Focus Fabrik

Ever since I started taking the "Print your fabric" class, I have been extremely sensitive to surfaces, patterns and fabric designs in general. I really love the fabric collection and display by Finnish brand Focus Fabrik which I got to know from Debi Van Zyl's wonderful blog. So fun, dynamic and inspiring!

Some interesting patterns and fabric designs that seem to be inspired by the urban environment below. Do check out more designs and products at their store here!

Doll Houses

I have just been tagged by Kelly of Design Crush to reveal 7 random facts about myself. Since I was recently tagged to do this, I will nominate Ron of Lifeasashutterbug to do the honours. =)

While browsing at Design Crush's lovely blog, I found out about these magical doll houses by Anna Pfeiffer and Ulrike Rumpenhors. There are three different room sizes and 4 different wall colors to choose from. They also offer a Suitcase Kit - wooden box that comes with two small rooms, a medium size room, a salon and stairs. You can even get modern furniture and dolls for decorating and playing. Available at Hase Weiss, a Berlin-based kids toy and furniture company.

I also love another simpler dollhouse design by Designer Jeanette. The Constantine Dollhouse designs are handmade with plywood and Unica wallpaper. You can even make special color requests. Available at Kidsmodern.

I love this shade of green!

I am loving the vibrant green of these tea sets by Christine Misiak. The ornate silver parts have been taken from an old battered tea set which were removed, cleaned, filed, sanded and then soldered onto new bodies. For more gorgeous colours, click here!

via Designsponge

Duct Tape Wallets

I really think these Duct tape wallets are really cool. Started in the living room of a rental house in Canby (Oregon), Garett Croft Stenson and his friends have handmade nearly 30,000 duct tape wallets over the years. Made from 100% duct tape, this nifty wallet business has helped pay Garett's way through college, bought him a house, taught him the basics of business, and has allowed him to work with his closest friends daily . For the crafty ones out there, there is even a DIY kit where you get to make your own duct tape wallet with all the materials and instructions included.

Good news! You can buy duct tape wallets and the DIY kit in Singapore @ Woonderland, Wheelock Place.

Currently listening to

Powered by eSnips.com

Silkscreened wedding invitations

I just helped a beautiful couple design and make their church wedding invitations using my new print gocco set. It was quite a time consuming process but I had lots of fun doing it. The design of the card is based on an oriental woodcut. The 2 birds are silkscreened in gold onto a piece of tracing paper which is placed over the card. I really like the fact that each card is individually handmade and unique.

Fabric Collages

I love these tactile fabric collages by Samantha Hahn. They are made from scraps of fabric, burlap, toile, string, velvet, silk etc. sewn onto small canvasses. You can check out Samantha's blog here!

Big Huge Labs

Sol left a comment on one of my recent posts on colour palettes telling me about this cool website she found called BigHugeLabs. This amazing site allows you to load picture you like and a palette of colours will be generated based on the colours of your photo!

There are lots of similar programs that allow you to do this but I like this one cos it is simple and easy to use. Perfect if you need help with selecting colours for your designs or home decor. I tested it out by with this magazine cover I liked and extracted these lovely colours. It's fun! Try it!

Thanks Sol!

Domestic Dystopia

Domestic Dystopia is a photo-documentary of six interiors of dilapidated houses in Singapore that have been abandoned and are left in a state of disrepair. Each photograph reveals the traces left behind by previous occupants, freezing the memories in a snapshot of time. Through this series, photographer Ho Hui May takes on the task of translating the deep sense of loss and nostalgia she feels when she is inside these houses.

This is Ho's first solo exhibition in Singapore and is one I wouldn't want to miss! You can catch it @ Kay Ngee Tan Architects Gallery, 16-17 Duxton Hill. The gallery opens Tues-Fri 11am-7pm, Sat 11am-6pm. For more information, click here

Print your fabric

I will keep it very short today as I am nursing an impending cold at the moment. Just came back from a course on "Print on Fabric" and finally got to meet Imeda. Nice to meet you Imeda! The class was lots of fun and it would have been more fun had I not been partially sedated by the medication I was taking. Anyway, hope to be back in action soon. Meanwhile, do enjoy this blog called "The Paris Apartment". It is one of the nominatees of the Top Ten Blogs to Watch poll and I just couldn't keep it to myself. Lots of beautiful interiors.

(image from The Paris Apartment)

Top 10 New Design Blogs to Watch

1. This is a search for the Top 10 NEW Design Blogs to Watch.
2. The blog nominees to be considered should be less than 1 year old.
3. Please email your votes (up to 5) to toptentowatch@gmail.com by October 15th.
4. More details below...
   

===============

As you all know, The Home Rejuvenation came up with the brilliant idea of conducting an online poll to see who are the top 10 most influential design blogs today. While I think that there are many wonderful design blogs out there that deserve a place among the top 10, I am hoping that this poll will not simply reaffirm the already well-known design blogs out there. It will be great if through this process, more "lesser-known" design blogs could be uncovered and given the recognition they deserve. The irony is of course that many of these "lesser-known" blogs may not yet be "influential" enough to make it to the Top 10 of this poll in the first place! =)

I thus emailed Stan of the The Home Rejuvenation over the weekend to suggest that laissezfaire run a concurrent poll to find out which are the "Top 10 NEW Design Blogs to WATCH". These blogs need not be the movers and shakers of design blogland (just yet). The objective is to reveal the your favourite NEWbie design blogs (less than 1 year old) that we should all keep an eye on and encourage them to keep up the good work! To avoid this just being another popularity contest, I will take into account not just the number of votes I receive for the nominated blogs but also the quality of the content (from a design point of view) + length of the the blog has been in existence.

Really hope that this we will be able to get to know more wonderful new design blogs through this exercise. To nominate, please send an email to toptentowatch@gmail.com by 15th October 2007 . Each person is entitled to vote up to a maximum of five candidates. The final results will be posted together with The Home Rejuvenation's current poll . Lastly, do help spread a word on this poll so that we will all be able to uncover more great blogs together! Thanks!

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.

Get to know other great design blogs

Via The Home Rejuvenation, I found out about this traffic-building tool called blogrush. It is basically a widget to expose readers of a blog to other blogs with related content. It refreshes with every page load. Since this may be a great way to get to know many other related design blogs, I decided to give it a go and install it at the bottom right column of laissezfaire. Do give it a test drive and let me know what you think! I will leave it on for some time and decide it whether it is useful. Thanks stan for sharing this!

Stylish reusuable grocery bags

I was at a local convenience store a few weeks ago when I first saw these lovely prints on grocery bags by Envirosax. I told myself that I would check out the company who made these stylish enviroment friendly reuseable bags but somehow forgot about it. It thus came as a lovely surprise when Envirosax emailed me recently to tell me more about their newly launched eco bags in Singapore. First launched in Australia, EnviroSax has spread like wildfire across US, Japan, Canada & even Israel. Besides in local select convenience stores, these bags are also available in Takashimaya & OG at $9.90 (for singles) and $35 for a set of five.

Vote for the most influential design blog

The Home Rejuvenation is currently conducting a survey to find out who the influential bloggers (blogs) in our design community are. What a wonderful idea! Brilliant! Although I can guess who the strong contenders may be, I secretely wish the outcome of this survey would be an unexpected one. An relatively unknown blog that is somehow very influential in some circles, maybe? If you wish to execute your power to decide, just send an email to homereju@gmail.com and tell them which blogs you think is at the top of your list!

More ways to display your reading

Here are more great ways to display your books!
(above) the illuzine - a floating magazine rack that disappears under your magazines. A great way to create a feature wall of your favourite magazines!

(above) this powder-coated metal, wall mounted bookshelf will have people scratching their heads when they see your books levitating in mid-air.

Turn your books into an art installation

This is a cool way to turn your collection of books into an art installation. Not sure if it will make it easier to locate your books but at least it looks nice. This image is by chotda from the Rainbow of Books Flickr group. (via How about Orange and craftzine) I also like how ninahale turned her ironing board into a bookshelf for red books in the dining room by powder coating it red.

Colour inspiration #002

Pattern and colour palette inspired by the rich saturated colours of Orla Kiely's new fall/winter collection below.

Colour inspiration #001

I love the colour scheme of this room from Domino's gallery. I am hoping to start collecting colour palettes inspired by objects, rooms and places that attract me.

(above) Starting here....palette based on colours taken from this room.

Make up the wall

I think these "colouring walls" by Maria Kirk Mikkelsen are so fun and unique. What better way for your child to express his/her artistic abilities than to allow them to colour their own walls!

They even have design templates for you to create your own work of art on your walls!
(via Bloesem)

Sudoku toilet roll

Think my dad will love this. He is so obsessed with this that he actually invented his own version of this game and generates his own puzzles to solve. There are exactly 240 puzzles in a roll. Available here. (via Designboom)

Rocking chair

An insect rocking chair by Paulius Vitkauskas! Wonder how rocking on it will actually feel like. Available here.

Everybody is free (to wear sunscreen)

Jessica Nebel

I just love these designs by Jessica Nebel. "Pixel It” below consists of two layers of paper. Cuts on an white outer layer allow the user to fold parts out to reveal a coloured layer underneath which forms a pixeled image.

With the “Take-Away Sink” (below) there is no need for an extra bucket in the house. The possibility of removing the washbasin also encourages the saving of water by the re-usage of it.

Polaroid Pictures

I just love these poloroid photographs taken by Grant Hamilton. Very pantone. Minimalism and pure abstraction at its best. You may also be able to pick up a few colour inspirations at his flickr page.

Brocade Home

I just love these wonderful products I saw at Brocade Home. If you remember the recent Samsung ad with Beyoncé at the Hotel Gansevoort, you may be interested to know that all the lobby furniture of the chic hostelry were swapped for products from Brocade Home. That is 3 ads in 1 - the actual Samsung phone, Beyoncé's B'Day Delux Album and Home Accessories from Brocade. Very clever and subtle advertising!

(above) Ruffle edge cork board (US$199)
(above) Glass lamps in peony, clear or stem colours. (US$99)
(above) Petite Medallion Bed in iron construction (US$699)

(above) Pattern Plate set (US$49)

(above) Ruffle Frame Shelf (US$399)

(above) Clear Crystal Chandelier (US$599)