I’ve seen some unusual Christmas Trees in the blogosphere – although far from the prettiest, I couldn’t resist sharing these recycled ones (via).
1.000 Heineken Bottles in Shanghai
That’s an awful lot of beer to get through – no wonder they never got round to adding lights and decorations. This scaled down version might be more manageable:
Bottle Tree from trendhunter.com
Wishing a Merry Christmas to all of you who celebrate it – and a peaceful and happy day to those who don’t.
photo Daniel Farmer
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I don’t know if this is really clever, funny, or just sad – clothing that can be transformed into makeshift shelter. I’m pretty sure the people who really need it won’t be able to afford it.
Wearable Tent
Wearable Sleeping-bag
Transformation into Tent
The Sleeping Bag
From ecouterre via inhabitat.
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You’ve probably seen these tea-chest kitchen cabinet fronts designed by Rupert Blanchard. Who knew hubby and I were so avant garde when we used tea-chests as nightstands for so many years. Of course ours were simply covered with a table-cloth; nothing to be proud of really. This is so much more stylish, and practical too:
from stylingandsalvage.blogspot.com
Grain matched drawers, too
Examples of creative up-cycling abound at Styling and Salvage, from furniture pieces where every drawer or door has its own story to tell
from Styling and Salvage
Up-cycled tallboy
through a workshop created from shipping palettes
Shipping Pallet Workshop
to a copy of the Louis Ghost chair made from planks of found wood. Am I the only one who’d like to see the original French chair in this line-up too?
Louis Ghost and Up-cycled Copy
An important but largely overlooked news item was reported in Styling and Salvage in March – MacDonalds are using Eames chairs in their UK restaurants. This has to spell the end of Mid-Century Modern as the style choice de riguer for the truly hip and trendsetting, doesn’t it? It’ll be interesting to see if hand-crafted salvage chic takes over as the next big movement.
Eames Chair at MacDonalds
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You probably know I’m a big fan of outdoor bathrooms – so here’s a shower that really works with nature:
Jun Yasimoto - Phyto Purification Shower
I imagine this would be installed inside if with sufficient day lighting for the plants – so it saves energy as well as water, and truly brings the outdoors in. Click here for the designer’s website with explanation of how the water purification works. Isn’t it great that green can be so beautiful? (via kbculture)
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Isn’t this a charming kitchen? This kitchen fuses rustic and contemporary, with some sustainable features (that corrugated metal backsplash ought to be fully recyclable) without sacrificing style.
Kitchen
Another view
Best of all is the building it is in. Constructed from two grain silos, this is a vacation home near Woodland, Utah by Gigaplex Architects. Doesn’t it just look like a fantasy castle?
Monte-Silo House
It immediately reminds me of Castell Coch, in South Wales, which in its current form was built as a romantic “folly” for 19th century industrialists, not unlike a weekend house. And my children had castle building blocks with cylindrical towers and cone shaped roofing, just like these. (For a little more on Castell Coch, check this post Castell Coch – for real this time )
Castell Coch
Inside, everything follows the form of the cylinders. Here are two sleeping areas for grandchildren, tucked into the walls, and a rounded bathroom:
Sleeping Niches
Monte-Silo House Bath
From the other side, the home reveals its true, not so castle-like, nature. You can see large windows for natural lighting, and balconies to provide shade as well as extra exterior space. This is definitely place I’d be happy to escape to. (via Trendir)
Monte-Silo Exterior
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Found at kbculture, this elegant vanity sink by Maja Ganzyniec has a lovely. minimal but natural aesthetic.
And it could conserve water two ways – first there is no drain in the bowl, so you would have to be really conscious of how much water you allow to flow in. Secondly, each time you empty the bowl, you’d have to consider whether you should simply pour the water away, or could you save it for watering plants, etc.
In fact, this could be an ideal drain design to work with the Caroma water saving toilet I talked about in an earlier post. It would certainly improve the aesthetics and practicality.
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Here from Caroma is the next logical step for your bathroom – grey water from the sink flows directly to the toilet tank, so nothing is wasted.
Caroma Profile Smart Dual Flush
From a practical point of view, it’s pure genius. As a designer, I’d like to see one simple change – the basin needs to be offset to one side or the other, so that you don’t have to reach over the toilet bowl to wash your hands or clean your teeth.
Via Inhabitat
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A pretty kitchen makeover, but
Fabulous French ranges
The ancestral home