Are you one of those people who can go into a book store and literally get lost for hours? If you are, welcome to the club! My weakness is the Design/Architecture aisle; there is so much inspiration I can easily pass hours there. This seems like the perfect time of year to share a few of my favorite books, since I’m sure some of you have some design lovers on your list. What could be better than an inspiring book as the ultimate present…if your giftee is anything like me, you know they will continue to look at your gift for years to come!

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Did you know that sleep is still a mystery to science? Scientists know for sure that we need sleep, and that being without sleep for too long will literally make us go insane and eventually kill us. They know about how much sleep we need, too. But they don’t exactly know what we need sleep for. There are strong indications that sleep is a function that lets the body and mind rest and rejuvenate, but it has not really been proven…

In this posting, I will present some beds that may make you wonder if you are awake or dreaming. At the very least you will fall asleep with a smile on your face

The Floating Bed

I would love to go to sleep in this bed designed by Janjaap Ruijssenaars! Actually, I would love to go to sleep in this room… The floating bed is kept off the ground by enough magnets to keep 900 kg in the air. To make sure that the bed doesn’t float away (because of wind or other things that may rock your bed…), it is anchored to the walls by four cables. With a price tag at over a million dollars (yes, that is six 0’s), I doubt this bed will be more than a dream for most of us. But what a lovely dream…

A cheaper version of the floating bed is this round floating bed, which is a little less elegant and suspended from the ceiling.

The Cocoon Bed

The Lomme bed is a little on the science fiction side. I can imagine storm troopers sleeping in these. Well, at least it would match their uniforms. Talking about matching: you can change the color of the light inside the bed, allowing you to color coordinate with either your bedroom or your Star Wars pajama. The Lomme’s color changing feature is intended for light therapy, and it features a unique light therapy alarm clock.

Jokes aside, I do love the smooth and futuristic design of this bed, and the color therapy sounds intriguing, but what other furniture would it go with? The classic Bubble Chair by Eero Aarnio? Maybe this is a challenge for Julieann, the Tastemaker Diaries’ interior designer?

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The new Crate and Barrel arrived in the mail today and I took a rare moment to sit and flip through it! Here are a few great finds for fall.

The Allegro Settee is a great deal at $499 (though it does say assembly required, which might mean nothing more than screwing in some legs) and looks substantial at 54 inches wide. It appears to slant back ever so slightly, which I like in a settee. I prefer it in the Mocha Micro. At this price, it would be a great piece to reupholster after a year or two if you get sick of the fabric! Stack a few brightly colored pillows on it and you have a unique new settee.

Another piece which caught my eye was this magazine rack. Goodness knows I can use all the help I can get in corralling the piles of magazines I have! I like the faux leather which is different than all the metal ones we see out there and the ivory stitching is a nice detail. At $21.99 it is available in green, red and white. Now if they had purple or orange, it would be ever so trendy.

The Alpha coffee table is a unique piece with its vintage looking printers blocks. It is a great conversation piece and could be the highlight of any living room. At $899, it’s not necessarily inexpensive, but it is a piece I would suspect one would keep for a long time!

What home decor pieces are you liking for fall?

All those stuck in a stuffy cubicle have dreamed of the day they could break free! Thank goodness Michiel can der Kley designed this amazing compact workstation for Gispen.

In another lifetime I was completely one of those who worked in a very boring looking cubicle, you know the ones with the gray felt and high walls. This would have been a welcome sight! van der Kley designed Globus originally for the corporate office but than saw there was an interest for it in the home, cafe and other lobby areas. You can now use it with your Xbox or even hook up a tv! The “ball” opens in the center to reveal a comfy swivel chair and a sturdy pull down board for your laptop. When not in use it can be closed, locked and with the convenient casters, easily moved from one area to another! Genius! I just love the sleek style and the comfort factor which might just equal more productive employees! Tell your boss you are really thinking outside of the box, actually I would say “ball”! At the moment it is only available in white, but can’t you just see it in fun, eye-popping colors? I am confident in saying this would make those long lay over waits in the airport much more bearable!

Is this something you could see working in yourself?

Coat racks, hangers, and hooks: they are all very useful but often an eyesore when not covered up by some piece of clothing. This post introduces you to some coat racks you can show off. Both useful and decorative, that’s dual functionality! Need I say more?

Among the coat racks found in my stylefeed my current favorite is the Ivy modular coat rack. Besides having great lines and functionality I love the fact that its modular. This allow you to both adapt the size of the coat rack to your needs and to the space it inhabits. If you are a family of 13 you can expand the coat rack so there is room for everyone’s coat. And if your hallway is the size of Taj Mahal you can decorate an entire wall with the Ivy coat rack. No need to hold back!

I also like the curvy and girly Forget-me-not coat hooks by Charlotte Lancelot. They come in white, black, orange, and red.

I have inherited a love for trees from my dad. I do think he would approve of these Hall Tree coat hooks and the Tree coat hanger by Michael Young and Katrin Petursdottir, even though I suspect he would have preferred the prior in wood rather than stainless steel. He loves anything wooden… Maybe Aysia, the Tastemaker Diaries’ in house eco fashionista would agree with him?

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The term Modern Furniture can mean different things to different people. I belong to those who consider it a style of furniture influenced by modernism, designed and produced since the late 19th century. Most of you will recognize some of the modern classics below representing this style. It is hard to believe that some of these pieces have been around since before your parents, your grandparents, and in some cases even your great-grandparents, were born!

Egg Chair by Arne Jacobsen (1958), LC4 Chaise Longue by Le Corbusier (1928)

Noguchi Coffee Table by Isamu Noguchi (1944), Monte Carlo Bench – Eileen Gray (1925)

If you are lucky enough to find an original, and have the money to buy it, I truly envy you. But for those of us who are not so lucky, there are companies offering replicas of these modern classics for a cheaper price, so we can still enjoy owning one.

If you have a favorite modern classic, please let me know about it in the comments

The charismatic couple of Conscious Living TV, Bianca and Michael Alexander, show us “Urban Fashion At Its Finest” in this eco fashion tour de force. From our sustainably fashion forward neighbors in Montreal to the funky vintage shops of Hollywood, Conscious Living TV takes us coast to coast uncovering edgy and retro designs, useful green wardrobe tips, and Michael’s bootilicious dance moves. Relax and enjoy the show-the fun (and the funk) of these two is infectious.

So we’re all carrying around digital cameras… whether integrated into our phones, traditional digital point-and-shoot cameras, or digital SLRs. We are taking more photos than ever before, so at least some of them are bound to be good, right? Now the question remains: how can we best display the wonderful visuals that we have captured? The answer is: personalize your space with them!

First let me make one thing clear: I am not talking about a regular personalized photo-mug or mouse pad that you can order from any online photo printing service. Think bigger and bolder! I am talking about making your photos the focal point of a room, proudly displaying your best snaps and giving them the attention they really deserve!

Your Photo Blinds

Don’t have a room with a view? Do something about it! Get your favorite photo printed on window treatments like blinds or shades. Balcony Vacations is one of the companies who offer this service, and some of them do customized sizes as well. With the daylight spilling through your blinds and illuminating your photo of a French meadow you can bring a little piece of nature into the city and pretend it’s summer all year long…

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Like most Stylefeeders, I love visuals. Discovering beautiful shapes, great colors, and interesting designs really makes me happy! I admire designers and artists who are able to create objects and compositions I cannot stop looking at. I secretly hope that I would be able to do the same if I only had more time available

My style can safely be called eclectic. The kinds of things that catch my attention are interesting and pleasing to the eye, make me smile, and have that unexpected extra dimension that gives them character. This includes modern furniture, ethnic antiques, artsy wall decor, silly gadgets, stylish recycling, and ingenious designs. I blame traveling and having lived in a handful of different countries, picking up aspects of various cultures and making them part of who I am.

Almost everything you’ll find in my Stylefeed are things I would love to own if I only had enough money to buy them and enough space to put them in. But who needs 27 beds, 54 lamps, and 32 couches! In future posts, I will share some of my favorites with you, and I hope you will enjoy them as much as I do!

It’s great being an indie girl, who of course wears indie jewelry, because there’s such an abundance of it. Just go to a site like Etsy and you will find hundreds of jewelry designs that are unique, hand-crafted pieces that you won’t find in the big department store chains. Unfortunately, there are far fewer options for the guys out there, so I did some hunting and here are a few of my favorite finds for the hipster/modern man, (or the guy that is striving to be one):

This stunning wooden briefcase is designed by Japanese designer Takumi Shimamura. I love wood-accented accessories, but I have NEVER seen a briefcase made out of wood, let alone so sleek, modern and one-of-a-kind! This talented industrial designer used an ecological, thinned Japanese cedar with a water- repellant finish. It’s large and wide enough to accommodate most laptops, has sturdy canvas edges, double zippers, and inner pockets. These are hand crafted in Japan and each one is as unique as is the cedar tree it came from, and for $299.99, it stacks up nicely with more traditional versions.

The next company I want to introduce you to is as clever as their slogan: Craft meets Technology. Dbclay is a company from Portland, Oregon that creates unique wallets called pocket art. They are true innovators in the design world. Db developed a custom textile and a proprietary printing technique that takes conceptual art and photographs and transfers it onto their eco-friendly Tope fabric. Tope is strong, durable and water resistant ,and is the only product of its kind on the entire planet! How many companies large or small can say that? Cool and eco-friendly, now that’s a combo I can live with!

This ode to the 70’s design is actually a copy of an old wooden box transferred onto their Tope fabric.

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