Once you lay your eyes on these mosaic tile carpets by Sicis, you won’t be able to peel them off. They are breathtakingly intricate and sure to make an enormous design statement in any interior. You can’t help but appreciate the expert artistic craftsmanship of these tile carpets that Sicis is so well known for.

Although they may seem extremely extravagant for some, these mosaics are available in various sizes and designs so that you may benefit from the luxury of mosaic floors in as big or small a way as you wish. They will invite texture, color and visual appeal to any space, while gently playing and reflecting light and hinting at glamor. Inspired by the idea of baroque romanticism and rejecting modernism – their designs are based on historically popular carpets, like the Kilim, Aubusson, needlepoint, Agra, Savonnerie, Byzantine and Indian style carpet designs.

SHH took on the Kensington House project with a commission to create a complete interiors scheme for the six storey, 1,114 sq m house. The new-build property is a contemporary take on a Georgian terrace house, set within a classic west London square. The property is comprised of a very generously proportioned reception room, large formal dining room, family room, cinema and pool room, all located on the lower 3 floors. The entire first floor is occupied by the master suite, with the remaining two floors taken up by 5 further bedrooms and en suite bathrooms.

The client’s brief was simple. The house had to suit the needs of an international couple with a large family. As for the look? ‘Cream, off-white and funky’.

The house is entered at upper ground level, which consists of a double volume entrance foyer, a free-floating staircase and the principal reception room. A centrally-located double door ushers visitors into the 66 sq m reception room. The front part of the room is to be used as the formal area and has been treated in a more prescribed manner, whilst the garden side of the room has a less formal feel. The garden is reached via the main staircase and is comprised of a passage leading into the family room at the back and the dining room at the front, both of which can be accessed through the centrally located internal kitchen. The family room is comfortable, warm and airy, decorated using soft creams and natural shades. The dining room, with it`s formal proportions, uses a minimalist Italian table and chairs from Minotti to great effect against the spectacular backdrop of a cross-combed polished plaster fire breast. The jewel in the room is the Hellbob light, designed by Ruhl Haagmans.

“We aim to make work that is forward thinking, exciting glass for the modern interior with an emphasis on creative design and skilled craftsmanship. Each piece is hand blown without the use of moulds, and made in their characteristic style, using a variety of both traditional and modern techniques.

Fruit

The fruit scent bottle range includes four different shapes: Peach, Pear, Plum and Lemon, each bottle has a dropper style stopper that has been ground with a flat stalk effect.

Anemone

These unusual bowls and bottles are based on the marine life. Each tendril is gathered from the furnace, shaped and applied whilst still hot to create the intricate tentacles.

Flute

Flute is a delicate and elegant range of clear tapered bottles with coloured, blown stoppers. These flow from the neck and finish with a cut and polished rim.

Helix

Bottles with straight and curved stoppers that sparkle with a fine applied trail. each is ground to fit its own base that is blown in a variety of jewel colours.

Flame

The flowers of the bird of paradise plant were the original insiration for these elegant scent bottles and decanters, avalable in various contrasting colour combinations.

Pod

These elegant vases have a graceful, simple charm inspired by forms found in nature.

Dispelling a myth…

To achieve this, he and his team combined many passive and active systems to create a cost-effective model for the community. The finished luxury home, the Chestnut House, is set upon a knoll with ocean views in Newport Beach. Although it would be difficult to claim this as affordable housing, Heinfeld does seek to dispel the myth that green costs more, and designed a home that provides an abundant sense of luxury but also an energy efficient and healthy home.

Description of an award winning house…

This award winning modern 4-bedroom, 4-bath house wraps itself around a central courtyard that emphasizes a combination of indoor and outdoor living.  The courtyard is used to passively heat and cool the house with prevailing breezes that are common in the southern California coastal climate. In the center of the house is the 2-story living area, which flushes hot air up and out to naturally ventilate the home with the help of a whole house fan. Two of the bedrooms are upstairs and are connected by a perforated bridge, which further assists air circulation. And above the kitchen is a large skylight with insulation properties similar to an R-11 wall.

Boasting green design…

The home boasts many other green design elements like an ENERGY STAR cool roof, with a 5.3 kilowatt solar system that provides for almost all of the home’s energy needs. The pool has its own solar hot water system for wintertime dips. Some of the interior walls are integral plaster that require no paint, while the rest were painted with low-VOC paints. The exterior was painted with low-VOC paints over Douglas Fir siding. And most of the flooring is composed of terrazzo, made from recycled glass and aggregates, and is an integral part of the passive heating and cooling systems.

Keeping the house on a budget…

Heinfeld kept the house on budget by balancing the expensive energy systems with simple interior finishes. A design choice that gives the home a minimalist and airy aesthetic that also suits its location on the coastline.

Naturally, the home is designed to save energy and money over time. Heinfeld says, “Sustainable homes — indeed, all sustainable buildings — are the marriage between time-honored design practices and the best of new technologies available today. Sustainability is not a trend or fad. It’s a value decision. Sustainability should no longer be viewed as an alternative design and building practice, but instead the preferred design and building practice.”

So imagine my delight when I came across the Chocolate Vanilla Coffee Table that emerges as a harbinger of creativity and satiates the chocoholic in me without the added calories!

About the designer and the idea…

Indian industrial designer Abhijeet Kumar in collaboration with Satyajeet Kumar has designed the Chocolate Vanilla Table for his design house Thingks. The table certainly reverberates with this design principle, since visually it’s a treat for the eye without sacrificing any elemental properties.

More about the Chocolate Vanilla Table…

The Chocolate Vanilla Table is highlighted by its creative carving that juxtaposes beautifully with the table’s clean lines. While the Kumars do seem to appear inspired by their heritage and Indian legacy, the table avoids falling in the trap of being “ethnocentric”.  The Table tilts towards a more modern design sensibility and the combination of the monochromatic elements is foolproof.

It can perfectly suit…

The Chocolate Vanilla Table according to Abhijeet Kumar was manufactured exclusively for a client based in the erstwhile princely state of “Rajasthan”. No surprises then that, I can see it inhabiting a space in some palatial home in India that makes for a kaleidoscopic colour explosion or taking centerstage in a modern NY Upper East Side apartment. The aura of internationalization that surrounds the table crystallizes flawlessly with cultural influence and hence makes for a captivating contradiction, don’t you reckon?

The high headboard of the Buonanotte Valentina bed features curved wooden slats—the edges of the slats containing some of the unbridled enthusiasm of the wood’s sensuous curves. Facing the bed head on, the wooden headboard appears rigid and flat; however, looking at it from any other angle reveals the S curvature of the bed’s headboard. The platform base too plays with a combination of rectilinear and contoured surfaces, from the straight spine hugging the floor to the rectangles with rounded edges that serve as the base in the front and back of the frame. The play here with aesthetic binaries can de dangerous: badly realized, this contradiction can be absurd. But the risk here is averted, the Buonanotte Valentina achieving a balance as precarious and daunting as a tightrope walker.

The bed can be further transformed with an optional covered headboard, wrapping the slats in leather—while still maintaining a wooden frame. It’s like a taut canvas stretched over a well-constructed scaffold, wherein the covering actually calls attention to what lies beneath. And what lies beneath, like everything else produced by Ceccotti, is masterfully built with that attention to detail we’ve come to expect of the Italians. The name tells much of what dreams you may have when sleeping in this bed—dreams foretelling a succession of good nights. If it were music, the Buonanotte Valentina would be reincarnated as the operatic notes of Offenbach’s Barcarolle from Tales of Hoffman—hauntingly yet serenely beautiful.

The two heat-formed planks and minimal fasteners are the basis of this clean, modern design. Its backrest is cantilevered and gets locked in place when you lay your weight on it. Moreover, its durable leather cushions slip in through large cutouts in the top surface, resting on the second curve.This sofa can bring some modern touch to any interior, i would certainly try it!

Throughout thousands of years people have sat around the fire, facing one another and reaching out their hands in order to warm them up. The primeval need for contact with fire lingers on in the soul of every man. Looking at dancing flames brings people together and the fire is associated with warmth and safety.

Planika is an innovative technology company set up as an Australian-European joint venture with its products present in 30 countries and two international branch offices in London (UK) and New Jersey (USA).

It started with a simple bonfire in the heart of the Australian continent, under the red Ayers Rock.
Two tourists, Alfred Weilandt and Jerry Dabrowski were sitting by the fire, long into the night, listening to Aboriginal tales about a mythical Epoch of Dreams. The atmosphere created by the flames inspired the two to find an easy way to have the same fire in contemporary interiors.
Their intention was to overcome the existing difficulties of soot, ash and the need for a chimney, all which are associated with fire in an interior space. Contemporary lifestyle demands products that through design have a character of their own but are safe and easy to use; this sparked the beginning of Planika by the founders Alfred Weilandt and Jerry Dabrowski. After spending months on designing and testing, the result was a product which combines beauty of form and comfort of use for the atavistic need to commune with fire.

This is how the idea of Planika Fires was born.

Planika Fires create real fire without any smoke. Designed by distinguished designers they become focal points of exclusive interiors.

The design process of Planika Fires takes place in the Planika Studio. Success lies in designing a new form that addresses contemporary lifestyle. Design together with the technical knowledge and experience are the basis for every model. By always paying close attention to every detail while shaping the form and carefully selecting the highest quality materials, we have come up with a product that is in accordance with our sustainable agenda.
We are open-minded and draw inspiration from around the world while working on the design projects. The busy world of today is full of creative impulses that foster young talents like the designer Maciej Klus, to express themselves through design. We are cautious not to limit ourselves and we emphasise the role of development. Thus, it is important for us to remain open to fresh ideas as well as different perspectives, recognising the importance of individuality and personal style. Aware of the significance of diversity a new collection was created together with renowned designer Christophe Pillet.

The building material for the Dome House is expanded polystyrene, “the fourth-generation building material” after wood, iron, and concrete.

Having cleared the world’s strictest building codes in Japan, the Dome House is approved by the Japanese Ministry of Land and Transport.

The special expanded polystyrene challenges the prevailing common sense.

By kneading “antioxidant solution” into expanded polystyrene, or the building material for the Dome House, active oxygen can be suppressed, resulting in the prevention of aging and the recuperation of your health. Also,because the Dome House is a formaldehyde-free building, you don’t need to worry about sick-house syndrome.

Wrapping up the entire Dome House seamlessly with an antioxidant solution, the Dome House helps recuperate your health and enhance clean global environment.

Because the Dome House uses expanded polystyrene as the building material, excellent thermal insulation can be obtained. Also, owing to its dome-shape, the Dome House allows the air to circulate by convection without being accumulated at the corners. For these reasons, air conditioning costs can be reduced substantially. The Dome House is an incredible ultra-energy-saving building.

Not only is the Dome House structurally the most stable in shape, but also, unlike iron, it does not get rusted, nor, unlike wood, does not get rotten or eaten by termites. The Dome House offers a comfortable living space semi-permanently.

The streamline curvature of a dome helps to dissipate wind energy.

The Dome House is not only stable in structure but also extremely light in weight. It is because of this lightweight that the Dome House can withstand earthquakes.

The Dome House can be built by assembling Dome Pieces. Each Dome Piece weighs only 80kg. Since assembly is quite simple, if performed by 3 or 4 people, it takes approximately 7 days to complete a Dome House.