Tag Archives: walnut

Invite Serenity Anywhere with the Elegance of a Wood & Brass Incense Holder

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Whenever people think of fragrant aromas, most immediately presume something like essential oils. Of course, those aren’t the only way to indulge your nose, and some people prefer the smoky, woody, and unique scents produced by incense. Compared to oils, however, handling incense can be a bit of a hassle, especially the more popular long-stick variety. Never mind needing to light a small fire in the first place, making sure that the ashes don’t spill or get blown away can induce stress instead of calm. Fortunately, it doesn’t take much to fix this situation, and this elegant wood and brass box offers a simple yet effective solution to enjoy your favorite incense sticks safely and peacefully wherever you are.

Designer: Masami Tanaka of Takumi Tokyo

Click Here to Buy Now: $169 $199 (15% off at checkout). Hurry, Valentine’s Day sale ends in 48 hours!

Marrying walnut wood and brass in a seamless fusion that complements your living space.

You need fire to light up incense, and anything that burns always produces some residue, particularly ash. Regular incense stick holders, simple and portable as they are, barely do more than just hold up that thin, burning stick, leaving you with ashes to clean up, if they don’t get blown by a weak gust of wind and become fire hazards in the meantime. Rin is a simple yet beautiful solution that lets you carry those incense sticks with you, light them up for a few minutes of respite, and never worry about ash blowing in the wind.

The main body of this minimalist incense holder is made of walnut wood and is divided into two tiers. The lower tier has three long nooks that can hold five sticks each for a total of 15. Thanks to the natural properties of wood, each holder will be unique, both in the visual pattern of the grains as well as the texture and color, making each item a limited edition product.

The part that actually holds the burning incense is made of brass, a metal that is popular for developing unique and beautiful discolorations over time. The brass plate is recessed deep inside the wooden box so that the ashes don’t fly off after they’ve fallen inside. A matching brass cover can be used to snuff out the fire and also keep the ash secured inside until you’re ready to dispose of it properly.

The wood and brass elements, while contrasting in nature, beautifully complement each other and blend perfectly with any decor. The light brown of natural walnut brings out the golden yellow of brass, while the oil-painted darker colorway exudes a dapper character with the matching black brass cover and plate. And thanks to its small size, you can conveniently bring a bunch of your preferred incense sticks with you wherever you go, allowing you to enjoy brief moments of fragrant peace when and where you need it.

Click Here to Buy Now: $169 $199 (15% off at checkout). Hurry, Valentine’s Day sale ends in 48 hours!

The post Invite Serenity Anywhere with the Elegance of a Wood & Brass Incense Holder first appeared on Yanko Design.

YouTuber built a Bluetooth Speaker small enough to fit inside a Walnut

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I don’t know what it must have cost, but I’m assuming peanuts.

Reporting to you today from the weird part of the internet, we’ve got crazy YouTuber Penguin DIY who decided to take a walnut shell and cram an entire Bluetooth speaker inside it… USB-C port and status LEDs included. The speaker’s audio quality isn’t anything to write home about, but the video above that shows the entire construction process will not (I mean walnut) disappoint.

Designer: Penguin DIY

The speaker itself a miniature little device the size of a… well, walnut. Made from the walnut’s shell, it packs all the necessary components inside, including a mini battery, amp, driver, Bluetooth module, USB-C port, and even buttons and LEDs to control playback or increase/decrease the volume.

The process involved emptying out the contents of the walnut before taking a Dremel to the inside of the walnut shell to make as much space as possible for the components. The components include a 5V power bank module that was stripped for parts because it was too big to fit into the shell. The module (or whatever was left of it) was then connected to the rest of the speaker’s parts, including a 300mAh battery pack and a USB-C port for charging the speaker.

Other components included the actual ‘meat’ of the speaker, including a 2W audio driver, a mini-amp, and a Bluetooth module to allow for wireless connectivity. All the components were rather intricately pieced together and soldered with what I can only describe as incredible dexterity for something that small, and then glued to the shell with silicon glue. This flexible glue would allow the driver’s vibrations to occur without any danger of dislodging parts inside the walnut shell.

Finally, holes were drilled into the top of the walnut to make way for the speaker grill, control buttons, status LEDs, and even a nifty on-off switch. In the interest of repairability, Penguin DIY assembled the two halves of the shell together with screws instead of glues, enabling him to open up and repair or upgrade the speaker whenever he wanted. Let’s face it, if a YouTuber can turn a walnut into a Bluetooth speaker and still make it repairable, Apple can make the AirPods repairable too.

The results are impressive but not for the reasons you’d think. The speaker works flawlessly, with it being detected on a smartphone, getting connected, and even letting you play/pause music just like any regular wireless speaker. Understandably, the sound isn’t particularly great because of driver, amp, and size limitations… but if I had to rate the speaker on a scale of 1-to-10 for sheer ingenuity and for its proof-of-concept, it gets full marks. In fact, forget pumpkin carving skills, Penguin DIY’s walnut carving skills are absolutely on point!

The post YouTuber built a Bluetooth Speaker small enough to fit inside a Walnut first appeared on Yanko Design.

This magnetic cast iron and wooden scoop is your essential companion to brewing that perfect morning coffee

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Face the day full of life with a beautiful tool that starts your morning right.

When we do things day in and day out, they tend to take on an almost mechanical nature. Sure, it becomes second nature and allows us to go on autopilot to think of something else, but it sometimes also causes us to go through life like zombies. Being mindful and intentional with some of our actions is also important for certain activities and certain times of the day, especially when our brains are just waking up for the day. We all have visual cues or triggers that cause our minds to pause and take stock of our surroundings, and sometimes, that can be a single, simple thing like a well-crafted and beautiful tool that we’ll use to scoop up coffee beans and grounds that will fuel us for the rest of the day.

Click Here to Buy Now: $39 $45 (15% off). Hurry, only 5/75 left!

It’s too easy to take for granted the tools we use for our everyday activities, like the utensils we put into our mouths or the scoops we use to make coffee. A well-designed background shouldn’t get in the way, of course, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be beautiful while being functional and valuable at the same time. A plastic scoop can work fine, but one that is beautifully crafted does more than just hold coffee grounds. It can also be the gateway to a state of calm.

The Cofee Iron Scoop is a prime example of how a product can do more than what it’s meant to do without actually doing anything. It’s a Zen-like metaphor that fits perfectly with the motif of this Japanese-inspired kitchen tool. It is made of materials born of the Earth, with a cast iron scoop whose dark gray surface contrasts and complements its handle. Made of walnut wood, that handle not only brings comfort to each touch but also some personality thanks to the grains that are unique to each and every piece.

Together, the iron and wood scoop makes a handy tool whose primary purpose is to help make you the perfect cup of coffee each and every time. The scoop is designed to hold 10 grams of coffee grounds, which is just the right amount to make a single cup. To ensure the user’s safety, the cast iron is coated with SGS-certified and US FDA-complaint Teflon. The scoop also has a special trick, thanks to its modest composition. That metal head can magnetically attach to any metal surface. This will let you keep it close and out in the open, ready for use, rather than hiding it inside a drawer that you have to search each time.

Simple yet elegant, this coffee scoop provides a gentle visual nudge to your brain, making you become more aware of your actions as you make your morning drink, encouraging you to take a breath and smell the coffee. Its dual-tone design also makes it the perfect partner to our ceramic mug, designed to look like cast iron with a wooden handle. Waking up couldn’t get more Zen than this!

Click Here to Buy Now: $39 $45 (15% off). Hurry, only 5/75 left!

The post This magnetic cast iron and wooden scoop is your essential companion to brewing that perfect morning coffee first appeared on Yanko Design.

This minimal wooden pen holder is the perfect throne for your most important everyday tool

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It’s also a beautiful addition to any desk or shelf, proudly displaying the sharpest tool in your thinking drawer.

Ideas don’t come out of thin air, though many presume that inspiration works that way. Most of the time, however, you just need to pick up the pen and let the ink flow, forcing the thoughts to come out until the ideas start to take shape. There’s something almost poetic about the act of picking up a brush or a fountain pen from an inkwell, drawing your strokes, and dipping it back in to be ready for when the next inspiration strikes, a feeling that’s almost lost even with the most elaborate and extravagant pens today. Not unless you have a pen holder that brings back that atmosphere, like a block of wood that could be the most Zen pen holder to ever adorn your desk.

Click Here to Buy Now: $38 $45 (15% off). Hurry, for a limited time only!

This wooden block is both unassuming and, at the same time, beautiful in its simplicity, as many minimalist products are wont to be. Made from genuine maple wood, each piece has grains and patterns that make it unique and special. Without saying explicitly, it’s an assurance that each black will be one of a kind, giving you the feeling that this pen holder was crafted just for you. Together with an equally stylish pen, this block transforms any desk into a thinker’s workbench, where the tools of the trade are just at an arm’s reach.

Instead of an ordinary hole or even an aluminum holder, the Wooden Pen Holder has a gently curving depression that can accommodate any pen with a standard size. The opening slopes around the pen, almost like the wood melted around it. When you pick the pen up, you almost believe that the ink will also follow it up from an invisible well of ideas. And when you put the pen back down, your writing tool rests so peacefully in its cradle, as calm as your mind after you have put your thoughts on paper.

Of course, the wooden pen holder is also the perfect desk ornament, whether by itself or together with a pen that you may only have for display. Although it fits perfectly with equally minimalist arrangements, you can never really go wrong with dark wood polished to a smooth sheen. Put it on top of walnut wood, white acrylic, or black metal, and it will still look handsome and eye-catching, even if it tries its best to be nondescript and inconspicuous.

Pair it with the Gravity Pen for an enhanced comfort writing experience.

In an age where we more often reach for our smartphones, the pen and the act of writing still work wonders on our brains and our creativity. And as every sword needs a proper sheath, every pen also needs a proper pen holder, preferably one that can speak volumes by just sitting still. And with a wooden block that exudes calm and stability, you get the perfect complement and contrast to the mighty pen that lets your ideas flow with its ink.

Click Here to Buy Now: $38 $45 (15% off). Hurry, for a limited time only!

The post This minimal wooden pen holder is the perfect throne for your most important everyday tool first appeared on Yanko Design.

There’s something really appealing about this hand-operated nutcracker’s beautiful rustic design

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The ANVIL looks like the nutcracker you’d get when you combine Flintstones with Alessi. It’s functional yet fun, and doesn’t compromise on the nut-cracking ability. You don’t need a manual to use it, and it’s designed in such a foolproof way, you’ll get it right every single time.

Created by Düsseldorf-based designer Lennart Ebert, the ANVIL is simultaneously old-fashioned and modern, aesthetic and practical. Its two-piece design is modeled on the basic theory of a mortar and pestle – featuring a base for holding the nut, and a large weight for cracking the nut’s outer shell. The design, however, comes with a cup to hold the nut, a tray to gather the fragments of broken shell, and a pestle with hollow base that makes cracking the nut an easy affair.

The name ANVIL probably comes from the large cast-iron block used by metallurgists. The nutcracker has a similar ‘heavy-looking’ design, and comes with a mildly textured metal surface too. Just like an ironsmith hammers hot molten metal on an anvil, the ANVIL lets you hammer away at a walnut, shattering its hard outer shell to reveal the edible nut within. It helps that the ANVIL comes with a nice wooden handle too. Not only is it more comfortable to hold onto, it also creates a beautiful visual contrast with its smooth surface and wood-grain pattern against the rough-looking coarse metal body of the nutcracker. It’s probably not coincidental that the handle’s made from walnut wood too!

Designer: Lennart Ebert

The iPhone 12 MagSafe charger gets an old-fashioned touch with Grovemade’s wooden charging stand

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The iPhone user certainly has an archetype, doesn’t it? I’m thinking of someone with AirPods in their ears, Starbucks coffee in one hand, Tesla keys in the other. However, that archetype only speaks to a small subset of iPhone users. There is, however, a certain sect of iPhone users who share an affinity for the old-fashioned touch. I’m talking wooden desk, wooden pen-stand, hand-carved wicker chair. Grovemade‘s products clearly cater to that latter category of people.

I wouldn’t outright call Grovemade old-fashioned, but rather I’d say their work is a confluence of sensibilities and materials. Primarily relying on wood and metal to craft their products, Grovemade’s designs boast of an old-world charm that’s also intertwined with modern minimalism. Take for instance the Wood MagSafe Stand, available in both Walnut and Maple variants. The stand, which sports a wooden halo mounted on a steel base, allows you to slip your iPhone MagSafe wireless charger in, routing the cable from the bottom. It then gives your iPhone 12 a nice, wooden armchair to hang out on, letting you rest it in either landscape or portrait while it charges. Paired perfectly with any of Grovemade’s other wooden tabletop accessories, and probably a nice glass of barrel-aged whiskey…

Designer: Grovemade

This handcrafted wooden dock+tray gives you an elegant spot to charge your Apple products

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There’s an undeniable simplicity and beauty to Yohann’s iPhone and Apple Watch charging dock+tray. Handcrafted from walnut wood (there’s a lighter, Oakwood variant too), the charging dock+tray takes into account the space it’s going to be kept in and adds a homely, classy touch to your wooden workdesk, bedside table, or coffee table.

The dock/stand’s choice of wood as a material gives it a classic appeal, making it look elegant even when it’s empty. The underlying tray provides a nice surface to keep your keys, USB sticks, and even AirPods; while channels running along its base you cleverly organize your charging cables. The stand’s waist provides the perfect place to stash/charge your Apple Watch, and the lightning port on the upper surface lets you easily dock your iPhone vertically, so you can charge it while you answer calls, view your calendar, attend conferences, or just browse through social media!

Designer: Yohann

If the Eames Lounge Chair were a baby-crib, this would be it…

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Looking absolutely divine in its wood and veneer construction, the Argo is easily the bassinet-equivalent of the Eames Lounge Chair. Named after the mythical vessel that protected Jason and the Argonauts, it gently cradles, shields and reassures, while easily being the centerpiece of any room. Making quite the statement its classic-meets-futuristic design, Argo doesn’t use an ounce of plastic in its build, sticking to materials that give it its premium appeal… and its ability to shield your baby from electromagnetic waves.

Fashioned from French walnut, the crib’s construction employs animal glues, wool cloth for the interior trim, and an oiled finish to give it its spectacular sheen. A foldable shade-fabric allows you keep the baby safe from mosquitoes and the harsh glare of bright lights, while a copper artwork on the bassinet’s hood helps absorb electromagnetic waves that linger around the child, through the presence of smartphones, smart-home devices, televisions, computers, tablets, etc.

Designer: Ludwig & Dominique

This ‘accidental’ lightning-bolt design detail doubles up as the cabinet’s handles

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With an instant, eye-catching lightning-bolt-shaped fracture running along its front, lined with precisely machined brass all the way from the top to the bottom, the Halsey Fracture Cabinet in Walnut is a simple box with a stand-out detail that totally sets it apart. Designed by Piet Houtenbos, the Halsey Fracture features two doors with uneven jagged cuts that don’t line up when they’re closed. Instead, they provide enough of a gap to slip your fingers through and open either of the doors without needing any handle. The design was arrived by a rather pleasant accident during its computer modeling process in the early iteration phase. Houtenbos immediately saw potential in the error, transforming and coddling the curves into functional elements with high visual recall.

To make sure that the fracture looks deliberate and classy, Houtenbos even gave it a chic brass lining, not only allowing the wood and brass combination to absolutely shine through, but also ensuring you get the smooth cold touch of metal when you go to open the cabinet’s doors. On the inside, the cabinets come lacquered in a deep Wescott Navy hue to really bring out the lightning-shaped detail.

Designer: Piet Houtenbos