The benefit of space is something modern homes don’t provide and rather than settling for a single bed or perhaps a folding bed in tow just in case you have some guests who may sleep over, here is a brilliant design from Simple DoubleDeux bed that allows you to accommodate people when the need arises.

From a single bed, this flexible design allows you to slide out two interlocking molded plywood platforms and provide more space to guests who may be coming over to spend the evening. This is a good solution to people who live in the usual cramped condominiums or small rooms. If it is not in use, you can always revert it to a single bed with plenty of space to spare.

The SimpleDoubleDeux Bed, left, consists of two interlocking molded plywood platforms that slide together to form a single bed and apart to create a double bed. It is the brainchild of Daniel Jauslin, a principal in Drexler Guinand Jauslin Architects in Zurich, who needed a bed small enough to fit in his 9-by-12-foot guest room but big enough for two guests.

“We wanted flexibility,” he said. “We thought it could be good to have two beds to take the space of one.”

Mr. Jauslin’s firm sells the bed ($3,485 at simpledoubledeux.ch), along with a pair of latex foam mattresses ($1,878), and this year it won the top furniture award in I.D. magazine’s annual design review.

(Source) The New York Times

Included in the interior designing practices are the eco-friendliness adapted by most designers and through the strategic partnership of Bella Casa Design Studio and Eco-Populace, both parties are looking for a win-win situation that will benefit both companies and provide the needs set forth by modern consumers for their home. Eco-Populace is an alternative energy consulting form and from all indications, they will work in hand with Bella Designs to come up with expert interior design ideas and act as a one stop and shop green realm.

Bella Casa will be the expert in interior design for Eco-Populace and will allow Eco-Populace to continue its expansion into the eco-friendly realm as a one-stop-shop for “thinking green”. Bella Casa offers the following green products and services: green residential/commercial interior design, eco-friendly space planning/layouts, custom furniture/built-ins, green flooring, custom window treatments, eco-friendly upholstery, painting and color selection, and various interior accents.

(Source) PRLog

Raw materials in making furniture do not need to come from current or new resources. We see old homes that are normally torn down in lieu of a new one and the scraps or the old wood that normally comes down with it are surely to be of use if you think about it.

Call it a matter of recycling and putting ingenuity into place, old home materials can be used to make new furniture. In fact, if you think about it, newly made woodworks such as tables or chairs may eventually look like they have been around for some years now. All it takes is to put them together and create a finished product out of recycled wood.

Fogg says that 15 percent to 20 percent of the wood he uses is recycled from old homes and barns.

Out of this fir, yellow pine and other enduring wood, he makes something new, but always with an eye on the simple elegance of the American past.

“The idea,” he said, pointing to his newly finished table, “is to make furniture that looks like it’s been around for 200 years.”

(Source) Courant.com

Practically all people these days are having a hard time managing their finances. While you want the best quality of beds and furniture in the market to place in your homes, you just have to place the self-control as far as buying new ones from top furniture stores today. An alternative these days deals with checking out used furniture. With all the moving and house cleaning that people make, there are bound to be great items up for grabs you can get from garage sales or of similar events.

One thing to note, used furniture are not antiques. They will have their share of being scrutinized but the point here is that of being able to properly check if they are still worthy of buying. While finances are a constraint these days, it still remains that you should buy furniture that is a reasonable find.

“My income has not changed,” said Phillips, 32, who works in the operations department of a cable company. “It’s just that things are more expensive. I’m spending more money at the grocery store. I’m spending more money on gas.”

So the single mom decided to do something that more shoppers are doing in these tough economic times.

She decided to buy used furniture.

“Budgets are tight,” she said. “I’m just trying to save a penny.”

(Source) Freep.com

In a world where finance and pricing are obviously two erratic words today, bed manufacturer Five Star Mattress has followed a different route, trying to become consumer-friendly and cutting down on its retail prices. Just when most companies today are trying desperately to determine how to offset raw materials and operation costs, here is a company that is going the opposite direction.

A professional business expert would call it suicide or perhaps a product of inferior quality. But on a business strategy aspect, it is a brilliant move to capture a majority of the bedding market. Surely it will garner a large chunk of the pie but hopefully, it will not sink its teeth in the overall production cost and provide profits.

“This is not a temporary rollback, but new, more competitive pricing that will rock the industry, providing higher margins for dealers than was ever thought possible,” she said. “We are making a big push to gain additional business. We are the only producer in the industry that is lowering prices.”

(Source) Furniture Today

Interior designing is perhaps a hobby that any creative mind would love to get into. The difference will be on concept however. There are people who have made it from a hobby into a business and each of them have had their share of followers. In fact, Mydeco has had a lot of success in enticing the creative mind of individuals today towards emphasizing various home interior designs today and apparently have become famous for it.

But as far as Mydeco is concerned, a lot of concern has been placed on whether they are dictating a new fad and niche that allows them to differentiate and charge for their expertise.

But that was then. While playing cards on the Internet recently, Ast stumbled onto the Web site of mydeco, a new London company that showcases furniture from major retailers and helps users design their own interiors. In little over a month, Ast has created more than 60 virtual rooms using 3D models of products such as sofas, lamps, wallpaper, and vases. Although the mydeco site is still in beta testing, Ast’s rooms have been viewed 6,500 times, helping her achieve the status of a “design oracle” on the site and reap encouraging compliments from viewers around the world. “Maybe I should see if I could get a job somewhere as a designer,” she says.

Ast’s experience is an example of how mydeco, which is expected to launch commercially this autumn, is hoping to “democratize design,” giving budding interior designers tools to experiment with different arrangements of furniture, lighting, wall colors, and floor coverings—all on the screens of their PCs. And as it has for Sylvia Ast, mydeco also gives its customers the chance to show off their work and gain renown.

(Source) Businessweek

Sofas are perhaps the best alternative towards soliciting overall comfort these days and apparently there are things to consider before making a final purchase for these. But one thing that most experts say is to initially sit on it and worry about design later.

Rightfully so, no one can take away from people the quality of a good sofa. They are not there to stare at. They are there for us to be able to sit on or even lay on. In short, it is how we can relax on them that is important over anything else.

So the next time you are thinking of buying a sofa, set aside the exteriors. Comfort comes on what feel you have for it.

Comfort is “the No. 1 consideration” in buying a sofa, said Joe Caliva, sales associate at Brinton’s of Carmel. “Style is No. 2, and the pattern and color are No. 3.”

The experts say it’s good to get the whole family involved in the purchase.

“Each person has to sit on the sofa, to see how it fits them proportionally,” said Debbie Brix, manager of the Ethan Allen store in San Jose. “You have to take your shoes off, lie down and curl up, because that’s how a lot of people live.”

(Source) The Monterey County Herald

Eileen Gray is a known name in the furniture design business. She has given a new meaning towards conceptualization and design and a lot of it were introduced in the market in the 1900’s. During these times, modern furniture designs were conceived as mechanical and were it not for the vested interest of one Andre Putman, perhaps none of us would see the contemporary designs that are sure hits today.

The appreciation of Gray’s performance back then were perhaps not seen as the tomorrow of modern design. Today however, we can see similarities of her concepts and then some, which are surely ideal stuff that anyone would want in their homes today.

She designed a new range of furniture for the home and in line with the Bauhaus and Modernists’ philosophies, moved away from creating exclusive, one-off pieces, instead preferring to create furniture that was simple, refined and functional and that allowed for mass production.

One small table in particular, called the E-1027, is one of Gray’s most recognised pieces. Also the name Gray gave to her San Tropez house, the E-1027 was small, round and amazingly versatile and, today is considered one of the icons of modern design. She also designed chairs, settees, desks and storage units for her home.

Sadly, her clients initially shunned Gray’s new direction and interest in her work waned. Just before her death, however, Andre Putman, a prominent French designer, revived interest in Gray’s designs and obtained a licence to manufacture several of them. Exhibitions at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Museum of Modern Art in New York followed.

(Source) Times Online

Today we see most homes installing the high-end home theatre setups and though it may seem to look crazy to find a home full of speakers, you can go beyond the standard ones with concept and designed speakers to get the room jumpy.

There are various speaker manufacturers that go beyond the standard speakrs. Sherwood Forlee for instance offers Speak-er with their bubble-shaped speakers.

Symbio Designs offers the Alpha Speakers offering a creative design that is sure be a hit with lovers of music or simply add them to your usual 5.1 Home Theatre Setup.

Home audio speakers are designed to sound great, but many designers take it to the next level and create something so sexy that people can’t help but stare. They know what they do, because in these days a product that looks good has better chances to be sold. These creative speaker designs that you’re gonna see in this post combine both style and (hopefully) function, and we can say that they look better than they sound.

(Source) Freshome

Furniture that can easily be assembled and disassembled are great space savers. Further, they allow home owners to be able to determine what kind of setup and design for their home they would want from time to time.

Thanks to Daniele Lago, Twins can adhere towards anything a wise and decorative home owner would want.

Twins is a piece of furniture designed by Daniele Lago. This piece is composed of two elements shaped as “L’s” and they can be adapted to create two different pieces of furniture according to your needs. In conclusion this piece is great especially if you want a new look in your home from time to time.

(Source) Freshome