“Through the years, I have found so much great vintage fabric that is too heavy for clothing, so I decided to dress furniture in it,” Hay said in an interview with Vogue. “Decorating my home feels like decorating my body, just more permanent. It’s like wearing a dress and never taking it off and just hanging out in your living room in it for years.”

The Batsheva Home Collection evolved out of the artist’s journey over the past four years to design furniture for her own home, which now sports pieces like a bright orange couch lined with a floral back cushion and leopard print throw pillows.

From those personal furniture experiments came two different chairs in six pattern choices, a bench, and a floor rug for commercial sale.

“The fabrics I used for these furniture pieces are all vintage upholstery that I have collected for years. Some are from the 1920s and the most recent ones are from the 1980s. I liked mashing up asynchronous fabrics — a bright watercolor floral from the 1980s with a 1970s acid green faux patchwork piece, or a 1920s floral print with an 80s velvet zebra,” Hay explains.

The Nautilus chair features an asymmetrical seat back in classic Art Deco style. Buyers can choose from her three surprising upholstery combinations or the more sober chintz pattern. It sells for $2,150 on the Batsheva website.

Appearing to be traditional Louis XV chairs at first glance, the fashionista’s upholstered Lounge Chair frame is carved to look like rough hewn wood: knobs, birds’ eyes, and all. And instead of following a predictable course, the fabric piping around the seat zigzags and weaves in an organic path. Fans can purchase the chair in either vintage plum floral or chintz for $1,250.

Covered in a cheerful vintage faux patchwork fabric, Hay designed a comfy bench with rolled arms and curved wooden legs, available for $1,700. Her multipurpose mat is a 3’ x 2’ hand-tufted rug with a soft wool pile, selling for $150.

Batsheva Hay took an unconventional road to becoming a fashion and furniture designer. After graduating from Stanford University and Georgetown Law School, she spent a decade as a lawyer in New York City, hating every minute of it.

After meeting future husband Alexei Hay, a photographer who had recently converted to Orthodox Judaism, Batsheva (who grew up in a secular Jewish family) converted as well, adopting the strict dress standards of the faith. That includes covering up to the elbows and knees and above the collarbone. Having always loved vintage patterns, she started creating her own modest but edgy dresses in washable floral prints.

Her bold pattern choices coupled with old-school femininity eventually scored her a partnership with company Laura Ashley, resulting in a line of dresses, aprons, and oven mitts in her signature style. Her work is now sold by major retailers like Nordstrom and Shopbop, having also gotten a social media boost when Ella Emhoff, stepdaughter of Kamala Harris, wore a Batsheva dress to the 2020 presidential inauguration.

The post Batsheva Releases Funky Vintage Furniture Collection first appeared on Dornob.

Newly released in 2020, these six sofa options include a little something for everyone: artsy, retro, bohemian, classic, and family-friendly. Hewing to the prevailing design trends of the year, they’re also modular, customizable, and made to last.

Swyft’s Snap-Together Sofa

If you love the flat-pack ease of bringing home a sofa from IKEA but long for a much easier assembly process (and higher quality), London startup Swyft has just the thing for you. Their new Model 01 features pieces that simply click together using the company’s “Swyft-Lok” mechanism, so transporting it is a breeze. Plus, with its sleek silhouette and gorgeous color choices, it’s a versatile fit for many interior design styles. It’s available in sofa, loveseat, and chair styles, with the three-seater retailing at £995 (about $1,230).

Burrow’s Slope Nomad Sofa

Midcentury modern diehards will appreciate the understated beauty of Burrow’s Slope Nomad Sofa, “the essential sofa reinvented for modern life.” Though it’s a looker, there’s much more to it than meets the eye. Not only does it boast an award-winning modular design, making it easy to move, it also has cool features like a built-in USB charger. It’s made with strengthened steel pins, galvanized latches, precision milled Baltic Burch, and tight stain and scratch-resistant olefin fiber weave to stand up to whatever your family can throw at it. Prices start at $1,395, and you can customize the fabric color, leg finish, and even the style of the arms.

La Manufacture’s Luizet by Luca Nichetto

Sculptural and fun, the Luizet by designer Luca Nichetto is a modular sofa system that invites you to take an active part in its design. You can choose from different shaped elements like round, D-shaped, cylindrical, or square cushions and various backrests on an elegant metal frame. Put them together however you like for whatever your needs may be at the moment. It’s available at La Manufacture Paris; contact them for pricing.

Helix Allform

Handmade in the USA using quality materials like specially treated hardwood, the Allform sofa is three inches wider and two inches deeper than most and features “Flexilator” seated suspension for extra body-conforming comfort. That’s no surprise, considering it’s made by personalized bed company Helix. Continuing the trend toward modular designs, this sofa is also designed to be totally customizable, so you can create configurations ranging from compact options for small apartments to enormous eight-seat sectionals. They start at $1,431.

Anthropologie’s Asymmetrical Serpentine Sofa

Looking for something a little out of the ordinary? This asymmetrical sofa at Anthropologie is sort of like an updated version of a fainting couch — dramatic, stylish, and comfortable with a glamorous retro flair. Inspired by Italian design, it features removable brass legs and can be customized to your preferred shade of velvet, slub velvet, or chenille upholstery in shades ranging from rich marine blue to pastel rosewater pink (and by the way, this level of customization is available on many sofas at Anthropologie). Pricing starts at $2,798.

Note Design Studio’s Supersoft Modular Sofa for Fogia

One glance tells you this couch is made for lounging, not just looking nice in a room. “Supersoft” by Stockholm-based Note Design Studio for Fogia takes inspiration from the comfortable practicality of Southern European furniture, managing to combine a casual feel with a high-end appearance. Contact Fogia for pricing.

The post Snuggle Up on Our 6 Favorite Sofas of 2020 first appeared on Dornob.

With sustainability and air quality in mind, an architect and a furniture manufacturer have joined forces to create a furniture collection that uses natural products without chemical offsetting. The approach is dual-faceted: consider the planet during material selection, and consider the wellness of the user.

“We can make a positive impact and make sure what we surround ourselves with has a positive impact on us.” says Sean Sutcliffe, founder of Benchmark, a U.K.-based furniture manufacturer. “Sustainability has always been at the heart of what we do, and it is an area we are always striving to be better in. You are never done with being sustainable.”

To achieve this goal, all wood for this new furniture line is FSC-certified and sourced from sustainably managed forests. In an effort to avoid using any synthetic materials whatsoever, the designers also used wool for the upholstery and copper for the accents. The team even turned to experts in the field at The Naturalmat Company to find solutions centered around natural materials. As a result, four materials are combined in the new pieces for maximum comfort and sustainability. These include Soil Association-certified organic wool from farms in Devon, Dorset, and Somerset, coir (a fiber derived from coconut husks), natural latex (made from the soap of the Hevea rubber tree), and recycled cotton. To finish the products, the team used natural oils rather than relying on toxic chemicals and VOCs.

“Critical issues being discussed around sustainability and the use of finite resources on the planet have stimulated very intelligent discussions in the design of products and buildings,” states David Rockwell, U.S. architect and owner of Rockwell Group, adding: “It’s incredibly important — the materials we have on the planet are all we have and these pieces are built to last for generations. Sean Sutcliffe and his team are true craftspeople who think about material origin and how an object is made, produced, and recycled.”

Transparency was crucial for the team in an effort to clearly outline their supply and manufacturing processes. As a result, the Sage collection is labeled with a DECLARE designation, a label that answers the questions:

“Where does a product come from?

What is it made of?

Where does it go at the end of its life?”

User comfort is also considered in the designs. Aesthetically-pleasing curved edges and careful attention to the direction of the wood grain exemplify this idea. To top it all off, every piece in the Sage collection has also been ergonomically designed for long-term use and comfort.

Benchmark and the Rockwell Group’s efforts to account for the well-being of their consumers haven’t gone unnoticed. The new collection has already qualified for WELL certification: a distinction given to projects that stress the importance of human health.

The collection, launched at 100% Design during the recent London Design Festival, includes several striking pieces. Standout items include sitting and standing desks, meeting and occasional tables, sofas, and storage containers.

Thoughtful furniture design means creating pieces that can be used for generations and subtracting from the typical waste of revolving short-term options. Equal to the usefulness of the collection is the overarching goal of the collaboration between the like-minded duo: to inspire other designers and manufacturers to focus on sustainability and less-impactful processes for the industry as a whole. They hope for a future where businesses are transparent throughout the supply and production chain, and where everyone focuses on doing the right thing for the planet.

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The most iconic companies in America achieved their status by changing with the times and keeping their focus on quality. Modernica, headquartered on a five-acre site in Los Angeles for the past 30 years, is among those triumphant businesses.

In 1979, Modernica established itself as a high-quality wooden furniture manufacturer. Each piece was handmade, one-by-one — a tradition that the company still practices today. Founders Jay and Frank Novak were proud to establish a family business committed to craftsmanship, and that commitment only helped them grow over the next few decades.

Early Expansions

After ten years of thriving in furniture design and production, Modernica decided to branch out and expand their repertoire to include upholstered pieces. As usual, high quality was their top priority, which is probably why keeping the expansion under family management and at the same location was never in question.

This decision led them to develop a unique design that’s still used today. Even better, customers can choose from a whopping 30 fabrics to adorn those pieces when they go to put in their orders.

Bold Steps for the 21^st Century

Never a company to rest on their laurels, Modernica made another bold move in 2000. Realizing the enduring popularity of high-pressure molded fiberglass chairs that were a huge success in the 50s, the company decided to breathe new life into the original design.

Still using the same Los Angeles location for production, they acquired all of the specialized equipment and original shell presses from Century Plastics, the company who first manufactured the fiberglass chairs. To make sure every detail was faithful to the original, they brought in Sol Fingerhut and Irv Green — the same two guys who invented the unique technology 60 years earlier — to oversee the first production run.

Each molded chair has exactly the feel, texture, design, and quality of the original fiberglass shell chairs of the 1950s. The styles have since been produced in every imaginable color and continue to be enjoyed by kids and adults in home, classroom, and business settings.

Outside the Furniture Box

Having had so many victories in the furniture realm, the company later decided to launch a line of ceramics called Case Study Ceramics. Motivated by the creative era in architecture and home furnishing design that exploded post-WW2, Case Study Ceramics are made by hand, high fired, shaped with a jiggering tool, and perfectly finished on an authentic potter’s wheel. Not one piece of the collection is slip cast molded. The line includes simple bowls and planters, often supported by a metal or wood frame, and is among the most respected and cherished pottery in the world.

The Latest From Modernica

Scheduled to launch on their webstore on October 18th, 2019, Modernica’s latest is a fun SpongeBob SquarePants 20th anniversary furniture collection. They collaborated with Chicago-based visual artist Louis De Guzman and international music artist J Balvin on each of its pieces, including an original print daybed as well as upholstered and, of course, fiberglass chairs.

The post From Post-WWII Ceramics to Spongebob Squarepants Furniture, Modernica Designs Shine first appeared on Dornob.

Curling up with a huggable cuddle buddy can be the best way to melt away the stresses of the day. When you don’t have a cuddle buddy available, though, the OOH OOH set of lounge furniture from designer Karson Shadley – in cooperation with design collaborative Lift and Lucid Design – is a fantastic substitute.

OOH OOH is shaped like a big, friendly, upholstered gorilla. It’s cute enough as it is, but take it apart and it turns into a suite of lounging pieces that can fill your entire living room with comfy places to rest.

The gorilla’s head comes off to become a rug with a built-in cushion for reclining on the floor. The arms come together to create a low, soft bench. The big upholstered body turns over to change into a chaise lounge. The unusual transforming gorilla is a conversation piece whether it’s assembled or has gone to pieces in the living room.

More from the designer

“OOH OOH is a larger-than-life, upholstered gorilla that comes apart to form lounge furniture. The gorilla’s body flips over into a chaise lounge, the two arms form a low bench, and the head becomes a rug with an integrated cushion for lounging on the floor. LIFT was invited to participate in ICFF 2005 by Metropolis Magazine, based on the success of their project Johnny Apple Sandal, unveiled at ICFF 2004.”

About the designer

“I’m a born a bred fourth generation Californian based in Oakland, CA and working as a Creative Director at Astro Studios in SF. I’ve had the pleasure to work with a wide variety of clients that span food service, luxury camping, enterprise computing, wellness, beauty care, material innovation, audio and consumer electronics. I’ve been lucky to work with both Fortune 100 companies and start-ups alike including Bose, Coca-Cola, Corning, Dolby, Google, Intel, Mighty Leaf Tea, P&G and Snow Peak. I keep myself honest as an adjunct professor at my Alma Mater, California College of the Arts.”

The post Get a Whole Set of Lounge Furniture Out of One Big Gorilla first appeared on Dornob.

Design duo Ivar Gestranius and Kevin Lahtinen designed this big, soft, cuddly lounge chair for LoOok Industries. The Bulldog chair takes after its namesake in that it is large and lovable, a little goofy looking, and ultimately the most noticeable thing in the room.

The colorful lounge chair is designed to be the ultimate in relaxation. Its low-slung, comma-shaped body and dramatically oversized arms swallow you up while you recline with a nice beverage during a long Netflix binge.

Although it’s reminiscent of kids’ furniture thanks to its soft lines and bright colors, the Bulldog is all about making a big visual impact. It pops no matter what surroundings it happens to be in. And if you’re not into neon, it does come in subtler hues, too, as well as leather upholstery.

More from the designers

“Bulldog is a big comfortable chair for cozy lounging. This soft little giant makes a statement in chill-out areas, lounges and other locations that need some spicing up. Lean back in this majestic creation with a drink in your hand and feel like royalty. Remember that sometimes, just sometimes, size matters.”

The post Cartoon-Like Lounge Chair is a Big Goofy Relaxation Spot first appeared on Dornob.

The post Illusion of Discomfort: Rigid-Looking Chairs Are Really Soft first appeared on Dornob.

When we envision the comfiest, softest places we could possibly lie upon, clouds are often at the top of the list. This cloud sofa set by Lubo Majer for Dizajno, called “Cirrus,” may not be as soft as an actual cloud, but it’s certainly enticing.  The curved ergonomic shapes of these puffy white volumes can turn any living room into a relaxing dreamscape.

Consisting of a large sofa, a loveseat, a chair and two tables, Cirrus is a matching upholstered set that can be purchased with either a fabric or leather cover. Hiding beneath all that padding is a rigid OSB frame, a spring system and flexible PUR foam for both softness and support.

The unusually shaped sofas and chairs allow for a variety of seating and lounging positions, and the tables, which come in singles or sets of three, are topped with safety glass. As you can see, these cloud sofas are especially striking set against a black backdrop, but also neutral enough to work in virtually any kind of interior design.

“Soft clouds floating over the country and their gentle shapes became the main inspiration for the upholstered furniture CIRRUS,” explains designer Lubo Majer. “Virtually spontaneous composition of elements creates a perfect sofa for various seating and lounge positions. Curved shapes and sophisticated ergonomics define this unconventional contemporary piece and add to its functionality and comfort. For DIZAJNO, 2010.”

About Lubo Majer

“Slovak designer Lubo Majer (b.1974) earned his degree in industrial design at the Technical University in Zvolen. Even during his studies, he was already working as a designer and model maker for various companies, while also working in interior design. He has been designing under his own name since 1995, with a focus on furniture. He sees furniture as a means for improving quality of life, which is why he creates items that will impress both with their functionality and aesthetically as well.”

The post Cloud Sofa Will Make You Feel On Top of the World first appeared on Dornob.

What’s the easiest way to upholster a rectangular piece of furniture? Wrapping it the same way you would a package, resulting in a clean geometric shape. The ‘Soft Parcel’ furniture series by TAF Arkitekter is incredibly simple, covering blocks of foam with high-quality fabric in shades of white and kraft-paper-brown. The units can be stacked as desired to create benches, couches, ottomans and tables.

If having unwrapped gifts in your living room creates a sense of excitement, Soft Parcel will make it feel like a holiday year-round. Of course, they also offer a playful twist on the aesthetics of a shipping facility storeroom.  In order to use two of the volumes as a chair, they are placed on a trolley.

“What could be the easiest way to upholster a piece of furniture? We took a piece of foam and wrapped it with fabric in the same way you make a parcel. The fabric looks like paper and the product becomes a gift,” explain architects Gabriella Gustafson and Mattias Ståhlbom, who created the design for Rossana Orlandi gallery in Milan.

“Sometimes the shape of a present becomes more important than the actual content. In this case the inside could be whatever you wish it to be. The parcels are soft and work as modules to build different comfortable seating possibilities. When the trolley is loaded with parcels it becomes an easy chair.”

About TAF:

“TAF is a Stockholm based design and architecture studio founded by Gabriella Gustafson and Mattias Ståhlbom. Since its foundation in 2002, it has achieved international acclaim with a portfolio of work spanning touring exhibitions, interior design and a number of commercially successful products for different prestigious manufacturers. The studio has been exhibited at MoMa and its designs are now part of the permanent collections of Nationalmuseum in Stockholm and the Danish Design Museum in Copenhagen.”

“TAF‘s studio on Södermalm is located in a converted bakery that used to serve the neighbourhood. There is a nice twist to this, as TAF aims to fulfil a similar function as the bakery through its design — one where design isn’t seen as superfluous but integrated into society on all levels, like the daily loaf of bread.”

The post Furniture that Looks Like Wrapped Packages first appeared on Dornob.

The folds are held snugly in place with hook and loop tape, ensuring not only that the cover is put into the correct place to start off but that it stays there. The removable cover can easily be taken off and tossed in the wash when needed, or swapped out for a new color when the room’s decorating scheme changes. It’s cheaper than a traditional reupholstering and, dare we say, quite a bit more stylish than the average accent chair.

The post Into the Fold: Origami-Inspired Tailored Chair Upholstery first appeared on Dornob.

Whether you want the world’s most comfortable seat, a conversation piece, all (or none) of the above, this is the ultimate semi-do-it-yourself seat – the chair frame is fixed, but the cushions can be anything you can imagine.

Suede, leather, velvet and vinyl are so last century. Bibliophiles may find themselves wanting to fill the racks with tattered volumes (perhaps paperbacks, since hardcovers could be somewhat less comfortable) while plant fanatics can upholster their seats with small forests inside a metal furniture framework.

Like a three-dimensional trellis combined with a minimalist bookcase, this design idea by Stephan Schultz leaves plenty of room for growth and change over time … a plush stuffed-animal theme can evolve over time, if you can bring yourself to give up the cozy embrace of a hundred teddy bears that is.

More from Designer Stephan Shulz

“THE ‘COMFY CARGO CHAIR’ ORIGINATED FROM THE IDEA TO CREATE A PIECE OF FURNITURE WHICH DOES NOT PREDETERMINE THE SURFACE FOR THE USER. THE OBJECT IS NOT FINISHED, BUT RATHER REQUIRES CREATIVE COLLABORATION BY THE OWNER.”

“THE CHAIR’S FORM IS REMINISCENT OF A THREE DIMENSIONAL GRID. IT CONSIST SIMPLY OF HOLLOW SPACES WHOSE OPEN STRUCTURE REQUIRES FILLING WITH PERSONAL THINGS SUCH AS PILLOWS, BLANKETS, NEWSPAPERS, BOOKS, CUDDLY PETS ETC. BY PACKING THE CHAIR FULL OF PERSONAL BELONGINGS, THE USER CHANGES THE ‘DESIGN’, AND THUS BECOMES THE CREATOR OF AN INDIVIDUAL PIECE OF FURNITURE. CONCEPTUALLY THE OPEN FRAMEWORK OF THE CHAIR IS MEANT TO ASSIST A CREATIVE ACQUISITION, A ‘NESTING’ PROCESS.”

Of course, some of this configurations are more fashion statements than real furniture – and none, save for the soft toy option, are likely to be as comfortable as a chair complete with padding, springs, webbing and covers. Other flexible-focused works by this designer include a foam chair (that deceptively resembles concrete or marble, enhancing the effect when sat in) and fold-out desk that opens up additional drawer storage and working space.

The post Forget Fabric: Upholster This Chair Frame with Whatever You Want first appeared on Dornob.

Some of us work best at a desk, others collaborate in a more comfortable setting like a couch or series of comfortable chairs. Designed with creative collaborators in mind, the Work Sofa from Prooff can be positioned in all kinds of curious ways to create unique new spaces fit for privacy, individual or collective working.

While they are designed to slot together like puzzle pieces in particular configurations these couches are by no means limited to the visions of their creator – they allow room to explore new arrangements and alternative layouts.

“With its bright colored blocks and unusual composition, the modular WorkSofa is an eye-catcher. The design fosters its primary function as a communal meeting point. Whether it’s a brainstorm or a group work session, an afternoon coffee or an impromptu meeting, designers Studio Makkink & Bey created the WorkSofa with conversations in mind. The WorkSofa can be customized for any space, making it a celebrated focal piece that facilitates dialogue and discussion above all.”

Even as singular objects these designs are impressive from a compositional standpoint – each constituting a unique piece that would be worthy of having in its own right. Together, however, they form a highly convincing whole that promises to change whenever its users wish it to.

“At Prooff, we develop innovative products for the public domain and the progressive office. Collaborating closely with designers, (interior) architects and strategists, we devise solutions to meet the ever-changing needs of our clients.”

“Our modular and multifunctional furniture concepts champion health and wellbeing, encourage collaboration, and enhance efficiency in the workspace. With our diverse product range, we hope to inspire organizations, architects, consultants and designers to continue to explore the future of work.”

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