Recycled bathtub

Here is an idea what you could do with an old bathtub. (by Reddish Studio via Apartment Therapy)

Grow your couch

Here is a great idea for introducing seating in your backyard. All you need are some basic materials such as pieces of wood, dirt, sod and water to create this lovely design. For complete instructions, click here.

Plant wall

Plantwall from Green Fortune is a new way of integrating greenery in public spaces. This vertical piece of greenery is not only beautiful, the plants also provides oxygen and humidity to improve the air quality. Some plants even have air cleaning properties. It is almost like being outside. I say this is a perfect alternative to wallpaper for your home! (via Living in Andyland)

The return of the cassette tape

While cassette tapes seems to be forgotten by the music industry, two current trends have brought them out for a second play - the 80's nostalgia in the visual world + recycling and sustainability happening just about everywhere.

I just love the hand made wallets by Marcella Foschi below. They were designed especially for the Designboom Mart in Tokyo, November 2006. Marcella dismantles old cassette tapes, removes their innards and then joins the plastic sides back together again with a zip. Brilliant surgical procedure! (via The Designboom Shop)

.

Trash Luxe

There will be an exhibition taking place at Liberty in London from 20-30 September 2007 during the London Design Festival called Trash Luxe at Liberty. Curated by dezeen editor Marcus Fairs. This exhibition celebrates over a dozen young designers round the world that create exquisite furniture, lighting and jewellery using cheap or worthless materials. To find out more about the designers whose work will be featured at this exhibition, click here. Below are some of my favourites.

(above) Tide , a chandelier made from hundreds of plastic items found washed up on Dungeness Beach, by Stuart Haygarthand.(above) Paper Mache Arm Chair made of 120 layers of newspaper built up over an inflatable mould by Majid Asif.
(above) TransNeomatic bowls which combine traditional woven wicker techniques with used scooter tyres rescued from landfill sites by the Campana Brothers from Brazil.(above) Jewellery design made from sugar crystals by Greetje van Helmond. The wall of bread she made for her graduation show at the RCA is simply delicious! Sandwich, anyone?

A house in a house

My heart skipped a beat when I first saw this at Debi van Zyl's blog. It reminded me why I loved architecture and interiors in the first place. The magic of creating that dream house to live in. Of making, reconstructing, rethinking, inhabiting, dreaming...

This house is reconstucted by fnp architeken in Stuttgart. Since the site is not in English, I guessed from the pictures that the architects preserved the decaying shell of the house and inserted a new interior like an inner sleeve into it. Simple and magical. Love it! Absolutely looove it to bits!

Michelle Brand

Aren't these the most gorgeous things? Created by Michelle Brand, this fabric was produced by cutting, sanding and assembling the base of plastic bottles into the tapestry. (via sub-studio)

Ikea Hacker

I came across this great blog called the Ikea Hacker. It basically welcomes people to submit their own hacked creations from Ikea. Here you can find inspiration for de-IKEAfying IKEA stuff and turn your mass-produced pieces into something personal and unique.

Some wonderful ideas to share with everyone.

(above) ding3000 pimps up the world's no. 1 Billy shelving unit into a playful interim storage place for unsorted books, magazines and newspapers.

(above) An ikea poang table turned into a kid artist friendly furniture with just a bucket of studio finishes chalkboard paint. via.

(above) An ikea pillow case turned into a gorgeous skirt by Melissa of fehrtrade.
(above) "Designer" hack by AnAtomicFactory of an ikea stefan chair.

(above) Cheap ikea lamps spiced up with black lace.

Re-thinking the clothes hanger

These magnetic hangers by Daniel To are so clever! Wonder which store will take up this idea to display their clothes?