A decade after they designed the canteen within the building, designers Roelof Mulder and Ira Koers returned to come up with a mobile furniture solution that’s also every bit as elegant as the architecture demands (because let’s be honest, folding chairs were never going to cut it). The duo’s mobile bamboo work islands fit together like puzzle pieces and include cutouts for massive potted plants and trees to make full use of the room’s grand scale.

The 12 units are set on wheels so they can easily be rolled into various configurations or out of the space altogether. Once pushed into place, they appear to be one large workspace combining comfortable couch-like upholstered seating with large platforms that can be used as desks. There’s no one correct way to orient them, so the spaces within can be spontaneously created as desired. They’re often arranged symmetrically, with an opening in the center so that users can nestle within the living greenery in chairs or at small café-style tables.

Made of durable bamboo, the mobile work islands are equipped with bumpers so they can be shifted around safely. The same semi-circular cutouts that wrap around the potted plants when they’re placed in the center of the room can also accommodate the giant beams along the perimeter. When the units are pushed to the edges, they maintain seating while offering a large open gathering area in the center.

The greenery adds privacy, dampens sound, and changes the overall mood of the room. What could feel like an overly large space full of echoes becomes intimate and comfortable, creating new vantage points from which to admire the hall’s many brick arches opening to other spaces. Mulder and Koers eliminated some existing curtains and frosted glass in the hall to encourage more open lines of sight and views of the city outside.

Keeping the use of this central hall flexible pays tribute to the building’s long and varied history. First built as a Catholic orphanage in 1780, it was converted into a bank in the 1960s. What was then an open central courtyard was roofed over to create the hall as it is seen today. That same decade, the Maagdenhuis became the administrative center for the University of Amsterdam, the site of historic student protests in 1969.

With Mulder and Koers’ mobile work islands, the Maagdenhuis atrium remains open to evolution, responding to whatever needs the University might have. The design duo recently created a similarly lush planted courtyard effect in the central hall of the in The Netherlands’ Dijklander Hospital, updating the original 1980s design by Jan Tennekes with a modern aesthetic that “resuscitates it with biophilia.”

The post Mobile Bamboo Work Islands Turn This Events Hall into a Co-Working Space first appeared on Dornob.

Invisible Closets

Have you noticed that all the chicest home renovations seem to include hidden closets these days? The so-called “invisible closet” is a modern update to the European style closet, which is basically a built-in armoire packing tons of storage onto a wall instead of a walk-in closet space. The invisibility comes in when the seams of the doors and drawers are as tight as possible, and push magnets take the place of visible hardware.

Office Sugurufukuda took advantage of this technique for its 404 Apartment in Tokyo, making the space appear larger using a system of wall panels that conceal closets, cabinets, shelving, and even entire rooms. Interior designer Kate Polak created a similarly clean look for a UK apartment by spray-painting the front of lacquered birch plywood wardrobe doors and drawer fronts with a nearly seamless result.

Pleasing Pantries

It looks like we’re still on a major collective pantry organization kick, making it easier to keep track of all of our food in the process. TikTok remains a great way to somehow lose hours watching videos of pantry reorganizations and tutorials, so head to the #pantryorganization hashtag for inspiration. This is definitely one trend that’s worth following, considering that all those matching food containers will keep your stored goods fresher and more aesthetically pleasing.

Use clear containers with tight-fitting lids to store things like cereal, oats, flour, sugar, and other pantry basics. A matching set of baskets in the right size for your shelving can help corral items like bags of chips, root vegetables, and paper products. Use risers for canned goods and spices so you can see exactly what you have on hand at a glance. A label maker will also come in handy here, or you can get a little bougie with professional-looking custom sticker labels from Etsy.

Hidden Electronics

Electronic devices rarely add any aesthetic value to a space, yet we seem to need more and more of them with each passing year. It’s best not to store things like Wi-Fi routers, phone chargers, smart home hubs, and portable speakers in closed compartments to maintain airflow and signal strength, so you’ll need to come up with creative ways to hide them. If you’re up for a project, a DIY built-in media cabinet with decorative metal grille doors is one way to do that — check out a tutorial from Frugal Family Times.

Another possibility is something like this fun CovoBox available on Etsy. It’s a three-sided box that uses real reclaimed books to conceal a storage area for whatever you’d rather not display. You can even choose the color scheme of the books to match your decor.

Closed Kitchen Cabinets

Many people have spent the last decade ripping out all the upper cabinets in their kitchens and replacing them with open shelving. That can open up the space and make it feel less cluttered — but only if you’re highly disciplined at keeping the items on the shelves to a minimum. In reality, most of us can’t manage to do that, so it’s no surprise that open shelving is now on the outs.

Closed, opaque cabinetry is hip again in the kitchen, which is good news for people who never jumped on this trend to begin with. Keep your stuff corralled and out of view, or maybe limit the open shelving to just one small area of the kitchen, retaining the utility of upper cabinets elsewhere.

Vertical Home Office Storage

Remote work is here to stay, no matter what CEOs like Elon Musk might say. 25 percent of all professional jobs in North America are likely to be remote in 2023, and that means a lot more of us need comfortable places to work from home. One of the biggest downsides of remote work is the blurring of boundaries between work time and downtime, so it’s best to have a clearly defined workspace that’s not spilling out into adjacent domestic spaces.

Make it easy to stay organized, no matter how small your workspace might be, by taking advantage of the vertical wall space above your desk. If you just need to keep a handful of items handy, a mesh grid wall organizer like this one from Wayfair might do the trick. But if we’re talking about printers, paperwork, reference materials, and other bulky items, consider either closed cabinets or a track-style organizer unit to keep it all in check.

The post Top 5 Storage and Organization Trends to Try in 2023 first appeared on Dornob.

The idea for Muuw started during the pandemic when Tommy Truup, an expert in steel fabrication, decided he wanted to create work-from-home spaces that could also act as backyard retreats. Truup founded Muuwspace and designed his ideal one-room escape, with a shape inspired by beehives and the carbon structures in human cells.

Three of the pod’s six walls are floor-to-ceiling windows, so the 100-square-foot space feels much more expansive than it really is. Insulated glazing from Saint-Gobain features a metallic blue external reflection so you can maintain privacy and avoid getting overheated.

The cabin is constructed from durable galvanized steel, insulated fully for all climates, and capable of withstanding a heavy snow load on its roof. It also boasts luxurious floor heating, a quiet speed-controllable ventilation system, dimmable LED lights inside and out, a triple-glazed aluminum entry door, wall-integrated speakers, five electrical sockets, and two separate USB charging sockets. It even comes with an attached terrace with a frame made of hot dip galvanized steel.

A variety of interior finishes are available for the Muuw backyard work pod, including oak laminate on the ceiling and walls. The outdoor deck and screen at the entrance of the pod can be made of ash or pine wood. Buyers customize the Muuw to their liking and send the order to Muuwspace’s factory, where it’s built and delivered to the installation site in separate pieces. Assembly takes just one or two days depending on access to the installation site, which could be a backyard, garden, terrace, or even remote land. The whole thing is delivered on the back of a truck.

“Muuw can be used as an add-on to your main home or placed in a completely separate area of your choice – depending on whether you’d use it for focused work, productivity, reading, self-development, hobbies, or full relaxation,” the company says. “The interior is a calming, personal space – fitting snugly inside the building’s hexagonal structure. Each Muuw space boasts modern interiors and vast, panoramic views.”

“The unique exterior design also feels incredibly contemporary, using minimalistic materials combined with warm, traditional wood that’s sure to attract everyone’s attention. Just picture yourself stood in the Muuw, looking out over the horizon – we guarantee it will provide you with the feeling that you can accomplish anything you set your mind to, with relaxation being the key to productivity and accomplishment.”

Pricing for each Muuw pod starts at $32,000, depending on the options you choose. Muuwspace is currently able to deliver and assemble the pods throughout Europe and the United States, including the UK, Ireland, Norway, and Switzerland. It takes 8 to 16 weeks to receive your Muuw after ordering.

The post Upgrade Your Home Office with the Muuw Backyard Work Pod first appeared on Dornob.

“In this renovation, instead of designing everything from the beginning, we designed it while proceeding with dismantling,” the architects explain. “The elements of the past, which emerged as the demolition progressed, provided considerable inspiration for the design.”

Located in the Koishikawa/Hakusan area of Bunkyo Ward, an area historically full of bookbinding and printing-related facilities, the building once housed a printing factory in its lower half and a private residence in its upper half. The second owner converted the entire structure into a home. When Akira Mada and Maya Mada of MAMM Design purchased it, they wanted to restore its former live/work layout, but adapt it to their personal needs and style.

They started with the staircase, which was contained within its own dark, dim walled stairwell. At first, they envisioned knocking out the concrete walls and putting a skylight at the top to create an atrium, replacing the old stairs with new ones. But as the demolition revealed the jagged concrete edges of the walls and the internal rebar supporting the old concrete stairs, they realized they wanted to keep some of these elements in the finished product.

Thus appeared the home’s star feature, the skeletal metal staircase now entwined with living vines. Stretching the full height of the building, the stairwell is topped by a skylight that can be opened for exposure to the fresh air, with a ladder providing rooftop access. The old rebar staircase is now purely decorative, with new stairs piercing the floors and ceilings in other locations.

The rugged nature of the exposed concrete and metal contrasts beautifully with new elements the architects brought in, like blond plywood, salmon-pink tiles, and translucent partition walls. Additional plants, like small trees in oversized planters, help draw a sense of vitality into the rest of the home and out onto the balcony and rooftop.

The renovation also revealed some surprises. Had they started the process with rigid ideas of how everything should look, the architects might have missed out on some defining features that add a lot of texture and historical context to the redesign.

“In order to apply a new finish to the outer wall, I scraped off the existing plaster finish, and found the glossy tiles from the beginning of the new construction,” says Akira Mada. “I thought it would be a good contrast with the green of the newly planted trees, so I polished it and decided to use it as it is. In this way, as we proceeded with dismantling, we carefully read the existing shapes and materials, and sometimes gave them new meanings.”

The post Renovated Raw Concrete Home Features a Staircase Entwined with Living Plants first appeared on Dornob.

The iSwift M is an improvement upon its creators’ earlier product, the iSwift Pi. Both are designed for digital nomads who prefer to work in less than conventional locations — like a lounge chair on the beach. The original weighs 2.5 pounds, is made of a sturdy plastic material, and can be used in a variety of positions. It was a big hit, with nearly $1 million in sales since it debuted in 2021. The designers gathered feedback and have since made some alterations to their design, resulting in the release of the iSwift M. The new version weighs just over a pound, is a mere six millimeters thick, transforms in one second, and comes in additional sizes.

While most portable laptop desks have folding legs, the iSwift has a unique origami-like shape with built-in legs shaped like triangles. It can be used flat as a pad under your computer, with both legs up as a conventional laptop desk, or turned upside-down with a single leg extended for use as a tablet stand. Magnets hidden within the material hold the legs in position as you work. With the Pi, you unfold the legs one at a time. The M makes that process even faster. The legs are connected in the center, so the whole desk pops up into place with a simple flick of your wrist.

When folded, the iSwift M laptop desk is so thin, it easily slots into your laptop bag alongside your computer. The weight and amount of space it takes up is so minimal, you might as well take it everywhere you go. The designers even go so far as to claim that you could slide it under your pillow, sleep on it, and still not notice. Despite all that, it’s able to hold over 11 pounds (5 kg), well over the weight of most people’s computer, phone, and coffee combined.

The designers explain: “Inspired by the Copenhagen trend, we’ve selected wool felt as the material. The material is also eco-friendly and non-toxic. And with unique high-temperature pressing technology, the iSwift M becomes a piece of art. iSwift M’s material, design, and structure make it a must-have for your working life. The slim profile makes it look like a second skin for your office devices.”

This portable workstation comes in three sizes: Mini (about the size of a sheet of paper), Standard (9.4 inches by 17.3 inches), and Max (9.6 inches by 21 inches). You can also choose from gray, black, bright green, and “Barbie pink” colors. Currently raising funds on Kickstarter, the campaign is offering backers early bird discounts up to 40 percent off retail prices. Grab the Mini for $35, the Standard for $69, or the Max for $79.

The post Paper-Thin Laptop Desk Practically Disappears When You Store It first appeared on Dornob.

Located on the fourth floor of a First Republic building on Narodni Street in Prague, the Poetizer offices are minimalist yet romantic, much like the company itself. Poetizer is the world’s largest social network for poets and poetry lovers, providing a simple platform where millions of users from 120 countries can publish their creations in plain black text against a crisp white background. The designers wanted to capture the essence of the company and its focus on environmental protection, creating spaces where employees can feel relaxed and included.

At the center of the design is a beautiful indoor greenhouse space, “a wild jungle, a mythical Eden, an area that expresses the concept of wild thinking,” as Císar explains. “Thinking that, according to Claude Lévi-Strauss, is close to our ancient ancestors and contemporary poets. He contrasted this initially intuitive and associative thinking, which he likened to a rich rainforest ecosystem, with an already domesticated, strictly rational thinking.”

Set within a larger room, the greenhouse offers space for streaming poetry readings, lounging, and brainstorming. The gabled open metal frame hosts 171 living plants with over 100 species represented, and sofas and chairs facing each other for small meetings and conversations. Between the plants, the daylight streaming in from the adjacent windows, and the deck-like flooring, six or more occupants can get a little taste of the outdoors without leaving the office.

Just outside the greenhouse is the Poetizer HQ’s main room, containing two islands of individual workstations. The desks are on wheels so users can choose to either keep them grouped together or move them away for privacy and concentration.

If employees want to get even more introspective, they can choose to enter a series of smaller study rooms, meeting rooms, and conference rooms in various sizes, all painted dramatic dark hues of green and blue. Feeling almost womb-like in contrast to the bright and open main room, these spaces get extra warmth from lots of wood, pops of red furniture, lush velvet textiles, moody lighting, and additional plants.

“Proud to design for Poetizer, the world’s biggest social network for poetry lovers and a digital publishing house,” says Císar. “The concept builds upon the focus and the minimalist identity of Poetizer. The center stage of the office is occupied by a greenhouse — the wild jungle, the mythical Eden. This boldly placed object creates a space to meet informally, to stream poetry readings, or just simply to relax. Thank you very much Lukáš Sedláček, CEO of Poetizer, for the opportunity and patience.”

The post Beautiful Indoor Greenhouse Takes Poetizer’s Prague Offices to the Next Level first appeared on Dornob.

The founder of UK-based design studio Chairbox came up with the idea while lying on the floor with his legs on a couch. He wondered whether dying in this pose would require burying him in a special seated coffin (if you’re curious, the answer is that morticians have a different way of dealing with rigor mortis: massaging the corpse to loosen the stiff muscles). This thought process led the designer to mull the symbolism of a seated coffin.

As you’re probably aware by now, sitting kills. Researchers have linked sitting for long periods with health concerns like obesity, increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, deep vein thrombosis, diabetes, and stroke. It might even make you more likely to get dementia and various types of cancer. Sitting for six to eight hours a day can even undo the beneficial effects of exercising when you’re off the clock.

“Another issue is exploitation,” Chairbox says. “While we spend most of our time at work most of us can’t afford some basic things. The gap between rich and poor is growing exponentially. What’s shocking is that it’s widely accepted by society, it became a norm that we spend our lives at work slowly killing ourselves and getting almost nothing out of it. The whole grind culture is just wrong, it feels to me like voluntary slavery. We’ve been gaslit into thinking that this is the life as it suppose to be. We sit in those coffins and generate value for the stakeholders, but once the time has come they nail the lid and roll us to the corporate cemetery.”

The design is meant to prompt a little internal investigation into what we’re doing with our lives, and whether working in offices for employers who don’t value us as human beings is really worthwhile. After all, you could spend your entire adulthood proving what a great asset you are by working overtime, rarely taking sick days or vacations, and putting your employer over your family just to die or get dementia shortly after retirement (if you even make it that far). Meanwhile, another worker drone would be ready to take your place as if you never existed.

Maybe a change in career is the answer for you. Maybe it’s just a standing desk, or a seat that forces you to actively use your muscles while working. Some great options include the rounded Rodeo Chair, which can actually strengthen your spine with enough use; so-called “active stools,” or even just yoga balls that force you to balance yourself the whole time you’re sitting; or designs like the ZestDesk, which allows you to bring a portable standing desk wherever you go.

The post The Last Shift: A Coffin-Shaped Office Chair for the Working Drone first appeared on Dornob.

Occupying one of the largest undeveloped parcels in the Washington, D.C. area, the $2.5 billion HQ2 complex will be planted with hundreds of native plants, run on 100-percent renewable electricity via solar panels and a local solar farm, and make use of high-performance glazing and built-in solar shading to reduce heating and cooling needs.

The “Helix” building was designed with biophilic principles in mind, just like Amazon’s The Spheres HQ in Seattle (both designed by NBBJ). The spiral-shaped building will be located in the northeast corner of PenPlace and feature two walkable paths of landscaped terrain spiraling up its exteriors. Inside, employees will find both formal and casual meeting spaces in a greenhouse-like environment full of planting areas and living walls.

“The exterior of the structure will feature two paths for employees to engage with colleagues in meetings or to take in views of Arlington, the Potomac River, and Washington, D.C. The Helix will also be home to an artist-in-residence program and a meeting center, and it will be open to the public and community to enjoy two days per month,” Amazon stated in a press release. “We can’t wait for everyone to see this unique and thoughtfully designed space come to life.”

The review process encouraged Amazon to add features like solar panels, bike lanes, and green space to PenPlace, including a tree-lined “green ribbon” pathway that slices through the complex. The company also agreed to contribute $30 million to an Arlington fund to subsidize preserving and building affordable housing as part of its negotiations. Arlington residents hope that additional concerns will be addressed in the future, including providing additional community resources like space for a library, but some are skeptical that the public will feel comfortable using a green space full of surveillance cameras on a corporate campus.

Amazon’s arrival comes amidst growing inequality, gentrification, and displacement in the larger D.C. region, and the 25,000 jobs it plans to add to the area could contribute to the problems rather than alleviating them. Virginia wooed the company with millions in direct cash subsidies on the condition that its new Arlington hires earn an average of $150,000 a year. Unfortunately, clusters of higher paying jobs for specific skills like technology tend to elevate the local cost of living and push out lower wage earners. Since Amazon’s HQ2 announcement, aviation giant Boeing has also announced a move to Arlington, and more companies are expected to follow.

The post Amazon’s HQ2 Will Bring Big Changes — and a New Landmark — to Arlington first appeared on Dornob.

Titled “21’ Abandon Darkness,” referencing a new Anglepoise brand slogan, Akhtar’s reinvention of the task light takes inspiration from Anglepoise lamps’ “ability to illuminate and demarcate, something we have all needed help with this past year, as work, study, and leisure have all bled into one.” Her version starts with what looks like a ceramic jug, adding a swiveling strip of LED lights perfect for illuminating a work surface.

Akhtar started with a plaster model “made to get a sense of shape and visualize ideas,” she explains. “At this point, the discussion into how the light source will work within the product began to develop. 21 is the next generation of iconic Anglepoise lamp, revamped and reimagined to encourage deep productive work and support well-being.”

The Staffordshire University graduate created the lamp as part of her final school projects. In the past, she has experimented with different shapes that give her ceramics a variety of moods, like Brutalist forms crafted on a plaster lathe and simple ceramic spheres pierced with holes to act as the base of a small table. But Akhtar’s ceramics are perhaps at their most interesting when they embrace irregularity, softness, and asymmetrical shapes, as with the bases for her Wedgwood lighting project.

The Wedgwood series is a modular lighting concept Akhtar has been working on since 2019. She was invited, along with two other students in the 3D Design Maker degree course, to propose concepts for functional wares and lighting that focus on the theme of well-being for Wedgwood, a British fine china and porcelain company known for being one of the largest manufacturers of Staffordshire pottery.

“Knowing that Wedgwood wanted to continue with my lighting design and believed that it fits well with their brand, has given me a [boost] of confidence in myself as a designer-maker,” Akhtar told Ceramic Review. “It felt rewarding to know that I was able to design a product with a specific live brief.”

Ahktar took inspiration from traditional Wedgwood ceramic designs and her research into contemporary lighting, looking specifically at stackable shapes that would ultimately give her design its modularity. After modernizing the shapes she found in old Wedgwood catalogs, the designer crafted her unique table lamps that glow softly from within the ceramic forms. Akhtar’s Instagram provides a fun inside look at her process, from early sketches to the final finished objects.

“Design made me think in a methodical and rational way,” Akhtar told Wallpaper. “It also stimulated my thinking and got the cogs spinning – I love it when that happens, and I like the practical side. In the past year I’ve come to appreciate ‘thinking through making.’”

The post Soyida Akhtar Reimagines Classic British Lamps with a Contemporary Twist first appeared on Dornob.

Virgil Abloh’s Architectural Vision for Louis Vuitton

The late designer Virgil Abloh gifted us with a lot of creativity before his untimely death this year, including a fun collection of architecture-meets-menswear for Louis Vuitton. Taking inspiration from James Baldwin’s 1953 essay “Stranger in the Village,” the Fall-Winter 2021 collection introduces wearable buildings modeled on such recognizable structures as Mies Van Der Rohe’s 1929 Barcelona Pavilion.

Selgascano’s Experimental Outdoor Office in Los Angeles

Office environments don’t have to be sad, stuffy, and boring. Selgascano’s Second Home Hollywood staggers lemon-yellow office pods and communal spaces through a lush landscape for a co-working environment that fosters connection, concentration, and good mental health. It’s the kind of work environment you might not actually mind returning to when the pandemic danger is over.

GROW, A Light Show for Plants

Bringing the same LED technology that benefits plants in greenhouses into open fields, Studio Roosegaard explores how artificial sunshine can benefit both plants and people with GROW. Part art installation, part agricultural innovation, the project turns farm fields into a setting for spectacular light shows while boosting crop growth.

The Chapel of Sound Concert Hall by OPEN Architecture

Strikingly sculptural in appearance, The Chapel of Sound is an open-air concert hall by OPEN Architecture set near the Great Wall of China outside Beijing. It’s organically shaped enough to seem almost like a natural growth, but its concrete striations produce an ideal acoustic space for performances, and it even has a rooftop observation deck.

The Symbolic Architecture of Squid Game

Somewhat depressing story aside, Netflix’s Squid Game stood out for its striking sets, each one symbolizing a contrast between childhood innocence and the harsh reality of adulthood in the modern world. Exaggerated and oversized playgrounds, eerie combat arenas, models of traditional Korean villages, and beds stacked like stadium bleachers come together to produce a nightmarish spectacle of life-or-death competition.

Cabana, A Tiny House That Can Be Built By Two

Tiny houses have a reputation for feeling a bit too cramped and utilitarian for most people, but the Cabana offers middle ground on both fronts. What’s remarkable about this 355-square-foot off-grid abode is that not only is it two full stories with an attractive modern design, it’s also made up of modules that are light enough for just two people to transport and put together.

Wutopia Lab’s Meditative Urban Bookstore

Wutopia Lab deftly demonstrates how to make urban locations feel zen with its Duoyun Bookstore, a cloud-themed commercial space that takes visitors on a journey of tranquility and discovery. Located in the Huangyang district of Taizhou in China, the nearly all-white bookstore features a series of connected outdoor rooftop spaces for reading and discussion in between interior spaces that show off the books to their best advantage.

Imaginative Furniture by Bethan Laura Wood

Sculpture, self-expression, a rebuke of sexist design standards: Bethan Laura Wood’s ornate and imaginative furniture reflects a daring approach and a uniquely brilliant vision. The English designer put together a collection of both new and old works for “Ornate,” a solo show at Nilafur Gallery in Milan, and it was a buffet of beautiful and strange objects that are also functional pieces for the home.

NCaved: A House Built Into a Greek Hillside

Sure, Mold Architects’ NCaved house in Greece looks a bit like a Bond villain’s lair. But it’s also smart in various ways: passively cooled and heated by the earth, blended into its hilly environment for a lower visual and environment impact, and designed to perfectly frame views of the water.

K-Thengono’s Adaptable Design for an Impossibly Narrow Apartment

Designs for ultra-tiny apartments that rely on robotic and electronic elements are certainly impressive, but out of reach for the average person who actually lives in a small space. Design firm K-Thengono took a more practical approach for this ultra-narrow apartment in Jakarta using drawers, cabinets, and fold-down tables. It’s a great example of what’s possible when you think creatively.

The post Our Favorite Designs of 2021, from Squid Game to Virgil Abloh first appeared on Dornob.

Located within a historic four-story building in the center of the city, the new Maria Nila Salon is a vision in soft pastels, evoking the relaxing sensual pleasures of high-end salon services with fluid organic shapes. Giant MDF and plexiglass cut-outs in dripping shapes call to mind endlessly flowing hair products and introduce a youthful, playful, and creative feeling. The whole salon is awash in dreamy shades of lavender, mint, turquoise, pink, and peach.

ASKA wanted to give the building itself a voice in the design, as well. They chose colors and design elements that would complement original features like floors made of checkered marble and wood laid in a herringbone pattern. At the entrance, the purple plexiglass installation hanging from the ceiling frames the antique wooden door for a contrast of old and new.

The salon is designed to show off the company’s products while doubling as office space. Softly undulating product shelves are spread throughout each room, their shapes taking inspiration from natural elements like water, trees, caves, and coral reefs in a nod to Maria Nila’s nature-centric approach.

“The concept of the House of Maria Nila is to always be inviting, have an air of friendliness, and encourage a modern way of expressing beauty,” states Maria Nila. “While the townhouse Maria Nila now calls home is located in Lärkstaden, an area fully built on the design that dominated Swedish architecture in the early days of the 20th century, it’s clear that the inside speaks young-at-heart and playful.”

“With a wish to not compromise with the old soul of the house, Maria Nila asked the new and upcoming architecture firm ASKA to take on the mission to create an interior that would mirror the values of the brand: friendly, curious, and honest. A task that fitted well with the philosophy of the trio. ASKA’s belief is that styles, design expressions, and epochs will pass with time. But the essential architectural qualities, the residuals – aska in Swedish, will always remain. With the use of pastel colors, round shapes, and soft materials, ASKA has mixed the old soul of the building with the young spirit and energy of Maria Nila.”

ASKA visited the space often throughout the renovation to fine-tune certain elements as necessary, like adding their own custom acoustic panels when a particular room was found to be too noisy. They designed and crafted much of the furniture seen throughout the salon and brought in objects made by hip young creators like furniture designer Gustaf Westman and LED artists Josefin Eklund and My Zachrisson.

The post Undulating Pastel Office Space Captures the Spirit of Hair Care Brand Maria Nila first appeared on Dornob.

But working from home doesn’t mean you can’t have a sweet office setup. That’s where we come in.

Amazon Prime Day was on June 21st and 22nd this year, and if you were paying attention (and we know you were!), you probably scored some great deals. But just because Prime Day is over for another year doesn’t mean you can’t still get some post-Prime Day picks at amazing prices. We’ve done the legwork and come up with a list of sweet deals on office supplies and furniture:

HP Neverstop Wireless Laser Printer

Maybe you missed the boat on that printer you were eyeing on Prime Day. But that’s okay! This environmentally friendly printer, with its ability to wirelessly pair with all your devices, is a find worth snapping up.

now $239.89

Amazon Basics 3-Tier Metal Rolling Cart

This wheeled, 3-tiered metal cart is ideal for all your home office storage needs. Its open sides also make it super easy to find what you need fast, so no more wasting time trying to find cords, chargers, etc. (we’re speaking from experience here).

now $37.55

Natural Bamboo Monitor Stand Riser and Desk Organizer

This stylish riser elevates your monitor to eye-level so you can see your screen better and sit more comfortably. It also helps to save space, as it’s multifunctional and ideal for storage. You can even store your keyboard underneath come quitting time.

now $13.88

Aduken Gel Office Chair Seat Cushion

Sitting all day can be just as uncomfortable at home as it is in the office. This is where a memory foam seat cushion becomes your best firend. Durable, washable, comfortable, and portable, this king of cushions is sure to improve any home workspace.

now $20.28

Adjustable 3-Level Laptop Stand

We highly recommend this adjustable laptop desk stand that works with most 11″ to 16″ laptops. It’s sturdy and has a hollow design to promote air flow, and best of all, it securely keeps your laptop at eye-level.

now $25.99

Storex Small Cubby Bins

Working from home is so much easier if you’re organized! This 5-pack of colorful storage bins are great for keeping everything in its place, from chargers and cords to paperclips and pens.

now $22.44

Kantek Tablet Stand

Show your tablet a little love with a stand of its own! This Kantek stand provides amazing support, is incredibly durable, and can rotate and swivel with the best of them. Perfect for any tablet whose width or height measure between 6.6 and 8 inches.

now $21.76

YITAHOME 2 Drawer Rolling File Cabinet

Remember what we said about organization? This little beauty is made of durable steel, has an anti-tilt system, a locking mechanism, and is great for storing all your important papers and documents.

now $157.36

FelixKing Ergonomic Desk Chair

Your desk chair is one of the most important pieces of furniture in your home office.Why not choose one that offers the best lumbar support for extra comfiness? This adjustable chair is easy to assemble and even easier to store out of sight at the end of the day.

now $139.99

Fujitsu Color Duplex Document Scanner

Scan, scan, and scan some more with the most popular business scanner in the world – right in your home office. With the highest image quality available, this reliable gem is a must-have for any serious workspace.

now $879.99

Computer Desk With Ergonomic Monitor Shelf and Storage

If you weren’t able to score a new desk on Prime Day, now’s your chance! This stylish model is made of high-quality, eco-friendly materials and is super durable. With a large monitor shelf and built-in storage, it’s a well-deserved desk upgrade.

now $189.99

Amazon Basics 6-Sheet Cross-Cut Paper and Credit Card Home Office Shredder

Shred paper and credit cards with ease with this shredder that has overheat protection and a manual reverse to tackle blockages whenever they might occur.

now $33.49

Scotch Thermal Laminator

Who doesn’t want a laminator? From Scotch, the top laminating brand, this beauty will laminate whatever you throw at it, including photos.

now $21.99

Even if you missed Prime Day, there are still plenty of deals to be found on Amazon for your home office. Head over there now and score some of the best bargains around to help make your workspace the hottest spot in the house.

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The post 13 Post-Prime Day Amazon Deals for Your Home Office first appeared on Dornob.

Nourison Celestial Modern Abstract Area Rug

This multicolored designer rug is chic and sure to give any room that wow factor. Measuring 6 feet by 9 feet, it’s made of 100-percent polypropylene with a non-slip backing. This floor covering gets 4.6 out of 5 stars on Amazon and is currently on sale for just $123.52, an amazing discount of 86 percent.

Dyson V8 Animal Cordless Stick Vacuum Cleaner

This popular portable stick vacuum cleaner is getting a killer markdown as part of a Prime Day Lightning Deal. Being slashed 72 percent off list price to $109.99, this highly-rated cordless household tool boasts up to 40 minutes of battery power, with a HEPA filtration machine that’s ultra-efficient at capturing allergens and pet dander. The vacuum can also be converted to a handheld device for spot cleaning.

Signature Design by Ashley Fossil Ridge Storage Bench

This ornately carved storage bench would be a great way to elevate the style of any space. It measures 43 inches wide by 1 inches deep by 18 inches tall, making it easy to fit in an entryway, bedroom, or living room. The price is currently down 64 percent to just $245.63.

ZINUS 12-Inch Euro Top Pocket Spring Hybrid Mattress

This brilliantly-engineered bed-in-a-box gets excellent reviews for both its quality and comfort. It’s constructed from individually wrapped iCoil internal springs, supportive foam, and a top layer of microfiber padding. During this year’s Prime Day event, it can be snatched up for just $139.00, a 57 percent discount over its regular price.

Winix 5500-2 Air Purifier

Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, air purifiers are more popular than ever before. Perfect timing, too, because this 4.7-star model is about to go on sale. For just $111.99 – a nice 55 percent discount – the True-HEPA filter in this bad boy captures 99.97 percent of all airborne contaminants and allergens. It also includes a washable carbon filter and PlasmaWave technology, as well as smart sensors that automatically adjust the fan for optimal performance.

Vitamix 5200 Blender

If you’ve been waiting for a sale on the pricey-but-prized Vitamix blenders, today’s your lucky day. Normally sold for $549.99, the 5200 series has been discounted to just $279 as a Prime Day Spotlight Deal. It comes with the base engine, a 64-ounce self-cleaning container, instructions, and a 7-year full warranty.

Shark AV1010AE IQ Robot Vacuum with XL Self-Empty Base

This robot vacuum allows you to forget about sweeping and vacuuming for up to a month with its bagless, self-emptying base that can hold up to 30 days of household dirt and debris. Thanks to its built-in smart tech, it can map your home quickly and can be programmed to clean individual spaces or the whole house. Equipped with voice command, you can simply tell Alexa to have your Shark “clean the kitchen.” And right now, it can be yours for just $319.99.

Ravenna Home Classic Two-Drawer Desk

Desks for the home office have been hard to come by over the last year as the work-from-home trend turned into a staple of modern society. This beautiful walnut and birch wood piece provides plenty of workspace and a little bit of storage .

12-Piece Rachael Ray Cucina Nonstick Cookware Pots and Pans Set

This uber-popular cooking set from Rachael Ray has gotten a significant price reduction of 35 percent to just $104.25 during a Prime Day Lightning Deal. It includes 3 lidded saucepans of various sizes, 2 pans, and 1 lidded pot. Even better, all pieces are nonstick aluminum and safe in the oven up to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Instant Pot Duo Crisp 11-in-1

The favorite pressure cooker is now more versatile than ever. This model can also air fry, dehydrate, sauté, steam, slow cook, sous vide, warm, roast, bake, and broil. Its 1500W heating element cuts cooking time by up to 70 percent, too, making dinner prep a whole lot quicker and easier. Look for this to be listed at $139.99 over the next couple of days, 30 percent off its regular price.

Of course, all these deals are still subject to change, but we’re betting this heads-up will help you score some incredible deals during this year’s Prime Day event.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn commissions at no cost to you.

The post 10 of the Best Home Goods Deals to Snag This Amazon Prime Day first appeared on Dornob.

Those architectural elements are exactly what make LeGrow stand out. They include stackable vertical planters in two depths, an LED grow lamp, an automated 360-degree diffusing mist humidifier, a riser for stacking hanging plants, and a Bluetooth speaker, all of which you layer on top of a self-watering tray. Each one has a unique and interesting shape, looking more like a sculpture than a functional object. Presented in all white with lots of curves and arches, these growing modules have sort of a utopian look to them that pairs beautifully with living plants.

The process of building your LeGrow garden is as satisfying as watching it grow. It’s designed to be as easy as assembling your very own LEGO creation, giving you the freedom to build in whatever shapes and configurations you like. Create a terraced arrangement, vertical towers, a long narrow strip for the center of a table, or a system that looks like a tiny neighborhood.

Once assembled, the LeGrow garden becomes its own self-contained ecosystem. Since it has its own built-in lighting, you don’t have to worry about finding a window with suitable sunlight to support it. The rounded glass humidifier distributes moisture evenly across the whole thing, and a built-in water pipe structure makes sure that all the planters are connected to each other, sharing water from the tray. Even better, the tray has been made translucent so you can keep an eye on the water level.

It’s rare to see sound incorporated into an indoor garden system, so the Bluetooth speaker is a bit of a fun extra in this set. You can connect it to your phone and play relaxing music for the ultimate in stress-reducing mini Zen gardens, or maybe experiment with the concept that plants can be affected by sound. What you grow in your desktop garden is really up to you, but the LeGrow system can support succulents and cacti, herbs, flowers, and tropical greenery, including finicky plants that need a lot of water, like carnivorous pitcher plants and Venus flytraps.

The LeGrow Desktop Garden is currently available for pre-order at Indiegogo in a variety of packages. The Vertical Garden is the smallest at $34 USD, coming with a single pot, an LED grow lamp, three vertical planters, and a water tray. The systems get bigger from there, all the way up to the $428 Rainforest configuration, which comes with a speaker, a humidifier, 26 pots, 11 vertical planters, 20 shallow moss planters, four grow lamps, and more. All orders are estimated to ship out in September 2021.

The post LeGrow: Meditative Modular Desktop Garden System Full of Automated Features first appeared on Dornob.

What all this means is that the home office is quickly becoming a necessary and lasting feature in many households. But since not all dwellings come with built-in workspaces, remote employees are often looking for ways to create small offices within their existing square footage. Here are seven handy space-saving tips for making the most of your cubicle away from the office:

Build Under the Stairs

Many homes have an empty stairwell. Depending on the positioning of yours, this might be the perfect cozy nook to insert a desk and some shelving. Just be sure to choose a chair with a minimal profile so it can be pushed in when not in use, leaving the walkways free of obstacles.

Add a Fold-Up Desk

When you truly have no extra room to spare, build up! Fold-up desks can easily be installed on walls, leaving room above for shelves to hold folders, pencils, or whatever else your daily work needs require. When it’s time to clock out, the desk can be hidden away with no trace in sight.

Turn an Ottoman Into a Hidden Office

This resourceful idea allows you to pop open your office and put it completely out of sight (and hopefully out of mind) when you’re through making a living for the day. With a simple table or nightstand nearby for laptop use, the storage ottoman-turned-office cuts the clutter while saving plenty of space.

Use Pegboard for Infinite Storage Combinations

A simple wooden pegboard with some hooks, shelves, and baskets is all you need to form a functional wall of storage. And since the hooks are removable, your storage options can be endlessly reconfigured to fit your changing business needs.

Convert an Old Hutch Into a Desk

Got an old hutch or china cabinet that’s not being put to good use? It could make for excellent and tidy work spot, with its included room for paper, binders, and miscellaneous office supplies. You can even add a little color or pattern like this one to make it an especially sunny work environment.

Embrace the “Cloffice”

What do you get when you stick your computer in your closet? The “cloffice.” Sometimes these designated storage areas are the best place to add a few permanent shelves and drawers to create a practical workspace. And while built-ins are nice, if you’re going for easy, most closets already have at least one existing shelf for stowing things. All you have to do is add a stand-alone desk below.

Create a Mobile Office Trolley

If you don’t want to commit to any one area for a home office, you could store all your essentials on a transportable trolley. You could check morning emails in the kitchen, log on to a meeting in the living room, and even get some overtime done from the comfort of your bed.

As we do our best to navigate the work-life balance of remote employment, it’s important to remember that creativity is key to finding storage solutions and optimal home office positioning.

The post 7 Inventive Ways to Carve Out a Space-Saving Home Office first appeared on Dornob.

The original version of Ori’s Cloud Bed is brilliant in its own right, making the kind of robotic furniture we associate with The Jetsons look stylish, contemporary, and inviting. Aiming to save space by combining two rooms in one, it raises a king or queen size bed into the ceiling on demand, revealing the couch and coffee table hidden underneath. Now, an equally useful and adaptable version is available that swaps out the living room furniture for a sleek work area.

Ori’s Cloud Bed Table Edition allows your bedroom to do double-duty without requiring you to physically move anything other than your desk chair and laptop. No arduous pushing, pulling, or folding; you literally just tap a button on the bed or on your smartphone. It doesn’t get much easier than that. When you’re ready to turn in for the night, the bed descends, pushing the tabletop down to a lowered position. A built-in bookshelf along the wall then acts as a headboard, and your desk lamps become bedside lighting.

When the bed is tucked away within the ceiling unit, it’s virtually invisible. That’s what gives this transforming furniture unit its remarkable versatility. The desk is designed so you could sit across from visiting clients and they’d never guess they were really in your bedroom, which makes the Ori Cloud Bed pretty perfect for live/work setups. It’s not just ideal for people who work from home, though. It’s also a great way to make better use of a guest room, and it could even come in handy for hotel rooms, too. When space comes at a premium, why have an entire room dedicated to a part-time function like sleeping?

“Now more than ever we need our living spaces to better accommodate our many needs for working, sleeping, and living,” says Hasier Larrea, founder and CEO of Ori. “Ori’s new Cloud Bed, Table Edition makes the limited square feet of our spaces more usable and flexible – more livable. Adding the Cloud Bed, Table Edition to the Ori collection means developers have one more solution that can turn even the smallest apartment into a flexible and versatile space that adapts on demand to the needs of its residents.”

Both the table and sofa editions of the Cloud Bed are now available at select residential developments across the United States and to Real Estate Developers. They include built-in outlets, hidden dimmable LED lighting, and integration with home assistants like Amazon Echo and Google Home. Best of all, it’s modular, flat-packed, and assembled on site with no components permanently attached to the room, so you can easily disassemble it and take it with you if you move.

The post Ori’s New Version of Its Drop-Down Cloud Bed Integrates a Work-From-Home Desk first appeared on Dornob.