Built—the New York company famous for its sleek two-bottle wine tote—is all about making it easier to carry stuff by repurposing neoprene, the lightweight, washable, spongy fabric normally used for divers’ wetsuits. They’ve been rapidly expanding their catalog with everything from laptop cases to baby-bottle totes, but the product most likely to make your holiday travel slightly more sane is the genius Charger Bag. It has six compartments lined with fleece—to keep the charger cords for your laptop, cell phone, iPod, PDA, etc., from mating—and an “industrial strength” zipper. Comes in black (with powder-blue insides) and green (black inside).

Source: S.Dumenco New York Magazine

Polyvore is simple in design and easy to use, this site is an online forum for aspiring stylists and interior decorators to create scrapbooks of products that serve almost as mini “inspiration boards”. Be prepared to lose a few hours to the site if you try it out: as soon as you put up a new set, within two minutes there will be 50 new sets posted that likely make yours feel inferior. Currently, Hayden-Harnett is sponsoring a contest whereby users create sets of their products, with winners (selected by the Polyvore community) receiving gift certificates to the brand’s online store.

Source: IGIntelligence

In the southern hemisphere summer days of picnics & evening soirees are pending. Plan  your parties well, use SpudWare Cutlery to impress your next  party guests! Made from 80% potato starch and 20% soy oil, these spoons, forks and knives are washable and reusable, just as strong as plasticware and so much more designer. They also biodegrade in just six months! Buy on line - A pack of 50 of each utensil costs just $US20.

source:trendcentral

James Owen Design cat scratching post: Yet another reason we can’t get enough of home goods retailer Design Within Reach, this cat scratching post by James Owen Design is more sculpture than kitty toy. Constructed of Zebrawood with a polished aluminum base, it’s a far cry from the traditional carpeted scratching posts and the only cat scratch post we’ve seen for a sophisticated, design-oriented consumer.

Source: trendcentral

Propaganda in Bangkok. No, it’s not what you’re thinking, given the recent political turmoil here in the Land of Smiles. Rather, I refer to a Bangkok-based design store called Propaganda, a place that sells whimsical housewares, like the combination chopsticks/spoon pictured above. And tons of other quixotic stuff: quirky plates and dishes, off-beat living room furnishings, picture frames, stationery, bags, and more. Think Ikea, but minus the Scandinavian pragmatism. As the store’s Web site says, Propaganda’s wares are all about “the innate sense of Thai playfulness.” Propaganda can be found in the uber-fancy Emporium mall and the less-swanky but still upscale Siam Discovery Center.

Propaganda [Official site]

Text: Newley Purnell - Gridskipper  Image: Propaganda

If you are a relic of the 70’s you will have had a sticker collection. Well here are some ideas to give your collection and walls some ‘now’ currency. Here is a sampling of what we are loving at the moment. TrendCentral reports ‘Similar to the wall decal trend we’ve been obsessing over for years, Mozaikit takes the same DIY idea and gives users the chance to decorate almost any surface. Both removable and re-stickable, these vinyl tiles can be used to create colorful mosaics. From laptops to tabletops to the backsplash on your kitchen sink, there’s no limit to what you can DIY.  You can buy on-line’ www.shalgo.com/

If  you can’t do real wall art - go faux all the way with some lux stickers exclusives by Domestic for Le Bon Marche. Or for maximum inspiration look at all the ’sticker wall’ raves and where to buy it lists on thisnext.com .

- wall paper and stickers…mmm. What’s missing to complete the revival indie look? Stay tuned and we’ll show you the latest in Dragster bikes (now called a Cruiser) - you will have every boy in the park your friend - grown up ones too honey!

picture courtesy http://www.antoineetmanuel.com
 

Design trends from the show
Plus: Urban Outfitters, Inc. getting into gardening

We checked out this week’s 19th annual International Contemporary Furniture Fair where we found some cool trends we imagine we might be seeing in hip living rooms of the future:

Modern Nature:
Botanist’s sleek aluminum benches applied with real wood veneer can be used both indoors and out, while Japanese company Monacca showed saucer shaped wood “throw pillows” that, despite the hard surface, promised a soft landing.

orange22.com/
monacca.com/
Wood Carvings:
Representing larger design trends of ornate decoration and unconventional wall hangings, wood carvings were plentiful. We especially loved Deborah Mills’ “Medieval Frieze” and Brooklyn-based children’s design brand Oeuf’s bird- and tree-shaped wood panels that we imagine could become a popular alternative for parents wanting more sophisticated bedrooms for their little ones.

http://deborahmillswoodcarving.com/AalPortalProject.html

http://www.deborahmillswoodcarving.com/
Deborah Bowness Wallpaper:
The wallpaper trend continues to grow, with this UK designer continuing to create some of our favorite panels. Handprinting wallpaper for the past seven years, Bowness uses vintage-style photos of shoes, dresses, books, phones, etc. She has already designed wallpaper for places such as Soho House (New York and London), Reebok store (London), and Paul Smith store (London).

deborahbowness.com/
Hulger Handsets:
Talking on your cell phone is a whole lot more stylish with Hulger’s retro-styled handsets. We particularly like the Penelope * Phone and imagine it will be a hit with VoIP devotees.

hulger.org/
And by the way:
Urban Outfitters Inc. is planning to launch a new brand concept in 2008. In what sounds like a smart execution of the urban gardening trend, merchandise will reportedly consist of lifestyle home and garden products, antiques, and live flowers and plants.
 

This feed and pictures provided by our Trendcentral friends
  
 

We love the idea of seasonal wardrobes, but having them in different countries or states well thats sheer decadence of the most fabulous kind. (Not your old gear that still hangs in your childhood bedroom, & only makes a comeback during a home visit).

Well the news in from self storage centre Tankar Storage (Southern Highlands, Australia) is they have had enough requests from Australians living abroad and city folk with an ‘oh so chic’ country pad - for  ‘a small space to hang their transit wardrobe’ that they thought it was time to act and follow the lead of one of their storage clients. 

So here’s the scoop. A couple of years ago, a global nomad and long term storer, insisted on redorating his storage space (which incidentaly he has 3, - for excess cars, tired-of-at- the-moment furniture and more) into a luxury Walk-in Robe for his winter and rotating shirt collection. The amused vendors of this fine storage solution must have told a few of their clients and other best dressed, because over the past 7 months they have retro-fitted 5 of their smallest dust free cells into camphor infused closets. And who is asking for these lux wardobe extensions inclusive of full length mirror? Welcome to 2007 - they are preened straight up and down men!

Should we be using this information to predict the next big trend in fashionable living? Because I wouldn’t mind some of that space myself, for my shoes at least.

Whether you’re looking for a really awesome gift or just something for yourself, this UK site offers some of the coolest digital photo driven items we’ve come across yet. Any digital image can be turned into artwork by printing it on stretched canvas. Photo-Canvas allows users to tweak original images as well, with options ranging from the standard black and white or sepia tone choices, to more dramatic changes like Lichtenstein, Warhol, and action comic versions. Images can also be recreated on room divider screens, wallpaper, and even roller blinds (leave out the photo totes too passe Anya Hindmarch). It’s a great way to bringing pictures to life… especially if you are anything like us with stored digital pictures taking up space like a draw full of prints waiting to go into the album.

Feed by Trendcentral

Pantone, Inc, the global authority on colour and provider of professional color standards for the design industries. Each season surveys the fashion designers to collect feedback on prominent collection colors, inspiration, color philosophy and each designer’s signature shade. This information is used to create the PANTONE Fashion Color Report and serves as a reference tool throughout the year for fashion enthusiasts, reporters and retailers. Explore their website for the most current reports on seasonal fashion color, designers on paint, fashion week color trends. Its all about color from textiles to paint, fashion color to home dressing and more. A one stop resource in color trend mapping and we love it.

For starters we know a few corporates who should look at what their colors are really saying about their brand and identity.
Overhauling any image – Start with color!       www.pantone.com