March 10, 2010

Chair Designs with a Twist

Filed under: Design, Funiture — Tags: creative design, Furniture — Keith Bretzius @ 7:28 am

Designing chairs must be difficult. Lots of companies and designers try and there seems to be a standard set of rules:

Chair must have a bottom, for, well, your bottom…
Chir must have a back to support your back…
Chair must have a solid base so it is stable…

What you will normally find is a combination of the above in some sort of fashion to create a forms that are beautiful and just as important…comfortable.

Tonon offers a large range of chair designs and does a good job with designing chairs with visual interest. Herman Miller is also an industry standard and must show when it comes to chair design. Herman Miller chairs run from retro to modern and are always easy on the eyes. How about new designers offering creative options like Mats Theselius? Below are a few designs that serve as creative inspiration for chair design that is somewhat restricting:

Interior Design Upholstered Swivel Chairs For Room Décor

Beautiful And Creative Upholstered Swivel Chairs For Room Décor

Upholstered Swivel Chairs For Room Decor By Tonon

Nelson Swag Leg Chair – Herman Miller

Aeron Chairs – Herman Miller

Mats Theselius

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March 5, 2010

This week in Beautiful Design – March 5th

Filed under: Design, Furniture, Good Art — Tags: creative design, Furniture — Keith Bretzius @ 7:38 am

In the last post we took a look at some work that made me scratch my head and wonder, “what are you thinking?” On the flip side, I would like to create a routine feature on this blog that highlights beautiful, creative work. As I was browsing the blogs I came across Straight Line Designs, a Vancouver, BC company that really speaks to the essence of fun and imaginative furniture design. Judson Beaumont appears to be the lead conceptual designer for Straight Line Designs. Not only is his work full of imagination and fun, the material and craftsmanship in the furniture is also there.

It looks like Straight Line Designs will do just about anything a client requests from custom furniture design to entire custom-designed living spaces. They were responsible for the Cotsen Children’s Library (Princeton NJ) being transformed into a literary wonderland. In addition, they were also featured on HGTV’s “I Want That!”

You should check out the Straight Line Designs site and there work. Following are a few designs that really appealed to me:

Brian Dresser - Stained MDF

"Melting" Cabinet 2003 - Clear MDF

10th Anniversary Cindy Dresser

Whitney Lou - Stained Solid Maple and Maple Veneer

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February 17, 2010

This Week in Dumb Design – February 15, 2010

Filed under: Design, Dumb Design, Interior Design — Tags: criticism, dumb, Furniture, Interior Design — Keith Bretzius @ 6:55 am

Every week I review hundreds of blog posts from a large variety of sources covering topics from furniture design and industrial design to architecture and do-it-yourself. It is my goal to spread the word about good design and to bring my readers practical information and inspiration for their home. That being said, I often find myself scratching my head at some of the most bizarre and down-right stupid ideas people develop. Good for them to try (I guess) but some of these designers must have incredible egos. I often find myself yelling out loud, “Get over yourself!” Here are some head scratchers I found this past week.

Metal Ring Bench

This one honestly looks painful. This is one of the first images I saved and I am not exactly sure of its origins. I am pretty sure this design falls under the category of “art” but what do you think is being expressed here? Is this a piece done to expose the real truth about the exploitation of metal rings? Maybe it was done as an ad for the burbon this man is drinking? “The most uncomfortable bourbon in the world?”

I really hope this burbon will kick in soon. My ass is killing me!

Get Some Cabinets

Do not rob this house!

Wow! The visual clutter and pinball going on here is more than my eye can take. This is why people invented cabinets. Two comments: 1. Does a giant live there and if not, how do they get the pots down from the ceiling? 2. How many knives of similar cut and shape does one cook need? Too much for the eye to take. If I feel cluttered in my home now, I could not image living in this house!

Remember the “Snorkels”?

The snorkels called and want their house back

The disposition of the man in this image says exactly what I was thinking…”What the hell is this?”. I am wondering what the practical use of that long white “neck” is for? Looks like the “body” of the bench as a place for storage so perhaps the “neck” is storage for re-bar or yard sticks? Wait, no, I get it, perhaps it does irrigation for the lawn as well? See how the neck appears to be pointing out the window?

Wooden Box

A....wooden.....box with a colored lid?

Cool, wooden boxes with colored lids for $30 a pop. I am inspired now! And they hold pencils too!

Obviously this is all very subjective but this is my blog and it is about time I speak my mind! I hope you have fun with this and future posts. There is a lot of information out there to support this feature so keep in touch regulary. Hopefully it will bring some humor and levity to some artistic folk who, well…just need to get over themselves. Remember, just becasue you can do it does not mean you have to!

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February 8, 2010

Creative Shelving

Filed under: Design, Home, Interior Design — Tags: Interior Design, Shelves — Keith Bretzius @ 7:13 am

In one of our recent twitter posts we shared this image of creative wall treatment and shelving shown in the image below that came to us via design milk.

The “Front and Back” Apartment by h2o Architects

This design got us thinking more about artistic treatments for our walls and how the line between function, art and organization gets blurred. We are always looking for creative ways to display and decorate our home and we were wondering what other creative shelving ideas are out there? We did a little digging and found the following:

WOKmedia’s Between Lines shelf is a unique (and wordy) alternative to a traditional wooden bookshelf. The black stainless steel is coated with rubber and it has the ability to be re-shaped in a variety of ways to fit your desires (via designmilk).
A whimsical and fun sideboard inspired by movement, energy and fairytales by designer Jenny Walsh (Ireland) via designspotter.
Lili Lite is a reading light, a bookmark and a bookshelf combined into one smart product – A sensor turns off the light when an open book is placed on the shelf. When the book is picked up again, the light automatically turns on.
Lili Lite

Obviously, these are only a few samples. If you want to see more, you have to check out this fantastic post by Home Interiors Zone on 31 Modern and Creative Bookshelves. This post is fantastic and will give you ideas to take your interior design to the next level.

Home Interiors Zone on 31 Moddern and Creative Bookshelves

31creative_balance_shelf 31creative_lago

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February 2, 2010

Feng Shui and Organizing – Part 3

Filed under: Feng shui, Home, Organize, Style — Tags: Feng shui, Home, Organizing — Keith Bretzius @ 7:57 am

Ok. So when I decided to write on this topic I never expected it to become a tree part series. Again, my dedication and practice of Feng Shui is almost none but the topic does interest me. Trying to sync with nature to create positive energy is a unique point of view and warrants some exploration.

We already covered a brief history of Feng Shui and even looked at how Disney implemented it (culturally sensitive application) when it came to Disneyland Hong Kong. But how can we apply it to our everyday life? How can we make small upgrades to our organizing habits that can create more positive energy flow?

Things you can do in your home with Feng Shui:

Clear Out the Clutter, get rid of everything you do not need. Easier said than done but you really need to take time to address what you need at this point in your life and get over what you think you may need some day. Clearing the clutter will lighten the load and make you feel so much better.
Improve the Air and Light in your home. These two elements are essential for good Chi, or feng shui energy in your home. Add plants to your home and get as much natural light as possible.
Study and implement the Five Elements. Learn what the 5 elements do and see how you can pull that into your home. For example, read up on the element of Water and what it can do for you.
Find Out Your Feng Shui Birth Element and create a home to support your personal feng shui element. For example, if your own element is Fire, you need to introduce the expressions of Fire feng shui element, such as Fire element colors (red, orange, purple, yellow), triangular shapes, etc.
Always Be Mindful of the State of Your Home and how the energy in your home influences your well-being. Make a habit of paying close attention to the so-called feng shui “triangle” that is deeply connected to your health – your bedroom, your bathroom and your kitchen.
Look at the Feng Shui “Bagua” and define your home. By taking a quick look at this you can determine which areas of your home are connected to energy flow (good or bad).

On a simpler level, always think about the colors in your home and how they not only influence your personal taste but how the fit into your “bagua”.

Turns out that implementing Feng Shui into you home may not be such a bad idea. This practice can help us turn chaos into order which will lead to more positive energy. Feng Shui teaches us the spaces we live and work should be carefully considered in an effort to achieve maximum balance and harmony.

By organizing our environment randomly, we do not take control of how it affects us and give it the chance to become an obstacle without even realizing of it. Feng shui teaches us that the spaces where we live or work should be thoughtfully disposed in order to take the best advantage of them and make them be a help to us rather than an obstacle.

Resources

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January 27, 2010

Feng Shui and Organizing – Part 2

Filed under: Design, Feng shui — Keith Bretzius @ 6:36 am

In the last post we looked at an overview of Feng Shui and some of the basic principals associated with the practice. Did you know Disney gave a lot of consideration to the principals of Feng Shui when it built Disney Hong Kong?

disneyfireworks

There is some common sense that goes with this considering the history of Disney and when it opened it Euro Disney in Paris. Turns out Disney did not impress Europeans as they neglected and ignored a lot of local traditions. When building Disney Hong Kong, they learned from their lessons and hired Feng Shui experts to consult and advise them on the building of the park. Disney really tried to pay attention to cultural influences and Feng Shui played a big role. In fact, Disney made modifications to existing designs in order to include these Feng Shui suggestions so it cost them money as well. Here is what they did to implement Feng Shui and respect local traditions:

One of the park’s main ballrooms measures 888 square meters because 8 is a number of fortune
In Chinese, 4 is bad luck, because it is pronounced like the Chinese word for death, so there are no fourth-floor buttons in the elevators at the park hotels.
Cash registers are close to corners or along walls, where their placement is believed to increase prosperity.
In the park’s upscale restaurant, Crystal Lotus, Disney installed a virtual koi pond where virtual fish dart away from guests when they walk on a glass screen. The pond is one of five Feng Shui elements in the restaurant, including wood, earth, metal and fire, which glows on a screen behind bottles in the bar.
Disney shifted the angle of the front entrance gate by 12 degrees to ensure prosperity for the park.
They put a bend in the walkway from the train station to the gate, to make sure the flow of positive energy, or chi, did not slip past the entrance and out to the China Sea.

It is clear Disney put a lot of emphasis on Feng Shui but it is also clear that was to respect local tradition and culture. Those same Feng Shui techniques are not be implemented back here in the states…at least not to my knowledge.

So know that you know about Feng Shui and how it applies to business, what about your own home? Ever think about implementing some aspect of Feng Shui ? For me, Feng Shui is less about respecting ancient Chinese culture but more about creating positive energy. To me, do what works best for you to create this positive energy, even if it doesn’t involve the 5 elements or the bagua. We will close out this topic next time with some simple things you can do in your home to create some positive energy as it relates to Feng Shui.

Resources:

Wikipedia and Feng Shui -
For more in-depth reading on how Disney “bowed” to Feng Shui, read this article by the New York Times

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January 13, 2010

Feng shui and Organizing

Filed under: Feng shui, Organize, Theory — Keith Bretzius @ 7:21 am

Our objects and how they are placed can affect us

Happy new year everyone. Hope 2010 is off to a great start. Sorry for the long holiday delay in posting material. Back to being a more efficient person and better organized! Much is made of the need to be organized. Regardless what you think it means and the level you want to achieve, there is an overall goal that is targeted to your personal health and well being. There is no argument that a clean and organized home creates positive energy. Conversely, a cluttered, dirty home makes us feel bogged down and trapped.

When I talk about the positive energy we want to create in our homes when we are organized, I cannot help but think about Feng shui. This practice is centered on creating positive energy and today, is frequently linked to many topics on organization

Feng shui 101

Most of you have heard of Feng shui but what does it mean? Feng shui literally means “Wind” and Water” is and ancient Chinese art form designed to connect humans (the physical world) with heavenly or astronomical laws in order to enhance “qi” or energy flow. The ancient Chinese (as many primitive cultures) derived much from astronomy and the vastness that surrounds us due to curiosity and the unknown. The entire origins of Feng shui are built on this connection to the universe. Specifically, the connection and energy that is generated when objects and structures are built – and how they are positioned to the heavens – directly relates to it energy flow.

To be exact, Wikipedia and its authors describe modern Day Feng Shui as ” The goal of feng shui as practiced today is to situate the human built environment on spots with good qi. The “perfect spot” is a location and an axis in time.^”

There are many principles and theories of Feng shui depending on the source but there are a few fundamental basics that are consistent.

A sample diagram of the Eight Trigrams and its corresponding elements, body parts, colors, and life situations.

Yin/Yang – the two polar energies. Yin is bad, Yang is good.
The Five Elements –a. Fire; b. Earth; c. Metal; d. Water; e. Wood
The Eight Trigrams – or eight symbols that represent fundamental principles of reality.
The Directions – North, South, East, West, Northwest, Northeast, Southwest, and Southeast (compass directions).
The Solar System – Who do objects relate to what is happening with celestial bodies and the solar system.
The Environment – What is happening during certain phases of seasons.

Can Feng shui benefit you?

All of these principles briefly described above interrelate in different ways and at different times to produce positive or negative energy. When you start to explore, Feng shui can get pretty complicated. Learning to understand how all of the principles relate requires a good bit of research so it is easy to understand how Feng shui practitioners have made a name for themselves.

An image of a Feng shui designed bed.

Over the years, Feng shui has grown in popularity and has crept into home design and organization. Making our homes a source of positive energy is a big deal and many have tried to accomplish this. Although I do not practice Feng shui I do believe positive energy is created when order exists. I also believe that positive energy is created depending on color and placement so perhaps I will explore Feng shui more. After looking into this more I wonder if there are greater powers at work or are we just programmed for order rather than chaos…or both?

In the next post we will take a look at how businesses use Feng Shui to increase their bottom line and what Feng Shui means to you and how you organize.

Other Quick Resources

Wikipedia on Feng Shui – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feng_shui

American Feng Shui Institute – http://www.amfengshui.com

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December 22, 2009

Technology Review: TeuxDeux To-Do Application

Filed under: Technology, To-Do Lists — Keith Bretzius @ 7:59 am

TeuxDeux Demo from TeuxDeux on Vimeo.

TeuxDeux is a nice little application to manage your To-Do lists. In particular, I like two features that are not very common in other To-Do applications. You can drag and drop your items from one day to the next – easily giving you the ability to quickly manage your days. The other is how the days are presented. The interface presents the days like a timeline. A week is presented on the screen and to move forward you move right in the timeline. A simple thought but very effective.

TeuxDeux is a simple, designy, browser-based to-do app and the first collaboration between studio-mates swissmiss and Fictive Kin .

The idea was to build a bare-bones, but visually compelling and highly usable to-do app based on Tina’s personal ideal work-flow.

Features include:

- week overview

- check off done tasks

- delete tasks

- move tasks

- someday bucket

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December 18, 2009

What is Organizing Furniture?

Filed under: Design, Funiture, Organize, Style — Keith Bretzius @ 7:46 am

In the last post I talked about “organizing furniture.” Just to be clear, when I say organizing furniture, I mean furniture that is used for organizing that is placed in the main living spaces of our home. Might sound like common sense but think about it a little longer and the dilemma that comes with organizing in your living space. This type of furniture is obviously different from storage solutions we place in the basement that are out of our everyday sight and usually behind closed doors.

A $38 storage rack from Walmart. Not really designed for your living space, is it?

Organizing furniture is out for everyone to see. Not only does it need to reflect who we are it needs to be consistent with our home décor and style. It says a lot about who we are and the pride we take in our homes. Finally, since organizing furniture occupies precious space in our living space it needs to be multifunctional not only from an aesthetic point of view but good old functionality as well.

For example, a storage bench or ottoman that doubles as a footrest or seat but also holds items we need to constantly access. Another good example is a computer desk. They hid electronics but also may act as a work station for other activities.

A stylish, multifunctional piece of organizing furniture for $599 from Crate and Barrel.

The main purpose? Look good and hide our messes. The bigger picture? As we move to be more efficient in our lifestyles we demand more from our furniture. We need our furniture not only to reflect our style and look good, but to be functional and help us organize.

Talk about multifunctional. Holds wine and glasses and has side shelves and center storage. From Crate and Barrel for $379.

Consider the the bench with coat rack above. If we needed a place to hang our coat that would be one thing but now we add a bench for shoes and if you live in the mid-west like we do, a place for hats, gloves, etc. Sort of becomes a highly efficient one-time-stop shop for all things related. I often wonder how people got organized back in the day? Did they worry about organizing? Did they have less stuff? Or did the just not care how they presented their home? It begs the question, when did organizing become a big deal?

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December 14, 2009

Organizing for Daily Living…

Filed under: Design, Funiture, Style — Keith Bretzius @ 7:52 am

When it comes to organizing your things it can take some pretty innovative solutions. I’m not talking about the things you can store in the basement. I’m referring to organizing the things we need immediate access to. The objects around the house that need to be organized for daily living and we often use furniture to help us with these organizing needs.

This Hipster Storage set offered by inmod may be stylish and versatile (in the traditional sense) but it doesn't conceal and is not affordable at $460.

Offered by PotteryBarn this Jameson Storage Bench is versatile but not affordable ($399) in my opinion

Offered by PotteryBarn this Jameson Storage Bench is versatile but not very affordable at $399.

We need organizing solutions that achieve several different objectives.

They need to be stylish – these organizing solutions are in plain site of company and part of our daily living space so we need something that is attractive an fits our home’s style and design.
They need to store a variety of objects – These solutions need to accommodate different objects that have different meaning to many people in the household (see previous post, “What does it mean to be Organized?)
They need to be space savers – Most of us (I am making a big assumption) live with limited space so we need solutions that optimize what little space we have.
They need to be versatile – These solutions cannot just be for organizing they need to serve some other purpose. If they are going to occupy precious space in our living space they need to do other functions.
They need to be affordable – Who doesn’t want something affordable and who has the money these days?

There are a lot of companies and designers out there that aim to offer innovative storage solutions but affordable pricing is another story – they almost all lack affordability. Take a look at these companies and what they have to offer:

Our company (re-function, LLC) is in the process of developing furniture that blends creative design with affordable pricing while solving your storage and organizing needs. Until we roll out our products we feel IKEA offers the best organizing solutions in terms of pricing and design. Let us know if you have found any that meet your expectations in terms of design and price.

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What is re-function about?

Our objective is to help you manage your personal items and to eliminate stress related to disorganization through the use of technology and innovative storage solutions.

we are a company who loves technology, furniture, and organization...but not necessarily in that order. We have recently created an online organizing tool called "Streamline" to help you manage your clutter and we are currently designing furniture that will do the same. In the very near future, we hope to combine both our passion for technology and futurniture to create organizing systems that are smarter and better designed than what we currently have.

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