Living walls

We love these living walls by artist Anna Garforth

Incorporate art into nature. It could be adding moss to your rock garden or along a water feature or to hide the drain in your driveway.  Here's the recipe for Moss Graffiti on Instructables.

For more, check out Anna Garforth

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Valentine's Day Gift

Food of Love.
Planning your romantic thoughts to a hearty dish this V-day. We adore this Eggspress mould from Justmustard.

 

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Bookshelf ideas

TarGetBooks by Mebrure Oral


crafted by Halligan Norris Smith and featured in Design*Sponge at Home

I am on the hunt for a bookcase, and for a book maniac like me, the staircase bookshelf by London-based Levitate Architects is the perfect solution.

Staircase bookshelf

via apartment therapy

Ivy Modular Room Divider

via amode

An eastern inspiration creates a stunning storage unit, which also doubles up as a room divider.


Cave

via sakurah

A bookcase CAVE provides a private reading space within its form.



Mikado bookshelf

via lifestylebazaar

This geometric, lacquered, wall-mounted bookshelf makes your books and CDs look as if they are floating on the wall. It looks fantastic and funky.


Shelflife by Charles Trevelyan

via mocoloco

via Rachael Smith

This large shelving unit or room divider features a chair and table that can be pulled out from within the shelves.

Equation Bookshelf

via estudiobreder

{Punctuation to help you [organize (your life) in priority] order}
A good idea for setting things out…

Put the books that you’re reading or need to take with you when you go out between the {braces} and the [square brackets].
Place the books you love between the [square brackets] and set the mood with a beautiful vase or a portrait of your loved one between the central (parentheses).

One fine day, a little blue box of Tiffany might be waiting for you amongst your brackets!

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LOVE open fire

Winter is coming to Australia.

Love sitting around the campfire?

Wouldn't it be nice if we could sit around an open fire in our own lounge room ... with a bottle of wine, a loaf of bread and thou?

The Fusion is a rectangular shaped fireplace. 

A freestanding piece of furniture designed to accept the EcoSmart™ Burner, the EcoSmart™ Fusion features a double opening with a “see-through” effect. The EcoSmart™ Fire Fusion is designed for installation in units, apartments, houses, and commercial premises including offices, bars & restaurants.

Another idea to toast your toes ! -->

 

DISH The perfect drawcard for entertaining

 "Unlike wood-fired models, Dish is fueled by bio-ethanol, a readily available, environmentally friendly, renewable energy that generates a beautiful orange flame with no smoke, no odour, no mess and no fuss."

Caution – children, pets and paper should be kept at a safe distance!

Wishing you warm

Source: http://www.ecosmartfire.com/

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The perfect gift: Magazine House

This adorable house comes in three colours (black, white and red), cute and practical. They make the perfect housewarming gift!

MAGAZIN

Not finished with your reading? Just lay the open magazine on the roof of the house, and you can easily pick it up again to carry on reading, without loosing the page. Meanwhile your other favorite magazines can be stored 'inside the house'.

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Small stuff

Life is still busy around here. The rain started to fade away and let the sun shine in.

In the hustle and bustle of daily life,
how often do we stop to appreciate the small stuff?

So I decided to leave all my work and go for a bit of walk, to feel the autumn tickle in my face and delight in the beautiful changes to come.
I came home with a handful of goodies that I picked up along the path. Aren’t they just so simple and nice?

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Gift for designers: NoteSlate

Don’t get me wrong, I love sketching on paper. But NoteSlate’s extreme minimalism fascinates me. I'm not going to go into all the details of how cool the Noteslate is, because, well, I don't even own one. Suffice it to say that it’s as close to sketching on paper as you can get without, well, sketching on paper. At the moment, I'm just drooling over the colour selections and its brilliant functionality.

Which of the voices in my head should I listen to? The three-year-old that’s screaming, “I want one!” or the adult that knows it’s really just a great toy. So, should I get it? And if so, which colour?
Decisions! Decisions!
I’m really curious, would you get one? Should I?

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Sweet planner

I can't believe another week has flown by so quickly! We have been busy little bees here in the studio what with working and having a mini-family reunion. It was a heart-warming time with lots of laughter and catching up after two years apart but it’s left my schedule all out of whack.

So, if you’re busy too, this sweet day planner is really inspirational and looks like a pile of fun to work with. I hope that I can get myself back into a regular routine with a lovely little to-do list like this one.
image credit: flickr-decor8

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gadget girl

Looking for a way to de-clutter your desk and these are great solution!

photo credit: organizing zillion computer cables

photo credit: Aphrodite USB Hub

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Message in a bottle

My heart skipped a few beats when I read this love story...
... Mandy English was just 13 when she hurled the note requesting a penpal into the sea during a 1979 school trip to Scotland.
Two years later Richard, then just six, spotted the glass bottle on the beach and sent a reply by postcard.

30 years later... STUNNED Richard has discovered his missus is the same girl whose message in a bottle he answered 30 years ago... Read full story

Who would’ve thought?

1 Planet, 204 Countries, 809 Islands, 7 Seas,
and I had the privilege to meet you.

Happy Valentine’s Day, I hope that your day is filled with love, excitement, and every good thing in between.

Let’s spread the love around.

photo credits:
Chloe perfume
Red-white glass bottle
Message in a bottle
Monochromatic Deck of Cards
Rose cake

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eco-friendly Xmas tree

Looking for a Christmas tree with a difference?
Light up your living room with these stylish eco-friendly and child safe Christmas trees.

left: via lovelycluster / right: via etsy

The lovely stickers are perfect for children, as they are removable and completely reusable.

via mooo

left: David Stark for West Elm via ariannainteriors / right: via John Lewis

Miscellaneous tree by Jane Schouten via style-files

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fab & found - dragonflies

Finally, I put up these dragonflies that I bought in Seattle last month. They look great on the hallway wall.

Some of them have quietly settled in a little corner by the front door, greeting everyone who comes in and out.



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space-saving

The space-saving furniture in the video is mind-blowing. The design and engineering work cleverly together, but what is more attractive is how things stay steady when the shelves or bed are pulled out! Each piece has at least two functions.


If you liked the Domestic transformer video, I bet you’ll love this one too.

Giravolta
The Giravolta table begins as a beautiful console that folds open to become a functional dining table in seconds.

The Single coffee table contains a top that lifts up and moves forward with one simple motion, creating the perfect dining or working surface in your living room.

via resourcefurniture

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Milan Design Week 2010

Last week, after three days of fever, I was left not only with a sore throat but I also had no energy and a splitting headache. Anyway, after lots of antibiotics and plenty of mint tea, I’m feeling as right as rain.
I spent the rest of the week flipping through Vogue Living (July/August 2010) with its free DVD report from Milan Design Week. This was awesome and inspired me to drag myself from my sickbed to continue my battle in the world of design.
Here’s a sneak peek at Vogue Living’s DVD coverage of Milan Design Week:

Strung above the famous fashion street of Via Montenapoleone are huge lanterns that light up the night.

The Invisibles by Tokujin Yoshioka for Kartell

Amplify by Yves Béhar
These LED pendant lamps are made from recycled paper and re-create the shimmering effect of crystal chandeliers.

Maurizio Galante with his 'Drago' bedspread
A bedspread formed from hundreds of raised motifs which in unison create voluminous waves of triangular pleats.

This massive chandelier, "Stella”, by Tokujin Yoshioka, is a large crystal dandelion hung from the ceiling in a room full of white haze.

For a three-minute clip, click here

More coverage of Milan Design Week 2010 including photo galleries, videos, blog posts and interviews from core77

On the bright side of being sick, I had a trip to Milan without ever leaving the comfort of my daybed: not too bad!

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leaf-it

A few busy weekends in a row and my to-do list rapidly grow to be as big as these...

Leave me some messages -->Leaf-it

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blooming day

Hello everyone. I just had to pop back in to say hi and to check out a few of my favourite blogs. I've been having the most wonderful, restful holiday with my family in Thailand. So I will be taking a few weeks away from the blog until I get back on the 18th March.

While I’m having a blogging break, I wanted to leave you with lovely blooms and a chance to win one of your favourite piece!

Have a lovely blooming day!
x x x

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Thilli Blooms presents handmade flowers. Each blossom is created from chiffon scraps that would otherwise be discarded. Thili has built a relationship with a local fabric store who save their offcuts for her, making Thili's unique pieces as green as they are gorgeous. Stick them on your fridge, on cushions, clothes, hats, or whatever takes your fancy, or bring them to life with a sprinkle of your favourite essential oil. They’re the perfect finishing touch for a bride or for those just dashing out of the door to a cocktail party.
So, I'm super-excited to announce that Thili has agreed to create a fabulous individual piece for one lucky reader of Fantabulous Design!

For your chance to win:
* Leave a comment in this post mentioning your favourite piece.
* Become a follower and get another chance to win – make sure you tell me in your comment.
*For a third chance to win, mention our giveaway on Facebook and include a link to our page, or post on your blog and include a link to our page. Don’t forget to send me the link.
* Please be sure to include your first name plus a VALID email address when commenting.
* The closing date for entries is Monday, March 22, 2010. The winner will be chosen at random and announced here on Wednesday, March 23, 2010.

* Best of luck to you all! *

A big thanks to Thili for providing such a great giveaway prize! Thili’s products will be available for purchase in her etsy shop soon. Also, make sure to check out her blog, buy some beautiful blooms and get chic before anyone else.

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