Spanish designers Miguel Angel García Belmonte of POTT (The Pottery Project), have designed the ceramic SpongeUP lamps.

There is a new light. No dazzles, No marks. Not even corpuscles or lumens. It is a warm and porous light, coming from the hand made pottery piece skin.

Sponge consists on a clay sphere where the light slips through, thus becomes more than a lamp, as an unusual clay piece with an unique design that achieves a very particular look along its uneven surface.

I’m not really an eco-friendly person, but I just try, from time to time, to be creative or do something original. Thus, I decided to have a Christmas tree decorated with different things from nature this year. Here’s what I used to make the ornaments:

• Cinnamon bars/sticks
• Orange, grapefruit, and lemon slices
• Red ribbon
• Potpourri
• Needle and thread (dark green, not to be too visible)
• Glue (optional)

One or two days before decorating your tree slice some oranges, lemons and grapefruit and let them dry on a heater. Turn the slices on both sides every 4 hours (actually, it depends on your heater).  You can also dry the slices by leaving them in the oven for a few minutes.

I used different ways of sewing these together: a cinnamon stick with a dry orange slice, a ribbon tied around two cinnamon sticks, potpourri glued on slices of oranges etc.

If you have a large Christmas tree and you are tired of making complex ornaments, just put some popcorn on white thread to make tinsel. It’s cheap and it brightens up the atmosphere.

Another idea for tree ornaments is this: make a “special dough” from 2 cups of flour, 1 cup of salt, 2-3 tablespoons of oil and ¾ cup of water. Use cookie shapes to make different kinds of ornaments and let them dry. Don’t forget to insert a handle or a string through the dough. You may also paint them.

Here are a few photos of my small Christmas tree.

I hope you found these tips useful.

Merry Christmas!

—  All rights reserved to Ilinca Sadoveanu. —

The metallic trend is alive and well with this flashy furniture by Koket. Not for the bland of taste, the Intuition table and the Guilt mirror deliver a double dose of drama to your home.

Whet your appetite for the bold and the beautiful with this stunning dining table design. The base boasts a ribbon wound around, supporting the circular glass top, finished in dramatic black on the outside and glitzy gold peeking through from the interior.

Complement the look with this dramatic sunburst mirror, which simply screams “glamour!” with its edgy lines and glamorous gold-toned hammered finish framing a convex mirror. Talk about a “guilty” pleasure!

Peruvian artist, Grimanesa Amorós, has unveiled Uros, a temporary light-based installation at theTribeca Issey Miyake store in New York. Amorós will present Uros there on December 15th.

Tribeca ISSEY MIYAKE is proud to present Uros, a lighting sculpture installation from a recent series of works by Peruvian artist Grimanesa Amorós. Uros will be unveiled on Thursday, December 15 and running through January 14th, 2012.

When Amorós was a child living on the coast of Peru, she always loved the beauty of the ocean; everything from the tides to the colors, to the bubbles and the foam.

Off the coast of Puno, Peru are the Uros Islands. They are floating islets made of totora reeds grown in Lake Titicaca. The pre-Incan Uros, who live on these forty-two self-fashioned floating islands, build everything out of this material -from houses to boats to watch towers. From these two ideas, Amorós created Uros to reflect the natural elegance of sea foam and totora reeds. The sculpture will seemingly arise from the ground as if it were one with the earth.

Theodora is a collection of exotic and artsy furniture by Sicis – the art mosaic factory. Of course, as the name suggests, Sicis’ specialty is extravagant mosaic work, but they have also worked with designers to add furniture and accessories to their repertoire that match their brand and image.

I especially enjoy the Theodora Collection, designed by French fashion designer Christian Lacroix. The artsy collection includes lamps and seats, and they definitely have this couture quality about them. Luscious fabrics, elegant shapes with a modern global feel about them, these pieces are sure to add a little dramatic flair to any room.

Doimo produces objects for the home that they love, and i love these wool lampshade lamps aptly named Miss Wool from their Seasons 4 Collection. In this collection they curate four mini sub-collections which project home fashion for each season of the present year.

Miss Wool lamp belongs to this year’s Winter sub-collection which is all about the knitted effect.

The lampshade is covered in a tubular knitted wool accessory that can be conveniently removed and washed. The elegant little bow makes this Miss extra charming. The lamp itself is fun and cozily modern.

Prepare to be astounded by this unusual carpet idea called Karpett using Tarkett flooring.

Thought up by the creative minds at 5.5 Designers for a flooring exhibition, this carpet is essentially a large roll of Tarkett flooring that can be used as a bench or unravelled and transformed into a seating / lounging area.

The designers have called it “a comfort dispenser”. It allows for flexible solutions for usual living activities. A place for children to play, a place for you or your guests to rest or nap, a place to lounge while having a long phone conversation, or for an impromptu picnic in your living room – this unusual carpet understands that living is improvised.

Regarding this piece, the opinions aren’t all the same, some like it, some find it odd. What do you think? Would you purchase such a piece?

These ‘After Matisse’ playful rugs by Sonja are inspired by the French artist Henri Matisse’s cutout works. Cleverly designed to give the illusion of overlapping transparent colors, these vibrant rugs are sure to bring a playful modern feel to any space.

Its irregular shape gives it a unique aesthetic, while the hand carved pieces made of New Zealand wool promise a superior quality. Sonja can customize her rugs to fit the specifications or tastes of her clients. In this way, you can be sure this rug has not only the ability to be a wonderful focal point, but also one of a kind.

The wonderful rugs are perfect to complete not only a modern decorated room but you can find a place for them in a classical decorated room as well. After Matisse can make the focal point of any room or even for the lobby.

Enjoy the colors and mix and match with the rest of the decor pieces!

Almost as if it was a real bouquet of calla lilies … this elegant design of calla lilies lamp by Avmazzega is a perfect imitation. Zante is a beautiful lamp with a definitely joyful structure. Held together by a chrome frame, the hand made glass pieces are available in a crystal, white, amber or milky glass option.

The lamp’s design can also be customized depending on the number of glass lilies, so you can end up with a minimal stylish calla pendant or one that is more voluptuous. This stunning lamp is available as a suspension or wall lamp.

A wonderful, unique piece with an extremely delicate design.

Australian design studio Evie Group have created the Spun Lamps collection.

The Spun light was inspired by the classic wooden top toy. In this, the concept was transformed into a decorative lighting piece, available as a floor, table and pendant lamp.

Continuing the theme of playfulness, the design is flexible in its positioning of angles as a floor and table lamp with the addition of a rubber base support piece. The wire pays further homage to the traditional top, which is able to be wound around the lamp or loosely placed on the floor, resembling a top after it has spun.

The polished mirror finishes of brass and silver colours and curved surfaces, create an interesting reflection of the surrounding environment. When positioning the two lamps sizes in clusters, the play of light is emphasised, creating a bold statement to any space.

The Spun lamps do not have any visible screws or fasteners on the outer surface. This creates a clean lined design, mimicking the smooth profile of the spinning top.

The frosted glass shade is securely held in place with an innovative screw method. A thread is moulded into the glass during manufacture with three locking points. This allows a simple twist of the glass shade to access the LED lighting when needed.

The electrical wire (flex) has intentionally been made long to become a feature of the lamp. The rope like wire relates back to the winding up and spinning of the top allowing an element of play with the floor lamp and its display.

First of all i have to mention the fact that “Spun” in romanian means “tell”, secondly this lamp reminds not only me but also i guess most of the people of their childhood due to the fact that’s already mentioned above – that it resembles a humming top. Interesting and appealing idea for the design of this lightning piece.