out all their press HERE.

It looks as though it could be as awesome as Objectified and Helvetica.

Desks | adjusting to a new way of work

m | monroe design — Tue, 01 May 2012 23:04:03 +0000

Whether at home or at work, desks are getting smaller and smaller. Cord control, materiality, and function have become more important than massive square footage and storage space. It’s not just a trend, it’s a necessity. Laptops, ipads, the internet, and paperless/ eco friendly initiatives have all driven Designers to create smaller work spaces. Additionally, in this economy, price per square foot dictates a lot of decision making; So, smaller desks mean: more employees in less space, with less overhead.

Arco showed at the big Saloni show in Milan. Two of the most successful modern desk designs I have seen are; Arco’s Pivot Desk and their Deskbox. For me, the Pivot is lacking a bit of thought in the cord control department and the drawers may not be the most practical ever; However, I still really enjoy it, and feel that it’s relevant here. The Deskbox seems to have it all. Beautiful.

PIVOT by Arco

DESKBOX by Arco

This custom designed wall mounted desk by Zac&Co is a great example of all of the criteria I spoke about above. It has cord control (power behind the sliding doors) and compact design. Best of all, you can hide away your things making it perfect for a home office. As you can see, it even holds a large external monitor, for those that need a bigger screen than a laptop generally offers (with the internet now, this could even double as your TV).

At the MOST show in Milan, I spotted this gorgeous ‘Tie Desk’ by Elin Carlsten & Elisabet Thostrup. This one isn’t the smallest, but it’s pretty compact, contains cord control, and is quite beautiful. So here it is anyway:

It’s not that new; Bludot is always doing such great work. But, I wanted to include a few of their compact desks as well. The Cant Desk and the Wonderwall Desk:

bowl.

m | monroe design — Tue, 01 May 2012 22:44:43 +0000

So simple, so beautiful. I love this bowl by ILIDE as seen at the Zona Tortona (Temporary Museum for New Design) show in Milan. It’s not on their website yet, but hopefully it will be soon. I want to purchase one! They had such a smooth and wonderful tactile quality.

Materials:

-wood or marble

-stretchy nylon (like pantyhose)

-metal ring/ fastening system

beautiful. modern. lamps.

m | monroe design — Tue, 01 May 2012 20:43:07 +0000

There is so much beautiful lighting in the design world, so it is hard to narrow down the most beautiful. Here are a few highlights from Milan Design week, that I found to be the most interesting and unique.

DMOCH had some of the most interesting wall, floor, and table lamps that I have ever seen. Their exhibit was located in the Lambrate District. Their play with proportions and counterweights was really unique. I also loved the use of color and super smooth woods (very trendy).

The details were beautiful. Really well made lights by DMOCH.

This new wireless (rechargeable) LED lamp technology will do a lot for the industry. I’m super excited about it. This ‘snooze’ lamp was launched at The Temporary Museum for New Technology in Tortona by Giesse-Technology. Check out more of their other innovative work HERE.

‘The Switch’ light by Designer Richard Hutten for NgispeN is simple and fun. At NgispeN’s show in Tortona they displayed this light in a new way by using a Plumen bulb. The Plumen bulb is very cool and can instantly make any lamp more interesting!

With Plumen bulb:

Taking recycling to a refined and gorgeous level, Lucirmas launched this lamp at their Tortona district show. It’s not up on their website yet, but hopefully it will be soon for better photos. (adjacent to the lamp in this photo is one of their recycled, etched glass bowls.. also very nice)

Handmade Lights by Asaf Weinbroom as seen at the Lambrate show in Milan:

The Freehand Series, pen holder and light, by HOMMM as seen in the Tortona district. Note: They are much nicer in person than they look in any of these photos:

This small table lamp from the Lambrate show was quite lovely as well. The Light Drops lamp by e27 :

sdfh

tandem seating | wood

m | monroe design — Tue, 01 May 2012 14:45:39 +0000

I think that tandem seating is one of the most fun concepts ever in furniture, so it is a trend that I am always happy to see more of. Here are a few tandem wood pieces from the various Milan shows:

1. De Tafelwip by Marleen Jansen. This looks ridiculously fun. I wish the two show attendees in this photo were on the piece. This piece was at the Temporary Museum for New Design show in Tortona.

2. From the Yearbook section at the MOST show, this lovely stool for two:

3. Chair table by Laszlo Rozsnoki from the MOST show. The lines and proportions on this one are a little clunky for me, but I still love the concept!

artist unknown

m | monroe design — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 22:53:40 +0000

At Art Basel in Miami in 2010, I saw this piece that I really enjoyed. I can’t say exactly why I like it, but I do. Sadly, I saw it at a tiny gallery show with no visible labels. So I have no information about the artist or the piece… only this photo that I took that night at the show:

Now, two years later I found this piece by Ron Gilad on Wallpaper’s Blog. Seen here at Gorky park during Moscow’s design week is ‘My Neighbourhood’. I can’t help but wonder; Is this a coincidence? I googled everything that I could, the piece from Basel is not coming up with any association to Gilad. Help?! Regardless, I will assume no foul play and hope for the best. I think both pieces are great. Ron Gilad has a lot of really beautiful work < click here for more!

Milan 2012 | Lambrate District

m | monroe design — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 22:38:22 +0000

Highlights from a few of the Lambrate District Shows:

1. Wheel of Nutrition plate by student Juliusson Hafsteinn-Rui Pereira. This simple concept could go a long way for your health/ diet.

scuoladesign.com OUT NOW show: “Stories of Ideas and Matter”

2. Teixidors - Beautiful textiles and home accessories. I also loved their show set up with working loom on site:

3. MYK Puff ball rugs, pillows and furniture. Super fun! Kids room anyone?

4. Out and About: A Pinch of Salt (glass and marble salt dish) beautiful.

5. Home Zoo by Silvia Knueppel. The pool toys we all know, have become furniture. The plush quilted fabric gives a soft touch and easily turns the pieces into indoor furniture. I think these were one of my favorite pieces from the entire week! They were SO cute and soft.