Home & Garden Blog » Design Concept

At last we are entering an era of inventive and unique solutions to city living. Otherwise known as paying un-earthly sums of money to live in a 4×4 foot cell!

Came across this product at Gizmodo its a super cool idea and folks who live in tiny apartments should really look into it. The Bedup saves you up to 30 square feet, the bed slides up when you’re not using it and can even have lighting integrated into its underside.

Customizable for size and color, it even lowers to a selectable height so that there’s room for furniture underneath.

From French designers Décadrages, its convenience will cost you: available from $4,300 upwards. Well hey the way I see it, if you can afford to pay so much to live in a small apartment in the city then by all means the price tag of the Bedup by Décadrages shouldn’t even make a dent in your Louis Vuitton wallet.

To learn more about the Bedup Bed from Décadrages, click here.

As the future rears its polluted and smoggy head ever closer, reducing our wastes and resource consumption levels is not jut politically correct, but necessary.

The key is not to get overwhelmed. Take baby steps toward making your home more eco-friendly. Take a moment to change your fluorescent or halogen bulbs in your home to LED light bulbs which use a fraction of the electricity and last much longer.

In a similar vein, check out Mesh Slider Panels for Blinds offered by JCPenney.com.

Great for rooms that are directly exposed to the sun. Reduces harmful UV rays up to 85% while maintaining your view, also prevents the fading of carpet and furnishings.

The benefit to the environment is that the panels keep your rooms cooler, thus reducing your dependence on air conditioning this spring and summer. Lowering your electricity bills is always a wonderful perk.

Based on the size of the window you are covering prices range: $219-$296.00

To learn more or shop for  Mesh Slider Panels for Blinds, click here.

Let’s review this week in Smarter Home & Garden Blog, in case you missed it!

Well first of all its Easter Sunday Week for all you Bunny lovers or religious folks!

Monday started the week off with a bang for everyone who enjoys the green ale! Check out this week’s funny photo of the week that is both frightening and festive. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Great Deals are few and far between, don’t miss this 16 piece discount set from Sango.com...

Let the new spring breeze sweep through your house with discount wood plantation shutters...

Can you believe that these salty egg holders are completely biodegradable, edible and help keep your eggs fresh and non-smelly! I couldn’t either, check out this great design concept…

Last but certainly not least, browse the adorable collection of discount Easter themed napkins, guest towels, tea sets and more at our Easter Deal of the Week!

This is cool! These egg cups are made of SALT! Inspired by the Portuguese tradition of selling boiled eggs out of a plate filled with salt, which conserves eggs and keeps them from smelling. The Home Project turns it into a series of beautiful objects. The crochet technique builds a structure for salt to crystallize. The result: an egg cup made from pure white salt crystals. The Home Project describes it as a sustainable product so we assume the material that is crocheted is a 100% natural one, which would make these egg cups fully biodegradable.

(click on any of “The Home Project” links to read more details)

These salty egg cup holders are the perfect addition to your Easter Sunday festivities, you can use them to display or eat your Easter Eggs this year!

This glass heating panel from Thermoglance takes us away from traditional metal radiators that are clunky and let’s face it, does not necessarily add to the aesthetic of a room!

Thermoglance radiators can be controlled by a chronothermostat which detects the room temperature and adjusts the heat accordingly. The glass heating panel is so easy to install, the floor or wall-mounted heating panels simply need an electric power socket. Space-saving, stunning and silent, glass heating panels are the way of the future.

See how elegant and unassuming the glass heating panels are in real life situations:

I like it! Nothing wrong with traditional metal radiators, but the way I see it life is all about having options. 

To read more or shop for Thermoglance Glass Panel Heaters, click here. 

So here I sat, drumming my thumbs waiting for inspiration to strike, or for a particular product to jump out at me to inspire my magical posting skills (that was funny just typing it) and I came across this nifty pair of Frangipani Frog ceramic vases from Novica.

Crafty little frogs sneak a peak from under the frangipani leaves that form these ceramic vases. Designed by Putu Oka Mahendra who was born in the Tabanan regency of Bali. Putu Oka Mahendra whimsical approach to his art results in an endearing and elegant design.

You can purchase this pair of original art worthy Frangipani Frog Ceramic Vases for only $27.95!

To purchase or shop for these discount ceramic vases, click here. Or click on any of the article links or images!

To shop for more deep discounts on all Home Decor, click here.

The video consists of an interview of Michelle Kaufmann who is designing a home that is modular, sustainable and modern.

Some of the key goals she has implemented into her design work is:

• Pre-packaging all the “green” features in order to ease consumer’s transition into a “green” lifestlye. Basically if you home is built to be efficient, you don’t have to do any of the legwork!
• Zero Electricity Bill
• Maximize Efficiency of Water
• Minimize Waste
• Maximize Materials Used to Produce Home
• You may even get money back from Power, Gas and Electricity because the home is so efficient and runs off solar energy!

There is more detailed information and ideas in the clip, there may just be hope yet!

To watch the video, click below!

YouTube - Watch Inhabitat Talks with Michelle Kaufmann Check out this awesome youtube clip from the people at Inhabitat!

Ever wanted to crawl into your television set and witness what it must have been like to live in Bedrock a la’ the Flintstones? Well now you can get a glimpse with these awesome surrealistic soft rock pillows from Livingstones!

There is something both primitive and very modern about the design by Stephanie Marin, with Smarin Design. The opening image looks fun, yet incredibly dangerous. Ha, I guess that is the appeal! Instinctively our base instincts tell us that one would be mad to jump head long into a cluster of boulders. Yet somewhere deep in our guts, knowing that these are surrealistic rock pillows makes me want to drop what I am doing and join them!

In her own words, Stephanie describes her collection of indoor and outdoor stone furniture;

“The project revolves around our relationship to nature, to our need to find and bring elements Nature into our interior atmosphere. Useful and beautiful metaphor objects for a new habitat. The interior space becomes an imaginary landscape, an intimate territory of our invisible travel.”

Stephanie Marin - Smarin Design

She strikes me as a very creative and innovative lady. I would love to meet her, though we might have a communication barrier to overcome as I believe she speaks French. C’est la vie! Good design is universal…

Gaze upon a portion of her collection in the following images:

Care for a Boulder Nap?

Nothing like jumping from stone to stone…

Mmmm… I wish I was there!

To visit the official site and learn more about Stephanie Marin and her Livingstones Rock Collection at Smarin Design , click here.  

Join one women’s quest (Astrelle) to turn Trash into Treasure at Apartment Therapy, Los Angeles.

Take your tunes to the shower, the kitchen sink, to the beach with tear drop, water resistant speakers that connect to your iPod or MP3 speakers. Read more about it at 2ModernDesign Talk Blog…

Check out the Organic Furniture with a Twist post on Blinkdecor.Features environmentally friendly furnishings and linens, their lighting selection is especially fun and original. It includes a twisted vine floor lamp made from old jungle vines and a chandelier made from reclaimed French Oak wine barrels.

This week in Smarter Home and Garden Blog:

Apple-Shaped Rattan Baskets - Take a bite out of these apples! Use them to store office supplies, napkins, whatever your heart desires.

Let Dine Without Whine help you plan nutritious and delicious meals for your whole family! Learn more by reading the “Dine Without Whine!“post.

If you do not possess the time nor the patience to hand select your sheets, you can shop online and select a “bed in a bag”! Read more about the great deals being offered at JCPenney online shopping store…

Comment on the Photo of the Week! “Hey Buddy the Erasures Won’t Erase the Smell!”

Rain, Rain Go Away, Come Again Another Day! Check out the Ceramic Umbrella Stand to house all those wet umbrellas this season…

Bedroom Furniture Deal of the Day! West Elm is has marked down their entire Narrow Leg Storage Collection, save up to $300 dollars on some pieces!

YouTube - Watch Bape Stores (Interior Design)

In case you did not know Bathing Ape is a Japanese clothing line founded by Nigo (real name Tomoaki Nagao) in 1993, which specializes in Urban and Hip Hop themed clothing. Personally I think the clothing is incredibly expensive for brightly colored and patterned sweaters and t-shirts, but what do I know?

The reason this video interests me is on a trip to Japan I was taken to a Bape Store and was stunned at the seriousness of the security and the level of mystery they enforce! First of all there was a line that literally went down a flight a stairs and around a corner. On top of that, absolutely NO PICTURES were allowed to be taken of the store front or any of the merchandise. I was snapping a picture of the sign and a security guard rushed to my side and immediately started reprimanding me and telling me, “NO pictures! NO pictures!”…Once inside individual cotton t-shirts were encased in blocks of what looked like bullet proof glass. Talk about marketing geniuses, here is the one picture I managed to take of the sign before getting jumped by the secret service!

By the way, keep in mind that the store front was just this, literally. No bells, no whistles just a block of grey concrete and these words: *A Bathing Ape “Busy Work Shop”. Suffice to say it was one of my favorite “you will not believe what I saw in Japan” stories. So feel free to watch this Youtube clip highlighting the interior design of the stores and if and when you get a chance, check out the original!