Do you Know the Muffin Man? Matteo Bianchi Introduces Muffin Pouffes. Sweet Seats & Storage.

Matteo Biancho, creative director and founder of Daruma Design, an interior design business based in London, has designed a new sweet seat.




The Muffin Pouffe functions as a seat, an ottoman and/or hidden storage. Made with a handcrafted wood base and premium Italian leathers and buttons, it's both playful and elegant.



The storage base is lined with a leather sleeve:


Available with or without concealed storage, it has unlimited options in finishing or colors which means you can 'bake' your own.


wood base and colored leather combinations:


Standard model starts at £799 and Storage model at £1,299
To order your Muffin Pouffe, contact Matteo Bianchi

Jellio Cupcake Seat -
A similar idea, but in funkier colors and materials, is the Cupcake Seat from Jellio. These have a molded rubber top and colored polyurethane shells:



The cupcake seat will cost you $900 and can be purchased here.

Room of the week!

I guess I should re-phrase that to "moment" of the week. I love this dressing table and can only dream of having the time to sit and powder my nose and get ready someday. I'm usually lucky to throw an outfit together while watching my little one tear through my shoes. ;)

image: Pinterest

Calling all neat freaks! (or those aspiring to be)

So, this week I have been scouring the DC area for apartments.  After living in NYC for 3 years I figured every other city would seem inexpensive and abounding in square footage.  I was wrong.  The apartments in DC are less expensive, and slightly larger, but I guess I had my hopes up too high.  That's okay though, because a smaller space forces me to be more creative with how I store, organize, and edit my belongings.  If there's one thing I love - it's solving an organization/space issue beautifully, functionally, and inexpensively.

So the next month or so I might be throwing a lot of organization sales and ideas your way as I'm figuring our how to keep all my belongings in my new, down-sized apartment.

If you have any ideas let me know!  All these goodies are from the fab. sale site Beyond the Rack.  You have to be a member, but it's free and fast to sign up - just click here.

 canisters, $10.99

 I always use a folding dish rack like this, that way after I put away the dishes I can stow the rack under the sink and clear off counter space - important in small kitchens.  bamboo dish rack - $9.99

We eat a lot of fresh fruits and veggies and hanging baskets will keep them from taking up valuable counter space. $5.99

Once I know our exact kitchen dimensions we'll definitely get a kitchen trolley.  They're cute and super useful. $59.99

I think city homes especially should be no-shoes indoors. One treads on pretty nasty stuff walking the city streets...it also keeps your floors cleaner. $17.99

 

In my opinion you can't have too many bins, baskets, and boxes.  $7.99

shoe tree $49.99

hamper $19.99

I've never seen one of these before. It's a boot storage shelf. Good idea if you have a lot of knee-high boots. $44.99

sweater shelf $9.99

metal cabinet shelves and racks - especially those that roll out - maximize your cabinet space. $21.99 - $74.99

If any of these call to the neat freak in you head over to the sale at Beyond the Rack.  Here's the free/fast sign up link.

Fabulous, classy kitchens

These kitchens are elegant and functional, a quality that I think could make my cooking taste decent....

via Pinterest

via Trad Home

check out the arm chair in the kitchen!  Do you like this look?

Stunning...the floor, the tiles...the jumbo baskets...

check out the light fixture....spoons!

An interesting loft minimalist kitchen

Interesting layout - great use of rugs...

5 images above via Schibsted Forlag

Robox - The Robot-Shaped Bookcase for Casamania by Fabio Novembre.

Looking for a fun way to store the books in your children's room or modern office? Irreverent designer Fabio Novembre's Robot shaped bookcase for Casamania may be just the thing. Presented at this year's Salon del Mobile, the Robox is made of varnished metal and stands 184 cm tall.





Fabio Novembre

ABC Bookcase - Letters and Numbers Modular Cube Storage from Saporiti

The ABC bookcase (libreria ABC) is a fun and functional series of modular storage cubes shaped as letters and numbers designed by Eva Alessandrini and Roberto Saporiti for the Italian furniture design firm Saporiti.


above: I so gotta get me these, don't you think?

You can assemble any number of the sophisticated looking cubes to form words or sentences as in the examples of the "Read your book case","News" and "XOXO" compilations shown below:





The cubes are available in three sizes and a number of interior wood stains and exterior colors.


Nicely designed, the modular storage works in any style room for children or adults. For pricing or more information about the ABC Libreria, contact Saporiti here

Graffiti Decorated Desktop Dumpsters By Steelplant.

Designer Ryan Christensen of Steelplant has come up with a very chic urban way to store books and desk accessories or as a container for live plants and other objects.




His Steelplant Edition One are a series of artist-decorated "Desktop Dumpsters." The graffiti-painted miniature steel dumpsters are each one of a kind and look just like the real thing. Dumpsters are cut, formed, and welded up from 14 gauge (1/16") 25-35% recycled steel. When empty, they weigh nine pounds. The lid tiles are milled from a wood/plastic composite material that is made from plastic bags and sawdust that would otherwise go to a dump somewhere.




Once built they are given to an artist, or multiple artists to be painted, inked, glued, printed, distressed, whatever. Each dumpster is unique in the first edition. The art and application methods will change with each release.







In Ryan's own words:
"Steelplant was born out of a massive year-long brainstorming session I had. Back in November of 2010 while working like mad on a catalog for a client, I got a serious overuse injury that crippled me for a year. During this time It occured (sic)to me how important it was to make objects with my hands. I also realized that I needed a creative outlet that wasn't limited by factors out of my control. When I was finally well enough to use my hands again I turned my thoughts into sketches, and my sketches into Steelplant."

Shop for them here