Bamboo For Baby Is The Bomb! Castor & Chouca Eco-Friendly Baby Products

Innovative French brand Castor & Chouca creates eco-friendly bamboo baby products inspired by innovations in the medical field as well as design. Crafted in France, the pieces and collections combine modern simplicity with futuristic design and a concern for the world we live in.

Their green high end furniture is crafted with ecological and recyclable raw materials (massive bamboo-slat, linen, organic cotton, recyclable components) the furniture is made to last and not to be thrown away.

With products for infants to toddlers to juniors, their lines are broken down into four collections, one of which is actually recycled and repurposed products.

The Hop! Cradle


The Hop! Bassinet Trolley:



The Hop! Sofa kit:

The 1,2,3 Soleil All In One (crib, changing table and junior desk):



The Generous Furniture Baby Cot:

The Generous Furniture Nappy Changing Commode:

The Generous Furniture Junior Bed:



They brilliantly recycle their products as well, so you can choose from repurposed products in their Generation Offer -Recycled collection.

Design Cradle (recycled):


About them:
Castor & Chouca is the child of a french manufacture in Marciac (south of France). Its three founders: Philippe Ossona de Mendez (designer and co-designer of the brand), Jérôme Lasserre and Bruno Flinois wanted a brand to answer new parents' demand: secure, eco-friendly and nice design products for their families.

Castor & Chouca is an innovative french brand which creates and produces furniture, accessories and textile products, dedicated to the blooming of the children. An eco-design universe, a contemporary atmosphere, a collection inspired by child care in maternity hospitals (practical and safe) and designs in the heart of the parents' home a line of decorative furniture (innovation and design) for children. Castor & Chouca stands apart as well by the originality and quality of the chosen materials and the evolution of each of its creations which follows the child in his development.


Castor & Chouca
9 Villa des Sablons
92200 Neuilly-sur-Seine
France
T : +33 (0)1 47 22 25 99
F : +33 (0)1 47 22 41 64

Judson Beaumont's "cartoon" Furniture

Furniture Filled With Whimsy & Straightline designs

Above: The Accordian dresser


Meet The Master of Furniture Whimsy; Judson Beaumont

If you've ever wanted to live in a Looney Tunes Cartoon or have your children's room resemble a scene from Beauty & The Beast or Alice in Wonderland, then Judson Beaumont's quirky and well-crafted furniture is the thing for you.


Above: Judson with his wares at a Japan trade show


With a vivid imagination and the ability to execute and bring the idea to fruition, Judson's company, Straightline Designs (even the name is a jest) has created some of the most fun and unusual dressers, tables and more.


Above: The Boom Dresser, 6 pieces mounted on the wall.


Above: The Bridge bookcase


Above: The Brian Dresser


Above: the Whitney dresser


Above: The Melting Cabinet

His children's room furniture consists of many different dressers, some clocks, and beds that resemble everything form Cinderella's carriage to a locomotive.




In addition to the fun stuff for the nursery, he creates conceptual furniture filled with wit. My favorite being the "Bad" Table (seen below):



Above: The Burnt Legs Table


He clearly has an adult sense of humor as well, check out his Custom "munny" (now sold out) for Voltageland, of the evil Charlie Brown:


After successfully designing furniture with a straightforward approach for years, this artist set out to create something unique for friends who were expecting their first child. He wanted his creation to capture the baby's imagination for years to come. Today, like his first kid-inspired piece, Judson designs some of the most offbeat, whimsical furnishings in the world.

Cartoons like Looney Tunes’ Bugs Bunny and Roger Rabbit, along with the work of innovative architect Frank Gehry, inspire his work.

He has also designed several props for movie and commercial sets and finds his greatest joy in designing play areas for children’s hospitals. “Children always get my work. They respond very positively, unlike adults who often say ‘You can’t do that.'”

Click here to read a nice online article with Judson from Woodworking Web.

Click here to purchase many of his pieces.

Click here to see newer pieces for 2009-2010


Judson's got some competition with Randall and Sharon Porter's new collection called Cartoon Furniture®, see it here.



Another line of stunning whimsical cartoon-like furniture is that of Vincent Thomas Lehman's. See that here

New 2010 post on his new pieces here!