Tag Archives: Furniture Designs

Give your DIY + IKEA furniture a longer life using tools that guides users to drill the perfect holes

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Cam & Dowel Jig is a collection of preset jigs and various tools that are designed to help guide users through designing and constructing their own bespoke furniture.

If you didn’t pick up woodworking as a hobby during the quarantine, chances are you at least tried. In a perfect world, we’d have the know-how to pick up some tools, some pieces of wood, and design our living rooms with our own collection of bespoke furniture. Alas, this is no perfect world so we’ll need some shortcuts. Luckily, David Needham of Kingfisher Design Studio has us covered with an intuitive tool kit designed to streamline bespoke, DIY furniture-building projects.

Designer: Kingfisher Design Studio

Dubbed Cam & Dowel Jig, Kingfisher designed the tool kit to help families and young couples build space-saving pieces of furniture that fit their home’s style and available floor space. Without the proper knowledge over where and how to acquire quality timber, the best means for measuring that timber, or even how to slice it, there’s no way we can design and construct our own furniture. That’s where Cam & Dowel Jig steps in.

The different jigs that comprise Cam & Dowel’s tool kit have been designed to streamline the process of constructing specific furniture pieces. For instance, the Shelf Jig keeps a T-shape that indicates accurate hole positions and depths for each piece to come together in the shape of a shelf. Describing the preset nature of each jig, the designers at Kingfisher note, “Numbered hole positions on the jig correspond to the relevant drill bit, ensuring precise hole positions are achieved for the supplied cam and dowel hardware.”

Comprised of a tool kit that has everything one might need to measure, cut, and create furniture out of timber, the Cam & Dowel Jig guides users through a step-by-step, furniture-building process. The jigs that are included in Cam & Dowel’s tool kit cater to spring-loaded construction, providing “accurate drilling guidance and precise hole positions.” The tools that are included in the kit are also familiar so users of varying competencies will feel prepared when constructing their bespoke furniture.

Cam & Dowel Jig comes with all the hardware, tools, and jigs for proper furniture building. 

The holes created by the preset jigs make connecting pieces of wood a lot easier. 

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IKEA sofa from Tommy Cash collaboration might make you crave for bread all the time

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A piece of furniture that’s a bit uncharacteristic of IKEA might redefine what it means to be a couch potato.

Sofas, sometimes called couches, have long been associated with relaxation and comfort. In more modern times, they have also been associated with TVs, home entertainment, and the food that usually gets consumed during such passive activities. The kinds of foods commonly thought of when talking about couches and sofas usually range from light snacks to microwavable meals, but a new design that’s coming to IKEA turns that idea on its head and might make you crave for a different kind of treat.

Designer: gab bois for Tommy Cash and IKEA

Bread is not exactly the first kind of food that would come to mind when the word “sofa” is mentioned. Pastries are often messy and would ruin upholstery, while certain rolls are best eaten with other kinds of food that might also make a mess on the sofa. That said, bread is also often associated with soft and fluffy feelings, which may have been the inspiration behind this tasty piece of furniture.

Rapper Tommy Cash is probably better known in design circles for his eccentric and outlandish ideas, and this LOAFA sofa is a clear testament to that. Designed to resemble a serving of glazed bread rolls, the sofa really looks good enough to eat. While it looks comfy, it almost also looks a bit sticky, perhaps generating conflicting feelings when deciding whether to sit on it or not.

Curiously, the LOAFA’s inspiration came from something unrelated to food. Designers gab bois indicated that the sofa is a nod to designer Mario Bellini’s classic Camaleonda modular sofa. Then again, those do look a bit like dinner rolls as well, and it didn’t take too much imagination to knead it into a Camaleon-dough. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like the LOAFA will be just as modular and will forever be frozen in its L-shaped form.

designboom recounts how Tommy Cash tried to garner more than 10,000 comments in order to convince IKEA to start selling the LOAFA sofa. The Instagram post already surpassed that number, though the famed furniture maker has yet to confirm if this piece of furniture is already baking in the oven. Given it will be IKEA that will be selling this pan-tastic piece, some people might end up biting more than they can chew for its price.

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Furniture Designs that transform + function as clever space savers for modern homes!

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Finding a spacious apartment in our urban cities is a rarity! And if you’ve managed to scrounge one up, then you’re an exception and a very lucky one that is! Because let’s be honest, our modern apartments can be pretty cramped. Space constraint is a major issue, and we often find ourselves squeezing through our own belongings. It’s the ultimate test of our maneuvering skills. However, transforming furniture designs are an ingenious solution to this issue of space restraints. And, we’ve curated a collection of super functional and space-saving furniture designs that promise to not only transform themselves but your living space as well! From robotic furniture that transforms from a bed to a home office desk to a work desk that can transform into a lounger – these innovative furniture designs promise to be the best investments of 2021!

Sustainable furniture design studio Ori adds a WFH apparatus called the Cloud Bed to the mix, merging an office and desk setup with a cantilevered lofted bed that descends to the floor to really hone in the mutability of working from home. In its initial form, the Cloud Bed features a working desk and table beneath a lofted bed. Built for hospitality interiors and personal spaces, this space-saving work from home solution was designed to cover a small footprint inside the home. UL certified to ensure the bed remains lofted and close to the ceiling during working hours, the desk area folds into itself, merging with the floor as the bed descends from its raised position. While it might be tempting to hop up to the top of the bunk bed and sleep from such a high height, the Cloud Bed, Table Edition comes equipped with an internal mechanism that lowers the bed to the floor once the workday is done. With the push of a button, the mattress and wooden bed frame lower down from its elevated post in time with the desk folding inwards toward the floor.

Dual-purposed by design, the Summit Sofa is made up of curved cushions with integrated magnets that allow them to attach to one another to form different sofa configurations and the sofa’s main magnetic board to create a minimalist piece of wall artwork. When propped up on its magnetic base, the Summit Sofa’s sinuous cushion modules fit into one another like pieces to a puzzle. When users would like to create their own sofa, they can remove the cushions from the magnetic base and attach modules together to create countless configurations. When the modules are attached to the base, the user’s living and floor areas remain clear for plenty of space. Then, on movie nights or when guests arrive, the Summit Sofa can be detached from the magnetic base to become a sofa.

Created from a combination of wood, plastic, and metal, Sipario is a compact furniture piece that can transform into a workstation that not only offers privacy but reduces noise as well. It was created to provide a more flexible means of working, and it does exactly that! It comprises of wooden strips that are in fact bendable! When kept open, Sipario functions as an open wall-mounted work desk, that occupies minimum space, while providing you with a comfortable nook to work in. However, when the strips are bent, Sipario transforms into a more personal and private workspace. In fact, the gaps in between the bendable wooden strips contain a layer of sound-absorbing fabric, that reduces noise and creates a peaceful and quiet environment that is conducive to your daily productivity. It allows users to pick and choose between an open and a more private home office, without making the process too complex or complicated.

In the unfolded position, FLUP works like a conventional mat or rug on which we can sit or step without interrupting the movement of people through the space. It transforms from plane to volume, from floor to space while changing the function with its shape. In the folded position, it works as a piece of minimal furniture – it can be used as a pouf, an auxiliary seat, a footrest, a nightstand, etc. It is a perfect example of space-saving furniture. What makes it better is that there is no assembly required, it is a singular element that transforms with folds into another object like origami. With micro-apartments being the new trend, flexible and lightweight furniture designs like FLUP are super handy. It is minimal, multifunctional, and can be flat-packed for storage – there is no reason to not love FLUP!

This intriguing concept for a vacuum cleaner is not only multipurpose in design, it is also sustainable in construction. The storage section of the vac is made from cork, which is biodegradable and has a warm ambiance to it. The vacuum pipes and other parts are designed in a manner to be stored within the cork shell that then neatly covers using a lid. The possibility of concealing the entire appliance from sight saves valuable space at home and leaves the vacuum to still be used in the open with a different purpose.

Loop is a modular furniture system with integrated kid-friendly features designed by industrial designer Buse Kaya for parents who need to keep an eye on their kids while working from home. From a chalkboard to a bead maze and tactile puzzles, each module that makes up Loop is designed for your child to play with while you work. Considering its modular formation, Loop can be configured in countless different ways. In one space, users can stack each module on top of one another to create a partition and standing desk space, allowing you to work freely while your kid remains entertained and within eyesight.

Finland has been long a proponent of flexible working conditions for quite some time now, and proof enough is their topping the charts at the UN’s annual World Happiness Report. With time the country has evolved its remote work methodology in the form of smart interior design. This ingenious home office christened “sshhh 3” by Evävaara Design is the perfect example. The Finnish functional furniture expert has launched their mobile workstation design that keeps ergonomics and acoustic isolation at the forefront. It’s like your portable work-from-home setup that can move to any area of the home in an instant. When you want to wrap up for the day, close up the business, and it sits like a minimalistic cabinet without any visual asymmetries.

The Accordion Lamp from Gingko is the perfect example of a lighting design that doesn’t just illuminate… it interacts too! It comes with two wooden ends and a pleated Tyvek-paper shade in between, allowing for the lamp to be opened, folded, and twisted, just like a slinky… a slinky that glows on the inside, thanks to the presence of LED lights! However, that itself isn’t the only trick in the Accordion Lamp’s book. The wooden ends of the lamp come with magnets embedded inside, allowing you to snap the ends together to create a little donut of light, or connect a series of Accordion Lamps together to make a highly interactive illuminating installation that can be arranged in a whole variety of designs, or even hang it using an accompanying magnetic lanyard, letting you spark some joy with your home’s decor!

The Smile, a new apartment complex in East Harlem designed by BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) features smart furniture systems comprised of stow-away storage units, bed frames, workspaces, and wardrobes that rise into and fall from the ceiling on command. Built around a grid that’s mounted to each unit’s ceiling, the modular furniture systems are comprised of storage cabinets and bed frames that rise and descend according to the changing needs of each resident. When a component of the system isn’t in use, it rises and disappears into the ceiling to enlargen the unit’s available living space. Then, when one is needed, the furniture system recognizes voice commands, remote controls, and programmed settings to initiate a component’s descent from the ceiling to the unit’s floor.

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This folding chair is inspired by origami and can be literally hung like clothes on a hanger!

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Chair designs are the first category designers are told to explore because it is simple and yet the smallest of tweaks can make it innovative. Also, let’s accept it – you never get tired of looking at new chair designs! It could be a new material, a bold shape, maybe it has a dual purpose or something like KERF – a space-saving chair that you can literally hang up like clothing!

It can be called a stool or a chair, but KERF gives the otherwise rigid object warmth and flexibility. You can literally put it on a hanger and store it like clothing in a wardrobe which makes it stand out from its counterparts. When needed, simply open the fold and you can get a setup ready for your guests in a few seconds.

The intention was to enrich plywood, make it flexible and fold it like it was paper for origami art. KERF has been designed for small living spaces and for practicality, it is perfect for those living in urban apartments or shared spaces. It reminds me of Japandi style furniture or Scandinavian home decor with its warm and minimal aesthetics.

The unique chair gets its name from the technique of kerfing – it is the method of bending plywood by patterned cutting. It is only good for doing it once to achieve the desired curvature, but not suitable for repetitive, long-term bending because that would cause the veneer layer to crack. The kerfing technique can be optimized for the CNC milling process to save production time and cost.

The mood board for the project shows bending plywood with kerfing, flat-pack laser cut furniture, folding chairs, and interlocking leather belts – all of these come together in the final design as details. The chair us.es kerfing, the hinges are made from leather, it can be compactly packed and it has an origami-like silhoutte.

To make sure it was durable yet flexible, Hamza decided to use thick leather instead of hinges. This detail lets KERF withstand repetitive bending cycles while the alternative hinge (leather) can outlast the traditional hinge making it a piece of furniture that stays with you in the long run (its moving-friendly too!). KERF is definitely a wonderful example of how chairs can be simple while still adding on to the existing form and function!

Designer: Hamza Bavčić

Side Tables with multiple functionalities that pack a punch with their ingenious designs!

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Side tables are probably one of the most neglected pieces of furniture in our home. I, mean, honestly how often do you actually pay attention to your side table, unless you accidentally bump your toe on it! Although they are ignored, it cannot be denied that they are sturdy and dependable pieces of furniture, that are perfect for storing those knick-knacks that you don’t need every day, but when you do need them, it’s like all hell breaks loose until you find them! There’s a species of side tables that I find thoroughly interesting – multifunctional side tables. These are the designs that function as more than everyday tables, they almost always double up as something really fun! From a side table that is also a powerful 200W high definition speaker system to a side table that merges with a projector to keep you entertained and your phone charged – these innovative side tables pack a powerful punch with their ingenious designs!

Spring comprises a cylindrical shape that increases or decreases in height according to its desired function. At its lowest height of 500mm, Spring serves as a simple side table with a natural wood top. Then, by simply pressing the table down, Spring’s built-in compression springs are activated and morph the side table into a chair with a backrest. By following the same pushing tactic, the Spring chair can reach its maximum height of 900mm, transforming into a table that can work as a centerpiece for a small studio space. While the main building material used to construct Spring is oak wood, the furniture’s compression springs are made from aluminum, while natural and white paint colors coat the sides and top of Spring.

The IKEA STARKVIND air purifier comes in two variants, a floor-standing model (in black and white) or a side table version (in the dark or light finish) – costing $129 and $189 respectively. Mind you, to have access to all the smart functions via the compatible app, the $35 smart home hub needs to be purchased as well. The air purifier will hit the IKEA stores from October 2021 in the U.S., so keep an eye on this one. While their form factor is a bit different depending on the intended use-case scenario, on the inside they contain the same three-filter system. This layered filtering system captures bigger particles like hair or dust, 99.5 percent of small airborne particles measuring 2.5 micrometers, pollutants, dust, pollen, and even bad odors are not spared.

The table and console combo thought of by Mudu Design is designed with the vision of interaction with home furniture in more than one way. This multifunctional side table seems like any ordinary piece of a furniture item – but that’s where the similarity ends. Not only is it a side table, but a sturdy stool, storage unit for magazines, and much more depending on your creativity. Plus, the easy-to-carry aesthetics make this side table highly maneuverable depending on the needs in a jiffy. The designer Rostyk Sorokovyi’s obsession with round shapes is evident in the side table crafted out of natural wood. This choice is not just random but based on the fact that the circle is the most harmonious shape nature has bestowed us with.

Ultimately the Cube is a uniquely expressive piece of furniture that’s more than just a surface for resting your cups. Combining patented audio technologies into one award-winning piece of furniture, the Cube surprises with how good it sounds for a device that small. Moreover, it eliminates the need for you to even own a separate speaker set because your furniture IS your speaker set. Considering how the Cube could be used by regular people as well as audio-enthusiasts, it comes outfitted to connect to a variety of devices. It has built-in Bluetooth, which means you can hook your phone, tablet, or even laptop to it, while the option of analog RCA connectivity, digital optical input Toslink (DAC 24-bit 192Khz), and a 3.5mm input means the Cube could be hooked to a host of external devices like your television or even vinyl player.

The SNOOZE by Subin Cho does exactly that, and it uses magnetic resonant wireless charging technology to keep the devices charged seamlessly. This makes complete sense, as the craving for multiple wirelessly charge capable devices like smartphones, tablets, earphones, or headphones will not shun any time soon. The designer believes that the technology will be commercialized in 2023, and SNOOZE will be there to take up all the hassle for you. The charging plate built in the bedside table’s upper section charges any wireless compatible mobile device, audio accessories, or any other compatible device kept in the range of 50 cm. The light on the bedside table is an indicator of the charging range, and whenever a device comes in this area, the light turns on, and charging commences.

Designed by Ben Hansen, this simple yet innovative dog house uses excess water from watering plants and filters it into the dog’s water bowl! Rattan with green accents gives it a light, airy feel. The minimal dog house will brighten any corner of your home – hard not to when it holds a cute plant and pet! It’s an adorable piece of furniture that not only serves as a home for your pet but also doubles up as an elegant plant holder, harmoniously merging with the interiors of your home. Ben’s approach to this is almost reversal to the way we treat our pets and plants. While we love the use of rattan and wish to promote this sustainable material, there is also a certain lightness to the material which needs to be balanced by a strong and heavy metal frame to keep your energetic puppy from toppling this over! There are rather obvious questions about the actual purification of this plant water runoff and we hope Ben will soon share more details on the design’s execution.

Projectable, derived by merging a projector+table is a one-stop solution for your relaxing needs, consider it a spa for your phone! The first thing this table does is wirelessly charge your phone through the small gap that slots and holds your phone comfortably. Now depending on your mood, you can let your phone rest or, unwind by watching everything from a kitten video to kinetic sand cutting ASMR videos using the projector – no more squinting at the tiny screen! The fabric mesh-covering visually separates the movable projector-head that provides almost 90 degrees rotation. The tactile buttons on the surface control the projector angle and volume levels while switching it off is as easy as leaning over and turning off your night light.

The team behind NÓMADA decided to attain the bedside table’s modularity through the material used during its production process by carving and integrating notches, buttons, and twisted, narrow chutes into each wooden and steel panel used for construction. It’s a good thing too because tools can be tricky to store in smaller living spaces like apartments or studios. The end result makes up a bedside table that appears simple and whose purpose seems singular upon first glance, but when deconstructed, the possibilities for restructuring NÓMADA are laid out in front of you, all you have to do is mix-and-match as your tabular needs guide you. Even if you just want a subtle revamp or facelift for your apartment’s design, simply unscrew and see which pieces fit where!

With its unusual nesting pattern, the Folding Window Pattern Stool packs two stools (or side-tables based on how you look at it) into a single form! Designed to be able to be docked, either way, the stool comes in two parts, featuring a positive-negative interlocking detail that’s as beautiful to look at as it is functional. Featuring four L-shaped positive and negative details that plug into each other perfectly, the Folding Window Pattern Stool can nest one above the other, or be kept separately (with the details turning into four legs as a result), or the stools can even be placed in an I shaped format with one stool nested upside down, to create a stable side-table that you can use any way you see fit. The two stools/tables also create a contrast by using dark and light woods, giving you an overall product that sparks your curiosity and is sure to get you to engage with it!

I have to hand it to designer Pei-Ju Wu, for the clever way they have integrated a planter, side table, and lamp, into this amazing piece of furniture that you can place in your living room. The lines are blurred due to the multiple functionalities of this piece, but the ingenious way they complement each other and come together as The Oasis is commendable. Picture this – you have a planter at the base of a table, which keeps green thanks to the integrated LED lights and stays hydrated via the clever funnel found at the center of the tabletop. Excess water simply drips down to the collection tray and evaporates back into the air.

Furniture with storage that are the ultimate design hacks to maximize space in your modern millennial homes!

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Our modern millennial homes have many virtues, but one thing they lack is…space! Space constraint is a major issue in the cramped apartments most of us end up in today. Although smart storage solutions can be a lifesaver in such tricky and compact situations. But let’s be honest, no matter how many shelves or cabinets you add to your home, there’s just never ENOUGH space! So, how about furniture designs with storage? Whoever decided to add hidden storage spaces to everyday furniture pieces is a downright genius according to me. These clever designs function as your essential furniture pieces while providing unique storage solutions. And we’ve curated the most functional + aesthetically pleasing ones we could come across! From a smart bed that doubles up as a couch, WFH desk, while being fully amped multiple nooks and crannies for storage to a home office desk with hidden storage systems – these furniture designs with storage are the ultimate space-saving additions to your home!

You know we always have to get up to get stuff before we settle into relax mode? Well, this bed was designed to have everything you will need to relax within your bed frame. It has an integrated reclining massage chair with a remote, a built-in Bluetooth speaker, a bookshelf, a reading lamp, an air cleaning system, an area to plug in and charge your devices, a foot-stool that opens up for extra storage, and a pop-up desk for the ultimate WFH setup, Netflix marathon or cozy reading hours. The sound system also features an SD card slot, an auxiliary port, and a USB port. Another interesting detail about the Hariana bed is a password-protected safe box for you to store your most precious belongings – for me, it would be my passport and snacks!

When you have a bar chair at home, you’d want one that is more than a stagnant piece of furniture. The innovative design of the No.208 bar chair made that possible with its swappable design. The No.208 bar chair focuses on customization. The user can now replace the wooden seat or maybe change the color and material of the hanging leather basket under the seat. This leather basket doubled as storage and was the standout feature of this bar chair. With the same concept in mind, but to share the seating with more than one person – whether placed indoors or installed in the public space – the No.215 bench chair is born. The bench is slightly lower in height since it deviates from the No.208’s bar chair image and its design – that appears like a bathtub – allows more than one person to sit next to each other.

The designers behind Omni wanted to create a desk that could fit into any office space and provide enough storage options to keep the top of the desk free of mess. With rounded oak legs and additional wood accents, Omni is minimal and sophisticated by design, sporting an optic white desktop surface. The results of a social media survey given by Husarska Studio revealed that most desk users prefer desks with integrated storage that can open and close like a cabinet. Sure to weave lockable storage options into the desk, the makers behind Omni looked to hinged cabinets to store devices’ power supplies and wires, as well as users’ work-related material. Traced along the desk’s topmost side, a hinged cabinet opens up to reveal stored-away cords and power strips for workdays that call for a laptop. Box modules also fill out Omni so users can still keep their work material hidden from view, but the module’s lids can lift, and inside, users can store smaller items like stationery.

PaiPai Pets’ double basin cat kennel is a cat tower and console storage cabinet in one. Looking at the kennel head-on, two wide doors border a narrower middle door, which opens up to the kennel’s storage unit and jungle-gym interior. On the left and right sides of the kennel, there’s enough space to fit two large litter boxes, which are always accessible through the middle door’s open porthole. Behind the kennel’s center cabinet, storage shelves can be found where cat owners can stow away smaller items like cans of wet cat food and litter scoopers. Painted in bright white, with natural wood accents along the perimeter, the kennel can remain discreet even in busier home spaces like the living room or den. Along the sides of the kennel, smaller portholes allow for plenty of airflows as well as a fun way for you to play whack-a-mole with your cat.

Orte loop

In urban homes, one often has to compromise on the kind of furniture they would like because there isn’t enough space to have a separate piece for each function – in this case, Orte saves the space you would need for a full shelf and a mirror by blending them into one. Its limestone base supports a rotating wooden frame with the mirror on one side and six hidden shelves on the other. The pop of red brightens up the corner where the furniture will be and stretched oblong shape makes it easy to fit in any corner. It can be used as a dresser, a bookshelf, or the stuff you need to grab quickly without it being on display always.

Student designers Calvin and Bence recently created their own interpretation of entryway storage with Bügal, a piece of fusion furniture that’s one half coat rack and one half shelf system. When conceptualizing Bügal, the student designers relied on 3D printing to establish a mold for the unit’s body before grinding, smoothing, and painting it over to achieve its finished, semi-matte, silicone-style look. The hybrid unit of furniture hangs from a wooden peg in a similar fashion to the traditional clothes hanger, but it ditches the hook grip for a more secure peg and socket. Calvin and Bence designed Bügal for the sake of combining the dual functions from a coat rack and a shelving unit, to provide a unique storage system that could fit into any entryway, office space, or bedroom.

João Teixeira designed Loop Desk, a simple computer desk that’s built for the organizing nut in each of us. The two-tiered desktop has plenty of working space and a slim build that easily adapts to any room, making it a solid choice for future WFH renovations. In addition to its slim build, Loop Desk reflects a minimalist aesthetic that feels more sophisticated than stylish or trendy. With rounded edges and a monitor stand that hovers above the main working space, Loop Desk was named for the various loops that comprise its full frame. Computer monitors can be placed on Loop Desk’s tallest working tier, while a keyboard and any other working material can be organized on the desktop’s main working area.

Developed specifically for small to medium-sized apartments, Co-Living is a full-body mirror and cat tower combined to become a shared, interactive piece of interior furniture for cats and humans alike. When looking at Co-Living head-on, it appears as just another full-body mirror, but a closer look reveals its multi-functionality. With an arched top and bottom, the mirror stands on one wooden peg in front of Co-Living’s rear cat tower. Constructed vertically, Co-Living is designed to encourage cats’ natural climbing tendencies by incorporating multiple carpeted tiers from which they can hop on and off until reaching the top. Co-Living’s wide, circular base, allows enough room for both the cat tower and full-body mirror to remain separate so that cats can climb up and down the tower with ease.

Amidst the catalog of accessories is a basket storage system that doubles as a wood-and-crate step ladder, ideal for the kitchen space or bathroom to store toiletries and reach taller heights. Then, there’s a series of photo frames that can store paper goods like notes and business cards in an integrated slot that traces the perimeter of each frame. Using their own homes and colleagues’ homes as their main source of inspiration, the design students even made niche items like an insect house made from wire and hollow bamboo that could be hung outside an apartment window for hummingbirds and honeybees to drop by and visit.

Designed by Annabella Hevesi, there is something about the ODU Desk that instantly puts me at ease. It’s just so well-designed! Clean, minimal, and soft, it’s a desk that almost gives me Japandi feels. (Japandi is a growing design trend that merges Japanese and Scandinavian aesthetics.) It’s a warm wooden desk with a protective screen around it that ensures you have your privacy while working! It shuts off the outside world and helps you focus completely on your work. Not to mention, the wooden desk top has been integrated with little storage containers! These containers are perfect for storing your office stationery, souvenirs, and other knick-knacks you may want to place on your desk. An interesting feature is that you can actually remove and separate the containers from the desk. This is perfect for when you want to clean the nooks and crannies of the desk

This minimal Japandi-style coffee table doubles up as the ultimate cat home for your pet!

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If you have a cat or two at home, then you know that they manage to weasel into almost any corner of your home, leading you to search for them for hours to no avail. They appear when they want to, they disappear when they feel like. Is it your cat’s home or your own? You’ll never know. But I do believe a well-designed piece of furniture, created especially for your kitty, could be a solution to this problem. It could provide your cat with his/her very own spot, a haven for them to cozy up in, and indulge in some much-needed me-time. And, Julia Kononenko’s Miu is a brilliant example of such a design!

Miu is a minimal and elegant coffee table, that would fit perfectly into your living room, functioning not only as a stunning centerpiece but as a comfy nook for your cat. Something about Miu almost reminds me of a mushroom! A circular wooden platform serves as the tabletop, whereas the lower body is bulbous in shape and a warm chocolate brown in color. The bulbous body is hollow from within, with a little kitty-sized entrance. Your pet can easily enter the table, and snuggle up inside. It’s your kitty’s own personal den! A soft cushion inside the table makes it a super comfy space for your cat. The legs of the table are cushioned as well, and also quite stubby! They are so cute to look at.

Miu is unlike other complicated and bulky furniture for cats, it’s a simple and clean design that caters to both humans and pets – functioning as a coffee table for us while also doubling up as a cat home! It’s the perfect integration of a furniture design and pet product.

Designer: Julia Kononenko

Innovative Multifunctional Furniture designs that are an essential part of every sized home setup!

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There’s just something about a multifunctional piece of furniture that ticks all the checkboxes for me! Imagine a product that’s been designed to work as a clothing rack and a treadmill?! Or a side table that transforms into a chair! Space-saving goals much? That’s the magic of a multifunctional furniture design. It looks like a single product, but functions as more than one! They’re a smart option for our modern urban homes, which tend to be pretty cramped, hence adding multiple bulky and cumbersome furniture designs to them isn’t really an option. But multifunctional pieces that serve a variety of purposes, and solve a bunch of unique problems can be a lifesaver in such situations. And, we’ve curated a whole bunch of such super cool designs for you! From a multifunctional desk that features work and entertainment modules to a cat chair that doubles up as a coffee table – these intriguing multifunctional pieces are what your millennial homes need!

Inspired by the blurring of work and play in WFH spaces, Juwon Kim, Jiwon Song, and Eunsang Lee framed Layout with a translucent, corrugated exterior finish that immediately catches the eye. Wrapped in sea green, the Layout desk is modular by design to incorporate a plethora of different work and entertainment features. The Layout desk is topped off with an upper cover that’s designed to conceal the workspace after the workday’s done.

Based on how it’s placed, and its position – this furniture piece can function as a coffee table, high stool, and a low stool or bench. Pretty ingenious, no? When placed upright and vertically, the & Chair functions as a high stool, that could make an interesting bar stool! When placed horizontally – it can function either as a coffee table or low stool, depending on which side it is placed upon. When used as a coffee table, the & Chair provides ample storage space to place your magazines, books, and other personal belongings.

The hourglass shelf takes inspiration from the passage of time, and the functionality of the shelf changes throughout the day. Starting as a coat rack in the early mornings that holds your outdoor wear, the product’s main functionality becomes that of a shelf – to keep your knick-knacks in place. Finally, as the sun goes down, the design works as a detachable lamp, giving light and completing its cycle across the day. “The hourglass is the symbol of time, and the charm of time affects the tide-ups and downs, years change. The change of different roles reminds people to follow the direction of time, perceive the years and harvest exquisite life.”

Amidst the catalog of accessories is a basket storage system that doubles as a wood-and-crate step ladder, ideal for the kitchen space or bathroom to store toiletries and reach taller heights. Then, there’s a series of photo frames that can store paper goods like notes and business cards in an integrated slot that traces the perimeter of each frame. Using their own homes and colleagues’ homes as their main source of inspiration, the design students even made niche items like an insect house made from wire and hollow bamboo that could be hung outside an apartment window for hummingbirds and honeybees to drop by and visit.

Designed by Xue Song, the multifunctional chair christened Dysta looks simple yet has a multitude of uses – ideal for any city apartment, your bedroom, or the backyard. By simply turning it around in a specific orientation, the function of Dysta changes dramatically. It goes from a high stool to a normal chair and then into a low seating in the blink of an eye. The chair transforms – it can turn into a swing lounger when you need to relax and don’t have a rocking chair on your porch. Such is the design simplicity of the chair; it will fit into any section of your home, lifestyle, or interior.

The Cat Chair is a hexagonal piece of furniture where your cat can rest and also explore. Made from pinewood and a high-density sponge, the Cat Chair features a small lower compartment with cubby holes on each side of the stool for cats to slink in and out of as they choose. The lower compartment allows room for the cat to hide away and relax in isolation, while the stool’s sponge cushion provides an open space for the cat to lounge or even sunbathe. Cats can weave in and out of the Cat Chair cubby holes or rest atop its sponge cushion.

Both clothing racks and treadmills are usually an eyesore in any home because they look out of place and are super bulky. One of the key aspects of ‘Walk and Hang’ is its aesthetically pleasing form that looks neither like a treadmill nor like a clothing rack. In fact, it looks like a minimal standing table if I ever saw one inside someone’s house and had to take a wild guess. It rests in a folding table-like form and can be opened fully into a treadmill or only partly at the top for the racks. It saves a lot of floor area indoors, especially if it’s a shared space, and even more so after the pandemic where you need more room for a work-from-home setup.

Spring comprises a cylindrical shape that increases or decreases in height according to its desired function. At its lowest height of 500mm, Spring serves as a simple side table with a natural wood top. Then, by simply pressing the table down, Spring’s built-in compression springs are activated and morph the side table into a chair with a backrest. By following the same pushing tactic, the Spring chair can reach its maximum height of 900mm, transforming into a table that can work as a centerpiece for a small studio space. While the main building material used to construct Spring is oak wood, the furniture’s compression springs are made from aluminum, while natural and white paint colors coat the sides and top of Spring.

In the unfolded position, FLUP works like a conventional mat or rug on which we can sit or step without interrupting the movement of people through the space. It transforms from plane to volume, from floor to space while changing the function with its shape. In the folded position, it works as a piece of minimal furniture – it can be used as a pouf, an auxiliary seat, a footrest, a nightstand, etc.

Designed as a response to an increasing need for modular furniture for smaller apartments, the Tango Multifunctional Pouf transforms into practically anything you need, from a set of benches to a couch, a lounging sofa, and even a mattress. The award-winning poufs are shaped like triangular extrusions that are attached together by a layer of fabric (sort of like a cushion-version of a Toblerone bar). This connecting fabric acts as a hinge, allowing the triangular poufs to be folded and rearranged.

Flat-packed Furniture that are the space-saving designs you need for your modern millennial home!

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Flat-packed designs are really quite intriguing! They’re portable, easy to put together, and occupy minimum space. And, this innovative technology is now being introduced to almost all kinds of product designs…including furniture! From foldable chairs to pet houses, there’s nothing that cannot be flat-packed. These designs, not only rate high on space efficiency, but also eliminate the usage of heavier space-consuming designs. They are definitely functionally and ergonomically beneficial, but they also possess minimal and clean aesthetics, that allow them to harmoniously blend with any living space. Flat-packed furniture is also a major boon when you’re moving houses. You can easily ship all your furniture from one home to another, without having to do any heavy lifting and carrying. Flat-packed furniture designs are truly the future!

In the unfolded position, FLUP works like a conventional mat or rug on which we can sit or step without interrupting the movement of people through the space. It transforms from plane to volume, from floor to space while changing the function with its shape. In the folded position, it works as a piece of minimal furniture – it can be used as a pouf, an auxiliary seat, a footrest, a nightstand, etc. It is a perfect example of space-saving furniture. What makes it better is that there is no assembly required, it is a singular element that transforms with folds into another object like origami.

The Lu chair gives this simple and popular idea a modern makeover, make furniture foldable and transportable easily. And this is the best foldable chair I have seen so far! The Lu chair folds without effort and can be carried around very easily. A lot of designs we see are foldable but even after folding not easy to carry around or takes too much time to fold. Made up of plastic, this makes the mechanism work perfectly. As Lu explains, “Many times we find ourselves having to put away objects, perhaps to make room, perhaps to clean the house and sometimes even to take them with us, but above all for furniture of a certain level it is always very difficult.

The Atlas isn’t a conventional side-table. It comes almost with the proportions and shape of an easel, sporting an A-shaped frame. It comes with a slightly inclined design too, keeping the stand stable and preventing it from tipping over due to your bag’s weight. On top, two tiny hooks let you hang your backpack, bag, duffle, suitcase, purse, or tote, while a flat surface acts as a storage area for your phone, AirPods, sunglasses, etc. Its 6-part design is rather easy to set up and requires just two screws to hold in place. The entire stand ships flat-packed to you and can be assembled in well under 5 minutes.

Creation of industrial designers Yin-Yu Lo and Trinna Wu, this accessory takes flat packaging as the core idea for portability. I like the idea of having the option to carry a comfy sofa to the next camping trip or the leisurely beach day on the weekend. It can even be a good option for people who frequently move from one apartment to another or light up a dorm room with ease! The duo has designed the urban sofa using 3D weaving distance technology in the inflatable structure. This production method keeps the middle surface of the sofa flat with a stable supporting force that prevents eventual sagging with such inflatable products. It can be inflated instantly without much hassle, and the stiffness level of the seat and cushion can be adjusted as required. When it needs to be transported to another place, deflate Puffa and easily carry it public transit or store it in the car’s boot.

With laser-cut pieces of wood that simply interlock to create your design, staxxiom is building on IKEA’s DIY culture by making their furniture more efficient, more eco-friendly, and as simplified as possible. That last part works in staxxiom’s favor too, because the simplified design gives their furniture a unified, wonderfully minimal aesthetic, along with the added benefit of being ridiculously easy to build too. Try, for a second, to describe the parts of a table in the simplest way possible. You’ve got 4 legs and a tabletop surface, right? In reality, though, furniture is often much more complex than that. There are many more aspects, like glue, screws, bolts, threaded inserts, rubber feet, etc. that go into making a great table that you often forget to describe. staxxiom’s designs outright do away with these minor complexities by keeping their furniture designs as visually and physically simple as possible.

The Bridge builds on the increasingly popular idea of an open office and a collaborative workspace (as opposed to compartmentalized cabin spaces). It’s entirely made from plywood and can be flat-packed to a location and assembled on spot. It uses wooden joineries instead of metal/glue fixtures and can be assembled and propped onto any open desk, uplifting your current workspace with a neat touch of greenery. The channels are big enough to hold potted plants and they give you the freedom to add plants of your own choice. Since the plants sit in their own planters (instead of directly in the wooden channel), they can easily be watered too without worrying about wood-rot or exposing the plywood to excess water/moisture.

Accordio’s form drew inspiration from the designer’s niece who had a silicone bowl plate. “I was intrigued by its flexibility and portability. After some research, I found that silicone also has a fascinating collapsible feature, which was later adapted into a foldable house,” explains Seong. The unique pet house is a study in portable pet furniture. The silicone makes it super lightweight and gives it a distinct collapsible feature. Silicone not only makes it easy to carry along for outdoor activities or travel but is also very easy to clean. Accordio can be compressed into 1/6th of its full size by pushing both sides. The fabric cushion included conveniently fits into the collapsed form for portability.





This cardboard chair is 100% recyclable, biodegradable, and easy to assemble! The MC 205 Cardboard Chair can be flat-packed and requires no tools to put together – something better than puzzles for game night? There were 13 prototypes before the MC 205 was finalized and now the company has released MC 207 which has been tweaked to be more comfortable. The team has also built upon the chair by adding more furniture like couches, tables, and counters made with the same principle. Imagine this but in the shape of the Iron Throne!

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Chair 1:1 was born after a rigorous 5-year long design process that gave us a mountable/demountable chair whose every piece was molded in one go. This optimized the mold size, speeded up production, and reduced waste drastically when compared to a traditional chair. “It is sold just as it comes out of the mold, bypassing several steps; it will be the buyer who will complete the process: this is what we call hyper-seriality,” says the designer duo. “When looking at the Chair 1:1, it is inevitable to have a blast from the past, remembering the boxed toy kits. There are no screws nor bolts: assembly is effortless + quick. Mounting an object makes a bond with it and makes you feel its full value; it builds an affection that stops you from getting rid of it.” The fastening elements of the individual parts are made to be easily producible and extremely resistant. It has been designed to be easily stored, shipped, and transported – 26 boxed up chairs take up only 1 square meter which is the key to increasing online sales as well as shipping sustainably!

Created using merino felt wool and birch wood,  the Wool Lodge is a safe haven of sorts for your pet. You can arrange and form the flat-packed structure by yourself easily. The lodge features merino felt roof, with the rest of the structure being made from wood. Defleur’s lodge basically has two functions. Spacious enough to fit your cat’s litter box, the lodge shelters the box within its structure. Your cat can sneak away, and pee or poop in privacy, away from any prying eyes. On the other hand, you can install a soft cushion or mattress instead of a litter box in the lodge. This creates a personal space for your pet, it could be a cat or a doggo on the smaller side! Whenever your pet wants to simply relax and get away, they can hop into the shelter, safe from any external noises or extreme temperatures.

IKEA meets Tesla in these tech-enhanced furniture designed to make your home a smart one!

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I truly believe the right furniture designs make or break a home! After all, furniture is an integral part of any home, it sets the tone for it and contributes to the essence of the home. You can express your tastes, preferences, and personality via the furniture pieces you choose for your living space. They are an extension of you. Now, as pleasing as aesthetic and visually intriguing furniture designs can be, people are now shifting towards furniture designs that are more focused on function and utility (that simply put make our lives a whole lot easier) and one such interesting genre is Smart Furniture! Tech-enhanced furniture is a whole new ballgame, catering to our multiple needs, and making our daily lives more comfortable. From smart work desks that run on food waste to smart beds that charge our devices and come along with an integrated home theatre system, smart furniture is in a league of its own! They’re an explosive meeting of IKEA and Tesla! And, we’re exploring a few super innovative and unique designs today.

The Hariana Tech Smart Ultimate Bed was designed to have everything you will need to relax within your bed frame. It has an integrated reclining massage chair with a remote, a built-in Bluetooth speaker, a bookshelf, a reading lamp, an air cleaning system, an area to plug in and charges your devices, a foot-stool that opens up for extra storage, and a pop-up desk for the ultimate WFH setup, Netflix marathon or cozy reading hours. The sound system also features an SD card slot, an auxiliary port, and a USB port. Another interesting detail about the Hariana bed is a password-protected safe box for you to store your most precious belongings – for me, it would be my passport and snacks!

This table is called a Clock and I want you to keep that in mind for the rest of this story. Clock was designed to be compact and fit in the growing trend of smaller living spaces. The designer wanted to create something that seamlessly blended into our workdays (especially when working from home!) without disrupting our office hours or eating habits. The hybrid station converts food waste into energy to power itself wirelessly but also includes the systems to be plugged into a wall if needed. It is an innovative product that combines technology and functionality to sustainably manage waste and encourage more people to shift to natural/renewable energy sources. When you aren’t working, simply slide the parts back and close the product into a slim bench. In its closed state, only the power icon and energy levels are visible, simply tap the power icon to light up the panel.

The IKEA STARKVIND air purifier comes in two variants, a floor-standing model (in black and white) or a side table version (in a dark or light finish) – costing $129 and $189 respectively. Mind you, to have access to all the smart functions via the compatible app, the $35 smart home hub needs to be purchased as well. The air purifier will hit the IKEA stores from October 2021 in the U.S., so keep an eye on this one. While their form factor is a bit different depending on the intended use-case scenario, on the inside they contain the same three-filter system. This layered filtering system captures bigger particles like hair or dust, 99.5 percent of small airborne particles measuring 2.5 micrometers, pollutants, dust, pollen, and even bad odors are not spared.

Meet the COMODO shoe closet that doubles as a pouf to sit on while you wear your freshly cleansed pair of sneakers for the weekend basketball game. The name is derived from the Spanish word “Cómodo” which means convenient and pleasant in Spanish. Design Studio Designer Dot and designer Hyeona Cho have ideated a cool shoe closet loaded with new-age sanitization tech to keep your pair of shoes moisture-free and free from any bacterial or fungal build-ups. Taking inspiration from modern multifunctional furniture that has compactness and minimalism at its core, the shoe closet solves a very basic but important purpose.

Meet the Duoo Bed designed by Andrei Mogila for Zegen which brings a pragmatic approach to winding down after a long day’s work. The aesthetically crafted furniture piece combines minimalism, smoothness, and geometry of lines to appeal to anyone. Duoo is the result of prime attention to detail when it comes to design aesthetics. Usability-wise, the bed brings the convenience of charging mobile devices or battery banks right from the headboard. Plus it has dedicated led night lights on each side for late-night readers which bring the convenience of privacy without bothering your mate. Keeping comfort and visual neatness at the core, Andrei has managed to strike the right balance of form and function.

Designed for use by the public, both the Fluid Cube and the City Snake primarily function as city benches with the same technical attributes. The Fluid Cube is a 9 cubic meter cube structure that partially encloses two parallel benches with an overhead roof for shelter during bad weather. The City Snake, a 7.5-meter outdoor bench that curves and bends to provide unique sitting options to travelers looking for a bit of respite. While the two structures provide seating for the public, they also come equipped with solar panels that generate power for some of the structure’s more technical features. Raised parts of the City Snake accommodates traditional solar panels, while solar cells are overlaid on the Fluid Cube’s glass roof. The solar panels on both of the structures yield power to use the built-in USB charging outlets, the WiFi hotspots, as well as the benches’ lighting systems.

Dubbed the Coway Icon Air Purifier, this is a reworked and modified variant of the plasticky box-like utilitarian purifiers. It boasts a smaller and flatter form factor to sit along a wall, presenting users with more flexibility in room placement. The quiet and powerful Icon integrates smart technologies to be more than a simple box doing its chores – it comes with its own smartphone app that can be used to control the functions of this air purifier remotely. The app also provides a status report of the air quality and its lifecycle, informing when cleaning or replacement is necessary.

Equipped with a built-in 4K projector that can be synced with a series of devices to binge-watch movies/TV shows on a 70-inch retractable screen, the HiBed by  Fabio Vinella (for Hi-interiors) is the epitome of in-bed relaxation. A built-in surround sound system with invisible speakers makes the bed feel more like a movie theatre. The bed is connected to an app and monitors our sleep patterns and movements, adjusting the temperature according to our comfort. It also records body weight, air quality, and noise level to provide a foolproof check on our health. Some good news for the late risers, the HiBed comes with an inbuilt smart alarm system that wakes us up with loud recitations of the weather and daily news.

Designed by Modern Sprout, the Smart Landscape Growframe is a minimal frame that can be mounted on any wall on your home, and whose functionality is more complex than its simple looks! It nourishes all kinds of plants – from ones that seek low light, to ones that seek bright light. Once mounted on a wall, you can slide your favorite plants into the Growframe, and connect to the Modern Sprout app. The app is a complete godsend! The app features an on/off switch and can be used for customizable programming and pairing recommendations for partial shade, partial sun, and full sun plants. You can easily select and switch between light settings.

Kuube comes in three different sizes, each of which offers the same services to varying degrees. The Kuube Nano, their mid-sized bench, is solar-powered and accommodates up to four people, complete with a WiFi hotspot, two USB chargers, two wireless Qi chargers, and a single display screen, which provides environmental information like weather, air quality, and UV index. For the makers behind Kuube, adapting their conceptual design process to help mitigate the current global climate crisis in micro mobile ways (i.e.; city bikes, electric scooters) was their top priority. On the choice to generate each smart bench with solar power, the designers behind Kuube say, “Living in the times of climate crisis we believe it is very important to achieve sustainability in as many ways as possible…Our goal is to achieve sustainable smart cities [through] micro-mobility.”

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